Will Jared Goedert services be retained for 2015?

Jared Goedert was signed to a minor league contract with the Blue Jays last December with an invitation to spring training. The Blue Jays signed the 8 year minor league vet to provide some minor depth at the Triple-A level and that is exactly what he provided. He would become the Buffalo Bisons starting third baseman and would get off to great start.

April was by far his best month, but he was unable to sustain the .306/.424/.408 pace. Jared really struggled in July, hitting .200/.291/.329 in 21 games. The rest of the season Goedert provided a .250 bat and below average defence.

Jared would play 71 games at 3rd and would commit 14 errors, good for a .919 fielding percent and a wRC+ of 104.

So what’s the benefit of bring Jared Goedert back to Buffalo in 2015? Jared showed a decent approach at the plate that allowed him to put up some league average stats. His BB% (11.5), wOBA (.334), OPS (.724), and ISO (.134) were all slightly above or slightly below average. So despite not being a high profile prospect, Jared is able to provide the Bisons with an experienced bat and leadership.

Depth

The Toronto Blue Jays could replace Goedert with 3B/2B Ryan Schimpf, who hit 9 home runs in Buffalo last year. Schimpf is 26 years old, he has decent power, strikes out too much and wasn’t able to hit consistently at the Triple-A level. At Double, the Blue Jays have Andy Burns, who hit .255/.315/.430 with 15 home runs and an OPS of .745. Burns has yet to taste Triple-A and had an up and down season in 2014, so it is unclear how he will respond to the challenge of facing Triple-A pitching day in and day out.

In the past, Alex has loaded his Triple-A teams with veteran player. Has Alex done this due a lack of minor depth or was it done by design?