AL East Round Up!

The Toronto Blue Jays  

Sep 26, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays second baseman

(17), shortstop

(7), center fielder

(8), third baseman

(15) and first baseman

Jr celebrate a win over the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre. Toronto defeated Baltimore 4-2. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

I’m sure anyone reading this doesn’t need to be informed that the Jays have been likely the most active team in the East if not the entire Major Leagues this off-season.

The Jays went into the off-season with significant holes to fill. For more than a year, second base was the black hole to the Jays lineup and the club now had to deal with two thirds of their outfielders walking away, not to mention that the bullpen had become a bigger question mark than an R.A Dickey knuckleball.

So what did Alex Anthopoulos do? He upgraded the team through acquiring talent at just about every other position. He exchanged Brett Lawrie for slugger Josh Donaldson and added catcher Russell Martin via free agency. He also exchanged first baseman/designated hitter Adam Lind for Marco Estrada. All moves for positions the Jays didn’t really need to upgrade at.

He did, however, fill the second base position as he traded outfielder Anthony Gose for second base prospect Devon Travis who may or may not contribute to the big club in 2015. Recently, he added Michael Saunders in exchange for bottom of the rotation pitcher J.A Happ, seemingly cementing Melky Cabrera‘s departure.

What’s left? Well the Jays still haven’t touched their bullpen but with handfuls of cash still remaining, and trade assets like sidelined catcher Dioner Navarro, there’s still plenty of wiggle room left. With some time to spare, Anthopoulos will likely look to fix the bullpen first with the possibility of making improvements to the rotation and second base before next April.