Blue Jays set to acquire Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle....etc

[dbl_dbl]

Huge trade. I will miss Henderson Alvarez and Jake Marsinick, both should have good MLB careers, but the Jays just got a whole lot better.

SS - Reyes
2nd - Bonaficio
RF - Bautista
DH - Encarnacion
3rd - Lawrie
CF - Rasmus
LF - Davis
1B - Lind
C - Arencibia

SP - Johnson
SP - Morrow
SP - Buerhle
SP - Romero
SP - Happ

Not including bench or bullpen players like Izturis and Janssen, but that core looks pretty solid to say the least! 5 players who can steal 30+ bases, middle lineup that can hit 35+ homers, and some good pop at the bottom of the lineup.

[76brian]

I was psyched about this when I first heard about it, but I'm a bit more settled down now that more names have been added to the reports and I've realized how much we're giving up. This definitely improves the team immediately, but it's also a gamble, Johnson's arm/shoulder especially.

Those are some massive contracts to take on too... and it's nice to see Rogers putting some money into the team, but I'm afraid if they don't add a few more big pieces now, then they've given up these prospects for nothing. Johnson is only under contract until 2014, so if they're going to go for it, they better go for it now. Especially while the Yankees and BoSox are weak. Those 2 have been greedy for years, I think it's our turn.

There are still too many question marks on this team. Lets get a solid 1B and LF in here and I might get more excited. Overall I'm cautiously optimistic though. I hope AA has some more moves up his sleeve!

Oh and I absolutely LOVE that Boston was seriously after all these guys... hey, John Farrell, how's your dream job looking now? HAHAHAHA

[76brian]

Looks like we got our LF: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/11/16/blue-jays-reportedly-sign-melky-cabrera-to-two-year-deal/

I envision him hitting 2nd in the order if he has a good spring.

...now, who's on first?



But man, the commish is taking forever to approve that Marlins trade.

[dbl_dbl]

Insane!

I would love to see us deal JPA for another starter. Neise or Ogando make good options. Young and controllable with swing man/starter potential. JPA is our worst starter at getting on base and IMO thats our offence's biggest failure....gotta get men on base.

Reyes
Lawrie
Cabrera
Bautista
Encarnacion
Lind
Rasmus
Bonaficio
JPA/D'Arnaud+Buck

WOW

[76brian]

Hmm... I don't see Lawrie hitting 2nd in the order... but you never know.

I'm also not sure of either Bonafacio or Izturis being worthy full time starters at 2B. The good thing is, they, along with Reyes, allow some flexibility that we haven't had for a long time, so there's lots of platoon options.

Either way, if all those guys hit to their potential, and we replace Lind with a tree, American League pitchers should be very scared of that lineup.