Both Alex Anthopolous and Brian Burke has one season to make things happen

B

Both the Saviour (Brian Burke) and the Boy Wonder (Alex Anthopolous) have had much success since taking over running the Leafs and Jays.

Time is really running out Burke who is coming to the end of a long-term contract and has nothing to show for it.  If the Leafs don't make the playoffs whenever the season resumes how can you possible offer him another contract after missing the playoffs in all 5 season while at the helm.  Not a lot of reason to be optimistic.  Other than a new coach and James van Remsdyk, not a lot will look different this season.  Which is why Burke needs to land Roberto Luongo and his ugly contract.  Now that he is officially a lame duck manager why should he worry whether Luongo is worth the money in 5 years.  He has to be worried about today.  Burke may be playing it coy but I believe he is desperate to land Luongo who would put the Leafs in the top 8 in the East.

As for Anthopolous, he has done the best he could over his tenure to rebuild the farm and field a competitive team on the cheap.  But the lack of quality veterans really showed when the injuries piled up.  The team was forced to use a lot of young players who weren't ready to play in the majors.  Lets hope that the payroll goes up to $100 million.  If it went to $120 million the Jays would almost certainly be contenders.  There needs are clearly a first base/dh, second base, left field and two starters.

Edwin Encarnacion will either play dh or first which leaves an opening at the other position.  Anthopolous has clearly written off Adam Lind who will either be thrown in as part of a trade or sit on the bench.  If he can move Lind then that will free up dollars for other needs.

The team will allow Kelly Johnson to become a free agent which means no one on the roster is a second baseman.  The Jays have 3 shortstops on their roster in Yunel Escobar, Mike Aviles and Adeiny Hechavarria, so one could be move to second.  It might be best of Hechavarria return to the minors for further seasoning so Escobar may actually return next season despite the pervailing belief that he will be moved. So perhaps Escobar returns to shortstop and Aviles goes to second.  If Escobar is traded then Hechavarria will begin the season with the Jays.

There is no one with power to man left field.  I thought it would be Cory Snider but he was traded.  It won't be Rajah Davis who is intended to used as an extra outfielder and pinch runner.  He is returned at a lower salary to reflect that role.  There is Anthony Gose but he is really a centre fielder.  Colby Rasmus could be moved to left but it is more likely that Anthoploulos will find a left fielder through free agency or a trade and Gose will return to the minors to work on his hitting.  I'm not so sure the team is sold on Rasmus so he he may start the season with Toronto and get dealt later in the season when Gose is ready to take over centre.

The top two starting positions are set with Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow.  Not sure which is the ace and in fact they could both be dropped a notch if a true ace was brought in (we call still dream of Zach Greinke in a Jays uniform).  A.J. Happ looked pretty good as a starter so he be a third starter though perhaps lower in the rotation.  That leaves two more bodies that have to be filled from outside.  All the other internal candidates including Henderson Alvarez should either be returned to the minors for further development or put in the bullpen.  Should the inevitable injury pop up they will become available to fill in.  The problem with the past season is that the young arms were in the Jays starting rotation providing little pitching depth so when the injuries piled up there were no major league arms in the system to bring up.

So the Jays have 5 spots to fill or perhaps just 4 if they convert a shortstop to second.  I don't expect Anthopolous to make a splash in the free agent market with his limited budget so he will fill most of the spots with trades.  He has a young catcher to move, Escobar or Rasmus and then some pitching prospects.  Not sure these will get him enough to push for a playoff spot.  That's why I'm hoping his salary budget jumps to over $100 million.

UPDATE:  The "ink" was barely dry on this post before Anthopolous made a move.  Aviles had barely enough time in Toronto for a cup of coffee before being shipped with Gomes to Cleveland for Esmil Rogers. So what so great about Rogers other than sharing the same name as the owner?  Well he is cheap and controllable until 2016 - things Anthopolous likes. He also throws hard.  This means that one or both bullpen free agents Jason Frasor and Brandon Lyon may not be returning.