[Fire of the Phoenix]

Buerhle was pretty effective last year for 3/4 of the season, I'd be surprised if Happ/Chavez comes close to that. Price>Stroman is true and the gap between them is whatever the difference between a true ace and a great #2 is (though Stroman has potential), but I tend to think of it as the difference between Price+Stroman+Estrada vs Stroman+Estrada+Dickey. That second option looks so, so much worse than the first to me. Like the difference between WC/playoff contention and scuffling around at .500 all season long.

Forget the 4 and 5 guys, they are easy enough to find, what you need is great top 3 as quality > quantity, every time. The depth has taken a huge hit and now it's really not far off in terms of overall quality to the rotation that started 2015 minus Stroman. Just how much better than pre-dead arm Buerhle is Stroman really going to be? Not talking about style, stuff or speed... I'm talking about results.

When it comes down to it, the Jays have spent a lot of money on a pretty 'meh' rotation. Really looking at the numbers, it appears funds could have been allocated differently and there might have been enough money to have Price, Stroman, Estrada as the top 3. It might have cost us Happ and Dickey... but really, are they that important? I'd take Sanchez and Chavez over Happ and Dickey if it meant we could've kept Price.