Quote:
Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc
I think there is a good chance the Jays go for volume of relievers rather than going after the big name.
Closers are like kickers in football. Other than the very, very best ones, they can turn into a pumpkin seemingly overnight and throwing big money after one is one of the riskier choices you can make. I think they make a play for Fairbanks but might settle on a few good arms and see how it plays out. If Garcia is healthy, he provides a solid floor and Hoffman would be an elite setup guy.
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Which seems reasonable, to be honest. Assuming they go with a 5 man rotation you have room for 8 relief pitchers.
I figure Lauer has earned the long-man role, and Garcia/Varland/Hoffman feel like a decent group of leverage arms. That leaves 4 more spots.
They already have Fischer/Fluharty/Schultz/Nance/Estrada/Bruihl/Bastardo/Miles/Little competing for those spots. It never hurts to grab another good arm or two, but I think it's not unreasonable to see what you have there and then pick up a couple of guys in-season and/or at the deadline to supplement. I feel like that list above will probably include 4 guys that can be reasonably effective in a low/medium leverage role.
Edited to add: they have 6 starters right now, so I could see them starting the year with a 6 man rotation. That means 1 less RP spot, and you might need another long man to compensate for the lower number of relievers.
