2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs Predictions

The 2013 edition of the playoff bracket. Winners in green.

Blue Jays Give Up on Lind, Add Wells

.
The Toronto Blue Jays could have acquired a right handed bat this winter to platoon with lefty DH Adam Lind. Instead, they opted to fill every other conceivable need with headline deals and crafty free agent signings, giving Lind a chance to show he can return to his 2009 form.

That year he had career highs in virtually every hitting statistic, batting .305 with 35 home runs. At 27 years old, he had become one of the most feared young sluggers in baseball. Of course, those watermarks have not been approached since. Call it a three-year slump or a return to his true unimpressive form, the Blue Jays have been disappointed with the production they are getting from a man they pay $5 million a year.

The Blue Jays coaching staff, try as they may, have not been able to rediscover his old swing. In the last year of a three-year pact, the Jays hoped Lind would find his form, and show he could hit left handed pitchers well enough to maintain a starting role with the club.

One week into the season, he has yet to show he can hit any type of pitcher. He is a miserable 2-for-17; all but two of those at bats have been against right handers. He has been benched twice already through Toronto’s first seven games. In his five starts and three pinch-hit appearances, he has managed one single and one double.

His early struggles are evidently enough to lose all confidence from the front office. GM Alex Anthopoulos claimed Casper Wells of waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. The outfielder figures to be the long-awaited platoon righty to pair with the left-handed Lind.

Wells owns a dramatic righty-lefty split, his career OPS against left-handed pitchers is .838, while that number plunges to .675 against lefties. He was started at all three outfield positions last year in Seattle, that versatility makes him an attractive fourth or fifth outfielder alongside Rajai Davis on the bench.

But Casper Wells, main purpose will likely be to shield Adam Lind from the despair of lefty-on-lefty at bats. If manager John Gibbons can maintain favourable matchups all season, the Blue Jays would, between Wells and Lind, effectively have a DH with an OBP of .340 who slugs around .490. Not a bad looking five-spot hitter.

It is not the way Anthopolous had hoped Lind's troubles at the plate would be dealt with, but judging by his swift action to find a platoon partner, it may be the resolution he expected. Lind is not likely to find his 2009 form this year, he may never play that well again. Clearly nobody wants to pick up his $5 million tab; he went through waivers last year and went unclaimed.

So the Blue Jays will be forced to make use of Lind until he becomes a free agent this winter. And to be sure, Adam Lind can certainly be made useful if John Gibbons plays his hand right. Sure, Rogers is paying a lot of money for a guy who has to splip playing time, but as long as Toronto is stuck with that contract, they have an opportunity to extract as much production as they can squeeze out of his talent.

After this campaign is over, barring a miraculous revival in Lind's career, the Blue Jays will finally rid themselves of his burden on the payroll. Whether that relief comes as significantly cheaper extension for Lind, or as Anthopoulos letting him walk, Toronto will be free to use those funds to find a bigger middle-of-the-order bat if they so choose.

In the mean time, Adam Lind and Casper Wells can team up to provide added protection behind clean-up man Edwin Encarnacion. Sure, Toronto expected, or maybe wished, Lind would be able to fill the role on his own, but he is what he is. The Blue Jays have tried to will him into rediscovering the magic of 2009, it is simply not in the cards.

The only way to keep him contibuting positively is to transform him into a platoon hitter. The acquisition of Casper Wells shows he Blue Jays management is ready to take that step. The mission is no longer to revive Adam Lind, but to recast him.

The Problem with the Blue Jays-Marlins Trade

It has been a couple of weeks since the massive 12-player swap between the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays, so we baseball junkies have had time to go through the full of emotions.

For Marlins fans, there was really only one sentiment. But we won’t go there…

On the other side of the coin, in Toronto and across Canada, Blue Jays fans have been through a wild ride since that week in November. It was disbelief to begin with, which quickly turned to delirious joy. Then there was the Melky Cabrera signing, which put Canadians back in too-good-to-be-true mode.

Mere minutes later came the surreal, out-of-body realization that the Blue Jays were back in business.

Of course, there was nervousness that Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig would overturn the trade, pulling the relevance from under our feet. Gladly, after a weekend of sweating it out, the deal was finally made official, and Blue Jays fans were faced with the painful realization that Opening Day was still in fact four months away.

With so much time on their hands, everyone surrounding the team has since mulled over what 2013 will bring. Scouring over potential lineups, projected rotations, even what the bench will look like in the coming season. They have stormed through every newspaper, television, even blogs to find any little insignificant tidbit to get their baseball fix during the long winter.

So what exactly have they discovered in their trek through baseball media? Most notably, there have been articles written warning the people of Toronto to temper their expectations. They stick out like a dent in your new car. A simple online search of “Toronto Blue Jays” will bring you all the opinions of these buzz kills so eager to tell you anything and everything that could go wrong.

This has led to the next emotion on the rollercoaster: worry. What if it doesn’t work out? What if we get another nightmare injury rampage through our pitching staff? What if Reyes and Cabrera turn out to be busts? What if Hechevarria turns into a superstar?

It has become too easy for fans to feed their angst. They search for every flaw in their home team; most are the silliest concerns over stuff like pit bulls and income tax, reports you normally see on the slowest of news days.

But in this mess of irrelevant information, there have admittedly been some serious questions raised over the future of the Toronto Blue Jays. The most worrisome problem is that of Josh Johnson. The 27-year-old has for many the prize of the entire Marlins trade. The young starter is among the most coveted assets in baseball.

He is one of three or four pitchers in baseball who are on every general manager’s wish list. There are talented young starters, and then there is Josh Johnson. He is not the pitcher Toronto has grown accustomed to taking in, a “B” or “C+” type talent who is a serviceable alternative to the real deal. Josh Johnson is the real deal. He is the “A” level talent on the mound the Jays have been missing since Roy Halladay left.

So what’s the catch?

It is not his injury history that keeps the Toronto front office awake at night; health issues are anything but new to GM Alex Anthopoulos. The problem is his contract.

Johnson’s issue is the “Reverse-Jose Reyes.” His deal isn’t too long, it’s too short. Johnson is only locked up for one more season; this time next year the Blue Jays could lose his to free agency, where Johnson’s agent has suggested he might attract the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher.

Now of course, Johnson would realistically sell for a lot less that his agent would have us believe. This is simply standard hype building in hopes of raising his value.

These comments are not meant to say Johnson has no interest in signing an extension with the Blue Jays. He has, in fact, told the media he would be happy to entertain such negotiations whenever Anthopoulos wishes.

But let’s not read too much into the cookie-cutter statements the involved parties are expected to make. Obviously the media is the last place Johnson would reveal his true intentions.

The reality of the situation is that Johnson will cost the Blue Jays a pretty penny to keep long term, anyone of his calibre would. Besides, let’s face it; Toronto is not where most baseball players would choose to spend their career. To keep Johnson from testing free agency, it will cost the Blue Jays will have to pay a premium, likely close to $18 million per year. With Reyes’ contract ballooning to $22 million in 2014 that is not an easy pill to swallow.

With no guarantees ownership will spend that kind of money, or even that Johnson would stay if he was offered that contract, Alex Anthopoulos is faced with a real dilemma. There is a serious chance he could lose the centrepiece of the Marlins trade after only one year with the Blue Jays.

Talk about a tough pill to swallow. Josh Johnson is not the kind of player you want to slip through your fingers. He is the guy you want anchoring your staff for years to come, the last thing you want to see is Johnson doing just that in another city.

If that ominous vision comes to life, if Johnson does end up leaving Toronto at the end of the season, where does that leave the Blue Jays? They want to become a contending ball club this year; they have made that abundantly clear. In fact, they plan on remaining a factor for the foreseeable future.

Suppose the Blue Jays end the 2013 season as an up and coming club, a step away from going over the top and challenging for a World Championship. Losing Josh Johnson would put management in a tough spot. They would have to improve the quality of the club over the offseason, but they would now have to fill a blaring hole in the rotation first.

The Blue Jays know they cannot find all their help through free agency. Yes, ownership did spend a ton of cash recently. Don’t expect this kind of bonanza every offseason. With the payroll rising almost $50 million in the blink of an eye, Rogers is probably not willing to spend much more. With all the back-loaded contracts from Miami starting to kick in, Toronto will not have the budget space or the appeal to land the big fish.

The only other route to acquire talent is the trade market, where Anthopoulos has proved himself to be quite effective. But knowing the Jays GM, he will likely be apprehensive about decimating his minor league system further.

So if you can’t trade and you can’t sign a starter, what do you do? Basically, Toronto would be stuck with the same rotation they have now, minus the best pitcher of the five. That’s not progress, that’s a setback.

If the Blue Jays want to become perennial contenders, a setback is not what they need. Unfortunately, even if Anthopoulos puts forth his best effort to lure Josh Johnson back long-term, you would be hard-pressed to bet on an extension being signed.

But hey, maybe we will be proved wrong. Maybe Johnson falls in love with Toronto, and decides that this is where he wants to spend the rest of his career. If somehow, someway the stars align and he signs that deal, the next emotion down the line might be one Blue Jays fans haven't experienced since the 90's

Boy, this is going to be a long winter.

Blue Jays Shouldn't go after Greinke

All signs are pointing to a busy winter for the Toronto Blue Jays. There are holes in the starting rotation, and the management actually looks willing to fill them, even if that means spending some money.

And they are going to have money to spend, too. Kelly Johnson and his $6 million contract is on his way out, which will leave the Toronto payroll in the $70 million range. The speculation is that Rogers will be dropping some cash this offseason, so the extra budget is encouraging.

If ownership wants payroll to get back to the Vernon Wells days, the Jays have a good $20 million to burn. Clearly the majority of that will go towards mending the starting staff. It is just too tempting to connect the dots, as the biggest pitcher on the market, Zack Greinke, will probably sign for close to that kind of money.

The though of Greinke filling the number one spot in the rotation is enough to make every Blue Jays fan salivate. In an era when any and every half-decent pitcher gets labelled an Ace, this guy is on of the few true Aces in the game. He is young, durable, and ridiculously consistent. Toronto is desperate for the kind of security Zack Greinke can offer.

Let's try to think straight for a second, though. Is Greinke really the best option for the Blue Jays?

He is the sexiest option, no doubt about it. Every team fantasizes ever landing the biggest fish on the market. But there lies the problem, doesn't it? There is hardly a single club that will not consider going after such a talent. Yeah, that bumps up his salary, but more importantly, there will be a ton of teams that will end up waiting and waiting and waiting on Greinke's decision, just to lose out in the end.

With so many holes to fill, does GM Alex Anthopoulos have the luxury to wait? He would have to hold off on all other free agents, all the money would be tied up in the massive offer. Greinke would almost surely sign elsewhere, the other solid starters would have been gobbled up in the meantime, and the Blue Jays would be pretty much screwed.

Why even mess with that possibility? Anthopoulos would be better off playing it safe and going after the second tier free agents right off the bat. Clearly there are a bunch off players who fall under this category, but for the sake of argument we'll go with a couple obvious ones in Dan Haren and Anibal Sanchez.

Without going into too much painful detail, both Sanchez and Haren are guys you can expect to get 30 starts out of every season, and you will get an ERA well into the 3.00 range to boot. Most importantly, neither of these guys will fetch a lot more that $12 million. That means, theoretically, Toronto can put offers in for the two players at the same time, and be relatively comfortable with their chances or getting either one.

Heck, getting both of them wouldn't be the end of the world, would it? It wouldn't cost much more than Greinke on his own...

Dreaming aside, it would be much easier to reel in either Haren or Sanchez, since most lines will be cast at Zack Greinke anyhow. And as much as the average fan will scoff at the notion of bargain hunting, it makes too much sense for the club long term to leave some financial space.

Don't forget that Edwin Encarnacion's new 3-year, $27 million-deal kicks in next year, that will eat up some budget on its own. Even more ominous, although the Blue Jays control Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero until 2015 and 2016, respectively, by that time the club options will have Morrow making $10 million and Romero making just oven $13 million.

These are three substantial raises all within five year's time. That money has to come from somewhere Even after all these inevitable expenses, surely Toronto will want some flexibility for winters to come. It is impossible to predict what kind of needs this team is going to have in the coming years, but one thing is for sure: the Blue Jays will not remain competitive if they lack the money to improve every season.

If the Blue Jays try keep the core of the team together, all while paying Zack Greinke's salary, they are going to have a tough time staying relevant for very long. Countless teams go down this road; they get their dream-team for the first couple of years, but piece-by-piece the club falls apart, as they can no longer afford a respectable supporting cast.

This is not the vision the Toronto Blue Jays have for themselves. The front office has said it time and time again, they are committed to building a ball club that will contend year-in, year-out. Why sacrifice that dream for a single pitcher?

Having a legitimate Ace is overrated anyway. Yeah, all the experts are going to preach that no team can compete without one, but let's face it, the Toronto Blue Jays had an Ace for years. His name was Roy Halladay. He brought the franchise absolutely nowhere in eleven years with the club. Meanwhile, the Oakland A's and the Baltimore Orioles are playing October baseball with pitchers nobody has even heard of.

Toronto has to ditch the brand name and go for value. Dan Haren and Anibal Sanchez are seriously good pitchers, and, honestly, the drop-off in price will be considerably steeper than the drop-off in performance.

Gillis Smart to do Nothing

It was yet another frustrating Canada Day for Canucks fans. Hoping for a big splash to put the demons of a first-round loss to Los Angeles behind them, they were disappointed by a quiet day for Mike Gillis.

The Vancouver Canucks lost two blueliners on Sunday, dependable Aaron Rome, and beloved Sami Salo taking deals in Dallas and Tampa respectively. The only man they got back was former Panther (seriously) Jason Garrison, inking the 27-year-old to a six year deal at a $4.6 million cap hit.

It doesn't seem so bad at first, but after losing Ehrhoff in 2011 and finding no replacement, there was surely an expectation the Canucks would do more with their rumoured cap space of just over $10 million.

But 9:00 am hit on July 1^st, and defenseman after defenseman were gobbled up, as were most of the gritty bottom-six forwards, and we were left to wonder if anything was going to be done to address the needs of the club.

Finally, at around 5:00 pm, Mike Gillis answered by signing Garrison, a two-way defender. It was a desperately needed addition, there's no doubt about that, but it was not quite the impactful move most were waiting for.

It isn't the first time; last summer Gillis' only acquisition was Marco Sturm, hardly a headliner, and he proved useless not even a month into his stint in Vancouver. In fact, tally up the score over the last two offseasons, and the Canucks have still lost two top-four defensemen, and have only brought back a borderline top-four guy.

But still, Gillis remains patient. Not rushing a Luongo trade, not going on a spending spree to patch up the roster. Fans can only cringe at his insistence that Vancouver has no reason to rush into revamping their team.

The thing is, he's right.

Waiting on bolstering the lineup through trades or free agents makes absolute sense from the Canuck's perspective, forcing the action would only restrict Gillis' ability get this team ready for a playoff run.

The most scrutinized example is Roberto Luongo's situation. Gillis has sworn up and down that he has no timetable for trading his netminder, and is still open to bringing him back next season, if he gets less-than-decent offers.

Luongo back for another season? After all the drama with Cory Schneider taking the starting job? Your brain throbs just thinking about it. Let's just get rid of this has-been and move on, right?

Slow down a second, though. Would starting the year with Luongo still a Canuck be that bad? We saw the Luongo-Schneider tandem give Vancouver the most solid goaltending in the league last year. We know the duo would be at least as effective this season.

With Schneider locked up for three more years, the threat of pushing Cory away by keeping Luongo is no longer an issue. Schneider's extension takes care of any negative impact keeping Roberto Luongo would have otherwise had. Doing just that would not be the end of the world. Gillis might as well milk Luongo for what he's worth.

Sure the cap room would have been nice for free agency, but do the Canucks really want to be loading up on UFA's? These guys are impossible to get without paying more than they are worth. Even when Gillis signed the Garrison deal, which was considered a bargain by Sunday's standards, he still overpaid.

Vancouver would be smarter to hold off until the trade deadline. Not only Gillis be able to get players without insane contracts, but he would also have the luxury of waiting until February before he is forced to make any rash decisions.

Right now, there are too many question marks around this team to make a truly confident move. We don't know which Edler will show up, which Bieksa will show up, whether or not Kesler will be healthy, whether or not Schneider will turn out to be the goalie we think he will. By the end of February, the Canucks will have a better idea of who they have, who tho need, and who they can afford to give up.

Would it be nice fill all of Vancouver's holes now? Of course. But is the risk worth the reward? Will the five extra months of improved play make any difference? Seriously, the Canucks could do absolutely nothing, walk into October with a terrible defensive corps, and they would still be a lock to win the Northwest Division.

The Canucks need players not for the regular season, but for the playoffs. Whether or Vancouver ends up with 105 points or 115, the number will be just that: a number. What counts is how they play come springtime, and when that playoff roster is set, nobody is going to care whether those names have been there for ten months or for two.

Rasmus Worth Waiting For

Colby Rasmus is a unique player. The St. Louis Cardinals first round pick in 2005 has followed a complicated story line in the first part of his career; he came so far as being named the third best prospect in all of baseball in 2009 by Baseball America. After what seemed to be Rasmus’ breakout season in 2010 he looked to be on the verge of becoming a premier center fielder, batting .276 with 23 home runs at just 23 years old.

That all seems like decades ago now; since then he has fallen out of favour in St. Louis, due in part to a well-documented dispute with manager Tony LaRussa involving Rasmus’ father. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays on June 27, 2011, not even a year after his promising 2010 campaign. Up to that point his numbers had plummeted all around, shown by his OPS of .517 compared to his 2010 figure of .859.

Still, Colby Rasmus was a big-time talent, and the deal to get him sparked a ton of excitement among the Toronto faithful. The predominant feeling was that Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos had swindled the Cardinals out of a future face of the franchise.

The feeling didn’t last too long, though. In his first 35 games with Toronto, Rasmus hit a measly .173 with only three homers, before a wrist injury ended his season. In little more than a month, he had already worn out his welcome, and Blue Jays fans collectively gave up on Rasmus.

Not much has changed up until the end of May in 2012. Fans are still calling for a trade, claiming he will turn out to be nothing but a defensive specialist for his entire career. It has been quite the turnaround in terms of public perception of Rasmus, and quite the overreaction by Blue Jays nation.

His showing in 2012 has not been all that bad. A .717 OPS leaves a lot of room for improvement, to be sure, but he continues to show flashes of the hitter he once was and could be. There is definitely streakiness to his game, but when he is on, he is oh-so dangerous.

Rasmus has had a couple of these hot patches so far this season, where he seems to sting a hard line drive every single at bat, every single time he swings. He just gets in one of those grooves where you know he has a shot at taking any given pitcher deep whenever he steps up to the plate. When he goes on a tear, he is the biggest threat in the lineup.

Opposing managers know it, too. Rasmus has been intentionally walked more than anyone on the Blue Jays so far: four times already this season. That ties him for fourth in the American League in that aspect, surrounded on that list by names like Hamilton, Ortiz, Fielder, and Konerko. Rasmus’ stats are not even close to the numbers these guys have posted, but when he starts to feel it, he turns himself into a feared hitter.

Obviously he is prone to slumps, and when he falls into one, the parade of strikeouts and pop-ups can go on for weeks. At times it is downright painful to watch. The thing about Rasmus is when he does not contribute offensively; he finds a way to help win games with his defense. Usually when people hear this part of his game brought up, they roll their eyes and maintain that it does not make up for his lack of production at the plate.

It is true that defense alone will not be enough to stay in the lineup, but Rasmus’ playmaking at centre field is severely underrated. Throughout his career, especially this season, he has not only consistently avoided errors, but has shown the ability to be a game changer with his glove.

In 2012 he has already made several spectacular catches in the outfield, many of them at pivotal moments in the game. Rasmus has been at his best when it matters most: late in close ball games. These are not just plays that could have maybe shifted the momentum if he had not made them. He has laid out to keep go ahead runs off the board and to take walk-off singles away. He has provided defense with an impact.

Yes, the bat hasn’t come around the way the Blue Jays would have liked. The risk with Rasmus is undeniable; we knew that the day he arrived in Toronto. There is a chance that he never recaptures his 2010 form, and the Jays would have to look elsewhere for a starting centre fielder.

But if he does manage to hit his stride the same way he did two years ago, he will become an invaluable asset for the Blue Jays. Rasmus can win games so many ways: his defense is already one of them. If he finds his way at the plate, he could very easily be a 30-30 player not too far down the road.

When you have a guy with this much talent, this much potential, you have no choice but to wait on him. It makes no sense dealing him anyways, his trade value has gone down considerably; Toronto would not get anything significant back.

The Blue Jays might as well keep him until his one-year contract comes to an end. If he turns out to be a bust, let him go then. But if he starts to play to his star ability, you have to believe Anthopoulos will lock this guy up long term in a hurry. He would be crazy not to.

Guerrero Signs, Encarnacion Trade Looms

The Toronto Blue Jays’ signing of Vladimir Guerrero could be the first domino to fall in a potentially busy season for Alex Anthopoulos.

The 37-year-old was signed to a minor-league deal worth a pro-rated $1.3 million Thursday, and he is being evaluated by the club in extended spring training. If Guerrero can impress the Blue Jays’ management, he could earn a Major League spot as soon as early June.

With a man of this age, there are no guarantees that he will be able to make it this soon, or what kind of impact he would have if he does. The Jays do not have much money committed to Guerrero, so they would have no reservations about using him as a bench player. However, if he shows the brass enough to win their confidence early, he could find himself in the starting lineup not too far from now.

That scenario has one big question attached: who would he replace? Very significant, since anyone who loses their job would immediately be considered expendable. Any such player could theoretically be shipped out in exchange for the proven starting pitcher or the big bat the Blue Jays were rumoured to have been looking for this past winter.

In fact, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has reported that Anthopoulos has already talked to the Philadelphia Phillies about the availability of Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino. In other words, a proven starting pitcher and a big bat. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. fed the fire a little more, telling FOX that he is at least going to “keep all lines of communication open.”

All this has to be taken with a grain of salt, as all speculation must, but the recent chain of events make a convincing case that something is brewing in the Toronto front office. So this brings us back to wondering who would be dealt for these types of assets.

If Vladimir Guerrero turns out to still be a big league-calibre hitter, it would be a given that a current starter would be shipped out to make room. Since Vlad is no longer capable of playing any sort of defense, he would have to be slotted in as a DH, as he was last year in Baltimore, where he hit .290 with 13 home runs.

That leaves two options for the Jays: trade Lind and put Encarnacion at first base, or simply trade Encarnacion. With their body of work over the first month of the season, most people would assume Adam Lind gets the axe. A .190 batting average with just 3 homers has been a major disappointment for the Opening Day cleanup hitter. Actually, Lind is in a two-year slump, since he hit for a .932 OPS in 2009.

Aside from that, Edwin Encarnacion has hit absolutely everything in April, and he is hitting it hard. He has been far-and-away Toronto’s best hitter, surging to 10 homers in this young campaign. It would be unimaginable trading this guy now; Lind seems to be the blatantly obvious victim.

The thing is, Alex Anthopoulos has never done what is obvious.

Ever since he arrived in Toronto, Anthopoulos has preached his philosophy to “sell high, buy low.” He could see Edwin’s recent tear as his opportunity to get maximum value for the 29-year-old. Still, to get a guy like Hamels or Victorino, he would likely need to be packaged with additional talent, but the Blue Jays would be adding fewer assets than if Lind was the centrepiece.

Besides, Anthopoulos has publicly committed to Adam Lind. He believes that at 28 years old he can get back to his ’09 numbers, and he is willing to be patient with him. This might actually be interpreted by some as a ploy to keep his trade value up. The explanation would be plausible in other cases, but this organization has a history of backing up their word in these situations, the clearest example being Dustin McGowan.

Under these circumstances, in would be a shock if Adam Lind were traded, the only conceivable exception would be if Anthopoulos found an absolutely fantastic deal. Not likely. Taking nothing away from Edwin Encarnacion’s recent tear, his name makes enormously more sense in a potential trade. As tough as it will be for the Toronto front office and fans to let go of such a hot bat, watching a Cole Hamels-type pitcher in the rotation would go a long way to ease the pain.

Of course, all this is contingent on whether Vladimir Guerrero is still a Big League-calibre hitter. Much of that will depend on the kind of shape he has kept in his lengthened offseason. He will not have to beat Edwin’s numbers, which would be entirely unrealistic.

All he needs to do is show that he can minimize the offensive drawback without Encarnacion enough that gains from the bolstered pitching staff will outweigh the losses in the lineup, so the Blue Jays would come out a better team.

Honestly, the odds are Guerrero will not be able to give the Toronto Blue Jays quite that much freedom. He could just as easily become a bench player with sporadic starts. But for $1.3 million, the gamble is irresistible.