Something has to happen soon right? At this rate there's going to be some decisions that boil down to choosing the lesser of two evils in this upcoming season for the Blue Jays, especially if no other players are added to the team. It's time to decide which choices you'd like to see made!
Would you rather have Ryan Goins or Maicer Izturis start the majority of games at second base?
Unless Stephen Drew signs with the Blue Jays, the team is going to be starting either Goins or Izturis at the '4' spot and there's a chance it's doesn't end up going too well. Personally the choice is easy, Goins is young and will be with Toronto for a long time if things go according to plan. There's the obvious need for a suitable platoon if he continues to struggle with left-handed pitching, but I'd rather he sees the most playing time in 2014.
Would you rather have A.J. Jimenez or Josh Thole/Erik Kratz as the second catcher on the roster by mid-summer?
Eventually A.J. Jimenez is going to be healthy enough to make his big league debut in 2014. It may come in September, but it may also be an option that comes up sometime during the summer months. The big issue is having someone who can catch R.A. Dickey, but you'd have to think that with two solid defensive catchers in Jimenez and Dioner Navarro, one of them could manage the knuckleball after a fair amount of practice time during Spring Training. If Navarro is struggling during the summer and Jimenez is producing and staying healthy in Buffalo, then I'd rather he was called up and received the majority of playing time behind the plate. Eventually the team is going to have to decide whether he is the catcher of the future and the team wouldn't be missing much if Navarro was shifted to a back-up role.
Would you rather break camp with four bench players or eight relievers?
Thanks to MjwW's handy options guide from earlier this offseason we can see that there's a ton of Blue Jays pitchers who are at risk of being lost if they don't break camp with the big league team at the end of March. Included in this list are Jeremy Jeffress, Luis Perez, Todd Remond, and Esmil Rogers, who all run the risk of being claimed by another team if they don't make the 25-man roster. In terms of bench players, Moises Sierra is out of options so the team also runs the risk of losing the outfielder/first baseman if he is sent down to Buffalo to start the season. I don't have an answer for this one right now and I think I'd just rather wait and see what happens between now and the end of Spring Training. It's likely a few of the pitchers are hurt and the whole bullpen situation sorts itself out, considering they are the Blue Jays after all.
Would you rather start the clock on Marcus Stroman or wait until July to call him up?
Pretty straight forward options here, either have Marcus Stroman break camp with Toronto with the assumption that he stays on the 25-man roster all year or wait until July to call him up, avoiding all the service time and super-two issues. I don't think it's worth it to think of the financial implications of an early debut if there is a clear need on the team for Stroman and it sounds from various interviews that Alex Anthopoulos agrees. Mind you, if the team has a solid rotation with no immediate need for the Duke product, then it seems wise to hold Stroman down in Buffalo until the super-two cutoff to avoid having four arbitration years instead of the normal three.
What would you folks prefer?