Toronto - A Great Opportunity for the Pirates?

By Kipper @pghsportsforum
Toronto made the trade for RA Dickey, so they now have a Rotation of
  • RA Dickey
  • Josh Johnson
  • Mark Buerle
  • Brandon Morrow
  • Ricky Romero

Who is out in the cold?
  • Kyle Drabek, RHSP
  • JA Happ, LHSP
  • Henderson Alvarez, RHSP

Who is their Closer? A journeyman reliever by the name of Casey Jannsen had 22 Saves in 25 Save Opps - fairly decent for his first real opportunity to be a Closer at age 31 after a number of years in the bullpen. I do not have a lot of familiarity with the Jays, and the fans in Toronto probably do not either since the trades with the Marlins and the Mets, but I am sure they did not pay for all of this talent to leave an inexperienced journeyman reliever to Close games for them. Hanrahan would be a perfect fit, and if I had my pick of Drabek, Happ, or Alvarez, I would probably go for Alvarez - very young (22) and started 31 games for Toronto last year. Happ is a guy I loved when he was in the Philly system, but after being their best pitcher, they traded him to Houston for Oswalt. He is now 30 and still throws downward from 6'6" and gets it up in the mid 90's with ease. He would be a solid #3 under control for 2 more years, and the Jays picked him up from Houston late in 2012. The Jays also have a young SS named Adeiny Hechavarria (23) who can really pick it, and has had some solid years in the minors with the bat - maybe .320 at AAA last year?