Breaking 100 mill, and who's the 5th man?

A $100 million dollar payroll is really not a huge deal, but when it comes to the Blue Jays - it is.

If the team agrees to the purposed Rios deal, it will send the 2008 payroll to over $100 million for the first time in franchise history. It’s no big surprise though, with the amount of monster contracts that are signed these days, and inflation over the years. Compared to the Yankees $216 million payroll, $100 million doesn’t really seem like that much.

Onto more pressing issues; the big question these past few weeks has been “Who will be the 5^th starter?”. We already know the first four starters will be Halladay, Burnett, Marcum and McGowan - but who will join the starting rotation?

It seems to be the battle between Litsch, Janssen and Chacin. At this point, it seems like a tossup between Litsch and Janssen. I don’t know how Janssen will transition from the bullpen back to the starting rotation. I think he’s better as a setup man, but I can see why management wants to move him into a starting role. Though, I like Litsch; his 7-9 record last season was impressive for a rookie, and I think given the chance - he could pitch some great baseball this year. I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll hand the spot to Chacin; he’s prone to injury, and is a spotty pitcher at best. I’d keep him on the roster until someone else goes on the DL.

Mad props to the guys at the Drunk Jays Fans for giving me a shout out in their latest post. These guys are hilarious, and despite the massive quantities of liquor they consume before, during and after Jays games, their posts are quite insightful. Nothing like a mickey of Screech to make the Jays games more interesting!