Blue Jays position primer: the shoo-ins, hopefuls, and long shots

DUNEDIN, Fla. – For a team considered to be a postseason contender, the Toronto Blue Jays have a lot of questions still to be answered this spring. A combination of new faces, injuries, and depth – or lack thereof – means there are numerous battles taking place this spring.

The Blue Jays opened spring training more than a week ago but the task of whittling down to a 25-man roster really begins Tuesday with the beginning of the Grapefruit League schedule. With so many positions on the team still up for grabs, here’s a look at the shoo-ins, hopefuls, and long shots at every position.

Catcher: The Blue Jays brought in Russell Martin to be the everyday catcher. He’s a three-time All Star and has averaged 129 games a year over his career. But the position isn’t without question marks. Dioner Navarro, last year’s starter, is still here and eager for playing time. Last week he made it known he would like to be traded somewhere he could play more. He will relieve Martin when he needs a rest and will also DH until he’s inevitably traded.

Then there’s Josh Thole. He’s been R.A. Dickey’s personal catcher since 2010, but outside of that doesn’t offer much. He’s been in the negative in WAR the last two seasons in Toronto. Martin wants to catch Dickey and has been working with him so far in spring training. The Blue Jays carried three catchers on their roster for much of last season. If Martin can handle Dickey – and Dickey trusts him – there won’t be much need for Thole.

“I feel like I can do it and as long as Dickey is comfortable out there on the mound, that’s what is most important,” Martin said. “Hopefully he’s OK with the way I’m handling him right now.”

First base: In 2014, seven different players made at least three starts at first for the Jays. Expect a similar rotating cast in 2015. Edwin Encarnacion will likely see the most time there, as he did last year, but he’s aging and missed 33 games last year with a quadriceps injury. He will take plenty of breaks and DH.

Justin Smoak, Daric Barton, Dayan Viciedo, and perhaps Danny Valencia will battle for time there too. Smoak was signed as a free agent, and Barton is a non-roster invite and there may only be room on the roster for one of them. Barton has been up and down with the Athletics his entire career and is a better defensive player than offensive. Smoak is a former highly-touted prospect who is now with his third team at 28. He’s a career .224/.309/.380 hitter and -4.9 dWAR.

Viciedo is a wild card. The Blue Jays signed him on Sunday to a minor-league deal to add depth to the outfield with Michael Saunders injured. But general manager Alex Anthopoulos said he will get a look at first base as well. He has played just 72 innings at first base in his career.

Valencia is a near-lock to be on the final 25-man roster thanks to his ability to play as many as four different positions.

Second base: It’s a mess. There are as many as five players in camp who could conceivably open the season on the roster. Manager John Gibbons admitted as much. “Second base is up in the air,” he said.

Pop quiz: Who played the most innings at second base for the Blue Jays in 2014? It was Munenori Kawasaki, he of the career .235 average and 1.4 career WAR. He’s back in camp in 2015 as a non-roster invite and battling for the job. Also in the discussion are Ryan Goins and Steve Tolleson who were both among the seven different players who saw time at second in 2014. Neither offered much offensively but are solid defensively, especially Goins.

And there’s Maicer Izturis. The 34 year old is in the last of a three-year deal that pays him $3 million a year. He’s also coming off a knee injury that caused him to miss 149 games last year. When he played regularly in 2013 he was below replacement-level offensively and defensively. But because of his age and contract status he’ll likely earn a roster spot.

Finally, there’s Devon Travis, the 24-year-old prospect acquired in November in a trade with the Tigers. He has not yet seen the big leagues but was rated the Tigers’ No. 1 prospect.

“We want to see Travis,” Gibbons said. “We want to see what he is going into spring training. He could come into spring training and win the job, if not he'll go to AAA.”

Travis is an intriguing prospect but with no major-league experience and with options, seems destined for the minors at least to begin the season. There are no easy answers and no sure things at second base. Expect another revolving door of players in 2015.

Shortstop

: It’s still Jose Reyes’ to lose. Reyes was mostly healthy in 2014 and started 141 games at short. He will be penciled in as the everyday shortstop and leadoff hitter. He is, however, beginning to decline both offensively and defensively. His on-base percentage in 2014 was the third lowest of his career, and he posted a -16 in Defensive Runs Saved – a metric that measures the number of runs a player was worth. Goins will see time at shortstop during spring training and could fill in defensively. Gibbons said they may look to give Reyes extra days off in 2015.

Given the mess at second base and Reyes' declining range, the middle of the infield could be a problem.

Third base:  Josh Donaldson was acquired from the Athletics in November for Brett Lawrie and he is one of the best in the game. He was an All-Star in 2014 and finished eighth in MVP voting. He was third in the AL in defensive WAR in 2014, second in putouts, first in assists and first in range factor. He’s also durable, having played in 158 games in each of the last two seasons.

Left field: It belonged to Saunders until he got hurt during the first week of spring training. Now the position is very much in flux. Anthopoulos said there would be an internal competition for the job then also brought in former White Sox left fielder Viciedo. Viciedo has power, but strikes out a lot and is a liability defensively.

Kevin Pillar could be the front-runner, despite limited big-league experience. He’s a decent defender who has split his minor-league time almost evenly between centre and left. He has only 218 major-league at-bats but has hit well at every minor-league level.

Journeymen Ezequiel Carrera, Chris Dickerson, and Caleb Gindl are all in camp as non-roster invites. It’s possible one of them could steal the job.

After successful surgery Saunders is expected to return much earlier than initially expected. Whoever starts in left on Opening Day may just be keeping it warm for April.

Centre field: Put Dalton Pompey’s name here in pencil. All signs point to the 22-year-old starting the season as the everyday centre fielder but a poor spring or start to the season could force the Blue Jays’ hand. Things are a little murkier with Saunders out to start the season, but depending on how things in left field shake out someone like Pillar could take Pompey’s job in centre. Saunders has started 238 games in centre and could also do the job whenever he returns. But Pompey being able to hold his own in the big leagues would help address their outfield depth issues.          

Right field: When healthy, Jose Bautista is as sure a thing as the Blue Jays have. He’s perennial MVP candidate and has averaged 37 home runs a year since 2010. He started 125 games in right field in 2014.

Starting rotation: There’s only one spot up for grabs but it will make for an intriguing race. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Marcus Stroman, and Drew Hutchison, in no particular order, will take the first four spots. The fifth spot is anyone’s at this point.

Aaron Sanchez is being stretched out – and starting the first spring game Tuesday against the Pirates – but is very much in limbo. Depending how things go he could also be destined for the bullpen. Another rotation-bullpen ‘tweener is Marco Estrada. Acquired from the Brewers for Adam Lind, he will compete for a rotation spot but can default to the bullpen if someone else wins the job.

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That “someone else” could come down to two players at opposite ends of their career. Daniel Norris, 21, is the Blue Jays' No. 1-rated prospect. He made his major-league debut last September, pitched only 6.2 innings, but many believe he’s major-league ready. The other is Johan Santana. The 35-year-old was signed to a minor-league deal last week. He is a two-time Cy Young winner but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2012 due to several injuries. He won’t be ready to go before Opening Day but could work his way into the rotation sometime in April.

Bullpen: There are seven or eight jobs to be had and only two or three sure things. Brett Cecil and Aaron Loup will be on the Opening Day roster. If Sanchez isn’t in the rotation, he will join them. Expect one of Cecil or Sanchez to be the closer, according to Gibbons and Anthopoulos.

That leaves four or five jobs to be snatched up from a large group consisting of the likes of Todd Redmond, Chad Jenkins, Steve Delabar, Preston Guilmet, Matt West, Miguel Castro, Ryan Tepera, Kyle Drabek, Rob Rasmussen, and Estrada and Norris, if not in the rotation.

Redmond and Jenkins are front runners as righties to compliment the lefties Cecil and Loup. After that, it’s wide open.

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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at denomme@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter.