Anthony Alford is one of few Blue Jays capable of shaking things up

For a team in a rebuilding mode, the Toronto Blue Jays have a relatively set roster that skews veteran. Normally a team in this position is running out more young players, or at the very least leaving more open competition.

As of Thursday the rotation is set with only Ryan Borucki representing the Blue Jays’ next wave surrounded by four established guys with a combined age of 120, but just seven years of team control between them. The next guy to join that group when he’s ready is 34-year-old Clay Buchholz. You can also pencil in experienced regulars at first base (Justin Smoak), shortstop (Freddy Galvis), DH (Kendrys Morales), centre field (Kevin Pillar), and right field (Randal Grichuk).

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., placeholder Brandon Drury, and the Teoscar Hernandez-Billy McKinney duo are all 25 or older. Each engenders their own level of optimism, but it would be hard to have much confidence in any of them being core players going forward. The only true blue-chip young gun is Danny Jansen behind the plate. That changes when a certain 20-year-old makes his long-awaited arrival, but the youth-quake isn’t exactly nigh. Nor is there much instability here. Prior to Devon Travis’s knee issues there was something of a middle-infield glut, but now everything fits neatly.

The bullpen bears mentioning here as well, to be fair. Rule 5 pick Elvis Luciano could stick around and not pitch much, and David Paulino has a shot, but by and large it will be filled with guys like Ken Giles, Ryan Tepera, Bud Norris, David Phelps and John Axford, who have been around the block.

None of this is a criticism in and of itself. There’s wisdom in carrying a team with a large contingent of veterans on expiring contracts (Smoak, Morales, Norris, Axford, Richard, Buchholz), contract year players with team options (Phelps and Galvis), and guys just two years from free agency (Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Matt Shoemaker, Pillar, Grichuk). A team like that has a lot of trade chips to play with come deadline time, and few long-term payroll commitments. It’s not necessarily a bad place to be.

What it does limit, though, is early-season intrigue. Until the Blue Jays start offloading players left, right, and centre, midway through the season, they look fairly stable. Injuries will undoubtedly force some moves, but it doesn’t look like there are jobs to be seized. Anthony Alford might have something to say about that, though.

There are plenty of things not to like about Alford. He’s nearly 25 and hasn’t broken through. His career line at Triple-A is an unimpressive .243/.314/.346 in 108 games. He seems to be unlucky with injuries.

Even so, Alford’s raw athleticism remains extremely impressive and he’s turning heads at spring training with a .308/.379/.808 line and four home runs in 28 Grapefruit League plate appearances. It’s not smart to go overboard with those stats, but considering Alford hit just five round trippers in 442 plate appearances last year, it’s noteworthy to see him channel his physical strength into game power.

His performance has not been lost on observers as his name cropped up in a Baseball America piece entitled “MLB Scouts Identify 15 Players Primed To Take A Step Forward In 2019″ on Wednesday. Although I’m not a content pirate who would rip things from behind a payroll, I can assure you words like “he looks insanely good” and “if I were Teoscar Hernandez, I’d be worried” were used.

That last point is particularly pertinent. The Hernandez/McKinney left field timeshare could be one of the weak spots on the team, despite the former’s ability to absolutely mash the ball and the fact the latter has caught Charlie Montoyo’s eye as a leadoff type. Neither player has the potential impact of Alford if the former football player reaches his ceiling. That’s an “if” that looked absolutely enormous following the 2018 season, but could be shrinking slightly.

“Could” is the operative word here, and it has been in so many discussions about Alford. To this point his abilities have been far more tantalizing than his production, which is a bit scary for a guy his age. Considering his non-traditional development curve he’s also the kind of player who could have an “aha” moment at any time.

Perhaps we’ll look back at this impressive spring in future years as the moment Alford turned the corner. Perhaps he’ll be almost 26 and seen as a former prospect still hoping to make an impact. Either outcome is equally possible. But on a Blue Jays team where opportunities are surprisingly hard to come by, Alford might have the best chance to be the surprise breakout player who establishes himself as part of the future core.

Not only is there no certainty here, no projection system in town would tell you to bet on Alford right now. Yet the “could” remains — something that his future manager knows well:

“He’s got the tools, so why not? It’s not the same when somebody doesn’t have the tools, but Anthony’s got them. He’s got a chance.”

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