Buffalo Boy's Blog

The Jays in the offseason had one goal at the catching position, that was to find a worthy backup. The have themselves a couple of options on the roster and in the minors and were pretty successful in finding a guy to compete with Rod Barajas.

The Jays signed Michael Barrett who is still just 32 years old and has had a few injury plagued and down seasons but still capable of leading a team behind the plate. His best seasons so far were three straight years with the Chicago Cubs from 2004-2006 when he hit 16 home runs in each of those seasons.

Behind Rod Barajas and Barrett the Jays have the young JP Arencibia, however it would take a tragic circumstance to see him up in the big leagues for any significant period of time this season. Between Barrett and Barajas you have two guys who have 20 HR potential should one stand out and take most of the playing time while the other provides more than adequate services as a backup.

Barrett could become yet another player and probably the last player to play for both the Jays and the Expos if he breaks camp and has a successful spring. Ill have to see if I can find the full list of players who have done just that. I know Barrett is at least the second catcher to have played for both, the first being Darrin Fletcher.

Next week I will tackle the corner infield slots as we preview the Jays in 2009.