Back to the Future: Blue Jays Edition

I blame this cheesy movie trilogy which has been on the tube the last couple of weeks and as a result I have been thinking quite a bit about what your Toronto Blue Jays will look like entering the year 2015.

I am basing this list on the following assumption: Players who were 18 or younger on June 5 preceding the signing of their first contract must be protected on the 40 man roster after five minor league seasons. Players 19 and older must be protected after four seasons.

My futuristic 40 man roster looks a little something like this:

Pitchers:

Ricky Romero
Kyle Drabek
Brett Cecil
Zach Stewart
Marc Rzepczynski
Brad Mills
Robert Ray 
David Purcey
Josh Roenicke
Luis Perez
Joel Carreno
Deck McGuire
Henderson Alvarez
Asher Wojciechowski
Chad Jenkins
Matt Daly
Alan Farina
Drew Hutchison
Dayton Marze
Griffin Murphy
Sean Nolin 
Nicholas Purdy
Deivy Estrada
Drew Permison

Catchers:

J.P. Arencibia
Travis d'Arnaud
Carlos Perez
A.J. Jimenez

Infielders:

Mike McDade
Adeiny Hechavarria
Brett Lawrie
Gustavo Pierre
John Tolisano 

Outfielders:

Anthony Gose
Travis Snider
Jake Marisnick
Darin Mastroianni
Eric Thames
Marcus Knecht
Michael Crouse

A few things to consider:

I have to assume the following guys were either lost to free agency or traded during the 2013-2014 seasons.

• Jose Bautista
• Adam Lind
• Aaron Hill
• Rajai Davis
• Yunel Escobar
• Brandon Morrow
• Jesse Litsch
• Scott Richmond
• Jo-Jo Reyes
• Carlos Villanueva
• Casey Janssen

Naturally, we could re-sign or extend any of them. It is also fair to assume that if we traded a couple of these guys then we would have possibly got players in return that would need to be on the 40 man. I can't account for that. Sorry.

There is a shit load of fringy type guys that need to be added to the 40 man by the start of the 2013 season. In 2015 they would most likely be in their final option year. I don't think these guys will make it that far but they could always turn it around in 2011 or 2012.

• Kevin Ahrens
• Justin Jackson
• Eric Eiland
• David Cooper

These are the players that need to be added by the start of the 2014 season. They would still probably have 2 option years left entering 2015.

• Kenny Wilson
• Markus Brisker
• Ryan Goins
• Ryan Schimpf
• Sean Ochinko
• Yan Gomes

Entering final year of contract: Ricky Romero making $7.5 million with an option for 2016 at $13.1 million. He is the only player currently under contract for the 2015 season.

Entering final year of team control before being eligible for free agency: Travis Snider*, Brett Cecil (not 100% sure on this one), David Purcey, Adeiny Hechavarria. These guys would be considered bait.

*I'm wondering if him being optioned to New Hampshire for 2 weeks in July after his wrist injury rehab was completed will push this date back to 2016.

Samuel Dyson is an interesting case. Technically he would need to be on the 40 man roster to start the 2015 season. However, it is rumored that he needs/had Tommy John surgery and will miss at least a year to recover. I believe the braintrust can ask the commissioners office for an exemption and thereby receive another year of team control. I am not positive on this. Perhaps someone out there is.

My projected 40 man roster is same as the current Blue Jays 2011 roster breakdown, which is 24 pitchers / 16 position players. I acknowledge my roster is without a DH and a little crowded at catcher and in the OF. It's called depth. It's a good thing.

The following 2010 high school draftees would not yet need to be on the 40 man roster in the year 2015, so for the purposes of this list they won't be.

• Dickie Thon Jr
• Chris Hawkins
• Kellen Sweeny
• Aaron Sanchez
• Noah Syndergaard
• Justin Nicolino
• Mitchell Taylor
• Shane Opitz
• Brandon Mims

I'm also fairly confident international free agents Gabriel Cenas, Adonis Cardona and Jairo Labour are not required to be on there just yet either.

We will probably select a player in the 2011 Amateur Draft that can move through the system in under 3 and a half seasons and jump right on the 25 man roster. A junior or senior from a division 1 college a la Deck McGuire. That window narrows considerably in the 2012 Amateur Draft.

Now if only I could get my hands on a Grays Sports Almanac, I may be able to tell you if this collection of players is good enough to make the playoffs in the 2011 to 2015 time frame.