It’s that time of year again! The 26-Man Roster Challenge is a go for launch once again. Many thanks in advance to all of you who still take the time to play with us. We just cannot seem to give this thing up.
For those who don’t know, the 26-Man Roster Challenge is
a super simple game that has but one requirement: Name the 26 baseball players
within the Blue Jays organization who you think will crack the opening day
roster.
Sounds easy, right? Well, it really and truly isn’t. If
you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:
1.
Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com
2.
Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.
3.
Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we
post later.
4.
Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW
In the event of a tie—and, at this point, it's pretty
much a given that there will be a tie—we ask that you also give us a prediction
of what you think the spring training record will be for the boys in baby blue.
From what we can see, it appears as though your Toronto Blue Jays will attempt
to play 30 spring training games this year. Don't forget that sometimes it
rains and the games are not generally made up if they are cancelled. There is
also a chance that if a game goes to extra innings and one team runs out of
pitchers, both teams agree that the game ends in a tie.
It is not a requirement that you select a tie breaker—all
ballots containing 26 names on it will be considered valid—but it is a very
good idea that you do include one; over the years we've had numerous
stupid-close finishes and actually had to break it right down to winning percentage.
We have only had three outright winners in 14 years.
Some things to consider:
Our rotation looks pretty decent all of a sudden with the
addition of crazy eyes, doesn’t it? Moving the Cuban to the bullpen should help
with the depth there, however there should be at least a spot or two up for
grabs in low leverage.
Ernie Clement, Tommy Nance and Tyler Heineman
are all on the 40-man roster and out of options; they need to head north
with the team or risk being lost on waivers. None of those players are even
remotely game breakers (sorry to all seven Clement supporters out there) and
probably haven’t earned a spot based on performance, but anyone who has
rosterbated with us before knows all too well that rarely is the choosing of
the 26th man based on performance.
Varsho is banged up still and will probably stay behind
in Florida to finish up his rehab/get some reps. That should open up an OF
spot, but whomever it is needs to be able to play CF. We can’t let Gorgeous
George anywhere near that spot ever again.
As always, the dreaded
NRI/minor-league-deal-with-an-invite-to-spring-training needs to
be mentioned and considered. Key off-season acquisition Myles Straw
is on this list, as if we didn’t already have enough 4th OF
types clinging around already.
It’s worth noting that former champion, friend of the
site and all around decent human, Jimmy Triggs, drew our attention to the official MLB roster rules. They state
that there must be at least an even 13/13 split between hitters and pitchers,
so you’re looking at an 8-man pen and a traditional 4-man bench.
If you have been keeping a list of potential roster
candidates for your ballot at home—we can’t be the only ones who do
this—you will know that there is a dead spot at 3B, and there are a few
interesting kids that could break through there if given everyday AB’s.
All that being said, there are still a few impact players
on the open market, primarily represented by Dick McNuts. We much preferred
when The Beast just told Boras to piss off and go elsewhere rather than being “linked” “used,”
followed by the predictable outcry that ensues from the spurned fan base.
Prizes:
Get your bobblehead on!
Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this
year. We are still searching for the elusive perfect ballot; it would be swell
if this were the year!
Please include a team name
and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker. The deadline to
submit ballots is February 12th @ 11:59PM EST.
