Plenty of job competition at Jays camp
DUNEDIN, FLA. — A few players have been working short days here for weeks, but on Sunday, the Blue Jays finally got around to the official sacraments of spring. Only one other team waited this long to summon their pitchers and catchers, but now, the annual sunshine stories begin, and on a day when the temperature was 27 C in Dunedin and -3 C in Toronto, Daniel Norris, Mark Buehrle and Brett Cecil were ready to oblige.
Norris has appeared in a mere five big-league games, but the media loves him because in winter, he looks like a lumberjack and sleeps in his 1978 van during his leisurely surfing trip that starts at his home in Johnson City, Tenn., and ends in Dunedin.
His winter beard is a glorious thing, and it helped him to land a modelling gig for a sporting-goods store in Johnson City as well as a story on NBC News. He wore the beard on the ball field since his mid-January arrival in Florida. But last Friday, he shaved it off, in keeping with his vow to low-key his personal life when baseball begins, as befits a rookie, and let his two-million-dollar left arm speak for itself.
Norris says he loves his solitude and privacy, but he is an obliging sort, and last Friday the media came calling again. Therefore, he agreed to perform a beard-shaving ceremony by his van, on a nearby beach, while a Sportsnet camera recorded his liberated whiskers wafting on a Gulf breeze. (The Sportsnet folks purchased the history-making clippers at a local supermarket.)
So on Monday, when Norris throws his first official bullpen session along with 15 other hurlers during the first formal workout for pitchers and catchers, his face will blend with the others. Teammates — and management — will be focused on his high-90s fastball.
Norris is only 21, but he will compete for a rotation spot during a training camp full of new faces, plenty of job competition, and, as usual, optimism that two-plus decades of futility will finally end for the Blue Jays.
Buehrle addressed that overview in a scrum. He is a 15-year veteran, turning 36 next month, who impishly insists he dislikes talking to the media. When he does, however, his talk is straight and often droll.
The opening question to him was a lob: How does he feel about the off-season roster changes engineered by general manager Alex Anthopoulos?
“I think Alex was trying to make a point of changing the clubhouse around, and I think he did that,” Buehrle replied.
He was asked whether he felt it was important to shake up the clubhouse culture, a media chestnut reheated often during the winter doldrums. He did not name names. But it does not seem a stretch to mention the November trades of Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie in this context, since their departures, along with free agent Colby Rasmus, were the most prominent.
“It seems like guys get comfortable in one spot,” Buehrle said. “I won’t say they don’t try, but (it might be helpful) just to change up the attitude and bring in some different guys. So, will it work out? Only time will tell.”
Last year, much was made of Buehrle’s rapport with catcher Dioner Navarro, who has been supplanted by Russell Martin, the Jays’ new Canadian icon renowned for his unerring guidance of pitching staffs. Navarro wants to catch, but probably will do so rarely unless he is traded.
He added he will not lobby for either catcher. He has had many. And for 14 consecutive years, he has managed to pitch at least 200 innings while winning 199 games.
Buehrle was blunt too when asked about another prominent spring storyline: Should the Jays use babyfaced phenom Aaron Sanchez as a starter (his preference) or closer (which is what he did exceedingly well late last season)?
“I can’t look at him and tell if he’s going to be able to last over a full season and go deep into games (as a starter),” Buehrle said. “You see what he did last year out of the bullpen. It’s kind of hard to picture moving him out of that. But that’s what we’re down here for. I’m just glad I’m not in the situation where I’ve got to make those decisions.”
Then he retreated to the clubhouse, leaving a hint about the timing of his next media session: “See you in a month.”
While many agree with Buehrle that Sanchez should be the closer, Cecil cast a vote for his own candidacy.
Since becoming a fulltime reliever two years ago, the left-handed Cecil has been dominant and equally effective against right-handed and left-handed batters. Occasionally in that period, when the newly departed Casey Janssen was unavailable, Cecil did well as a closer, logging six saves.
Now his sights are set on Janssen’s old job.
“Absolutely I want it,” he said. “I don’t think I necessarily have to prove anything. I mean, I can’t go out there and tank spring training, but I think they know I can do it.”
Sanchez wants to start. Cecil wants to close. Fans in Toronto back home want desperately to defrost. For those bent on baseball, Florida narratives occasionally hasten the thaw.