The Blue Jays have placed 30-year old righty starting pitcher Scott Richmond on the 60-day disabled list. Richmond pitched in 27 games (24 starts) for the Blue Jays last season and he was 8-11 with a 5.52 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Richmond has pitched in 32 games (29 starts) in his two years with the Jays and he is 9-14 with a 5.27 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. The Blue Jays will take their time with Richmond as they have a lot of candidates for the starting rotation in spring training.

The Blue Jays have claimed 26-year old righty reliever Casey Fien off waivers from the Boston Red Sox. Fien pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. He also pitched in 42 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season in which he was 2-1 with 14 saves, a 3.41 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Fien has a good arm so it was worth the risk for the Blue Jays to take a chance on him.

32-year old righty swinging Randy Ruiz and 26-year old righty swinging Brian Dopirak will likely battle for the DH job in spring training. Ruiz has the edge based on how well he hit for the Blue Jays at the end of the 2009 season. Ruiz played in 33 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 36 for 115 (.313 avg, 1.019 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 10 homers and 17 RBIs. Ruiz also had a strong season in AAA last year as he played in 114 games in which he was 148 for 462 (.320 avg, .976 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 25 homers and 106 RBIs. Ruiz was finally rewarded last September for a solid minor league career. Ruiz has played in 1,088 games in his minor league career and he is 1,249 of 4,103 (.304 avg, .909 OPS) with 685 runs scored, 192 homers and 807 RBIs.

Brian Dopirak has yet to play in the major leagues but that should change this season. He played in 139 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 173 for 546 (.317 avg, .921 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 27 homers and 102 RBIs. Dopirak has now played in 795 games in his minor league career and he is 855 for 3,346 (.281 avg, .826 OPS) with 416 runs scored, 145 homers and 543 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DH IN 2010: C

The Blue Jays have placed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Jesse Litsch on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the roster for Jose Molina. Litsch is still recovering from Tommy John Surgery that ruined his 2009 season. He pitched in 2 games (both starts) last season for the Blue Jays and he was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Litsch has now pitched in 51 games (50 starts) in his major league career and he is 20-19 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Blue Jays are going to take their time with Litsch in his recovery as he is a solid pitcher when healthy.

The Blue Jays have signed 34-year old righty swinging Jose Molina to a 1-year, non-guaranteed contract. His contract will pay him $800,000 bucks if he makes the Blue Jays and the team has a club option for the 2011 season worth $1.2 million bucks. Molina played in 52 games for the Yankees last season and he was 30 for 138 (.217 avg, .560 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs. He has now played in 554 games in his major league career and he is 341 for 1,449 (.235 avg, .609 OPS) with 151 runs scored, 20 homers and 136 RBIs. Molina will battle Raul Chavez for the backup catcher job in spring training. It doesn’t hurt to bring in a veteran catcher to battle for a job in spring training.