The Blue Jays have signed veteran outfielder Shannon Stewart to a minor league contract. He’s almost a lock to make the team and he will likely compete with Reed Johnson and Matt Stairs for playing time in left field. Stewart played in 146 games last season for the A’s and he was 167 for 576 (.290 avg, .739 OPS) with 79 runs scored, 12 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Stewart has now played in 1,334 games in his major league career and he is 1,611 for 5,399 (.298 avg, .796 OPS) with 839 runs scored, 114 homers, 566 RBIs and 193 stolen bases. This was an excellent low risk/high reward signing for the Blue Jays as Stewart is still a good baseball player.

The Blue Jays figured that they wanted more depth in the infield and that they wanted to improve the left side offensively. With that in mind the Blue Jays added Scott Rolen, David Eckstein and Marco Scutaro to man that side of the infield. Acquiring Rolen for Glaus will likely be a push if both players stay healthy. Glaus has more power than Rolen, but Rolen is the better overall hitter and he’s a much better defender. David Eckstein doesn’t have the greatest arm from the shortstop hole but he’s a pesky little hitter that works the pitcher hard. Marco Scutaro was brought in from the A’s for a couple of throwaway minor league pitchers. He can backup everywhere but 1B, C and CF. Catcher Rod Barajas gives the Blue Jays a veteran behind the plate with some power to split time with Gregg Zaun and keep him fresh. The Jays brought in some pitchers to provide organizational depth in the bullpen such as lefty John Parrish and righties Shawn Camp and Lance Carter.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE FOR OFF SEASON: C

The Blue Jays have four catchers on their roster with major league experience but not one of them is a standout player. 35-year old Gregg Zaun will likely get more than half of the playing time for the Blue Jays behind the plate this season. Zaun only threw out 14% of the batters that tried to steal against him last season but Blue Jays pitchers’ had a 3.55 ERA with him behind the plate and that’s the reason he’s the starter. Zaun is a .252 career hitter (.732 OPS) with modest power so don’t expect stellar numbers out of him behind the plate. 32 year old righty swinging Rod Barajas has been signed to split time with Zaun this season. Barajas has a stronger arm than Zaun and he’s got more power….but he has holes in his swing as evidenced by his career batting average of .239. 25-year old righty swinging Curtis Thigpen might be the Jays catcher of the future but he looked overmatched at the plate as a rookie as he hit .238 with a .581 OPS. 36 year old righty swinging Sal Fasano will likely be in AAA unless the Blue Jays suffer some injuries ahead of him. He hits a homer once in a while but he’s only a career .219 avg.

PREDICTED GRADE FOR 2008 SEASON: C-