The Blue Jays have released lefty starting pitcher Mike Maroth and righty reliever Rick Bauer. Maroth pitched in only 1 game for the Blue Jays this spring and he was 0-1 with a 31.50 ERA and a 3.75 WHIP. Bauer pitched in 4 games for the Jays this spring and he wasn’t much better going 0-0 with a 11.57 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP. The Blue Jays won’t miss either of these guys in 2009 or the future.

The Blue Jays have traded 25-year old righty swinging catcher Curtis Thigpen to the A’s for either a player to be named later or cash. He played in 10 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .616 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. Thigpen has now played in 57 games in his major league career and he is 27 for 118 (.229 avg, .586 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Blue Jays shouldn’t miss Thigpen too much as he hasn’t shown them anything to this point to think otherwise.

28-year old righty swinging Alex Rios finally had his breakout season for the Blue Jays in 2008 and the team hopes it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Rios played in 155 games for the Blue Jays last season in which he was 185 for 635 (.291 avg, .798 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 15 homers, 79 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. Rios showed below average range in RF while only making 1 error in 93 games there. Look for Rios to improve on defense while still swinging a hot stick in 2009.

32-year old righty swinging Jason Lane will likely be Rios’ backup due to the great spring that he is having. Lane played in 110 games in AAA ball last season in which he was 93 for 400 (.233 avg, .775 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 18 homers and 60 RBIs. Lane has played in 497 games in his major league career whacking 61 homers so he could help out the Jays in 2009.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B+

30-year old righty swinging Vernon Wells was banged up all season in 2008 and he’s already hurting in spring training. Wells played in 108 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 128 for 427 (.300 avg, .839 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 20 homers and 78 RBIs. His range was also pretty poor last season but that could have been the injury problems as he’s usually pretty good in the field. Wells only made 3 errors in 100 games in CF for the Jays last season.

If Vernon Wells gets injured again Alex Rios would shift to CF from RF. Rios played in 62 games in CF last season making 3 errors while showing good range. He also had a amazing 10 assists while playing CF which will likely be his position for the Blue Jays down the road.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B

21-year old lefty swinging Travis Snider is the #1 prospect in the Blue Jays’ system according to Baseball America and he’ll get a chance to show what he can do in 2009 as the starting LF. Snider played in 24 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 22 for 73 (.301 avg, .804 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers and 17 RBIs. He didn’t make any errors in LF last season but he showed pretty poor range. Snider also played in 133 games in A+AA+AAA ball last season in which he was 134 for 487 (.275 avg, .838 OPS) with 89 runs scored, 23 homers and 91 RBIs. His only problem was a big one…..whiffs….154 of them.

If Snider isn’t ready the Blue Jays would likely play Adam Lind in LF. Lind played in 71 games in LF last season for the Blue Jays and he didn’t make any errors while also showing poor range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C