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.

27-year old righty swinging Edwin Encarnacion will be back at 3B for the Blue Jays in 2010. He played in 85 games for the Blue Jays and Reds last season and he was 66 for 293 (.225 avg, .730 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 13 homers and 39 RBIs. The Blue Jays really hope that Encarnacion hits more to his career norms of .260 with a .789 OPS. The Blue Jays would also like Encarnacion to tighten up his defense in 2010. He played in 85 games at 3B last season for the Reds & Blue Jays and he made 11 errors in only 85 games there while showing below average range.

29-year old righty swinging Jose Bautista will be the Blue Jays’ backup 3B and 4th outfielder for the Jays this season. He played in 26 games at 3B for the Jays last season and he made 3 errors there while showing good range. If something happened to Encarnacion, Bautista would likely take over as the starter at the hot corner.

35-year old righty swinging John McDonald didn’t look too comfortable in 10 games at 3B for the Blue Jays last season as he made 2 errors while showing poor range. His bat would be a liability if he had to play too much at 3B for the Jays in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2010: C-

The Blue Jays signed 33-year old righty swinging Alex Gonzalez to start at shortstop in 2010. He played in 112 games for the Reds and Red Sox last season and he was 93 for 391 (.238 avg, .634 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 8 homers and 41 RBIs. Gonzalez has random power and if he gets enough at bats he will likely hit around 15 homers and hopefully hit around .250. Gonzalez made 7 errors in 112 games at shortstop last season but he showed pretty poor range. He still makes a highlight reel play once in a while but overall he’s starting to fade a bit defensively.

35-year old righty swinging John McDonald will be the backup shortstop again in 2010. If the Blue Jays were smart they would have just let him start and spent the money they used on Gonzalez somewhere else. McDonald played in 73 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 39 for 151 (.258 avg, .655 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs. McDonald is a wizard with the mitt at shortstop. He played in 33 games at shortstop for the Blue Jays last season and he only made 1 error while showing off out of this world range. I have little doubt that if McDonald could have just hit well enough to start at shortstop that he would have won multiple Gold Gloves at the position.

GRADE FOR THE SS IN 2010: C-