The Blue Jays have signed 37-year old righty reliever Octavio Dotel to a 1-year, $2.75 million dollar contract with a club option for 2012 that includes a $750,000 buyout. Dotel pitched in 68 games (0 starts) for the Pirates, Dodgers and Rockies last season and he was 3-4 with 22 saves, a 4.08 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has now pitched in 630 games (34 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 49-43 with 105 saves, a 3.75 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Dotel has only given up 669 hits in 834 1/3 innings this year while whiffing 1,015 hitters showing just how nasty he is. I think Dotel will be an improvement over Kevin Gregg as the Blue Jays’ closer in 2011.

Free agency wrecked the Blue Jays’ bullpen and they still have a need for a closer. Brian Fuentes & Octavio Dotel are both free agents the Blue Jays are likely very interested in. Either of them would be the frontrunner to close in 2011 for the Jays if signed. The Jays could also be on the hunt for a cheap reliever or two to compete for a job in the pen. Chad Qualls, Scot Shields, Todd Coffey, Chris Ray, Chad Durbin, Manny Delcarmen and Alfredo Aceves make sense from the right side. From the left side Ron Mahay,Will Ohman and Taylor Tankersley made sense because of their possible upsides.

The Blue Jays have signed 31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Corey Patterson to a minor league deal. Patterson played in 90 games for the Orioles last season and he was 83 of 308 (.269 avg, .721 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 8 homers, 32 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,097 games in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 962 of 3,803 (.253 avg, .696 OPS) with 522 runs scored, 112 homers, 395 RBIs and 205 stolen bases. Patterson will likely be the Blue Jays’ #4 outfielder in 2011 and I really like this signing for the Jays.

The Blue Jays have re-signed 29-year old lefty starter/reliever Sean Henn. Henn pitched in 38 games (9 starts) in AAA-ball for the Blue Jays last season and he was 3-4 with 2 saves, a 4.73 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. He also has pitched in 5 years in his major league career, working in 60 games (5 starts) in which he is 2-9 with a 7.56 ERA and a 2.01 WHIP. Sean Henn is damn lucky he’s a lefty or his career would have been over a long time ago.

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed 31-year old righty reliever Brian Stokes to a minor league deal. Stokes pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Angels last season and he was 0-0 with a 8.10 ERA and a 2.52 WHIP. He has now pitched in 173 games (5 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 6-11 with 1 save, a 5.27 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. Stokes has given up 254 hits and he has also walked 96 batters in only 206 2/3 innings so far this year. Stokes has a great right arm as he consistently pops the ball at 95 mph but until he starts throwing more strikes he isn’t going to help anyone. Maybe the Jays will be able to coach him up and I think it’s well worth a try.