The Blue Jays have placed backup outfielder Corey Patterson on the 15-day disabled list and they have placed lefty reliever Jesse Carlson on the 60-day D.L. to start the 2011 season. Patterson has a mild concussion, so the Blue Jays hope to have him back in a couple weeks. Carlson has a shoulder injury and he only pitched in 1 game this spring, so the Blue Jays are going to take it slow with him going forward. The Blue Jays were counting on these two guys, so they might miss them a tad while they are out of action.

The Blue Jays have acquired 28-year old righty swinging 2B/3B Jayson Nix from the Indians for cash considerations. Nix played in 102 games for the White Sox and Indians last year and he was 74 of 331 (.224 avg, .676 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 14 homers, 34 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 218 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 138 of 642 (.215 avg, .668 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 26 homers, 68 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Nix is a hacker as he has whiffed 168 times so far in his major league career, so he should fit right in with the Blue Jays.

48-year old John Farrell is following a legend in Toronto (Cito Gaston) as the manager. Farrell is a first time manager but a long time pitching coach (and a good one at that). Farrell will try to coach up the arms on the pitching staff because the Blue Jays already have a potent offense in place for 2011. Farrell also knows the American League East quite well as he came over from the division rival Boston Red Sox. I have a feeling that Farrell is going to do a good job for the Jays in 2011.

The Toronto Blue Jays will place 26-year old righty starting pitcher Brandon Morrow on the 15-day disabled list to start the 2011 season due to right forearm inflammation. This is a shame as Morrow was dominating this spring. He started 3 games this spring and he was 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He only walked 3 batters while whiffing 16 in only 12 innings this spring. The control was getting the Blue Jays excited. 26-year old lefty Jo-Jo Reyes will take Morrow’s spot in the starting rotation until he is ready to return to action. Reyes has pitched in 4 games (2 starts) so far this spring and he is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. The Blue Jays hope that Reyes will be up to the challenge until Morrow is ready to return to action.

Frank Francisco will start the 2011 season on the 15-day disabled list due to a right pectoral muscle injury. He was supposed to be the closer for the Blue Jays this year. Luckily for the Blue Jays, they have Octavio Dotel and Jon Rauch who can handle the closing while Francisco is out of action. Due to the quality of the guys filling in for Francisco, the Blue Jays can take their time in bringing him back.