As most players have already reported to camp, there's no better time than now to take a look at a few intriguing stories to look out for during spring training, and even throughout the season.


5. Cito Gaston

It was announced in the offseason that 2010 would be Cito Gaston's last year as the Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. While Gaston was successful with the club in the early 90s, I don't think that he is the right man to be at the helm of a rebuilding club.

Cito is a man set in his ways. He favours his veterans and if you get in his doghouse, good luck finding your way out. He showed these traits numberous times last season. Vernon Wells struggled for a long time before Gaston finally decided drop him in the lineup. He inexplicably refused to pinch hit for Jose Bautista when right handers came into the game, despite his dismal split stats (.293/.382/.546 vs LHP and .202/.331/.333 vs RHP). Jeremy Accardo was juggled between Las Vegas and Toronto all season, despite posting a 2.55 ERA in 26 appearances, and was underused when he was with the big club.

Hopefully Alex Anthopolous will lay down the law when it comes to ensuring that the young players get adequate playing time in order to develop. It will also be interesting to see if Gaston is asked to step aside if Anthopolous finds the man to manage the Jays for the foreseeable future midseason.

4. The Kids

If it weren't for the return for Roy Halladay, there wouldn't be much to talk about regarding prospects looking to crack the roster, but that has now changed.

Brett Wallace has the best chance of breaking camp with the club. General Manager Alex Anthopolous has already stated that he sees Wallace, who has played primarily third base in his minor league career, as a first baseman going forward. While the Blue Jays do have one slot in the opening day lineup up for grabs, it is not certain as to whether Cito Gaston is willing to play both Travis Snider and Adam Lind in the same outfield in order to make room for Wallace as the Designated Hitter.

If Wallace has a monster spring, its hard to see how Toronto could justify keeping his bat out of the lineup in favour of the likes of Jose Bautista, Randy Ruiz, Joey Gathright or Jeremy Reed.

The other kid in question is Pitcher Kyle Drabek. Depending on what kind of first impression he makes, he could start anywhere from Double-A New Hampshire to the Major League club in Toronto.

Its also worth keeping an eye on the Brett Cecil and Marc Rzepczynski, who both impressed in their stints with Toronto last season.

3. Halladay's Successor

In each of the last seven years, Roy Halladay has been on the mound for the Blue Jays on Opening Day. After the blockbuster deal that sent 'Doc' to Philadelphia this winter, Cito Gaston will need to choose a new face to be the ace of the Blue Jays youthful pitching staff.

This may not be such a hard task if it weren't for the fact that the Blue Jays two most experience starters (Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan) both missed all of last season due to injury. At the moment, it looks like McGowan will start the season on the Disabled List, but Marcum should be ready for opening day.

Aside from Halladay, the only man to make over 25 starts for the Blue Jays was Ricky Romero. Combine that with an ERA of 4.30 (2nd best out of all Jays with more than 11 starts) in his rookie year and it would appear he would be Marcum's only competition. Don't count out newly acquired Brandon Morrow either.

The performance of Marcum in Spring Training should determine whether the veteran gets the ball, or one of the younger pitchers. Nevertheless, the Toronto organization hopes they can all be integral parts of the Jays' rotation for years to come.

2. Attendance

The Blue Jays were 22nd in attendance last year, down 4 spots from 2008, which is discouraging enough before you consider a few other factors.

The Blue Jays certainly benefited attendance-wise from two things in 2009. The first was the Blue Jays' surprise contention during the first half of the season. The second being the "Lets go see 'Doc' pitch for the last time as a Blue Jay" factor. With Halladay gone, chances at contention slim, and a slight price increase for the cheaper tickets, expect attendance to dwindle further. Ownership can only hope that some of the numbers we saw in September do not appear earlier in the season.

1. The Draft

Since the Blue Jays are not expecting to compete for a playoff spot this year, the pinnacle of the season could very well be the Amateur Draft, which takes place from June 7th through 9th this year. The Blue Jays will have 9 draft picks in the first 3 rounds. The reason for all the extra picks was the failure to sign three of their top draft picks last year and as compensation for the loss of Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas to free agency.

In lieu of all the additions that Alex Anthopolous made to the scouting department, and the commitment made by ownership in order to sign this years class of draftees, they look poised and prepared to shape the future of the Blue Jays with this year's draft.