Who's #2? Morrow or Johnson???

[TheKidKJ]

According to this article, http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/17...r-starters-now, by logical elimination the rotation will be:

1. RA Dickey
2. Morrow OR Johnson
3. Buehrle
4. Morrow OR Johnson
5. Romero

So I have two questions:

1) Who do you think should be our #2? Why?

2) Out of Morrow and Johnson, who has the best raw talent and ability? What I mean is if they both pitched to their maximum potential this upcoming season, who would be better? Are they simply too similar in terms of talent to determine this?
Don't take injury history into account here, just ability.

Johnson is listed as #2 on the Jays official depth chart on their website but I hear alot of people saying they want Morrow at that spot. I know there are other threads about the starting rotation but I just wanted to focus on these two guys.

PS: AA is still as sneaky as we thought because he admitted that the deal was agreed to and signed off on by Thursday 13th and only started to leak on Friday. I know there was speculation about the Jays getting Dickey way before this but he still got the deal done before it leaked like crazy, even with J.P. Ricciardi assumingly blabbing about the deal to the press, impressive AA. Now the only real question is which ninga GM school did AA attend to become superior??? I wonder . . .

This video, http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news...s_tor&c_id=tor, is AA talking about the trade (his logic) coming together and the team's potential for the next 3-5 years.

[bomber0104]

It all depends on Johnson really..

If we are getting the Johnson that was throwing 96 MPH 3 years ago and posting the best ERA in the NL, then he is the because i doubt Morrow can pitch at that level despite the stuff.

If we are getting last year`s johnson that its pretty close. I think you wait and see who pitches better in spring training

[Halladay]

I will continue to point out that Morrows 2012 stats were similar to that of CC Sabathias 2011 numbers. That's pretty damn impressive considering CC garnered some Cy Young votes that year. Morrow is a beast, and on the verge of becoming an ace. A year from now I wouldn't be shocked if he's the "ace" of the staff which is amazing in it's own right. I'm the biggest JJ fan around but I think Morrow is a top 5 AL pitcher next season and I can't see Johnson topping that. OTOH Johnsons in a contract year. Suddenly players become incredibly healthy and play out of their minds in those situations.

[MikeyJ]

Has AA mentioned if the extension given to dickey will hinder is ability to offer fair contract extension to johnson. They seem to be at the spending limit

[MikeyJ]

Let there performance in spring training dictate how it fills out

[GrumpyOldMan]

I voted Morrow, but it's more because I think the velocity of his pitches will keep batters off balance after facing Dickey the day before. Johnson isn't a bad choice either. A deep pitching staff is a pretty nice problem for Gibby to have.

[Halladay]

Has AA mentioned if the extension given to dickey will hinder is ability to offer fair contract extension to johnson. They seem to be at the spending limit

If the Jays make the playoffs I doubt AA will have a hard time convincing ownership to give him the funds to keep JJ around. I want an extension done ASAP but that doesn't appear to be realistic. Johnsons agent said Josh may get the biggest pitching contract in history if he were to hit the open market but later on stated he wouldn't be opposed to an extension, JJ said the same thing himself. I can promise you one thing, AA didn't sacrifice the prospects he did to only have JJ around for one season. Obviously he got other players but Josh was definitely the focal point. There's also gotta be some money coming off the books, Linds contracts done off the top of my head thats 5 million right there. I don't know how many guys are arbitration eligible because I'm simply too lazy to look them all up haha.

[MikeyJ]

I'm with you in wanting to see something done early. I guess weighing out his recent injurys with getting fair market value is a gamble AA's willing to take

[Canadian hemi]

I actually prefer Johnson 1st then Dickey. You would have that knuckle ball sandwhiched between two good arms!! kinda neat

[TRIUMPHATOR]

I actually prefer Johnson 1st then Dickey. You would have that knuckle ball sandwhiched between two good arms!! kinda neat

That wouldn't make much sense, because you would then have back to back lefties. Petty sure you give the Cry Young winner Opening day then take your pick R,L,R,L.

[Halladay]

I think people put way too much stock into who starts on opening day. Once the seasons gets going, it becomes irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I doubt Dickey or anyone else would get butthurt by someone else starting that game.

[Shifty1 69]

I voted Morrow, but it's more because I think the velocity of his pitches will keep batters off balance after facing Dickey the day before. Johnson isn't a bad choice either. A deep pitching staff is a pretty nice problem for Gibby to have.

So what happens if JJ follows dickey??

[TRIUMPHATOR]

I think people put way too much stock into who starts on opening day. Once the seasons gets going, it becomes irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I doubt Dickey or anyone else would get butthurt by someone else starting that game.

Agreed, but I do feel.as a show of respect you give opening day to the CY.

[Valleyfella]

I don't think it matters that much if both are healthy but I'd go with Morrow simply because he's the incumbent with the team and has earned the higher spot in the rotation.

[chips420]

Johnson would make more sense at 2, his career era is 3.10 compared to Morrow's 4.10 they both have similar s.o/9( morrow a little higher) and bb/9. IF Johnson can stay healthy for a season I think he can be a potential cy young award candidate plus as mentioned earlier its a contract year for him