Stop me if you've heard this one

You hear about Saunders yet? Seen 45 different (yet somehow the same) overviews of what the potential alternatives now are? Darn skippy you have! Probably 8 or 10 different takes on not getting your hopes up about Johan Santana too!

These days it's pretty much impossible for the casual blogger to remotely keep up. Beyond the professionals who make their living at it, the semi-professionals who soon will, and the multi-writer blog sites with a lot of contributors, a little hole-in-the-wall outfit like this one is never going to break any news. Heck, even link-dump posts are everywhere now.

But I wouldn't be the opinionated sort that maintains a blog anyway if i didn't have an interest in posting them anyway. The trick is to avoid repetition if not inadvertent plagiarism, which can be tricky on days like this. For my money, the most salient observation about Saunders comes from Richard Griffin. He notes that Sal Perez had the same injury in march of 2013 and was back in a major league game almost exactly 3 months later - and he's a catcher. So, all variables in play of course, your time lost would range from 49 games (assuming his first games back are played on grass, at the end of May) to 81 games (same assumption, early July).

Here's my take on the various possibilities, many of which mentioned elsewhere.

1. A trade. The only one I've seen pointed out that seems to me to actually make some sense is David DeJesus(suggested on Statliners.com). He's squeezed out of anything other than DH in TB, he's a LH hitter, he's quite solid against RHP and would provide a nice reserve option (albeit with less than desirable defense) once Saunders returns. He costs too many $$ but that means the cost in prospect would be negligible - or you could give a somewhat better prospect and split the contract with the Rays. The downside for me is that I like the idea of a wide open door for Pillar to prove himself which an acquired vet would close. Still, if this is a deal you make 4-6 weeks from now, Pillar get's the whole spring to make his case.

2. Gindl/Pillar - to repeat, I'd love to see Pillar get a full time shot and succeed, but if he struggles to be at least average vs RHP, I like what I see of Caleb Gindl. Now it's true I'm forced to base my opinion mostly from the stat sheet (what am I, a scout?) but there's something intriguing there.He debuted in he majors in 2013 at the age of 24, acquitting himself well with a .779 OPS and 112 OPS+ in 155 plate appearances, most strikingly walking almost as much as he struck out. Like Pillar, he was a productive hitter with an excellent eye at the plate all through the minors (although Gindal struggled during 2014) and ether or both men could seize the opportunity to prove themselves. 

3. Ezequiel Carrera - would have to use OBP, speed, and defense to make up for being a pure singles hitter. maybe the second coming of Otis Nixon. A much less appealing choice than the first two but not completely embarrassing.

4. Play the Navarro card - no, i don't mean putting Navarro out there, I mean changing your priority about what you want for Navarro. For example, take the obvious illustration of the D'Backs. They have an ugly squad most everywhere apart from 1B but teir OF is particularly weird. They have almost 10 mil committed to David Ross (who may or may not be too broken down to play), they have a DH playing LF that they expect a lot of power out of (Trumbo) and over $68 million invested in Yasmany Tomas which means he has to play somewhere at some point. Plus a couple of young center fielders with actual talent, one of which (AJ Pollock) will be the starter and 2nd best hitter on the team and the other a fine reserve player or the first option to be called up. They also have David Peralta, an unheralded (before last year) steal out of the Indy leagues. He pounded RHP in 2014 but was better at home so there's a grain of salt there. Plus he has al his options.

A smart GM would stash him at AAA but a smart GM wouldn't be heading into the season with Tuffy Gosewisch as there best option behind the plate. Navarro for Peralta (and maybe a throw in) might be workable at the trade table and would certainly work on the field.

5. Chris Dickerson.....HAHAHA...NO! With all due respect to Wilner, whom I agree with more often than not...NO. I'd as soon ask around to see what Corey Patterson is up to these days.

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In other news of the day:

Johan Santana? Sure, why the heck not, right? I'm just going to go ahead and pencil him in on the 60 day DL now, but let's fantasize a bit about the idea that he does hold together and pitches better than average for a 5th Starter.  That makes it easier to put Sanchez in the bullpen, and Norris in AAA. And if Santana isn't quite up to speed by opening day, I'd bet Estrada would get the first few turns in the rotation giving them a chance to take a look at Drabek or one of those non-roster guys in that spot in the 'pen. (and speaking of non-roster guys, sure sounds like Wilton Lopez is a guy they'd really like to see make the cut, doesn't it?)

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Finally, if you visit here sometime in the next month and something seems odd, bear with me. I've finally decided to go through the potential drudgery of reconciling my blogging activity.

When this blog started it was a tree-way partnership but over time my partners moved on, meanwhile, I'd started a personal blog elsewhere on Blogger. This one is still tied to the e-mail account set up to be shared, and the other blog to my everyday e-mail. As far as I can tell Blogger doesn't allow an easy fix to this so I'm likely going to move this blog to an account associated with my real identity. Which will mean presumably a new URL. I'm still working out the details. Also, this blog is no longer associated with Yardbarker but i can't figure out how to get rid of the banner at the top so that's another motivation to get something done.

When it's moved I'll probably play with the layout and such since it's been almost entirely unchanged for years now. In any case, if you are worried about being able to  find the new home, follow me on twitter to stay informed.

https://twitter.com/Tammy_Beth