A Joe Blanton Blue Light Special?

Joe Blanton up on the auction block? Not surprising. An interested trade partner? Somewhat intriguing. The Blue Jays GM Alex Anthroupolos reportedly spent a few innings in Clearwater while Blanton was on the mound over the weekend. But we all know GMs and scouts flip flop around different Spring Training complexes all month long.  Why is this a deal worth noting?

• The Phillies are up against the luxury tax and selling off Blanton frees up space for any in season moves that might be necessary. With sources reporting that the Phillies are willing to eat up to $2M in salary, the savings could be in the $6.5M neighborhood. In recent years, Ruben's been able to stretch that kind of money pretty far. With the prospect farm running pretty low, any mid season wheeling and dealing done by Amaro will likely involve picking up a few more dollars worth of salary than the Phillies have had to do in years past. While like to hope that the puzzle pieces needed for a championship are the kind of guys the Phils picked up in the offseason, $6.5M is a nice luxury to have when your first baseman is in a walking boot, your second baseman hasn't played a game yet this Spring, and your third baseman is a faberge egg.

• This indicates that the Phillies have confidence in moving Kyle Kendrick back into the rotation. Initial reports (and by that I mean the stuff I read on Twitter) indicate a pretty effective cutter out of Kendrick so far this spring. Also, by picking up a whole host of veteran arms in the offseason, they even have a few experienced backups to KK. Joel Piniero (who can opt out of his contract at the end of the month if not on the big league roster), Dave Bush, Scott Elarton, Pat Misch, etc. represent a questionable, but experienced group of "Plan C's." Two weeks into Spring Training, a stockpile of well traveled arms isn't a bad problem to have. Kendrick to Blanton is still a risky swap with KK's success last year largely attributable to being the benefactor of a ridiculously low BABIP. But relying on a guy with elbow problems has inherent risks of its own. Worse case scenario, that Oswalt guy is still unemployed and quite frankly $6.5M might come close to getting it done.

• In my speculative mind, though, the biggest key here is the guy I mentioned above sitting in the stands.  Having Toronto as a somewhat interested trade partner is beneficial because they have a commodity the Phillies have already shown some interest in with Travis D'Arnaud. Now there's no reason to believe that a deal like this is remotely possible, and it would absolutely take more than Joe Blanton, but damn if the idea of having a catcher of the future once again doesn't sound appealing to me. I like cheering on Chooch as much as the next guy, but we have a33 year old starter (and that's a Panamanian 33!) and a 35 year old backup with next to nothing in the immediate pipeline. D'Arnaud is considered to be major league ready but blocked by an equally young catcher in JP Arencibia. One of the two is a luxury the Blue Jays can afford to part with and in the right system, either of them could be successful. Even is the Blue Jays decided that Arencibia was the one they'd prefer to flip, his 20 HR 80RBI power could look pretty nice in pinstripes and his caught stealing rates are very similar. His .219 BA last year... well, let me remind you that the Phillies won a World Series in 2008 with a catcher that hit .219. Not to say Ruiz is done, but a backup plan behind the plate would be nice!