Rotation Update from Alex "The Great" and Rule 5 News

Bluebird Banter sighted a report by Jordan Bastien about some Jays pitching updates. Having received word from GM Alex "The Great - so far" Anthopolous of the following news:
"Shawn Marcum is healthy, ready to go and might be cleared to take a full workload next season.
Jesse Litsch will be out till July.
They are unsure about Dustin McGowan, he was shut down in October.
The Jays are looking to pick someone up in the Rule 5 Draft. They have 11th pick. The 40-man roster is full so someone would have to be dropped if they were to pick someone up." 

Ok. So my thought process now jumps back to trading Roy, and who we drop if a Rule 5 pick is made.Our rotation, without Doc and ignoring any possible returns, now stands as follows:

1- Shaun Marcum   2- Ricky Romero  3- Bret Cecil
4- Marc Rzepczynski   5- Scott Richmond

Next up: Robert Ray, Zach Stewart, David Purcey, and Reidier Gonzalez.
Mid-Season Addition: Possible return of Jesse Litsch in July 2010
Subtraction: Dustin McGowan is not to be expected to contribute, as of today, in 2010. Although, many fans are starting to think up scenarios for how to best use Dustin most effectively in the future. Some believe he has the stuff and demeanor to become a feared closer. Not a bad idea. (Mark Prior should try it as well, btw)


I don't know about you guys, but it doesn't really seem all that bad to me. Sure, we have no ace, but we do get to sit and watch 4 very strong pitchers in our top 4, as well as the possible addition of Zach Stewart during the season which I find very intriguing. I'm sure we'll be adding at least 1 SP in a Doc deal, so our 2010 rotation doesn't look too bad overall, even if it lacks a true ace.


As for the rule 5 pick, who do we drop? 


1- I doubt Alex would drop any of his very recent acquisitions (Hoffpauir and McCoy);
2- Reidier Gonzalez and Brian Dopirak were protected for a reason, so they stay;
3- Joe Inglett is unlikely to be dropped, and more likely to be sent to AAA....again;
Answer - That leaves us with Sean Henn as the only obvious candidate to be dropped if the Jays pick up a player during the rule 5 draft.

For those who may not pay much attention to the Rule 5, here's some of the players who have been chosen through the Rule 5 draft:

Roberto Clemente, Johan Santana, George Bell, Mike Morgan, Bip Roberts, Bobby Bonilla, Darrell Evans, Kelly Gruber, Josh Hamilton, Dave Hollins, Scott Podsednik,  Joakim Soria, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino (Twice!!), Everth Cabrera, Miguel Batista, Jay Gibbons, ect...

Hard to believe some of those names. I think it's worth watching and paying a little attention to the Rule 5, right?