The Toronto Blue Jays are going for it. They’ve hit the jackpot on Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and it’s time to cash in. They’ll try to do it with Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio, John Buck joining from Miami.

As lopsided as the blockbuster trade seems in their favor, make no mistake, the Blue Jays did pay a price in acquiring most of the Marlins’ payroll. Between the $165 million in contract obligations and the prospects sent out, the Blue Jays hampered their ability to improve their roster beyond this trade.

So the new roster better be worth it. How does it stack up?

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At the end of May, the Braves were trying to get back on track. At 28-24 and on a two-game winning streak, things looked fine in an immediate sense. However, the club was in fourth place, was just coming off an eight-game losing streak, and Tyler Pastornicky looked like the worst player in the major leagues over the first two months. He hit just .243/.287 /.325 and played an awful shortstop, with seven errors on the one hand and a -12 UZR and -16 DRS on the other.

Of Pastornicky’s defense, Frank Wren simply said, “We need more.” Enter Andrelton Simmons.

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Alex Anthopolous and his Blue Jays were a well-oiled waiver-claiming machine for the last two weeks of October. Starting on October 17th, the Jays claimed Scott Cousins, Cory Wade, Tyson Brummett, Bobby Wilson, David Herndon and Scott Maine off waivers.

This is a group, as a whole, with 1.6 career WAR. Still, these moves aren’t about filling high-profile roster spots, they were about depth, and the Blue Jays had 40-man roster spots open. The problem is, they wouldn’t stay open for long. The Jays had six players on the 60-day disabled list, and those players would eventually need the spots taken by those marginal waiver claims.

Chances are, though, at least a few of these players were never intended to remain on the 40-man roster. Tyson Brummett was ourighted and passed through waivers unclaimed this time around — unsurprisingly, as he has just 0.2 MLB innings at age 28. This is what Anthopolous and the Jays were likely trying to accomplish — pass these players through waivers to create depth beyond the 40-man roster, an are he had to dip early and often in 2012 as the Jays suffered constant injuries.

The latest two couldn’t sneak through — the Jays designated David Herndon and Scott Cousins for assignment on Halloween, but both were claimed yesterday by the Yankees and Mariners respectively.

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Back on October 1st, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the Pirates may not tender a contract to Jeff Karstens despite his success in limited action this season. The 30-year-old posted a 3.97 ERA and 3.32 FIP, including an impressive 4.40 K/BB (a career high by nearly a point and a half). But he only made 15 starts and threw just 90.2 innings. He has yet to throw more than 162.1 innings in a season, leading to durability questions:

“He’s doing everything he can to get the best out of his abilities,” [GM Neal] Huntington said. “Unfortunately at times, his body lets him down, and it’s been various body parts.”

Considering the Pirates will have to pay Karstens somewhere around $5 million — he made $3.1 million in his second arbitration season last year — it isn’t surprising nor irrational to see the club mulling nontendering him. Despite his success last season, he doesn’t have a good history — just a 4.44 ERA and 4.55 FIP in 592.1 career innings — and the Pirates are in their usual payroll crunch thanks to the small market.

Most seasons, it probably wouldn’t be worth paying much mind to this situation. But a look at this year’s dreadful free agent class suggests otherwise.

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Four years ago, Joey Devine was a sensation with the Oakland Athletics. The 24-year-old rookie torched the American League for 45.2 innings, allowing just three earned runs to cross the plate in his 42 appearances.

In professional baseball history, there have been 24,553 pitcher seasons with at least 40 innings thrown. In 1911, Buck O’Brien of the Boston Red Sox set an ERA- record that has never been broken. He allowed two earned runs in five complete game starts (covering 47.2 innings, even), enough for an 11 ERA-. Many have come close, but none closer than Devine in 2008 — his 0.59 ERA translates to a 14 ERA-, the second-best mark in history.

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Ten years ago tomorrow, Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with a walk in Game Seven of the 2002 World Series against the Anaheim Angels. It was the first time since Game One that Bonds failed to reach base at least three times. The Giants lost 4-1.

Bonds’s ravaging run through the 2002 postseason was mesmerizing. Through 10 games in the first two playoff rounds, Bonds homered four times and walked 14 more; he carried a .286/.500/.786 playoff line into the World Series.

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Tim Lincecum pitched out of the bullpen again for San Francisco in their Game One victory over the Tigers. It’s starting to feel natural. Perhaps it’s because the Lincecum we’ve seen out of the bullpen bears a much starker resemblance to the Lincecum of lore than the one we’ve seen out of the rotation this season.

After rolling through 2.1 perfect innings (including five strikeouts) in Game One, Lincecum now owns a 0.84 ERA and 0.75 FIP out of the pen thanks to this fantastic line:

10.2 IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 1 R, 1 ER, 14 K, 1 BB

With Lincecum’s lone start a dud — 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K in the Game Four NLCS loss to St. Louis — it’s time to ask the question (again): Does Tim Lincecum belong in the bullpen?

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Billy Beane cares not for outfield log jams. Last season, Beane’s Athletics acquired Seth Smith for Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman despite already having Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp on hand. Saturday, Beane added another outfielder to the mix, acquiring Chris Young from Arizona in exchange for Cliff Pennington and infield prospect Yordy Cabrera.

The situations aren’t entirely analogous — the Athletics had DH at-bats to hand Smith but may not have those for Young (or another member of the Oakland outfield), but the general idea remains: when an asset can be acquired on the cheap, the Athletics will make it happen.

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Max Scherzer hit a bump in the sixth inning, allowing a hit and a walk. Jim Leyland pulled him for Drew Smyly. It was about the only bad thing to happen to the Tigers all day.

Through the fifth inning, Scherzer was engaged in one of the most dominant starts in playoff history. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth, the only two runners coming via an error and a walk. He struck out nine of the first 18 hitters he faced.

It was dominance, and had the game not been firmly in hand by the sixth we may have seen more. There was no reason to force Scherzer to throw any mildly taxing pitch and risk even the slightest heading into the World Series, and so the fireballer was removed after just 5.2 innings. The Yankees mustered just two hits and one walk overall as Scherzer finished with 10 strikeouts.

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“You labored, it wasn’t a typical Justin Verlander game.”

That was TBS’s Craig Sager, just after Phil Coke made Justin Verlander’s Game 3 performance officially stand up: 8.1 innings, three hits, no walks, just one run.

It’s not good enough for Justin Verlander. Justin Verlander only struck out three Yankees; never mind that the Tigers’ ace held the New York Yankees to one run over 8.1 innings in Game 3 of the ALCS, we bolt to attention because he didn’t record enough strikeouts.

This is Justin Verlander’s level.

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