Jays Demote Brett Cecil To Double A, Dirk Hayhurst Is Not 'Avin It

It seems I've read the same two stories about the 2012 Blue Jays all off-season: they're so underrated they're getting overrated, and that the starting rotation is the team's only and glaring weakness.

How these two trains of thought haven't derailed each other is a story for another day - that day being after a few turns through the back of the Jays rotation. But it appears we finally have an answer to the question, "Just who the heck is gonna start behind Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Henderson Alvarez?"

That answer: mercifully not Brett Cecil or Aaron Laffey.

Cecil's awful spring was rewarded with a demotion to Double-Ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif New Hampshire and Laffey will presumably be left on the side of road where the Jays found him.

Joel Carreno and his wicked sinker will take Cecil's spot in the rotation for a turn or so, followed by Alvarez and Kyle Drabek. The Jays will likely shift Carreno back to the pen and roll four starters for the rest of the month.

This rotation shuffle seems to sit well with everyone except former Jays pitcher and author extraordinaire Dirk Hayhurst, who's filling up his Twitter feed with how much he disagrees with the move.

While I'm very much looking forward to reading Hayhurst's new book Out Of My League, I must say that said title aptly describes his reasoning.

All Tweets are [sic]'d:

OK, first off, the argument Vegas is where pitchers go to die is dumb.

No, it isn't. A cursory look at the 51s pitching stats from 2011 reveals that the likelihood of Cecil "figuring it out" in Vegas isn't great. Drabek was awful there last year as well.

2nd, busting a guy whose pitched in the Bigs or AAA for the last 3 years to AA is not better for their confidence, it's like saying "not only do we think there is something wrong with you, we KNOW there is. You cant handle AAA in your present state"

It's not LIKE saying that, it IS saying that. Cecil wasn't getting anyone out in spring training, and has no business being part of a rotation that's considered the weak link in a contender.

Young, lefties always have the potential to be something.

True, lefties often hang around forever as relievers, but a guy topping out at 89 as a 25-year-old isn't worth taking a chance on (see Mills, Brad).
I could go on - Hayhurst sure did - but Shi Davidi dropped the hammer on everyone:

Cecil says demotion was expected, that he chose to go to double-A because it gives a truer read of results

Boom, Garfoosed.