DUNEDIN

When the Blue Jays play against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night in Tampa it will mark the halfway point of their spring training schedule.

So, what have we learned and how are the battles for spots on the 25-man roster coming along?

About the only solid conclusion that we can draw is that the fickle finger of fate once again is the middle one, pointing straight up and it isn’t a signal that the Jays will finish No. 1.

As far as the rotation goes, we know for certain that Marcus Stroman will be gone for the season due to his freak fielding injury, cartilage tear and surgery that will be performed Thursday.

As far as who the closer will be there are certain individuals leaning certain ways but manager John Gibbons and GM Alex Anthopoulos have yet to come out and state that ‘He’s the man’.

They aren’t the only question marks.

Will there be three catchers or two?

Who will be the starting second baseman?

Who will take over in centre field?

Will the Jays have a beard growing contest and if so, who do you place your money on.

The list goes on and on.

Not being the shy type, we’ll go down the list one by one and state our preferences. No charge to Gibby or Alex, the advice is free.

At the start of spring training Aaron Sanchez looked to be a lock to inherit Casey Janssen’s role. He had a taste of it last September and was sensational.

Sanchez started camp vying for a spot in the rotation, the fifth spot being an open one back of R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Drew Hutchison and Stroman. The candidates for the job were Sanchez, lefty Daniel Norris and veteran Marco Estrada, a right-hander who has bounced back and forth between starting and relieving in his major league career.

Stroman’s injury changed everything.

Sanchez could still end up as the closer but frankly that seems unlikely given the quality of his stuff and the need in the rotation.

The leading candidate among conventional thinkers could be lefty Brett Cecil, who has done a terrific job the past two seasons as the eighth inning set-up man.

Cecil’s qualifications are solid as he was the closer at the University of Maryland and when given the responsibility last year responded by going 5-for-7 in save situations. Cecil has also shown the ability to be dominant when he gets on a roll. He ended the season working 192/3 scoreless innings and along the way stranded 13 of 14 inherited runners.

Just as importantly, he hungers for the job.

The importance for the Jays to open the 2015 season on a positive note is paramount for the team’s confidence and Gibbons tenure.

So, if you wanted to play it safe, hand the role to Cecil assuming you’d rather have Sanchez in the rotation instead of Estrada.

If you want to take a leap of faith and go for the home run, the Jays could open the season with flame throwing rookie Miguel Castro as its closer?

Castro? Are you nuts?

Maybe but here goes.

The 20-year-old Dominican has had an eye-popping spring. His fastball sits 97-98 and is thrown effortlessly. He pounds the bottom of the strike zone on both sides of the plate and his history — albeit brief and at the bottom of the minor leagues — shows an ability to throw strikes, keep his walks low and his strikeout totals high. The 6-foot-5 right-hander also possesses a terrific changeup, which keeps the hitters off balance. On top of that he appears unfazed to be in his first major-league camp facing major league hitters.

Sure, he is untested and last season appeared in all of two class-A games with Dunedin.

The Jays had no problem giving Sanchez the ball, a rookie who in 2013 was at class-A Dunedin and the trend in the game these days is to bring the kids along quickly, especially if you have the stuff and the cool that Castro shows.

Anthopoulos often states that the 25 players who line up for the season opener are not cemented into spots, and that the roster has a lot of ebb and flow based on health and performance.

Why not give Castro a shot. If he is overmatched or his nerves fray it will be a quick tell and you can make a change. If he runs with the job, look out.

ROTATION

It was all so easy when Stroman was healthy.

Now the question is do the Jays put their best five arms in the rotation or do they open up with Estrada in the rotation and Sanchez as the closer?

We’ve covered that already.

Estrada as a starter, though, is no bum. Last year in 18 starters with the Brewers he was 7-6 with a 4.96 ERA. In 2013, in 21 starts he was 7-4 with a 3.87 ERA. The American League and the AL East is a tougher test, though, and Estrada is a soft tosser who has a changeup as his No. 1 pitch and a fastball that sits 89-91.

Overall the team may be better served if he reverts to the bullpen.

SECOND BASE

Ramon Santiago took himself out of the equation on Sunday in a game against the Atlanta Braves when he fractured his left collar bone while making a terrific diving, over-the-shoulder catch on a pop up in centre field. Santiago, 35, had 10-plus years of service time and would have served as a solid backup to whomever wins the job.

Right now it is likely that Maicer Izturis will prevail as he has a guaranteed contract.

The Jays like Devon Travis but the probability is high that he will get more seasoning at triple-A Buffalo and if he hits the way he is expected to — he has a .323 minor-league average the past three seasons — he will be called up pronto.

Travis is just average defensively so he won’t win a backup job with his glove and if he doesn’t start with the Jays, they’d rather see him play every day at Buffalo.

Under that scenario, Ryan Goins should be the backup and late-inning defensive replacement. He is also the best backup option at short if the Jays are serious about giving Jose Reyes more days off.

CATCHER

Gibbons has been talking of late of perhaps opening with a 13-man bullpen given how unproven the four and five spots will be in the rotation no matter who fills them. If that’s the case, it’s hard to see how the Jays could go with three catchers — Russell Martin, Dioner Navarro and Josh Thole.

Martin has caught all of Dickey’s starts to see if he is up to the job and on that front is progressing well. He is certainly earning more praise than say, Erik Kratz did last year.

The Jays would still prefer to trade Navarro for pitching if possible, but if there are no takers, he will remain with the club either as the backup catcher or if Thole gets his old job back as Dickey’s catcher, as a switch-hitting DH.

If Navarro is in the lineup as the DH, that means that Edwin Encarnacion will be back on the field as the first baseman.

That wasn’t Plan A heading into camp and with Eddie out with a bad back the Jays would try and avoid that happening during the season and the best way to keep his bat in the lineup is to have him DH and be off the field. It really is that simple.

If Encarnacion has to play first, the back woes will flare up again, count on it.

OUTFIELD

Thanks to the magic of surgery, Michael Saunders could be ready to go by opening day — April 6 in New York. If he has to take another week, big deal. The fact that he won’t miss much time if any from the original diagnosis - out until the all-star break — is a huge plus.

Dalton Pompey should be the centre fielder with Kevin Pillar serving as the backup.

BULLPEN

This is the toughest nut to crack as the Jays could go in so many different directions.

In the end the locks are Cecil, lefty Aaron Loup and right-handers Estrada and Steve Delabar. If the Jays do go with eight arms in the ’pen, the other four should be veteran lefty Canuck Jeff Francis — Gibbons loves him — Wilton Lopez, one of Castro or right-hander Roberto Osuna and one of Chad Jenkins and Todd Redmond in the long relief role.

Halfway home and lots of questions yet to be answered.