I'll start off with a disclosure: I've never thought that Kevin Towers is a very good GM. I wasn't impressed with him in San Diego and his time in Arizona has done nothing to disabuse me of that position.

Which brings me to this offseason. Apparently, Towers's plan is to stockpile outfielders and shortstops like so many trading cards. Collecting outfielders is okay, since you need to play three at the same time, but shortstops? And these particular shortstops? For what he gave up?

Cliff Pennington finally wore out his welcome in Oakland, so Towers acquired him for Chris Young (Is that Chris B. Young? I've lost track). The move finally appeared to open up a spot for the talented yet marginalised Gerardo Parra, but as Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. But more on that later.

Then, in December, Towers traded away one of the most touted and skilled pitching prospects, Trevor Bauer, to Cleveland for Lars Anderson (bench guy at best, expected to start in AAA) and Didi Gregorius, who the Indians had just acquired from Cincinnati in the Shin-Soo Choo deal. Apparently, Bauer was traded because he's too outspoken, too cocky, and has his own way of warming up and long tossing. Well, since he's never had any history of arm trouble, I say let him keep doing what he's doing, because it works. But that's not the Kevin Towers way. Some 21-year-old kid thinks he knows better? Well screw him. And even though he's the biggest prospect in the organization, let's punish him for an outburst by not calling him up in September. It's not like we need him - we just went from worst to first to back to worst.

But Towers loves Didi Gregorius. He even went so far as to call him, and I'm not making this up, "a young Derek Jeter." Unfortunately, Kevin Towers is the only person to think this. As a bonus, if you Google "Didi Gregorius Derek Jeter Kevin Towers idiot" you get 4,600 hits. Including a gem where Towers says "I expect (Gregorius) to compete for the starting shortstop job this year. If he doesn't, then I'm an idiot."

Umm, Kevin, how do you think that makes Cliff Pennington feel? You traded for him to be the starting shortstop, then, fifty days later, you trade for his replacement. Before he's even swung a bat in anger for the Snakes. Way to build confidence!

Then there's the sad, sorry Justin Upton saga. Remember when I talked about the Chris Young trade? The logjam in the Arizona outfield was finally cleared - and then Towers went and signed Cody Ross. Back to the bench, Gerardo!

Unless, of course, the Snakes could trade Upton or Jason Kubel. Of the two, Upton would yield the most in return. He had a no-trade clause, but it was very small, only four teams. So there's still 25 teams Towers could make a deal with. And in fact, he made quite a good deal with the Mariners - four prospects for Upton.

Only - and here's where I was well and truly baffled - Seattle was one of the four teams on Upton's no-trade list! Not surprisingly, he blocked the trade. Then, the news comes down that Towers is negotiating a deal with the Cubs for Upton. Yep - you guessed it. The Cubs are also on Upton's list.

So let me get this straight: There are 25 teams that Kevin Towers could make a deal to trade Justin Upton, and Upton would have no say in the matter. There are a mere four teams that he could block a deal with, and Towers talks with not one, but two of them?

W
T
F
?!?!?!?

I don't care what reason Towers could give, there's really no excuse for that. Either he has no idea what's in his players' contracts, or he has the hubris that he could trade one of his star players and that player wouldn't use his very limited no trade clause), or he's just an idiot. But I guess we have to wait and see if Didi Gregorius battles for the starting shortstop job to figure that last one out.

Quick - name the only team who had their Opening Day five-man rotation start 161 games last season, the most in the majors?

If you guessed the Cincinnati Reds, you either really know your box scores, or you surmised it from the headline at the top of the page.

Yes, the Reds were the most hardy rotation in the big leagues last season. And the good news for Cincinnati fans is that everybody returns; well, sort of.

Last year, the rotation was Johnny Cueto/Mat Latos/Bronson Arroyo/Homer Bailey/Mike Leake. And all five are still with the Reds. But Leake will be shifting to the bullpen. That's because a spot in middle relief opened up when Jonathan Broxton was anointed the club's new closer. And that's because the moment Reds fans have been waiting for these past three years has finally arrived:

Aroldis Chapman, the possessor of the fastest pitch in the history of Major League Baseball, is now a member of the Reds' rotation.

I'll admit, I am a member of the group of Reds fans that have been calling for this since the Cuban Missile was signed back in 2010. I didn't understand what was taking so long. If you want to ease him into big-league life, then sure, keep him in the bullpen during his September 2010 call up. But why did you spend all that money and a huge signing bonus on a set-up man (which is what Chapman was in 2011, and the start of 2012).

Another thing - Chapman always seemed like the type of pitcher who needed to get going. Not from a velocity standpoint, obviously, but from a control standpoint. When he was pitching out of the bullpen, it seemed like his modus operandi was to get himself into a jam, then pitch out of it (the "Francisco Cordero method" if you will). However, as the inning wore on, and if he were called on to pitch a second inning, he got much more dominant. For this reason, as late as May 2012, I was still advocating Chapman's entry into the rotation, given Leake's early-season struggles and my general distrust of Bailey.

Of course, Dusty Baker and Bryan Price had more faith in Bailey and Leake than I did. And, as it turns out, less faith in Sean Marshall. Thus, Aroldis the Closer was born.

It was, of course, the right move. The Reds rotation proved both dominating and hardy. Chapman thrived as a closer, and Marshall was much more comfortable in his previous role as a situational lefty. He'll stay in that role this year.

However, let's play "What if?" What if, for whatever reason, Broxton flames out as the closer? Well, my money is on Chapman, not Marshall, taking over the spot, with Leake reclaiming his place in the rotation. The thinking, of course, is that the pitching staff was so good last season, why not recreate it?

The answer of course, is that you can't. And the Reds know this, or else they wouldn't have moved Chapman to the rotation in the first place. 2012 was a very good year for the Reds in general and the pitching staff in particular, but it's already gone. I hope we see a full year of Chapman in the rotation, and that he lives up to all the expectations. I hope he breaks his 105.1 mph record at some point. I hope Johnny Cueto wins 20 games, Mat Latos surpasses him as the Reds' ace, and Bronson Arroyo has one last great season. And I hope that Homer Bailey doesn't do anything that pisses me off. The past five seasons in Cincinnati have been leading up to this. Now is the time.

How strange it is, then, that the most intriguing member of the rotation, the most durable and reliable in the majors, is the one who has exactly zero big-league starts to his name.

By the way, the reason the Reds' rotation only started 161 games instead of 162 wasn't because of injury, or incompetence, or general suckitude. It was because of a double-header that necessitated a pitcher called up from Triple-A for one start. If you can name that sixth starter for the Reds last year, I'll give you a prize. Please be honest - it'd be easy to look it up, but as we all know, the internet and smart phones are the bane of trivia contests everywhere.

Ed. Note: With the start of Spring Training a month away, and most free agents signed up, it's time to look at the biggest stories and trends of the Hot Stove League as we prepare for the 2013 season. These are the teams and players expected to have an impact next season. First up - the team across the border, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Perhaps Alex Anthopoulos smelled blood in the water. Or perhaps he was sick of being upstaged.

Amazingly, in the division widely considered to be the least competitively balanced in all of baseball, four out of the five teams made the playoffs in the past four years. The only AL East team that didn't? The Blue Jays, of course.

(By the way, the 80% mark is equalled only by the National League West, home of famous yo-yo teams the Rockies and Diamondbacks.)

With the Red Sox in the toilet, and Yankees in self-imposed fiscal responsibility mode, the Rays perpetually so, and the Orioles ready for some serious regression to the mean, this represents Toronto's best chance of a playoff appearance since - wait for it - 1993!

Yeah, the year this happened.

So Anthopoulos went to his boss, Paul Beeston, who went to his bosses at Rogers Communications, and got permission to take on approximately half the Marlins payroll and all of their good player (at least, the ones who didn't change their names halfway through Spring Training). Then, if a remaking their rotation by adding an ERA champ and the owner of a perfecto wasn't enough, Anthopoulos flat-out stole the reigning NL Cy Young winner, a knuckleballer who might possibly pitch until he's 50 and who you don't have to worry about blowing out his elbow, because he doesn't even have a UCL.

And, just because you can never have enough catching, the Jays adding approximately 28 catchers to their roster this year. But that's okay, because they've already traded away or released 23 of them.

So what does this all mean? Well, for starters, be wary of teams that are anointed champions during Spring Training, or before. Exhibit A: the 2012 Miami Marlins. This is especially problematic when you consider how many of those Marlins now have key roles on the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays. However, Toronto's off-season acquisitions all seemed to have a purpose and fit in as part of a greater plan. With the Marlins, the feeling was more a case of "we've got this shiny new stadium, we better fill it with stars."

"Oh crap, we didn't get Pujols? Better sign another Latin star."

"We whiffed on C.J. Wilson? Who's the best available starter? Buehrle? Well, Buehrle it is, then."

(By the way, the Angels are another cautionary tale about Spring Training favorites. But at least they doubled down with Josh Hamilton, instead of punting after one season like the Marlins)

Anthopoulos came into the off-season with a plan, and he was fortunate enough to have bosses that endorsed and supported the plan. MLBDepthCharts listed the Blue Jays five biggest off-season needs as "Starter/Starter/2B/Left Field/Reliever." Mission accomplished:

Starter - Josh Johnson
Starter - R.A. Dickey
2B - Emilio Bonafacio/Macier Izturis
LF - Melky Cabrera
Reliever - Esmil Rogers

All that, plus another front-line starter (Buehrle), a massive upgrade at shortstop (Reyes) and the aforementioned catching surplus. True, they effectively swapped Travis d'Arnaud for Josh Thole, thus cementing J.P. Arencebia behind the plate, but all in all, the Blue Jays have built a lineup and pitching staff that should contend for the AL East crown.