Team Preview
Infield
Grade: C
The Jays look inferior at all five infield positions when compared against almost any other AL team.
Scott Rolen and
Lyle Overbay have underproduced in their time here, and both
Marco Scutaro and
John MacDonald are extremely poor options at the plate for an SS. The lone bright spot here should be
Aaron Hill, who should make a triumphant return to the Blue Jays lineup after he suffered a concussion last year. Hopefully he can repeat his strong numbers from 2007.
Outfield
Grade: B+
Outfield, as usal, is not too much of a worry for the Jays, as they have plenty of talent available to succeed. Whether they will or not is another question.
The Jays have a couple of promising young stars in
Adam Lind and
Travis Snider. Between the two, they should eat up most of the at-bats from the LF and DH spots this season. I'm really hopeful that the Jays give these two time to blossom. They took the necessary first step last season in parting with Stairs, Johnson and Thomas (although I think Stairs was an excellent fit with this team). Hopefully there isn't too much of a learning curve, especially for Snider.
A healthy
Vernon Wells should improve on his numbers from last season, and if
Alex Rios has a bounce back year the Jays should have a lot of power from their outfield. If, if, if!
Starting Pitching
Grade: C
Once again, the Jays will rely upon veteran workhorse
Roy Halladay to anchor the rotation. Although his borderline excessive workload leaves many wondering if his arm will hold up, year after year, Roy continues to eat innings and give the team a guaranteed shot at a victory every fifth day. Halladay will almost certainly trot out another 20-win, 230+ inning season for the Jays. Unfortunately, the Jays live and die by the good doctor, and it's only a matter of time until he gets hurt again or is lured out of town by the riches of a playoff-bound team with deep pockets.
This season, there is a sharp drop-off in the rotation after Halladay. With the loss of
Shaun Marcum to injury and the departure of Burnett to the Yankees, ex-Tampa Bay bat boy
Jesse Litsch will enter the season as the Jays number two starter. This terrifies me. Also worrying is the fact that the Jays appear to be counting upon
Dustin McGowan to return to the rotation in top form by mid-May. From there, the Jays complete lack of depth is pretty apparent, as youngsters
David Purcey,
Scott Richmond and Brett Cecil appear to be next in line. Washed-up free agent signings of Clement and
Mike Maroth are eerily reminiscent of the signing of Victor Zambrano and Tomo Ohka.
Bullpen
Grade: A+
The biggest strength the Jays have to leverage this season is their extremely strong bullpen that features a mixture of old and new talent. Veteran closer
B.J. Ryan should be entering the season with a clean bill of health for the first time in nearly three years. After being handled with kid gloves throughout last season, it will be extremely important, for both the Jays and B.J. himself, that Ryan be able to pitch pain-free on consecutive days throughout the season.
Thankfully, the Jays also boast three more quality left-handed relievers in Scott Downs,
Jesse Carlson and Brian Tallett. However, as Downs has been one of the Jays most effective pitchers over the last two seasons, and there is a chance he could be converted into a starter to fill the void left by Burnett and Marcum. This would leave ample late-inning duties available for ex-closer Jeremy Accardo who has completely recovered from his own forear m problems. Although there are question marks surrounding both
Brandon League (will he ever harness his flame-throwing arm and fulfill his potential?) and
Casey Janssen (will he return to his workhorse status after sitting out all of last season with a labrum injury?), all signs point to this crew being able to hold the fort throughout the late-innings of the dog days of summer. If not, the Jays will have to turn to lesser arms such as Jason Frasor,
Shawn Camp,
Although the Jays have arguably the deepest pen in all of Major League Baseball, the question remains: is the rest of the team strong enough to take full advantage of such an excellent relief corps?
Overview
Grade: B
Projected Finish: 3rd place
What does it all add up to in 2009? If the previous 14 seasons haven't given you any indication, you can expect the Blue Jays put up a strong battle in the perrennial A.L. East dog-fight throughout the early part of the season, only to succomb to their own ineptitude and end up in the fighting Baltimore for the division cellar. I personally believe the Jays will once again relcaim 3rd-place in the division race, although this is more of a statement of Tampa Bay's overachievement last year than it is belief in the Jays to be a true competitive team.
Although there are more things that need to go right than one can count for the Jays to succeed in 2009, one area in which I personally would like to see them improve is in the
heartbreaking loss department. Too often last year I was left with a
ruined weekend after a ruined weekend where the Jays let an achievable win slip through their fingers in an epic finish only to walk away with a disappointing loss.
A Lidge-like blown save-free season from Ryan is probably out of the question, but the Jays need to crack down on losses such as
this game and
this game and
this game. One can only dream how different last season might have gone had a bounce or two in key games like
this or
this went in the Jays favor.
If this team wants to somehow fight their way into playoff contention, they are going to need to come through with wins in key games like this all throughout the month of September in order to do so. It just hasn't happened over the last few years. Religious Jays followers on this board know exactly what I'm talking about.
I think the team also needs to work on laying the hammer down on the worst teams in the league. Teams like Seattle, Kansas City, Baltimore and even Tampa Bay before last season all give us way more problems than they should. Sure, that excellent 3-game home sweep against the Red Sox was fantastic, but if we follow it up by losing 3 of 4 in Kansas City, it's all for naught! Awful road trips like this need to be avoided:
HTML Code:
Mon, Apr 21 vs. Detroit L 5-1
Tue, Apr 22 @ Tampa Bay L 6-4
Wed, Apr 23 @ Tampa Bay L 5-3
Thu, Apr 24 @ Tampa Bay L 5-3
Fri, Apr 25 @ Kansas City L 8-4
Sat, Apr 26 @ Kansas City L 2-1
Sun, Apr 27 @ Kansas City W 5-2
Tue, Apr 29 @ Boston L 1-2
Wed, Apr 30 @ Boston L 2-1