Blue Jays poised to be AL East's newest beast

[LittleOzzy]

Armed with uncommon vision and long-term decision making, the Tampa Bay Rays have bucked huge budgetary odds to compete on even terms with the American League East titans.

This should hearten Toronto's Blue Jays, who are showing signs of following the Rays' enlightened lead in becoming viable competition for the monoliths in Boston and the Bronx.

A big winter splash with Yu Darvish or Prince Fielder would have been wonderful, mind you, but the Blue Jays have reason to be chirping softly nonetheless. It's not as if the Rays, after all, have been known for making blockbuster winter headlines with high-priced acquisitions.

Toronto very quietly has finished at or above .500 five of the past six seasons. In 2011, under new manager John Farrell, the Blue Jays were 81-81 -- no minor achievement given that the three clubs ahead of them in the AL East were a combined 70 games above .500.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos is making a name for himself inside the profession. Peers see him as progressive, reasonable to deal with and wise beyond his years.

Anthopoulos has engineered some impressive trades while building a deep and balanced farm system brimming with prospects on the verge of making an impact in Toronto.

One thing for certain is that anything short of title contention won't cut it in Toronto, even with a superstar such as Jose Bautista on the marquee.

A building that rocked in the glory days when it was known as SkyDome, Rogers Centre has had more of an American Legion than American League feel in recent seasons. From the press box, it was so quiet in the stands below one could eavesdrop on conversations.

If that is about to change, pitching has to be at the forefront of the revival.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/ar ... r&c_id=tor

[Raps_Swingman]

Im intrigued to see how the revamped bullpen will do this season. The Jays blew far too many games last season in late innings and the numbers reflect that.

This season will be all about pitching for the Jays, they've shown offensive upside and solid defence.

April can't come soon enough.

[Lucky26]

[BobbyBoy]

I hope AA never leaves Toronto. Just a question. What will they do when Gose is ready and Rasmus has a good year? I assume Gose is gonna be dealt. Also What will they do when Hech is going to come up and Escobar does great? I know Hech won't be up for maybe another year or 2, but Escobar isn't that old.

[Griff83]

I hope AA never leaves Toronto. Just a question. What will they do when Gose is ready and Rasmus has a good year? I assume Gose is gonna be dealt. Also What will they do when Hech is going to come up and Escobar does great? I know Hech won't be up for maybe another year or 2, but Escobar isn't that old.

Pretty simple.
Make Gose your CF'er and move Rasmus over to LF.

[Schad]

This is why I'm disappointed, but not screaming mad about this off-season...we missed the opportunity to accelerate the process, but the direction we're heading in is still exceedingly promising.

[satyr9]

This is why I'm disappointed, but not screaming mad about this off-season...we missed the opportunity to accelerate the process, but the direction we're heading in is still exceedingly promising.

Here's where I'm going to be a little nitpicky. Would you say there was an identifiable opportunity lost or that going into FA season you though that if A and B happened, then AA would've accelerated the process?

I'm by no means over the moon about the offseason, but I would say I'm of the latter perspective. I thought going in if he had another rabbit or two in his hat, or if the lack of Sox and Yankees bidding altered the marketplace that much the prices would be reasonable, then AA had a shot to continue his crazy curve of development for the franchise, but based on the deals signed and the trades agreed to, I didn't notice anything I could point to as a shoulda coulda woulda deal he missed on and I think it was entirely the right thing to do to not try and shoehorn in the price for a needed piece simply to try and stick to an almost impossibly steep trendline. Basically, there was what I hoped for after the season and there was the actual offseason and they differed a lot, such that what I dreamed possible in the beginning proved impossible during. Maybe not impossible as random deals bucking trends happened with great regularity around AA, but 100+ for Darvish, Lawrie for Pineda, pick 4 prospects for Latos or Gio, 200+ for Fielder or Pujols, none of those seem like even marginally reasonable to me for where the Jays are today as a franchise.

So I'm curious if we're thinking the same way or if you saw a specific missed opportunity.

[Schad]

Here's where I'm going to be a little nitpicky. Would you say there was an identifiable opportunity lost or that going into FA season you though that if A and B happened, then AA would've accelerated the process?

I'm by no means over the moon about the offseason, but I would say I'm of the latter perspective. I thought going in if he had another rabbit or two in his hat, or if the lack of Sox and Yankees bidding altered the marketplace that much the prices would be reasonable, then AA had a shot to continue his crazy curve of development for the franchise, but based on the deals signed and the trades agreed to, I didn't notice anything I could point to as a shoulda coulda woulda deal he missed on and I think it was entirely the right thing to do to not try and shoehorn in the price for a needed piece simply to try and stick to an almost impossibly steep trendline. Basically, there was what I hoped for after the season and there was the actual offseason and they differed a lot, such that what I dreamed possible in the beginning proved impossible during. Maybe not impossible as random deals bucking trends happened with great regularity around AA, but 100+ for Darvish, Lawrie for Pineda, pick 4 prospects for Latos or Gio, 200+ for Fielder or Pujols, none of those seem like even marginally reasonable to me for where the Jays are today as a franchise.

So I'm curious if we're thinking the same way or if you saw a specific missed opportunity.

Darvish may well be a missed opportunity, in terms of dollars spent:revenue/production, but primarily the missed opportunity for me involves not a specific move, but Bautista's prime years. I'm actually okay with doing a long-term build in the mold of the Rays, but it does mean that we're going to have to make a decision with him fairly soon; because his swing is so reliant on bat speed, it may not last through age 35, so we're going to have to start considering whether we're going to be good in the next two years, or whether it might be best to trade him for a massive package of youngsters who'll fall in line with the development curve of the rest of the club.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Had we seen the performances from guys we thought would take a step forward like Snider, Cecil & Morrow or had Rasmus and Johnson even panned out, I personally think AA would've been more aggressive in his free agent pursuits. As it stands there were too many question markes left unanswered and think after this year we see if they "truly" go for it, or trade Bautista like Schad mentioned who will fall in line with the rest of the team.

[YogiStewart]

why isn't anyone talking about Lawrie hitting clean-up behind Bautista?
i mean, ideally, that's where you want Lawrie, is it not?

[flatjacket1]

why isn't anyone talking about Lawrie hitting clean-up behind Bautista?
i mean, ideally, that's where you want Lawrie, is it not?

If he performed like last season of course it would make sense for him to hit behind Bautista, but even the second half of his short stay with us last season his productivity began to fall.

I'm not saying he is going to be terrible this season, but sophomores typically have a much harder time than rookies (sophomore wall) (see Jason Heyward, a way better prospect) but I'm looking forward to seeing a whole season of Lawrie regardless of where he bats.

If I was making out the order I would probably put him either 6th or 7th just like last year, so that way when he struggles he doesn't have to worry about demotions and when he does well, he can pull our order kicking and screaming to the odd win.

I predict Lawrie to have a 2-3 WAR season if he plays in at least 150 games. I think that will also improve throughout his career (he won't stay in the 2-3 WAR range)