SI 2013 predictions

[Mattd97]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20121227/2013-predictions-baseball/index.html?sct=hp_wr_a5&eref=sihp

10. The Big TO -- In most years, the team that dominates the offseason doesn't quite get it done once the bell rings. In 2009, the Yankees signed three of the top four free agents and went on to win the World Series, but more often, big spending sprees turn you into the 2011 Angels. Well, this time, winning the winter also means winning the summer, as the Toronto Blue Jays ride their rebuilt starting rotation (R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle), their new leadoff hitter (Jose Reyes) and a terrific offense to their first World Series title since 1993.

[SharoneWright]

That's a curse, right?

[TreyTone]

I love all the hype the Jays are getting. And while I would still rather the Jays fly under the radar, there's no doubt all this love and media attention is welcoming after 20 years of mediocrity.

[Waylon Mercy]

Ya it's nice to be relevant again and with all the extra revenue coming in from an expected surge
in attendance, ratings, sponsorship etc I expect the Jays to be buyers at the trade deadline for
a change. I think to get to the World Series level we're gonna need those battle tested veterans
that know how to win like the Winfield, Morris, Cone, Molitor, Stewart, Henderson etc type players
that put our nucleus over the top and I'm still skeptical of Gibbons as a World Series type manager.

However we've set the bar so low for the last 20 years that even if we don't win the World Series
like some pundits and casino's have us at playing meaningful games in August and September would
be a huge moral victory. So even if we don't win the World Series just playing meaningful games in
August and September and making the playoffs would be great because we know we're not that
far off and we're no longer baseball Siberia.

If for whatever reason this thing is a total flop at least we became relevant and we can have faith
in ownership and management to at least try to spend and be aggressive. There is a lot of good teams
in the AL and Toronto sports teams have a habit of always underachieving so it's kind of hard to get
super excited but I am because I believe in ownership and management for the first time ever.

[The_Hater]

Yikes. Hopefully SI doesn't put the Jays on the cover of their baseball preview to make this a complete curse.

[LittleOzzy]

That's pretty high praise.

[Raps in 4]

I thought he ranked us as 10th most likely to win the WS and I was about to pull out the "boo this man" gif before I realized it was just the tenth item on the agenda.

[kavan]

We will have to see! I look forward to the Jays making some noise! We dont have to be the best to get into the playoffs but I hope we are a team that can contend when we make it!

[TorontoRapture]

That's pretty high praise.

Yes it is...and I'm lovin' it.

[LittleOzzy]

Blue Jays, Red Sox are the most improved of the sub-.500 bunch

With just three days remaining in spring training last year, the Toronto Blue Jays had identified only two members of their rotation. The club knew it would need three more starters but wanted to wait as long as possible to choose from among a cast of unproven youngsters and rehabbing veterans.

The Blue Jays won’t have that dilemma this spring. After a blockbuster offseason highlighted by the acquisition of not one, not two, but three elite starters, Toronto will enter spring training with one of the majors’ strongest rotations. It also will open camp as the favorite to win the World Series, at least according to one major odds maker.

While ranking the Blue Jays ahead of the likes of the San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers is a reach, they legitimately can lay claim to the unofficial (and, yes, mostly worthless) championship of the Hot Stove League. No matter what happens before pitchers and catchers report in mid-February, Toronto will open camp as arguably the game’s most improved teams.

Certainly, the Blue Jays will open as the most improved of the 13 teams that finished 2012 with a losing record. Ranking the improvement of last season’s sub-.500 clubs:

1. TORONTO BLUE JAYS (73-89)

With the additions of R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, Toronto shouldn’t have to worry about finishing 25th in rotation ERA again. Adding Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera and Emilio Bonifacio should boost an already strong lineup, too.

The Blue Jays still lack a proven closer and slugger Jose Bautista is returning from wrist surgery but, for the first time since winning the 1993 World Series, this team possesses as much talent as any in the AL East. New manager John Gibbons must develop the right chemistry.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2 ... rove-loser