The Blue Jays won just 73 games last season, finishing fourth in a division where the top three teams all reached 90 victories. It's been 13 years since any team claimed an AL East flag with fewer than 95 wins. Thus, Toronto's front office entered the offseason knowing that it wouldn't be enough to make only small changes at the margins.
Q: How 'bout we begin with the new additions to the starting rotation? The transition from the NL East to the AL East can't be easy, right?
A: Nope, we don't generally expect such moves to be kind to pitchers, fantasy-wise. But we also need to be careful not to overstate the impact of these switches. Last season, the league-average ERA in the NL was 3.95, WHIP was 1.31 and BAA was .254. In the AL, the numbers were 4.08, 1.31 and .255. So the degree of difficulty goes up for Dickey, Johnson and Buehrle, but not by orders of magnitude.
Q: There's no reason to worry about Jose Reyes heading north, is there? His legs won't explode on the artificial track?
A: Well, I refuse to offer any assurances about the health of Reyes' hamstrings, calves or quads. That would have been the case if he'd remained in Miami, too. This is a speed-dependent player with a deep history of leg issues. What I can comfortably guarantee is that Reyes is moving to a better run-scoring environment, and he's coming off a season in which he played 160 games and swiped 40 bags. If he remains healthy (huge if), he's a good bet to rank among the category leaders in runs and steals, and possibly batting average.
Q: OK, one last question about the new arrivals: What should we expect from Melky, post-suspension?
A: Honestly, it's difficult enough to forecast performance when dealing with a player who's healthy, all-natural, and who isn't changing teams. When you toss in the PED variable, this becomes a ridiculous exercise. There's no universal PED multiplier. I have no idea of the extent to which Cabrera (or any other player) was artificially enhanced, nor do I know that he (or any other player) is now entirely clean.
Many more questions answered if you click the link.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fantas ... ntasy.html
Q: What's the scoop on Jose Bautista? We should worry about sluggers coming off wrist injuries, yeah?
Q: Any chance that Sergio Santos can reclaim the closer's role from Casey Janssen this year?
Q: After Toronto's flurry of trades, are there any prospects left worth discussing?
Q: Aren't you going to make any outrageous predictions about Brett Lawrie this year?
