Is this roster as currently constructed capable of WS title?

[Griff83]

Right now Vegas has the Jays as the 3rd WS favorite

Baseball > Futures
2013 World Series - Outright

41.00 Arizona Diamondbacks
16.00 Atlanta Braves
36.00 Baltimore Orioles
34.00 Boston Red Sox
101.00 Chicago Cubs
34.00 Chicago White Sox
8.50 Cincinatti Reds
81.00 Cleveland Indians
101.00 Colorado Rockies
11.00 Detroit Tigers
201.00 Houston Astros
81.00 KC Royals
12.00 LA Angels
11.00 LA Dodgers
67.00 Miami Marlins
31.00 Milwaukee Brewers
101.00 Minnesota Twins
67.00 NY Mets
12.00 NY Yankees
12.00 Oakland Athletics
16.00 Philadelphia Phillies
41.00 Pittsburgh Pirates
67.00 SD Padres
12.00 SF Giants
67.00 Seattle Mariners
21.00 ST Cardinals
21.00 TB Rays
10.00 Texas Rangers
9.00 Toronto Blue Jays
8.50 Washington Nats

Do you think Vegas is overrating this team or are we really capable of winning a championship next season with this roster?

One more impact move and we prolly have the best roster on paper.

[Skin Blues]

Of course we're capable. All you need to do is make the playoffs and then anything can happen. Quite clearly, we have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs. It would be pretty exciting to have playoff baseball in Toronto again. I went to a bunch of regular season games in 92/93 but unfortunately I was only 8/9 years old so didn't really have the dough for playoff tickets. My aunt and uncle went to a couple WS games though, and framed a ticket stub as a gift for me. Hmm. First time I've thought of that in years, seems like kind of a dick move.

[Jatt]

Playoffs? Yes. WS? Note quite sure, but that goes with all the other variables re: injuries etc. If the team stays healthy and the "what ifs" fall into place (Romero re-finding his form, Happ having a solid year, Lind figuring out how to use a bat again etc.) then we can have a shot. I can understand why AA is still shopping and still looking to add depth. Still ticked that Bo'sox resigned Big Papi, he would have looked brilliant on this squad.

[The_Hater]

Any team that makes the playoffs can win the World Series, you just need to get hot at the right time.

[vaff87]

It's hard to say, considering they've never played together. But I would say, yeah, they have the talent to win the World Series. They're certainly going to need more starting pitching depth to protect against injuries, though.

[The_Hater]

It's hard to say, considering they've never played together. But I would say, yeah, they have the talent to win the World Series. They're certainly going to need more starting pitching depth to protect against injuries, though.

But the fact that they haven't played together doesn't matter much in Baseball. This isn't football or basketball, baseball is an individual sport masquerading as a team sport.

[kavan]

Any team can get hot, but I think baseball is one game where you don't need team synergy. Hitting up and down the line up is individual. The game can be played as a team concept hit-run and sacrifices hits and so forth but you cant say they need chemistry. I do think with the pieces we have added we are aiming at a WS birth. AA did not put this team together just to win 90 games.

[BigLeagueChew]

Still a ways to go yet, I think. The teams in the late 80s early 90s made the playoffs a few times and couldn't make the final step until more pieces were added.

I think we're close to that but we still need to figure things out at catcher, acquire a front line starter, left handed power bat.

Also need to stay healthy over a full season to have any chance obviously.

[zong]

Any team that makes the playoffs can win the World Series, you just need to get hot at the right time.

I agree, our roster is built for a shot at the title but we still have a bunch of holes compared with teams with a lower probability, I say we need at least a year to work out the kinks.

[LLJ]

Well, you never know. Lots of things can happen in baseball. Key guys can all have down years at the same time, injuries, bullpen being comically bad, etc,.

Anyone know how the Marlins were ranked last year as WS favorites?

[Indiana Jones]

not if we sustain major injuries to key players. if morrow, johnson, bautista or reyes get hurt, we'll be in huge trouble.

[UN-Owen]

We're legit contenders next season if Josh Johnson stays healthy

[Schad]

As Hater said, any team that can make the playoffs -- especially if you run 3+ deep in good starters -- can win it. That said, the Vegas line right now is a bit crazy, and represents the way money is moving rather than our chances, really...we're the hot new thing, so we're probably attracting an awful lot of bets.

[Duffman100]

I'd feel a lot more comfortable if we added another pitcher and bat.

[UN-Owen]

I'd feel a lot more comfortable if we added another pitcher and bat.

Greinke and Hamilton would be great additions to the roster

[Yosemite Dan]

I really don't think hitting's a problem, we have a good blend of speed and power and the bullpen should be good enough if Santos comes back healthy BUT a team goes as the starting rotation goes and I would feel more comfortable if we got another legit starter. Romero is a big question mark, Morrow has yet to complete a full season and Johnson does have durability concerns as well. If 2 out of those 3 perform as expected then we're looking good but that's a big if at this point. If Morrow and Johnson can't stay healthy and miss a good chunk of starts and Romero continues his struggles then the season could go south quickly.

Romero is the big key right now, he has to get his head right and get us 15 wins because to expect both Morrow and Johnson to get 30 starts each may be asking a bit much. One may be able to but not both so we need quality innings from Romero to pick up the slack because Beurhle is a safe bet to give us 200 innings.

[Raptor_Guy]

I hate when people say stuff like "are they a world series contender or just a playoff contender?" or "how deep can they go in the playoffs?"

This isn't the NBA or NFL, if you make the playoffs you can win it all. The 2006 Cardinals won 83 games with an average team and won the World Series. It's all about matchups and being hot at the right time.

[sule]

As a team we tend to get hot around mid-August through to the end of the season. It's seemingly been that way for about a decade now, if not more.

I think our problem is not getting off to a good start. As a team, the Jays are always starting off really slow and then slumping, then getting back to average, and then having a great end to the season. Our media personalities like Wilner always seem to rationalize that to the fans too. The argument being that we're off to 10-17 or whatever and just need a couple good series to get back into it. All the while, other teams are off to a .500 start and need a couple series to seriously pull away, while we're just trying to make it to .500 or stop ourselves from falling away from .500.

Once injuries set in around mid-season, we always see the drop off, and then when we either get healthy again or bring up some energy from the minors, or have fallen out of contention for the playoffs, we pick up our game.

The key is for this team to capitalize on our health, and for both pitching and hitting to pull their weight. For the last few years it's always one good while the other suffering. When our hitting is good, our pitching isn't able. When our pitching was good, our offense sucked. We need both to align just long enough for us to pull away earlier than August/September ball if we want to make the playoffs.

[vaff87]

It's hard to say, considering they've never played together. But I would say, yeah, they have the talent to win the World Series. They're certainly going to need more starting pitching depth to protect against injuries, though.

But the fact that they haven't played together doesn't matter much in Baseball. This isn't football or basketball, baseball is an individual sport masquerading as a team sport.

I agree for the most part. But I think you gotta have a little bit of chemistry, at least. Just human nature that if you really hate each other, you're not likely to perform your best.

[tiger7]

Need a solid 5th man for the rotation, big bat for DH, groom D'arnaud to start. After that its all up to the players to perform and the coaching staff to develop and get the best out of everyone on the roster. All that considered if they stay healthy. and If we make the playoffs. Up to the team how far they can carry themselves at that point. I wouldn't say were the Miami Heat of the baseball world with the additions and were at the WS level just yet but we definitely have a legit playoff shot. AL east is up for grabs at this point.