MLB Hot Stove: Toronto Blue Jays Preview
The Toronto Blue Jays had a very successful 2015 Major League Baseball season. Although they did not reach the World Series, there were a lot of positives.
It has been suggested for a number of years, that the hardest division to compete in the American League is the East Division with no organization able to keep up financially and successfully with the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox.
However, recent memory has seemed to contradict that theory as the Tampa Bay Rays (2010), Baltimore Orioles (2014) and the Toronto Blue Jays last season have defeated the big financial powerhouse organizations.
Some fans were growing tired of failed expectations from the Toronto Blue Jays. After insisting that money would be there for the team to build a successful franchise, fans were demanding results in 2015. Slowly, but surely, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos delivered.
It could be suggested that the current team started to come together three years ago with the blockbuster deals with the Miami Marlins and New York Mets. These deals helped the Blue Jays to acquire pitchers R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle, along with shortstop Jose Reyes with the Mets and Marlins receiving a lot of Toronto’s top prospects.
During the 2014 winter, Anthopoulos went to work again further shocking everyone by acquiring third baseman Josh Donaldson from the Oakland Athletics and signing catcher Russell Martin as a free agent.
The 2015 season started extremely slowly and poorly. At the beginning of June, they had a record of 23-29 and six games under .500. By August 1, they had a record of 53-51 and had further bolstered their roster once again adding key players in a series of trades. The biggest acquisitions were pitcher David Price, from the Detroit Tigers, and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, from the Colorado Rockies. During August and September, they competed in 54 games and went an astounding 39-15 during those contests.
Their final record was 93-69 over the course of the six month, 162 game schedule and it catapulted the team to the playoffs for the first time since winning the 1993 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The team, the city of Toronto and the country of Canada were all caught up in Blue Jays fever. The team went on to defeat the Texas Rangers in a thrilling five game series, before facing elimination in six games against the eventual World Series winning Kansas City Royals.
This winter will be a mixed bag of transitions for the organization. Team President Paul Beeston is retiring and incoming President Mark Shapiro is stepping in, after years with the Cleveland Indians organization. GM Anthopoulos has stepped down from his post, after deciding it was not a proper fit for him anymore. The club has promoted Tony LaCava to the General Manager post, on an interim basis, after years of serving as an understudy to former bosses J.P. Riccardi and Anthopoulos. The club has decided that manager John Gibbons will return in 2016 to be in the dugout for the organization.
The biggest question mark for this team heading into the new season in April, is how to fix and address the starting pitching. Pitcher Mark Buehrle is expected to retire and David Price is a pending free agent and is not expected to be within Toronto’s payroll constraints. Another issue they have is starting pitcher Drew Hutchison who struggled during the second half of last season. The team can pin hopes on right-hander Marcus Stroman who returned from injury for the stretch run and also has hopes on right-hander Marco Estrada, after recently signing a two year deal for $26 million.
There are conflicting thoughts on the future of this organization, but one would have to think they need to continue to add to the roster with outfielder Jose Bautista and DH Edwin Encarnacion still with the team. There is still another year on the contracts for both players.
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