Blue Jays offseason moves

[Radical Canadian Goose]

I am a huge baseball fan and an even bigger Jays fan. The last several years I have attended 10-15 games a year. I thought that last year was going to finally be a breakout campaign for us, but unfortunately injuries prevailed. Since 93 I have suffered through some pretty crappy seasons and seen some equally crappy players (Estaban Loaiza, Ken Huckaby, Gabe Gross, etc) come and go. The 2013 season appears to be different. Alex Anthopoulous first went out and mortgaged our future to acquire proven vets in Mark Buerhle, Josh Johnson and Jose Reyes. A couple of days later he signed Melky Cabrera. Now he has sacrificed more of our (loaded) farm for R.A. Dickey. Here is a preview of what the Jays roster could look like Opening Day 2013.

Batting Order

1.) Jose Reyes SS
2.) Melky Cabrera Lf
3.) Jose Bautista Rf
4.) Edwin Encarnacion Dh
5.) Adam Lind 1B
6.) Brett Lawrie 3B
7.) Colby Rasmus Cf
8.) JP Arencibia C
9.) Emilio Bonifacio 2b

Starting Pitchers

1.) R.A. Dickey
2.) Josh Johnson
3.) Mark Buerhle
4.) Brandon Morrow
5.) Ricky Romero

What does everybody think? Is this the year the Jays make the playoffs, and become legit contenders for the World Series

 

[hatehabsforever]

The Jays' transactions have definitely moved them from joke to contender in a single off season. When you have moved your number one and two starters from last season down to the fourth and fifth spots, you've obviously made significant progress. Not to mention their added depth beyond the starting rotation.

Their offseason acquisitions have obviously made them a much better team. And perhaps more importantly than that, guys like Lawrie and Rasmus can develop at a more natural pace, rather than having the weight of the franchise on their shoulders too early in their careers.

Cabrera does not have to necessarily return to his pre-suspension numbers, but even if he can come somewhat close, he's a healthy acquisition. If Bautista is healthy, combined with everything else, the Jays have to be seen as serious contenders in the AL East.

Of course, nothing in MLB comes with any guarantees, but it's nice to see Toronto at least make the effort to put a contending team on the field for the first time in nearly two decades. While I think that early projections for them to be the odds on favorites to win the World Series may be a little premature, it still will be nice to see Toronto have a franchise which is actually competitive. God knows the Raptors or the Maple Leafs haven't been getting the job done.

 

[Big Sexy]

The Blue Jays definitely made some nice moves but the people calling them contenders before they even play a game are going overboard. They were only a 73 win team last year and four of their big six acquisitions came from a Miami Marlins team that only won 69 games last season. When it comes to Melky Cabrera, he was always an average, bottom half of the order player until the last year or two. Coincidentally, in the middle of his random breakout season, he was suspended for a positive testosterone test.

The best move they made was acquiring RA Dickey who has proven the last few years that he can be a legitimate number one starter. If the Blue Jays are going to compete for a playoff spot it will be because of their pitching staff and the additions of Dickey, Buehrle, and Johnson. However, as of right now everything is just hype. Let's wait until they play some games before we start talking about them as contenders.

 

[Mustang Sally]

When it comes to Melky Cabrera, he was always an average, bottom half of the order player until the last year or two. Coincidentally, in the middle of his random breakout season, he was suspended for a positive testosterone test.

Yeah, some coincidence, huh? I wonder if Melky is still working under the same contract he signed with the Giants, because if he is, it seems Toronto is taking an awful chance, no? Since he didn't become a great player until tests proved he was abusing substances, what if he can't play as well while clean? Then again, I rooted for Ryan Braun to have a lousy season last year while not juicing, and he did just fine. (Of course, that's presuming he was clean and hadn't simply found a new, undetectable way to cheat)

As for Dickey, it's another risk because of his age. After years of mediocrity, he apparently got his head on straight while gaining control of his knuckleball and winning 20 games. Wonderful for him, but that was only one year out of a long career. At his age, was Toronto wise to pony up a 3-year contract?

The Blue Jays line-up should be able to compete with the rest of the AL East....the best division in baseball.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

What does everybody think? Is this the year the Jays make the playoffs, and become legit contenders for the World Series

They might make the playoffs but they are not legitimate world series contenders. The top two teams in the AL are Detroit (which brought in Torii Hunter and who gets back Victor Martinez to add to an already stacked lineup and they re-signed Anibal Sanchez with Verlander, Fister, Scherzer all returning) and California/Anaheim who added Josh Hamilton to an already stacked lineup.

 

[Megatron]

I have to admit that it's nice to see someone not from New York, LA, or Boston make some big moves because Toronto really could be a sleeping giant in the AL East. They are a huge market, are the lone Canadian team, and they've had a stellar lineup for years. Making moves for Dickey, Johnson, and Buehrle I like because their rotation was always going to hold them back (before the deals). Morrow was good before he was hurt, but injuries will have to be a concern until he proves himself. Romero was a complete mess last year and for the life of him couldn't keep the ball over the middle of the plate, but being a #5 shall relieve the pressure he had of being the guy.

As for them being World Series favorites, I'm not going to be so quick to jump the gun. It seems time and time again in MLB that the team that wins the Offseason Championship doesn't live up to the hype in the following season. While the Angels arguably have made the biggest splash, the Jays have made the most moves. Of course, that didn't help the Angels last year when they got Pujols and Wilson, nor the Red Sox the year before with Crawford, Gonzalez, etc. They certainly should be able to get over .500 and will be in Wild Card contention, but I'm still pegging Tampa as the team to beat in that division. They have the best manager, have a top 5 rotation, will find bullpen heros for scraps in January/February, and got a top 5 prospect who will come in and play on Opening Day for pretty much two years of James Shields and bullpen arm Wade Davis. The Yankees, despite their age and postseason struggles, will be in the 85-90 win range at worst, the AL West will have 3 teams in contention, the Central has the reigning Pennant winners and a potential scrappy team in KC.

tl;dr These moves obviously improve their outlook on the season, but they aren't the first, second, third, or possibly even fourth team I'm putting money on to win the American League, let alone World Series.

 

[6timehitta]

As far as the acquisitions go, I like the Marlins trade they did. I mean Buerhle and Dickey are amazing and worth the trade(s).Even Jose Reyes is a fantastic SS who'll hit .300 and steal up to 50 bags and get about 100 runs on top of this loaded lineup.

But the one person I'm thinking that all you guys are forgetting is, Josh Johnson. Now Johnson was a top 10 pitcher a few years ago,and if he's healthy, a BIG if recently, he could overtake the top spot of that rotation. Josh Johnson is now in an AL rotation and won't have to bat. He also doesn't have the pressure to try and head a rotation with Dickey and Buerhle aboard. I think Johnson, if he's healthy will throw 200 innings plus. He'll also have 180-200 K's and a decent 3.00 - 3.30 ERA.

I also think Emilio Bonifacio brings a stable prescense that they have missed since Aaron Hill at the 2B position. Bonifacio isn't going to mash like Hill did, but he'll steal 40-50 bags and play solid, if not spectacular defense at second.

Plus having Ricky Romero as a 5th starter is showing their overall depth. Considering he is a 2 on a bad team, 3-4 on a good team, he is going to be the stable force at the end of this rotation. Another thing is that this could be the healhtiest bullpen considering that all these guys could easily throw 200 innings.

 

[The Crock]

The Blue Jays certainly made some major moves this offseason, but I still have to see them perform against the top teams in the AL before I can call them a legitimate contender. They've got tons of talent -- the rotation looks scary, the offense has fewer holes -- but throwing money at your problems (or trading away prospects) doesn't necessarily fix all the issues they had. Look at the Dodgers last year, or even the Angels to see what I mean. You just never know how each and every individual player is going to perform for the Jays and in a stacked AL East, I'd expect their pitchers to have a tougher time than they did in their former division (NL East). Regardless, i think Dickey and Johnson (not sure about Buerhle) will perform well enough to keep them afloat, but I just don't have faith in that offense. Encarnacion and Cabrera have had a few stand out years, but I can expect them to keep that up -- I would imagine they'll come back down to earth.

Regardless, I'd still imagine that this team will be able to make some waves, even if I can't call them championship material just yet. Though, a lot of things could go wrong for them; I'm still expecting the Yankees and the Rays to perform well enough to win the division. Plus, the Tigers and the Angels (can't ignore the addition of Josh Hamilton, making that a terrifying line-up), maybe even Kansas City and Oakland, could end up spoiling the fun for the Jays in the AL.