Nick & Hayden's 2014 MLB Preview: 20. Toronto Blue Jays

The last time the Blue Jays were even in the playoffs...1993.

Also, the last time they finished in first place.

20. Toronto Blue Jays

by Hayden Hughes

Heartbreak can have long-lasting, detrimental effects. Ask the Jays.

One would think, and Jays fans would hope, that an All-Star player would play pissed off after being traded by a team that acquired them only a winter prior (and made them cut off his dreadlocks on television with Harold Reynolds). Jose Reyes didn’t do that. Jose Reyes didn’t play much at all in 2013 – just 93 games. Following an offseason in which the Blue Jays were seemingly on the favorable end of the “Hey-We’re-Miami-We’ll-Dump-Whoever-We-Damn-Well-Please-Trade-of-a-Lifetime,” Toronto went 74-88.

Recap of that trade:

Toronto received:	Miami received:
RHP Josh Johnson	SS Adeiny Hechavarria
SS Jose Reyes	C Jeff Mathis
C John Buck	RHP Henderson Alvarez
LHP Mark Buehrle	Other stuff
Baseball Participant Emilio Bonifacio

And yes, Miami won that trade.

But, look, with Josh Johnson as your best pitcher, I mean, there’s not a lot of Cy Young-potential there. Oh, wait –

In that same offseason, the Blue Jays struck up a deal a trade for Mets Cy Young-winning ace R.A. Dickey for prospects – namely prospects…that contributed for the Mets in 2013.

Yep. The Mets won that trade.

The Jays won 74 games in 2013. Who else did this? The Braun-less Brewers, the Rockies, and…the Mets.

Okay, we can call the Dickey trade a “push,” for the short-term.

Yes, there were much worse teams in 2013 and there will most likely be worse teams in 2014. But none of those teams had R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion in their starting lineups. The Blue Jays came in dead last with their 74-88 record in a tough (excuse me: brutal) AL East which produced the 2013 World Series champions. Outside of that, I have no defense for this team. In fact, next year’s preview will probably involve the phrase “I still have no defense…” as only a Baltimore-esque* run would have to materialize for this team to make the playoffs in 2014.

            *By “Baltimore-esque” I’m referring to a breakout year from a 27-year-old first baseman who produces a 6.3 WAR season when in the prior 5 seasons his previous high was a 1.6 WAR and increases his home run total by 20 and RBI total by 50. Which won’t happen. (But, yeah, media, it was all Buck’s coaching, sure…)

Unfortunately for Toronto baseball fans, there are no 27-year-old first basemen on their active roster. Toronto’s problem is they have all the potential in the world, but without a productive season out of starters R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow, and Mark Buehrle, and without healthy seasons from Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes, Brett Lawrie, Melky Cabrera, and Colby Rasmus, potential will land you back in 5^th place. They’re other problem is they can’t afford to rebuild because they have absolutely no farm system to even field a team. Even prospect Aaron Sanchez can’t stay healthy or throw strikes and some publications slot Marcus Stroman as a reliever due to his height.

Despite an 11-game winning streak in 2013 and the youth of the team, Jays fans would probably welcome the front office of this shell-of-a-club folding their hand and committing to a rebuilding process. Trade assets like Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie are certainly able to contribute for a contender – perhaps moving to a team that doesn’t play on turf – and even the prize possession of Jose Bautista could do the team wonders with the proper return.

There’s no doubt that Toronto has the talent and should be contenders but they aren’t and they won’t. The Blue Jays are much closer to “Housing Project Hill” than they are to holding a ticker-tape parade.

Current state of the Blue Jays after inevitable injuries set in.

1. Last Year and offseason
        a. 74-88
        b. Signed Chris Getz
        c. Traded Brad Lincoln to PHI for C Erik Kratz
        d. Signed C Dioner Navarro

2. Projected Lineup/Rotation
        Lineup:
       1.   Jose Reyes SS
       2.   Joey Batista RF
       3.   Edwin Encarnacion 1B
       4.   Adam Lind DH
       5.   Colby Rasmus CF
       6.   Melky Cabrera LF
       7.   Brett Lawrie 3B
       8.   Dioner Navarro C
       9.   Ryan Goins / Macier Izturis / Chris Getz 2B

       Rotation:
       1.  R.A. Dickey
       2.  Mark Buehrle
       3.  Brandon Morrow
       4.  J.A. Happ
       5.  Esmil Rodgers/Kyle Drabek

3. Favorite / Least Favorite
        a.  Hayden’s Favorite – Irrational affinity for Lawrie
        b.  Nick’s Favorite – Uniforms
        c.  Hayden’s Least Favorite – Reyes injury prone; Turf hurting guys; Lind?
        d.  Nick’s Least Favorite – Should trade Joey Bats / no big signings

4. Impact Player
        1.  Brett Lawrie
             i. Flexible @ 2nd
            ii. Moves Jose to 3rd, Gose gets Abs
           iii. Must play more games, too injury prone
           iv. Club-controlled, still pre-arb
            v. 2012 – 4.3 WAR
           vi. Good defense at any position

5. Prospect
        1.  Ryan Goins
            i. Converted SS
           ii. Doesn’t have the bat to project as a regular
           iii. Good defense
           iv. Is he any better than Macier Izturis?
                   a. Is he, really?

6. Mid-Season Status
       1.  Dead Last place

7. Bold Prediction
       1.  78-84
       2.  They begin the process of moving to Montreal
       3.  “Big” year from Morrow; knows he’s got a $10 M team option
       4.  Trade Jose Bautista, LHP Brett Cecil to ANA for OF Kole Calhoun, 2B Howie Kendrick, and 1B C.J. Cron

Podcast Playlist:
"Galena" - Balance and Composure
"Quake" - Balance and Composure