Blue Jays 2009

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Are we better this year ?

  • yes

    Votes: 64 45.1%

  • no

    Votes: 49 34.5%

  • who cares the Yankees are going to win

    Votes: 15 10.6%

  • who cares the Red Sox are going to win

    Votes: 14 9.9%
  • Total voters
    142
S

shack

Nitpicker Extraordinaire
Oct 2, 2001
50,240
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We definitely do not look as good going in as last year.

However, seeing as how the team underachieved last year, even if they just slightly overachieve and get lucky with minimal injuries, it's possible they may do better. Not likely, but possible. Post season seems like a real longshot.

Hope you're sitting down marc, but a breath of fresh air in management would not be unwarranted if the season unfolds as it seems it is going to.
 
H

hunter001

Almost Done.
Jul 10, 2006
8,635
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It is unlikely the Jays will be better then last year. The highlight for the Jay's season might be when A.J. Burnett blows out his arm for the season.
 
T

teassoc

New member
Mar 29, 2005
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shack said:
We definitely do not look as good going in as last year.

However, seeing as how the team underachieved last year, even if they just slightly overachieve and get lucky with minimal injuries, it's possible they may do better. Not likely, but possible. Post season seems like a real longshot.

Hope you're sitting down marc, but a breath of fresh air in management would not be unwarranted if the season unfolds as it seems it is going to.
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Agreed.

Last season they could and should have done better. As we all know batting let them down first half of the season.

I'm trusting the improvements we saw the second half will carry over into the new season. I'm also trusting the new blood they brought in over the season will continue to develop. With Hill back they should be stronger batting.

Bull-pen should continue to be a strength especially with the return of Janssen and Accardo, and hopefully a stronger performance from Ryan. Overall should be a strength even though they are likely to be tested earlier in games than last season as the starting rotation won't be as strong.

The starting pitcher line-up - whatever permutations they come up with - won't be as strong. However it only takes one or two break-out seasons by some of the new blood and they are back in business with a relatively strong line-up. BTW That's assuming McGowan will be back early in the season.

I'm therefore cautiously optimistic about 2009 but agree making the post-season looks like a huge challenge this year.
 
R

rightsaidfredd

Member
Aug 17, 2001
158
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The Jays will be lucky to finish 3rd this year. Having said that, there are a few bright spots.

Cito/Gene Tenace obviously know how to coach hitters, and they have a couple of good young ones with Lind/Snyder. If they can get production out of Wells, Rios, Overbay and Rolens (and Hill assuming he's healthy) as well, that's a lineup that can command respect from anybody.

Bullpen looks solid.

Quick jerkin John MacDonald around and just give him the everyday job at SS. Let everyone else carry the O; he makes up for his missing O with being the best D player in the game. Ask any pitcher.

Still pissed at JP/Gibbons retarded "take the first pitch no matter what" strategy that completely crippled the O last year until Cito showed up. How is starting every AB 0-1 helpful?!?!

Oh yeah, and bring back Matty Stairs- best lefthanded bat off the bench in the game.

Too bad about the starting rotation.
 
S

salsamarc

Semi-Retired Shill Hunter
Jul 15, 2004
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rightsaidfredd said:
Still pissed at JP/Gibbons retarded "take the first pitch no matter what" strategy that completely crippled the O last year until Cito showed up. How is starting every AB 0-1 helpful?!?!
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you are right, having Cito in the line up will do young guys a lot of good, look what he did for Lind after the idiot Gibbons had pretty much given up on him,
 
B

blueline

Active member
Sep 21, 2001
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salsamarc said:
I was just noticing a few names that were signed over the Winter and somehow the names Ohka, Zambrano and Clayton keep coming back to mind
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No worries. Soon that memory will be replaced by Clement, Takahashi and Millar. :p
 
S

shack

Nitpicker Extraordinaire
Oct 2, 2001
50,240
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blueline said:
No worries. Soon that memory will be replaced by Clement, Takahashi and Millar. :p
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I think those are the names marc (and a few others of us) were thinking of.

BTW, out of curiosity why did you leave the Rays off the list in the poll of potential AL East winners? Do you think they have no chance at all of repeating?
 
S

salsamarc

Semi-Retired Shill Hunter
Jul 15, 2004
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to be honest I like the Orioles better this year than the Rays (although I am biased here since they signed Zaun and I like the way he plays the game) I think last year's Rays were the cinderella story and I doubt they will be on first place after the signings the Yankees did and the soxs.....well they are the soxs
 
S

shuda

New member
Jan 29, 2009
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Southwestern Ontario
Da Hunt for 5th

salsamarc said:
yes, I know is early but i am wondering what you guys think so far:

JP's final year ?

pitching rotation, do we even have one ?

Clean up hitter ??

Is Vernon Wells going to show up and justify the obscene amount of money he is getting paid ?

are we going to see Aaron Hill play again ?
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The length of J.P.'s tenure will likely be decided by what direction the new President and CEO decides to go. If they build around the current core, J.P. may be here until at least July 2010. If they decide to blow it up and start over by trading Halliday, he might be gone before Canada Day.

We don't have a rotation. Hard to say if any of the youngsters
can fill in the way Marcum, McGowan and Litsch did 2yr ago.

I do think they will try and move Ryan at some time,
but there won't be any takers until mid-season.

We don't have a DH.
They may sign a free agent as the season approaches
or trade an arm for a bat.
Rolen looks done at 3rd
and Barahas is A- at catcher.

Having Gaston and Tenace from the beginning
will likely see Rios, Wells and Overbay
have seasons that reflect their career averages.
A healthy Hill will help.

This year we find out about Lind.
To me he looks like a journeyman outfielder:
hit .270 to .290 with 20+ HR and about 80 RBI.
Solid but not great.

Snider? Who Knows?
He may even start the season at AAA.

We figure to see Arencibia at some point this season.

At this point it looks like we have a solid shot at 5th.
Or at least, we're in da hunt.
 
S

salsamarc

Semi-Retired Shill Hunter
Jul 15, 2004
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PROJECTED LINEUP
1. SS Marco Scutaro. Career .325 OBP not exactly leadoff-caliber.
2. 2B Aaron Hill. Ability to rebound from nasty concussion could be key to lineup.
3. RF Alex Rios. Still hasn’t tapped into power potential.
4. CF Vernon Wells. Is this the Wells of 2007 (.706 OPS) or 2008 (.840 OPS)?
5. DH Adam Lind. Starting to figure out big-league pitchers.
6. 3B Scott Rolen. Played more than 115 games only once in past four seasons.
7. 1B Lyle Overbay. Was decent in ’08 (.270, 15 HRs) after awful 2007 (.240, 10 HRs).
8. C Rod Barajas. His .294 OBP in 2008 left much to be desired.
9. LF Travis Snider. Top prospect will be part of this lineup for a long time.

PROJECTED ROTATION
1. RHP Roy Halladay. An ace in every sense of the word.
2. RHP Jesse Litsch. Underrated starter won 13 games with a tidy 3.58 ERA in 2008.
3. LHP David Purcey. Allowed fewer than two runs in four of his 12 starts.
4. RHP Casey Janssen. Former reliever missed 2008 with shoulder problems.
5. RHP Scott Richmond. Was 1-3 in five spot starts last year.

PROJECTED CLOSER
LHP B.J. Ryan. If he is healthy, the ninth inning won’t be the Jays’ problem.

GRADES

Offense: D. They were 11th in the A.L. in runs scored and aren’t much better now. The potentially explosive middle-of-the-lineup duo of Rios and Wells never has reached its potential. If Hill is healthy, he’ll be a nice addition. Rolen and Overbay are past their peak power days.

Pitching: C. The Jays have an ace (Halladay) and a solid sidekick (Litsch), then huge question marks. The bullpen, though, should be a strength. Four lefthanded relievers are coming off excellent seasons—Ryan (32 saves, 2.95 ERA), Jesse Carlson (2.25 ERA), Scott Downs (1.78 ERA) and Brian Tallett (2.88 ERA)

Bench: C. There isn’t much pop, but there’s defensive versatility. Jose Bautista can play either corner infield spot and in the outfield. Joe Inglett filled in nicely at second base last year, and can play the outfield. John McDonald is one of the best-fielding shortstops in the league; his career .276 on-base percentage keeps him on the pine.

Manager: B. In his first tour with Toronto (1989-97), Cito Gaston led the Blue Jays to four first-place finishes and two World Series titles in his first five seasons. And he went 51-37 after taking over for John Gibbons last year. But without any offseason reinforcements in a brutal division, there might not be much Gaston can do this year.
 
T

teassoc

New member
Mar 29, 2005
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The grades don't seem to be there in the original article?

If you are a Jays fan you might think they are a little low. Batting for example improved considerably the second half so a C might have been a fairer forward projection.

Pitching would have been a solid A last season. Best in the AL. They have lost a bit but with McGowan back in the Spring (I know an iff) I'd rate them as a B. That's based on a rock solid bullpen and lots of new pitching options.
 
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