The AL East: Toronto Blue Jays

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

When you think of the Toronto Blue Jays, you think, first, Jose Bautista. Then you think of all the home runs the offense produced in 2010. Then, you pretty much stop thinking about them.

Kind of unfortunate really. The Blue Jays, despite the dealings within the pitching staff, still have a bit of pitching to offer. Granted, not what they had last season, but there is still the likes of one Ricky Romero.

But before I delve into that, what about the offense?

Looking across the infield, there's Bautista currently stationed at third. He mesmerized the baseball world last season with his 54 homers. Does anyone realize he also drove in 124 runs? Not many unless you're a fan of the Blue Jays. Again, unfortunate.

The Jays infield progresses around from Yunel Escobar at short to Aaron Hill at second to Adam Lind who's listed at first on the Jays website. Not a bad offensive set at all. Escobar is the light hitter of the bunch. After the trade that had Escobar go from Atlanta to Toronto, Escobar hit all of four home runs. Those were his only four for 2010.

Hill contributed a bit more with 26 and Lind added 23. Add 'em up and you get over 100...easily and you don't have to add the 4 from Escobar. It's still well over 100. The defense may be another matter. Bautista's natural position is right field. The Jays were wanting to snag a third baseman in the offseason so Joey Bats could be put back in the outfield.

Speaking of the outfield, Vernon Wells is gone via a trade with the Angels. The Jays did get Juan Rivera in the deal, but Rivera will not give you the offense or the defense of Wells. Ridding themselves of a big, bad contract was all the Jays were doing there.

They did lose leadoff man Fred Lewis to free agency, but they did trade for Rajai Davis (from Oakland) to fill Wells' void in the field and Lewis' bat in the lineup. Davis has a bit more speed than Lewis and a tic more range than Wells. Travis Snider will man right field for the time being. If the Jays do manage to lure Michael Young to their fair town (I don't know what they could offer), the Jays will be very bit as potent as they were in 2010.

Catcher John Buck, who had a career year in 2010, is now in Florida. That will put a bit of pressure on the young J.P. Arencibia. If the youngster falls, veteran Jose Molina is always ready. More offense that must be replaced with Buck's departure.

Now the pitching.

Romero will be slotted as the #1 almost due to default. That's not taking anything away from him though. After a nice rookie campaign in 2009, Romero backed it up with another sound and improved effort in 2010. He only improved his win total by one, but his secondary numbers improved even more. His ERA dropped from 4.30 to 3.73. The WHIP slid from 1.522 to 1.290. His H/9 fell from 9.7 to 8.1. At 26, this lefty should continue his improvement in 2011.

The questions are after Romero in the form of Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil. Both are still youing as well (Morrow is 26 and Cecil is 24). Morrow found his real calling in being a starter in Toronto. After a couple of seasons of being swithced from closer to starter to closer to starter in Seattle, the role just seems to fit him. Cecil's 2010 was almost as impressive as Romero's in that he continued to improve on the back end numbers. Oh, and he can pitch pretty darn good.

So 1,2 and 3 are set, but what do the Jays have after that? Some have opined the Kyle Drabek, acquired in the Roy Halladay deal, is in line for the #4 or #5 spot. It's looking like it at this point because Jesse Litsch may not be ready for the regular season (although he pitched well yesterday, maybe he will be set) and Mark Rzepczynski struggled (just as he did yesterday).

The bullpen is what has undergone the most change. Kevin Gregg and Scott Downs are gone. Enter Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco. All three have closers experience (to replace Gregg) and Francisco has been tabbed as the closer. If he runs into issues (as he did in Texas last season), Rauch is the most likely candidate for the role.

And the Jays have a new skipper in John Farrell. The former Red Sox pitching coach is a good fit for the young starting staff. Plus, he has a good seat to watch and take notes from Terry Francona. He'll also have former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu as his bench coach.

While the Jays do not appear to be contrenders in 2011, that offense can still pack a punch.