Last week the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Alex Anthopoulos, sat down with both TSN and Sportsnet’s radio stations to discuss the off-season. Anthopoulos has already said that he’s willing to spend money when the time is right and a lot of Jays’ fans are wondering if that time is now. With Bautista signed for the next four years with the option of a fifth, the Jays have a corner stone on which to build. Finishing 2011 with a .500 record seemed like a setback after an 85-77 campaign in 2010, but there is a lot to be hopeful about, especially with productive years from youngsters Arencibia, Lawrie and Thames amongst others.
When Anthopoulos signed Bautista in the winter of 2010/11 to a five-year, $65-million contract (with the option of a sixth year), a lot of Jays’ fans thought it might be a little too much to pay for a player after just a single breakout season. Oh, how those tunes have changed. Bautista followed up his stellar 2010 performance with an MVP caliber 2011 season, passing past record-holder Ken Griffey Jr.
In the two interviews held by Anthopoulos last week, he addressed the two issues I believe need to be given the most attention in the off-season. For a team that ranked 6th in the majors, it seems pretty obvious that pitching is a concern. Toronto starters posted the 6th worst combined ERA on the season, and only two teams had more blown saves, the Nationals and the Cardinals. Luckily, there seem to be a lot of closers and relievers up for grabs in free agency, and after the B.J. Ryan debacle, I hope the Jays’ organization has learned to not over-pay for saves.
With free agents available such as Heath Bell, Jonathan Papelbon, Matt Capps, and Francisco Rodriguez (among others), the Jays should be able to shop around for a decent closer to replace the experiment that was Dotel and Francisco in 2011. Neither of these guys should be around next year, Dotel won the World Series with the aforementioned St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen, and Francisco filed for free agency. Two weeks ago the Phillies declined their option on Lidge for $12-million and have instead decided to aggressively pursue re-signing Madson. Another closer on the free agent market is Joe Nathan, who was bought out of his contract by the Minnesota Twins.
In terms of starting pitchers, it’s no secret that Anthopoulos is interested in signing Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, who would come with a hefty price tag. Another option around the same price would be Ranger’s starter C.J. Wilson, who posted an ERA under 3 for the second time of his career in 2011, and recorded the lowest WHIP of his career.
Either of these two pitchers will be looking for contracts in the $100-million range. In the field, the Jays still have questions at second and third base. Kelly Johnson seems like the best bet at second. He’s cheaper than Hill, defensively superior, and should fit nicely at the bottom of the order. At third, there are still a lot of problems, as neither Lawrie nor Bautista seem suited for the position. First base seems like the position most fun to speculate about, with Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols both on the market, but I don’t see the Jays going after either of these guys. The more likely signing will be David Ortiz from the Red Sox as their DH. Encarnacion, who was probably going to start the season at DH, has been seen playing all over the field in winter ball, and more than likely Farrell will use him as a utility player, mostly in left field. This would free up a spot for Ortiz nicely.
So will the Jays make enough moves to compete in the American League East next year? Will they make the playoffs, with or without the extra wild card spot? I think it will take a year or two more before Toronto is able to take a charge at the World Series, but this off-season might please Jays fans enough to sell out the home opener again next year. I doubt Anthopoulos will go out and spend too much money just yet with all the building the team still has to do from within, and he’s already hinted that going after big names like Pujols or Fielder might be better saved for a team closer to the verge of a championship. Moves like these should give Jays fans something to cheer about next April, and fingers crossed we’ll be watching the Leafs fight for a berth in the NHL playoffs.
In other sports news:
The Leafs try to bounce back after losing 7-0 to the Bruins, but will have to do it without Tim Connolly, who is out for up to two weeks. They have fallen out of first in the NHL to third behind Dallas and Pittsburgh, remaining second in the Eastern Conference.
This Saturday, November 12th every sports fan should be watching a TV somewhere. To go along with the hockey game, UFC makes its Fox premier with Velasquez and Dos Santos, coincidentally on the same night as Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3 on PPV. For all you football fans not appeased by San Diego and Oakland kicking off Thursday Night Football, you might want to tune in to Stanford vs. Oregon on Saturday night.
The NCAA basketball season gets underway this week, but so does CIS basketball with the Toronto Blues kicking off their year at home against Waterloo on Nov. 11. Toronto finished 14-8 in 2010, leaving them second in the OUA East behind Carleton, missing the Final 8 yet again.
And finally, Canadian Dwayne De Rosario, who started the season with the Toronto FC and ended it with D.C. United this season, was announced as a finalist for the MLS’ Volkswagen MVP Award. He led the league in scoring with 16 goals and 12 assists, scoring 20 of his 28 points in his 18 games with D.C. The winner will be announced on November 18th, two days before the MLS Cup Final.
