They are definitely not the same as the old Jays. (With apologies to Roger Daltry.)
This off-season has been an exhausting one for loyal followers of the Blue Jays, and at times a challenging one. Not a day goes by when someone somewhere (usually my parents unfortunately) asks me, “did you hear what the Jays did?,” or, “do you think it was a good move?” The short answer to all those questions is invariably “yes,” and “I’ll have to wait and see.”
To recap quickly the following players affecting the major league roster were moved:
In: Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay, A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan, and John McDonald.
Out: Dave Bush, Corey Koskie, Gabe Gross, Miguel Batista, and of course Orlando Hudson.
Of course there were moves affecting minor leaguers as well, as several prospects came and went, and the payroll moved significantly, although not to the $80-85 million region where many people first reported. So what are we to make of all of these moves?
On a talent for talent basis, it certainly augers well. The Blue Jays removed only one player who was likely to have a positive value to the club in 2006 (Hudson), while trading away commodities which, while valuable, were expendable with the new talent coming in. While I have no doubt that Dave Bush will have a fine career as a major league pitcher, the fact remains that his prospects in the starting rotation in 2006 were slim. If he outperforms A.J. Burnett this year, I’ll eat my hat. Hudson’s departure is being hailed as the collapse of the great defense: fears which I am not entirely sold on. Yes, Hudson is the best glove man in baseball, but Hill is no slouch. With Overbay taking over at first and Glaus being an unknown commodity it is tough to tell where the infield defense stands. So lets look at the projected lineup, processed by my very own baseballific datafier:
Rotation: Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Ted Lilly, Gustavo Chacin and Josh Towers.
Bullpen: B.J. Ryan, Justin Speier, Scott Shoeneweis, Jason Frasier, Vinnie Chulk, Pete Walker and Scott Downs.
Lineup: Russ Adams, Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells, Troy Glaus, Shea Hillenbrand, Frank Catalanotto, Aaron Hill, Gregg Zaun, and Alex Rios.
Bench: Eric Hinske, Reed Johnson, and either Guillermo Quiroz or Jason Phillips.
Is this a perfect team? Of course not. Is it an 85-90 win team? Most definitely. Can this team make the playoffs? I guess we’ll have to stay tuned to find out. Tune back in this week and the next for detailed breakdowns of the pitching, hitting and defense of this team.