MLB baseball (baseball happens year-round elsewhere in the world in spite of what you often hear on major sports networks) is finally back with Spring Training games making their way back to our television screens. Here in Toronto, it is the start of what is very likely a make-or-break campaign as far as this current core is concerned. The last two seasons have ended in failure, and the optimism from after the 2021 season has given way to cynicism and talk that it may be time to blow it up and start again. This past offseason has been a microcosm of these last three years. It began with the optimism of the Ohtani sweepstakes and ended with the sense that the team got worse, not better during the winter.
The Blue Jays are going into this season with expectations as they did in 2022 and 2023, but they are not going in with the faith of the fanbase this time. On paper, this team is worse than a year ago. We’ve lost a Gold Glove third baseman, an All-Star known for hustle and versatility, and failed to land a bonafide left-handed power bat that could even replace the production of Brandon Belt. We did land Yariel Rodriguez who promises to add ever useful pitching depth, but this offseason has otherwise been a dud. We failed to get Ohtani, we failed to get lefty power bats like Rhys Hoskins and Cody Bellinger that would have been fine fits for our roster and watched the rest of the division, with the noted exception of Boston, get better around us.
Going in, the Toronto Blue Jays are simply far too dependent on some rather optimistic assumptions. For starters, last year, Toronto had to use fewer starting pitchers than any other club in the majors. Most years, teams are not so fortunate with regards to starting pitcher health. We simply cannot assume that fortune will smile upon us like this again this year. Another dangerous assumption is that there will be significant improvement from within after many key players had down years in 2023. Maybe, but it is not something to bank on. Sometimes, players simply regress to a mean and stay there. Sometimes the league simply adjusts to them. Perhaps we get a monster year from Vlad. Kirk and Bo, perhaps we don’t. We have a team built on the hope that something will happen. That is not a recipe for success. Luckily, we still have a strong farm and good young MLB level talent, but the front office placing its faith on youngsters and depth pieces like IKF or the Biggio-Espinal combo is a bit concerning. Hopefully, this will be a team that under-promises and over-delivers because if not, heads need to roll.
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