It should be the time of great excitement for a baseball fan in Canada, but, this year sadly less so than we would have hoped for.
It might be hoped the Toronto Blue Jays would at least be in the conversation in terms of teams with a chance to make the post season. It was, after all, not so long ago Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion were clubbing dingers and the team was relevant in the American League post season debate.
The two sluggers are gone and the Jays are a mere shadow of what they were only two or three seasons ago.
As I write this, with less than two weeks left on the schedule the Jays are 68-82, with a .453 winning position, only 35 games off the lead in the American League east.
Now there are worse teams in baseball, Baltimore is 60 games out of first with only 43 wins in the same division,
But the Jays have not been competitive, sitting behind even Tampa Bay, with the Rays only 19.5 games back of Boston.
So it’s all about what comes next.
The Jays did a veteran dump at the trade deadline, although a few old guys are still around playing out bad contracts that make them hard to trade.
That’s fine in the sense this team won’t be in the mix in 2019 either, unless of course Boston and New York both go bankrupt, and every Jays prospect becomes a superstar overnight.
The puzzle pieces the Jays do have are an odd mix.
On the mound Aaron Sanchez has only four wins with a couple of starts to go, coming off a one win season in 2017. To expect him to rebound to the potential he showed in 2016 when he had 15 wins is likely folly. One bad year is a blip on the radar, two bad years is a disquieting trend.
Marcus Stroman has four wins as well. In five years as a Jay he has 41 wins, or eight a season. That too is troubling.
The result is the starting staff in 2019 is a massive question mark that can only reasonably be answered by free agent signings, and frankly an investment of big dollars at this juncture would be a premature one.
There are some pieces starting to show signs of belonging around the diamond.
After a horrible start Randal Grichuk has his batting average near .250 and has hit 23 home runs. A better season start and that should be .260 and 30, which works for me.
Kevin Pillar remains a fine centerfielder and isn’t a drag at the plate either.
Teoscar Hernandez is Grichuk-like at the plate, batting near .250 with 20 homers, and promise of upping both a little in 2019. The issue is he is not a good fielder, with eight errors this year. He needs some fine tuning to roam the outfield on a winner, or Billy McKinney plays and Hernandez takes over for the aging Kendrys Morales.
Justin Smoak is still around, but I would put him on the trade block this off season, and install Rowdy Tellez at first base. This September he has shown he can hit, and it’s time to take a step.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. slots in at second base for me, so Devon Travis moves on as well.
Pencil Danny Jansen in as my main catcher next season, and figure Reese McGuire joins him in 2020.
By 2020 Bo Bichette should be at shortstop and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. figures in at third, unless he moves to the outfield to supplant Hernandez.
Suddenly, by 2020, I am liking the team. It would be young, home grown, and easy to cheer for.
And it could compete with some dollars spent by then on a rotation.
