2012 MLB Season Preview: Toronto Blue Jays
By Kyle Davis
Toronto Blue Jays 2012 Season Outlook
Earlier in the offseason, the Blue Jays would have had a simple, if not mostly boring and underwhelming plan for 2012. Let the young guys play, let the prospects get another year under their belts, look for a few holes in the market to exploit, and gear up for 2013, or 2014, or whenever Anthopoulos decided was the proper time to go all in for the postseason. Now, with the addition of an extra Wild Card team looming large, the Blue Jays 2012 could prove to be a little more… wild! Jose Bautista is locked up and primed for another monster offensive campaign and Brett Lawrie presents a world of upside surrounded by a cast of solid to above average bats ready to take advantage of the Rogers Centre home run friendliness. Colby Rasmus, perhaps finally free of the turmoil and chaos that’s surrounded him the last year or so, is still a good bet to cash in on some of his elite pedigree and flourish into an above average regular, and maybe even an All-Star. The rotation presents some reclamation projects and question marks, but is anchored by the generally underlooked and legitimate ace Ricky Romero. Brandon Morrow has continued his maddening trajectory, showing flashes of brilliance followed by complete and total garbage, his peripheral stats and strikeout rate presenting elite potential beyond his mediocre ERA. A step forward from Morrow could go a long way. The bullpen has once again been rebuilt shrewdly on the cheap. If a few things go right, and injuries are avoided, it’s not unreasonable to expect any combination of the Blue Jays, Angels, Rangers, Red Sox, Rays and Yankees to be battling for the final two playoff spots well into the summer, and if given the opportunity, Gerneral Manager Anthopoulos could very well be given the go ahead to make a monster splash, either financially or via trade, or both. Life is not easy in the AL East, and the Blue Jays have stayed true to a long term plan in order to prepare for contention. Given a new opportunity to land in the postseason for the first time since the glory years of ’92 and ’93, the plan might just accelerate a year or two earlier than expected.
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Kyle writes baseball nonsense at The Trance of Waiting. You can follow him on Twitter @AgainstKyle.