The Toronto Blue Jays are clearly one of the best teams right now in Major League Baseball. They have just come off a weekend series against the Boston Red Sox, where they had the brooms out and swept the Sox when they won their 11th consecutive game.
In the weekend series the Blue Jays scored 31 runs as opposed to 19 scored by the Sox. Since an early June doubleheader game against the Washington Nationals, where they lost 2-0 in the first game, they have crossed the plate 88 times and only given up 40 runs to their opponents. What the other 29 teams have obviously seen and heard over the past 11 games is that this team clearly can hit.
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While fans north of the border are relishing in the new found hitting prowess that the Blue Jays appear to be on, nothing has really changed. At the beginning of the season, it was thought by baseball prognosticators that the five American League East teams could all contend for a playoff spot, but it would be an utter dog fight as all teams have issues that need addressing. This 11 game winning streak is a great accomplishment by Toronto but all it has done is brought them closer to the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Toronto’s General Manager Alex Anthopoulos is facing some heat by some of the fans to make another significant addition to bolster the teams chances of grasping a playoff spot. This team is currently a mix of superstars and ‘who’s who’. Yes, there’s outfielder Jose Bautista and pitcher’s Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey as some of the veterans on this ball club. But credit Anthopoulos for signing Canadian catcher Russell Martin and trading for third baseman Josh Donaldson from the Oakland Athletics.
In the series finale Sunday against the Boston Red Sox, some of the ‘who’s who’ came to play as well. Second baseman Ryan Goins stepped up to the Fenway Park plate and doubled, homered and drove in five runs. Danny Valencia and Justin Smoak have also stepped up and proven some value to this club. Smoak has been crushing right handed pitchers while Valencia has had very little difficulty with the lefties.
Toronto’s Ezequiel Carrera, Chris Colabello, Smoak and Valencia have all proven to have some value to this team. The stars, Edwin Encarnacion and Bautista, have suffered injuries over the past few seasons and have spent some time on the disabled list. Colabello, Smoak and Valencia’s play has allowed manager John Gibbons to rest Encarnacion and Bautista sporadically.
It’s been said that the team could use some veteran arms for the stretch run. Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels are available as both teams appear to be looking to the future. Getting Hamels could be a task, as Toronto is one of the 20 teams on his no-trade list.
If the Jays somehow maintain being talked about as a team for the playoffs, the big question for Toronto will always be whether they risk parting with prospects full of club control for short-term rentals. Oakland is feeling the hangover right now from moves they made at last years trade deadline.
If they do stay close to the divisional lead, it’s clearly the path Anthopoulos has to take. His window as GM is slowly closing. If he rocks the boat and the team makes the playoffs, he will be heralded a baseball genius. If he makes the moves and doesn’t get the team into the playoffs, his fate is probably sealed.
The New York Yankees are older and slower. The Tampa Bay Rays are without manager Joe Maddon at the helm and facing some injuries to their pitching staff. The Boston Red Sox are 10 games under .500 and there seems to be some issues that need to be addressed. The Baltimore Orioles could battle it out with Toronto as after all, they are the defending division champs.
The time is here and now for Anthopoulos to be proactive and jump in and risk some of the future. He owes it to veteran player’s like Bautista, Encarnacion, Dickey and Buehrle. Most importantly, he owes it to the fans of Toronto.