So here we sit with only 56 games to go. (Is that all, really?)
Through 106, I’d say the Jays' season has been a success so far. I realise that there are many sports fans who would disagree with me, pointing to the Jays current position in the standings and high probability of missing the playoffs. I suppose this discussion comes down to the definition of success one is acting under.
From the get-go, I wasn’t thinking that we’d with the whole caboodle this year. We’re just weren’t there at the start of the season with our starting rotation and line-up, but things are coming together. I always knew we would end up at least 4th in the division with the possibility of making some upwards moves. We had an outside shot at the Wild Card, but it was a long one and currently there are just too many good teams between us and the W.C.
The Jays play in the AL East. (Well, duh!) I’m not saying it as an excuse, but as the reality based starting point for what the Jays are working towards overcoming.
There’s a common thought that the biggest difference between big market/budget teams and small to medium market/budget teams is that the big guys have a wider margin for error in their free agent signings. In my humble opinion, a larger budget can also extend the winning window opportunity. The small to medium market teams have to rely more heavily on building from within and timely free agent signing.
Using the last paragraph as the background, let’s paint a picture of the AL East, in no particular order:
New York – I will not say they have bought championships. No matter how much money you spend, you still have to play high-calibre baseball and win the X number of games it takes to get into the playoffs to begin with. However, their famously large budget allows them more freedom in their signings. If they sign someone in the off-season for a couple million and he doesn’t pan out, the Yankees are crippled by being on the hook for the salary and the cost of having to find someone to fill the vacant role.
Boston – Much the same as New York. Of the two big budget teams in the East, Boston does seem to be the only slightly shrewder in its spending. I think they’ve gotten to a point with a solid core of a team (à la ’92-’93 Jays or late ‘90s Yanks), where it’s more a point of filling a key role or two year after year. Now, that’ll change as their core gets older and starts to wear down, but they do have a pretty solid Minor League system. And that’s the difference, at least as I believe, between Boston and New York. Although from my understanding, the Yanks have made concerted and successful efforts to rebuild their farm system.
When New York had that great run in the late ‘90s, they had a solid core of guys that were there year after year. You had some small turnover, but for the most part the roster remained the same. But eventually their rotation started to fall apart, their key guys, their heroes started getting older and losing their edge, and even though they had money they also depleted their system of high level prospects in making trades to be perpetual winners. But I digress from present day…
Tampa Bay – We all know that before the Rays had their great run a few years ago, they were the perennial losers; the team in the East that everyone should beat up on. They didn’t and still don’t have a lot of money to spend. But their farm system was/is stacked. The one benefit of losing continually, you get high draft picks every year. It’s only a matter of time, it was only a matter of time, before those picks start making it to the Show and having an impact. Good luck keeping them all for a long time once they do though. That’s the other issue with smaller budgets…you can’t always afford to keep your core roster of guys once the pass their club controlled years, if you don’t sign them to extensions early. That just means that the years you have with any particular winning squad is limited even more because you just can’t spend the cash to keep ‘em.
Baltimore – I think the Orioles are just a little lost right now. There are some exciting, young pieces, but their overall picture as an organization seems directionless, for lack of a better description. Although facing different issues, they feel like the Rangers did when they would just go after big hitters and not really concentrate on pitching; they just couldn’t seem to put the whole thing together. Well, look at Texas now. They finally got it. Baltimore will, too. I’m not accusing anyone in the organization of “not getting” baseball or anything of that nature. It’s more just an overall feeling of no defined path or overarching mandate of approach on how they’re going to build their team.
Toronto – We’re in the middle. Yes we have more money to spend than Tampa or Baltimore, but nothing like New York or Boston. We still have to be careful in our signings, but we do have freedom and ability to sign home-grown guys and keep them around. Not to mention we have a kick-ass farm system again. We’re not extremely far removed from being like Baltimore – without any direction. The last couple of years before A.A. got here, it seemed like the organization was whole-heartedly committed to sticking to a style of playing and team/farm system building that never really worked and didn’t fit with the Jays. That’s not to say nothing good came of that time, but that feeling left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot of Jays fans.
As for where that leaves the Jays now, we’re in a good place. No we’re not in the playoffs again yet and we may or may not make run in the last two months-ish of the season, but we are starting to see the future of the team come together. Are line-up is coming together and so is our starting pitching. True, the backend of our relief pitching needs some more consistency, but who (other than a handful of teams) isn’t looking for their own Rivera or Bell?
A lot has happened over the course of 102 games that I witnessed, but didn’t blog about. Highlights for me:
- JoBau’s incredible season at the plate. Hitting for a higher average when being pitched around? Yup, that’s awesome enough to be known as Bautastic.
- Eric Thames has just been a delight and a treat to watch the second time ‘round.
- Travis Snider is looking like he did when he first came up, only leaps and bounds improved defensively.
- J.P. Arencibia doing a great job behind the plate in his first full season so far. To think we might finally have a true everyday catcher again…yay!
The hazy days of summer are upon us. Not long until the brisk breezes of fall and September baseball are upon us. Enjoy them baseball fans, and stay hydrated out there. It’s hot out there and not only in many of the divisional standings!
JaysGirl5
