I have been holding off on going negative for the longest time, but now that the Jays have finally been officially eliminated from wild-card contention, and a forth place finish in the AL East seems unavoidable, I am going to start my off-season rants and express my overall displeasures with this team.
Firstly, we need to all be very clear here. This season was a huge disappointment for the Jays. They had high hopes to be a real playoff contender this season. Mainly because of how strong our pitching staff is from top to bottom. However as the season played out, this team found itself out of serious playoff contention in Mid-June. Don’t let that 10-game winning streak fool you. The Jays have not been within 6.5 games of Boston since May.
The offence failed this team, and the pending forth place finish is clearly on their shoulders. Not one single offensive player had an out-standing season this year. In my opinion, the only hitter on the team that performed above expectations is our scrappy second basemen, Mr. Joe Inglett. And let’s get serious here, Joe wasn’t even supposed to be on this team.
With the news that our projected number 2 starter for the 2009 season (Shaun Marcum) suffered a serious arm injury and will require Tommy John surgery, putting him out until at least 2010, and the pending departure of our current number 2 (AJ Burnett), you can’t help to wonder if they Jays missed a small window of opportunity to make a real run this season. This was the season that the Yankees were there for the taking. The Jays could not take advantage of the one-year re-build the Yankees went on once they knew their playoff hopes were very slim.
As of right now our rotation for 2009 is shaping up to look like; Halladay, Litsch, Purcey, McGowan (when he comes back), and an audition from various current AAA starters and/or fill-ins. Also, remember that this team is in dire needs of a true offensive threat. The Jays need someone who can hit 30 homeruns on an “off-year.”
Firstly, we need to all be very clear here. This season was a huge disappointment for the Jays. They had high hopes to be a real playoff contender this season. Mainly because of how strong our pitching staff is from top to bottom. However as the season played out, this team found itself out of serious playoff contention in Mid-June. Don’t let that 10-game winning streak fool you. The Jays have not been within 6.5 games of Boston since May.
The offence failed this team, and the pending forth place finish is clearly on their shoulders. Not one single offensive player had an out-standing season this year. In my opinion, the only hitter on the team that performed above expectations is our scrappy second basemen, Mr. Joe Inglett. And let’s get serious here, Joe wasn’t even supposed to be on this team.
With the news that our projected number 2 starter for the 2009 season (Shaun Marcum) suffered a serious arm injury and will require Tommy John surgery, putting him out until at least 2010, and the pending departure of our current number 2 (AJ Burnett), you can’t help to wonder if they Jays missed a small window of opportunity to make a real run this season. This was the season that the Yankees were there for the taking. The Jays could not take advantage of the one-year re-build the Yankees went on once they knew their playoff hopes were very slim.
As of right now our rotation for 2009 is shaping up to look like; Halladay, Litsch, Purcey, McGowan (when he comes back), and an audition from various current AAA starters and/or fill-ins. Also, remember that this team is in dire needs of a true offensive threat. The Jays need someone who can hit 30 homeruns on an “off-year.”
I am not holding my breath for a playoff run in 2009.
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