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Back in the World Series days, it seemed a lot of players wanted to play for the Jays. Now with the signing of Wells long-term and bringing in Big Hurt, (and some pitching, too), that may be happening again. Makes you wonder, though: if the Jays can rebuild and keep players and add players, why do some teams just stink year after year after year.
January: baseball's season of hope.

Thanks for the response to my first ever blog!

Yes the Jays used to attract some top flight talent back in the day ( Jack Morris, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor). It was a great era, brilliant teams, new ballpark, 4 million per year attendance, top of the heap payroll ( I think it was an astronomical 50 million per yr during those years), committed owners ( Labatts ) a beer company.

The current owners ( Rogers Communications) seem positioned to fund a competitive team. They bought the Stadium, they are a media company - TV with RSN's, digital meida, newspapers - the Cdn dollar is much stronger than it was a handful of years ago and MLB is awash in money - 5.2 billion per yr. There is a lot of luxury tax/ revenue sharing / central fund/ MLBAM money to go around.

However look at what's happening with some of other media companies who were/are owners. FOX dumping the Dodgers, Time Warner ( who just bought 25% of Fan Nation ) slashing the Braves payroll & Trbune Co. trying to sell the Cubs and I wonder.......what is the long term of Rogers and more importantly the Blue Jays???

What's the word in TO on Rios's health?

Really good post on baseball. Keep 'em coming.

I don't think I would expect too much out of Frank Thomas, both in terms of production and locker room leadership.

Probably right Al, but that's a little Chicago bitterness talking, too. No?

The Erik Hanson - Dick Schofield Era must have been the blink of an eye, because I can't even remember it.

I think this team could be right in the thick of it. In my opinion, its standard bearer will be the mercurial AJ Burnett. If he twists his nipple rings with just the right amount of torque and finally puts it all together, he could join with Halladay and take the team up to the 95 win plateau.

I often site Ron Shandler's prognistications -- he's arguably the top guy in fantasy. They've always loved Burnett's skill set -- as one of the incredibly rare pitchers who gets a lot of Ks AND a lot of ground balls, their system rates him as having big, untapped upside. Their projections for '07 have him at -- as you would expect -- a conservative 189 innings, but also a 3.62 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. If he stays healthy for 210+ innings, posts those qualitative stats, matures a little (i.e. doesn't let the wheels come off) and gets a little support, I see 17+ wins. Of course, the first "if" is a big one. Ironically, one year later, his contract is looking like a bargain.

Wow, a baseball fan! We don't have many in Canada. Roger Clemens won back to back Cy Young's as a Blue Jay and had Doug Gilmour's stool been unusual it would have been bigger sports news.

You're right, the Erik Hanson / Dick Schofield comment is a bit flippant but my real point is that the Jays payroll & onfield perfomrance slid to middle of the pack after Labatts sold to IntraBrew.

I absolutely agree that if everything goes the Jays way in 07, Halladay 220 innings, Burnett 189 innings, Chacin 180 innings, then yeah why not? I appreciate the SABR numbers, I believe that Statistical Analysis is in the game to stay, see Epstien, Daniels, Beane, DePodesta, to say nothing about the in house stat guys that advise GM's on I think practically, if not all, teams. Have you read "The Numbers Game" by Alan Schwarz? Ironically I don' t read a lot of SABR stuff. I read Keith Law religously, ( why did he leave the Jays last year?), Rob Neyer very little and I glance occassionally at Baseball Prospectus. I do agree though that the SABR guys know their stuff. Bill James is a seminal figure in the recent histrory of MLB.

Unrelated - someone please tell me how to increase the font size in this "Add Comment" box, I'm gonna go blind.

I like this Jays team as much as the next man and can't wait for them or maybe even the O's to get it together and finally beat the Sox and Yanks. But the fact of the matter is, you can't do that with a "good" team. You need a great team: strong pitching 1-5 and a bullpen core that doesnt make you worry.

First off, don't player hate the Central...the last 2 WS reps from the AL came from the Central...and with the White Sox, Tigers, Twins, and Indians...that division is just as deep as the East.

I like the look and feel of this present Jays club, but I have one big problem with it. They seem to be doing a lot of Free agent signing, and not a lot of talent development. The way to win in this league, I'm talking long haul, is to build a solid core of players from your farm system, and then just plug in a few vets to fill holes. I'm not seeing a lot of home grown talent on these Jays, and that's a bad thing.

But go out there and give the Yanks and Red Sox hell!

PT makes some great comments, but in the 'real' life more money always trumps money and the last time I checked George had more than Ted.

This simple fact doesn't auger well for the jays future prospects.

Al

Interesting news about John Thompson picking Jays over Mets because of LoDuca. Every arm helps.

An observations to the original blog... as a Jays fan, there's nothing more frustrating than the dispair and anguish when I realize that the Jays must get past the mighty Yanks and BoSox just to get to the playoffs (with the divisional title). However, the Jays can't use their schedule as an excuse simply because they have to play these teams a disgusting amount of times. I think that when the Jays are able to field a good enough team to beat their divisional foes, the prospect of success after getting past them will make the fruits of victory that much sweeter.

First off, I am a hard-core Jays fan as well..Tony Fernandez being my favourite player ever with Jimmy Key coming a close second. Now to business, I like what Ricciardi has done with the team (though Ted Rogers opening his chequebook helps) and if they can acquire a #3 starter so Chacin can be a 4, this team in my humble opinion has a chance at the wild card, because with that lineup and solid pitching, the Yankees and Red Sox will be complaining about how 1/4 of their games are against the Jays and the Sox/Yanks

Rance Mulliniks is the best Jay ever. Period. I think Thomas is a Hall of Fame player and one of--if not the best--White Sox player of all time. Problem is that at this stage in his career if he isn't motivated by anger he isn't as good. He isn't a clutch hitter anymore, and he's entirely useless on the basepaths (not as bad, though, as Paul "Slowest Man on Earth" Konerko.

Bite your tongue Al! That's the Equinox you're talking about. Let's not forget that last year Paulie was 100% in his stolen base attempts. Hell, in his career he's only been caught once. Once! Once Ozzie gives him the green light, we could see this man amaze us yearly with up to 3 stolen bases. Not to shabby.