Toronto Blue Jays Look To Contend
With Cito Gaston retired, new manager John Farrell takes over a Toronto Blue Jays team that hit a lot of home runs last season but did not get on base enough. The teams 85-77 finish was respectable but good for just fourth place behind the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox in the competitive American League East Division. The team hopes that the addition of speed and an improved bullpen will give them a better chance to compete in 2011.
Gaston, the quiet former manager who won back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992-93, managed the team from 1989 to 1997. He then took 11 years off from managing but returned in 2008 for the last three years of his 46 year career in professional baseball. Gaston played for the Atlanta Braves in the late 1960s and even made an all star team, but his career fizzled soon after. He then got into coaching and eventually was named manager of the Jays.
John Farrell is the new manager. Farrell was pitching coach of the division rival Boston Red Sox from 2006 to 2010, so he knows the A. L. East well. After working with star pitchers like Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Jonathan Papelbon, he will now oversee a nucleus of Blue Jays pitchers who could be on the verge of accomplishing great success.
Though they had to trade ace Roy Halladay a few years ago, the Blue Jays still have plenty of pitching. In fact, to make room in the rotation for potential Rookie of the Year Kyle Drabek, Toronto traded Shaun Marcum, who went 13-8 last season with a 3.64 earned run average in 195.1 innings.
Last season, third baseman Jose Bautista led all of baseball with 54 home runs. His former career best was 16 home runs, leading many to wonder if he can come close to his 2010 numbers. Even if he hits between 30 to 40 home runs, Bautista would provide a major force in the middle of the Toronto batting order.
While providing plenty of power, second baseman Aaron Hill and first baseman Adam Lind struggled with low batting averages. In an attempt to add more balance with speed and higher on base percentages, the Blue Jays traded away Vernon Wells while they brought in Rajai Davis and Scott Podsednik. Podsednik stole 35 bases last season while with Kansas City and Los Angeles. Davis stole 50 basses and hit . 284 with the Athletics. The veteran outfielders will add speed to the top of the Toronto order and will try to get on base for the big sluggers hitting behind them to drive them in. If this happens consistently, the Jays should score even more runs than last year.
At just 23, outfielder Travis Snider is already entering his third major league season. Injuries plagued Snider last year, but he still hit . 255 with 14 homers and 32 RBIs, but he finished the season strong, hitting six homers in September. If he puts it all together as expected, Snider is seen as easily a 30 homer, 100 RBI hitter.
In addition to strong pitching and an improved bullpen, the Toronto Blue Jays feature one of the most powerful lineups in the American League. Leading the offense is third baseman Jose Bautista who had an unbelievable season in 2010, pounding out 54 home runs while driving in 124 with a . 260 average and a . 617 slugging percentage. The Jays are sure to score plenty of runs and with the potential contribution from Drabek, Toronto could contend with the Red Sox and Yankees in 2011.
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