2008 Toronto Blue Jays

February 14, 2008

What many people might not know is that the Toronto Blue Jays are coming off back-to-back winning seasons. When you are constantly up against the Yankees and Red Sox its hard to get noticed. What has Blue Jays fans looking up is how well they were able to perform last year with star player after star player heading to the DL. Some credit has to go to manager J.P. Ricciardi, and the young players who stepped up when needed. The Blue Jays made a couple big moves bringing in SS David Eckstein via free agency and traded third basemen with the Cardinals sending Troy Glaus to St. Louis and bringing in Scott Rolen. This could be a team making a run at the big horses of the East or they could end up falling back to the bottom. Health is going to be the main key to the success of this team.

Pitching:

Ace and yearly Cy Young candidate Roy Holladay leads the pitching staff. A.J. Burnett will have to improve off his 10-win season and be able to stay healthy. While last year youngsters Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum were surprises, they will have to be just as good if not better this year. The bullpen will become instantly better if B.J. Ryan is able to return from Tommy John surgery and become a dominant closer again. If Ryan returns to the closer role, it allows each set up man to move down making them better fit to hold leads late.

Offense:

The addition of Rolen and Eckstein could really make this a dangerous offense if everything else clicks. They will definitely need to have better years from Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, and Alex Rios. All three players were among many of the Blue Jays bothered by injury. With Eckstein setting the table at the top of the order the Blue Jays should be able to push across more early runs. We are really looking for big a big year from Vernon Wells he needs to return to the .300 30HR 100RBI hitter he was just two years ago. It will be interesting if Frank Thomas will be able to repeat his success from last year. He only has so many years left on that big body of his.

Defense:

The defense was a big problem with last year’s team. They were in the bottom of the American League in errors committed and were the worst team throwing out opposing teams base runners. The addition of Rolen and Eckstein to the left side of the infield should really help. Also, if they are able to keep their star players healthy and in the lineup, they should be a much better overall defense team.

Prediction:

There are just too many questions surrounding this team to pick them above the Yankees or Red Sox. We do like them to continue their winning ways and finish 3rd in the division. This could really be a surprise team if everything clicks. Wouldn’t it be fun to see a three-team race in the East come all the way down to the end of the season? If the team gets the injury bug again forget about it.

2008 Toronto Blue Jays Odds to win World Series 30 – 1

For every team’s odds head over to Sportsbook.com and check them out. You can also go to Sportsbook.com to look at the odds for teams to win their division or league pennant. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section.

Popularity: 10% [?]

2008 Toronto Blue Jays

Random Posts

Latest Headlines

Comments

Handicappers

Odds

Sections

Archives

Related Sites

Admin