I don't know if you're being facetious, but Toronto has a great young team. They were already 12 games above .500 in the AL East and have one of the best groups of prospects in baseball, not to mention a ton of high picks in this year's draft. And they haven't even started to spend money yet, which they are willing and able to do in 2012 and beyond when the stars-in-waiting hit free agency/arb. Lind, Snider, Bautista, Morrow, Romero, Drabek, Arencibia, Lawrie, etc etc. 1992/1993 was a long time ago but they managed to have the highest payroll in baseball, so it's not like there's no precedent for a successful high-earning team in this market. Division title in 2012, mark it down. As for Baltimore.... no comment. Other than I'm much happier to be a Jays fan.
Don't worry, with the extra wild-card spot Boston should still have a shot at the playoffs. Year 1 of a re-build and the Jays only finished 4 games back of the Red Sox. Imagine when they start making a push.
Skin Blues wrote:Don't worry, with the extra wild-card spot Boston should still have a shot at the playoffs. Year 1 of a re-build and the Jays only finished 4 games back of the Red Sox. Imagine when they start making a push.
The Jays finished 4 back of a injury mauled Red Sox team. The '09 and '10 Red Sox aren't even comparable.
B-Chad wrote:Pedroia's LD rate of 20% is reason to believe he'll maintain a higher BA then Cano. It should also be noted he hits more FB's then Cano, which means that even if he posts a lower HR/FB then Cano, he should come in reasonably close to Cano in HR's
The Jays lost Roy Halladay, the Red Sox lost a couple part seasons. Jacoby Ellsbury is over-rated anyway. Corner outfielder with a 749 career OPS; if he didn't play in Boston nobody would even know his name. If that was the peak of the Jays maybe I'd be worried, but like I said, first year of a re-build with a new GM and one of the best groups of prospects in baseball. 2012 seems like a long way away, but I'm sure they'll be decent enough this coming season while the youngsters gain another year of maturity.
Skin Blues wrote:The Jays lost Roy Halladay, the Red Sox lost a couple part seasons. Jacoby Ellsbury is over-rated anyway. Corner outfielder with a 749 career OPS; if he didn't play in Boston nobody would even know his name. If that was the peak of the Jays maybe I'd be worried, but like I said, first year of a re-build with a new GM and one of the best groups of prospects in baseball. 2012 seems like a long way away, but I'm sure they'll be decent enough this coming season while the youngsters gain another year of maturity.
Skin Blues wrote:The Jays lost Roy Halladay, the Red Sox lost a couple part seasons. Jacoby Ellsbury is over-rated anyway. Corner outfielder with a 749 career OPS; if he didn't play in Boston nobody would even know his name. If that was the peak of the Jays maybe I'd be worried, but like I said, first year of a re-build with a new GM and one of the best groups of prospects in baseball. 2012 seems like a long way away, but I'm sure they'll be decent enough this coming season while the youngsters gain another year of maturity.
There's more ways to create value in baseball than merely power.
Ellsbury (and Gardner) are both very valuable in that they get on base at a solid clip (especially Gardner), provide excellent defense, and speed. Yes, they don't have power, but they do everything else good.
Both of them are more valuable than, say Adam Lind (in real baseball that is, not fantasy) who does one thing well - power. Can't field, worthless vs. lefties, slow as molases, and doesn't get on base that much. Even in Lind's great 2009, he barely had a higher WAR than Ellsbury and that's because Ellsbury had a freakishly low UZR.
Obviously there's more than just power to consider. OPS isn't just power though. You pick the hitting metric to use, and Ellsbury is just not that good. 355 OBA is alright, but not that special for an outfielder with no power and a -10 UZR. By the way I don't think a freakishly low UZR is a redeeming quality, but I guess that's just me. Ellsbury would probably be pleased as punch to have a season as good as Adam Lind's 2009. Hell, Adam Lind would probably like to have another season as good as Adam Lind's 2009, haha.
This is all off-topic though... point is, Jays are crawling through the AL East and will wind up on top in 2012. Not the boldest of predictions, and there will be growing pains in 2011 considering they'll likely have two rookies in the rotation (with the three "vets" being in their mid-20s), a rookie catcher, and Lawrie will probably earn a starting spot at some point, but they'll still be miles better than the Orioles.
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by MasterX1918 » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:15 pm 
