Blue Jays Deadline Inactivity Assures They Will Remain Pretenders
The Toronto Blue Jays most anticipated trade deadline day in the last two decades came and went yesterday and they came out of it without making one move to bolster and improve their currently contending roster.
Popular opinion cited a need for help in the pitching department, both in the starting rotation and in the bullpen to really be able to hang with the big boys. While many of the 2014 contenders around them did some moving and shaking, Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulis was unwilling to move any prospects or current roster contributors to obtain that one big piece to boost their chances of staying in the playoff hunt for the remainder of the season.
In my humble opinion, it was a mistake in more ways than one and will ensure another season without a playoff series in the Rogers Center in downtown Toronto.
No one has a crystal ball in this world but recent history shows that if you want to win or even make the playoffs in this tough league, you have to beef up a bit at the deadline. In 2011 the world series winning St Louis Cardinals played large at the deadline picking up Rafael Furcal, Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson to improve their club. They went all in, and had to give up prized young prospect Colby Rasmus to do it. They were considered by many as deadline winners.
In 2012, the San Francisco Giants picked up Hunter Pence and Marco Scutaro. They were pegged as winners as well and both acquisitions played a key role in winning the prize. Last season the Boston Red Sox nabbed a former Cy Young winner Jake Peavy.
I’m not trying to suggest that the Blue Jays were front runners to win it all this year but almost every team within tobacco spitting distance of them in the standings made some moves to show their players that they thought they had a chance. The Blue Jays core players spoke publicly of their hopes to add some pieces and that leads me to the second issue with standing pat as they did.
They didn’t deliver on past promises to their core players that if they were ever in contention come deadline time, that they would not hesitate to pull the trigger and bring in some legitimate help. It is a terrible message to send to your current roster and excuse or not, management has left the door open for this fickle bunch of players to take a way out. Stranger things have happened with this highly paid group.
It is true that the Jays have some significant position player help set to come back to bolster their offence with Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and Adam Lind all set to come back before the end of August. None of those players will be on the bump though and it is pitching that wins in the post season. The Jays fell much further behind the teams that they are battling in that regard.
Oakland picked up Jon Lester and also got proven winner Jonny Gomes to go with it. Detroit won the David Price sweepstakes and the Orioles picked up imposing reliever Andrew Milller. That’s not to mention what the contenders in the National League did. Why can’t the Jays play monkey see monkey do?
Only time will tell if they will pay for the inactivity, but rest assured if they don’t make it into the playoffs the finger will be pointed at yesterday as a major reason why.
The biggest players and winners at the deadline in regards to going all in for a title this season were Baltimore, Oakland, Detroit, St. Louis and San Francisco. The Los Angelas Dodgers already boast one of the best pitching staffs in the entire league.
My prediction is that one of these teams will be World Series champions this year when all is said and done, while Jays fans will have to be satisfied with “meaningful” baseball in August and September as a consolation prize. They will miss out on the best chance they have had in years to make a run at this thing, and solidify their reputation as the leagues biggest pretenders.