| 01 April 2009
We're less than one week away from opening day so it's time to take one last look at the teams we'll be seeing the most of over the next six months - the AL East.
The South Paw wrote a preview for us back in February and Fire Brand of the AL is running their annual Know Thy Enemy previews this week, but we're going to keep things simple this week and give you Three Things you should know about the 2009 Blue Jays.
Click these links to get Three Things about the Orioles, Yankees and Rays.
Three Things you should know about the Toronto Blue Jays:
1. The Jays could be a "fire sale" team in 2009. The Toronto Blue Jays have been hovering around the .500 since GM JP Riccardi took over in 2001. They used to be a lock for third place and a modest 85 wins thanks to the two-headed monster know as the Red Sox and Yankees. But now that montser has THREE heads and the Rays are no longer a source for some easy wins. Injuries have also destroyed a few promising season for the Jays and the death of owner Ted Rogers, coupled with a slumping economy, has but more strain on the team. The Jays will need a miracle just to be in the hunt in July and if they're not, verteran superstar Roy Hallady ($13M in '09 and '10) may the first of many players that the Blue Jays start taking offers for in an effort cut cost and rebuild.
2. Travis Snider and David Purcey are two rookies worth watching. Here's what The Southpaw had to say about Snider:
He's a solid average RF who should be fine in LF and has the power stroke to eventually hit 40 homers. He'll strike out a lot, but a lot of great hitters deliver a lot of value while striking out 140 times or more - see Adrian Gonzalez, maybe, or Prince Fielder, for the sort of hitter Snider can be. He might struggle some this year though, he is VERY young.
Snider is hitting .380 this spring with four homers, nine RBI and 11 strikeouts in 50 at-bats.
Purcey went 8-6 with a 2.69 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 117 AAA innigs last year. Now Purcey will likely be the No. 3 starter behind Halladay and Jesse Litsch and the YOung lefty looks ready for the challenege. He's posted a 1.54 ERA over 23 innings this spring. He gave up 21 hits and walked 10 over that span, proving that he's still a little rough around the edges, but he should win10+ games for the Jays this year.
3. Who will close? After a bounce back season in 2008, BJ Ryan has struggled this spring and his velocity is down:
From Yahoo! - Ryan, who missed the 2007 season after Tommy John surgery and bounced back in 2008 to register 32 saves and a 2.95 ERA, is missing a significant chunk of his velocity. Instead of throwing 88-91 m.p.h., Ryan, this spring, has been throwing 84-86. "His velocity is not where it was at the end of last year, so there's concern," manager Cito Gaston said. "But he's one of the guys I really like because he has a lot of guts out there. But his velocity is down and we hope he gets it back."
Ryan has a 9.00 ERA this spring, allowing seven runs on eight hits and seven walks, but Downs has only thrown four total innings this spring and has a 6.75 ERA to show for it.
Downs was impressive last season, posting a 1.78 ERA over 70.2 innings while fanning 57, and has been solid for two year now... but if he can't step up and close, the Jays could be in a pickle.
One solution could be waiting for them in Triple A. Jeremy Accardo was optioned to Triple AAA Las Vegas to work the kinks out, but he saves 30 games for the Jays in 2007 when BJ Ryan was injured.
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