Sub Zero
Baseball's Cold War Leaves the Blue Jays in a Deep Freeze
12/30/03
Winter is always crisp in Canada, and this year it’s getting colder and colder in Toronto. The team that is most effected by the Red Sox and the Yankees off-season spending spree is the Toronto Blue Jays.
Not that you would have found them on national TV very often, but the Blue Jays were one of the most fun and exciting young teams to watch last season. Even though they play in an ugly turf dome, use the Canadian Dollar and were victim to a SARS scare during the middle of the season, the Jays quietly put together an 86 win season. They have produced one of the premier sluggers in baseball (Carlos Delgado), the best young pitcher not named Mark Prior (Roy Halladay), and a rising stud of a centerfielder in Vernon Wells, who has the Red Sox and Yankees’ answers in center field (Johnny Damon and Bernie Williams) leaving much to be desired. The Jays would be even more loaded had they not been forced to trade 2003 MVP candidate Shannon Stewart to Minnesota. Add all of that talent to a strong nucleus of other young players (Eric Hinske, Orlando Hudson, Josh Towers, Chris Woodward), one of the brightest baseball minds running things in the front office (J.P. Ricciardi) and a young and enthusiastic manager (Carols Tosca), and things were looking up going into 2004. Toronto fans were itching to shrug off another Maple Leaf playoff collapse, return to Sky Dome and cheer on the Jays as if Joe Carter, Devon White and Roberto Alomar were resurrected. The Blue Jays were primed for a playoff run.
Alas, life in the AL East is never so simple. When you are competing with the Red Sox and Yankees, the promise of a playoff season evaporates long before spring training. This offseason the Sox, Yanks and Jays each added at least two new pitchers. The Red Sox acquired proven ace and former World Series MVP Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke, arguably the best closer in the AL last year. The Yankees added the under-appreciated Javier Vazquez (Canada’s loss) and former Dodger ace Kevin Brown, among others. Fear not though, Blue Jay fans, to contend with your division rivals, the mighty Pat Hentgen is heading back north to be your number 2 starter, and Kerry Ligtenberg, Miguel Batista and Valerio De Los Santos are on the way as well. Throw in the other players heading to Fenway or the Bronx -- Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton are going to the Yanks, and even though the ARod to Boston deal is dead, don’t think the Red Sox are done trying to get him. With these two teams stocking up, what is a Blue Jay fan to do? To make matters worse, Peter Angelos decided Baltimore has money to spend this offseason, having already signed Miguel Tejada and Javy Lopez, with Vladimir Guerrero possibly on the way. There’s been an absolute proliferation of talent to the AL East, and, except for the hopeless Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Blue Jays will have added less punch to their line-up than any other team in the division.
Many will point to the success of the Marlins, Angels, A’s and Twins and say that money doesn’t really matter in baseball, arguing that a good front office, scouting and raw talent can bring any team to the top. However, unlike other small to medium market clubs, the Blue Jays go head to head with the big spenders for the entire season. When you are competing against the Sox and Yanks over 162 games and not for a short playoff, money and the ability to stock up on players during the season makes all the difference in the world. Miguel Batista and Pat Hentgen are nice role players, but adding a couple of pistols to your arsenal when your enemies are getting machine guns doesn’t give you much of a chance for victory.
Despite the disastrous events of this offseason, Toronto has a good team and has an outside shot at making the playoffs, probably via the wild card. They have finished third behind Boston and New York for the last 6 years and have hinted at some exciting September baseball. However, as long as The Yankees and Red Sox are free spending and divisions play unbalanced schedules, the Blue Jays are destined to finished third, falling victim to a nasty rivalry and unchecked spending.
Can either Boston or New York please sign Mitch Williams?
-Jack Prosnit
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