Last season the Toronto Blue Jays management team took a stroll through the free agent store and maxed out their credit card.
It was a signal to their fans that they we’re all in to win but instead their full house was beaten by a royal flush and by flush I am referring to a toilet.
As in the season swirled its way into the sewer system.
In all fairness to the Jays brain trust, they could not have predicted the injury to Jose Reyes, the sparkplug of the offence, leaving him out of the lineup for quite some time.
Nobody thought that knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey would have a knuckleball that didn’t knuckle.
Some may have predicted a flop for Josh Johnson but certainly not to the extent that he would be hit harder and more often than the tee used in tee-ball.
There were other failures in the system so once things started to fade to black, Blue Jay fans settled into next year mode and pondered what free agent wizard would be grabbed to lift the spirits of the fans.
Alas, somebody had cut up the Jays’ credit card so the free agent mall was a no-go zone for the Jays.
Yes they signed catcher Dioner Navarro but the Jays’ issue was more in front of home plate and not behind it so much.
So this means whatever was already on the shelves in the winter was what was going to be served up this spring.
The starting rotation will have Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow with the last two spots a bit unsettled but Drew Hutchison and Esmil Rogers might be the names penciled in.
You can white out Rickey Romero and Marcus Stroman as they are minor leaguers now and J.A. Happ who owns an era which is closer to a phone number than a pitching stat could be on the bus as well.
Gone is the revolving door at second base with young Ryan Goins taking the job to start the year.
Moises Sierra and Anthony Gose will make it interesting in the outfield and a healthy Brett Lawrie should keep the offence less offensive.
So without some big name free agent to focus on, Jays fans will see some fresh young faces in the lineup and management is hoping this bunch pays doesn’t put them in debt.
sports@reddeerexpress.com
