Remember May? Man, May was good. It was fun and full of wins.
The Jays swept the Phillies, the Red Sox, the A’s, the Rays — and won 21 games. Then June began, the Jays swept the Tigers and my mind exploded with visions of baseball in October.
I declared then that I was going all in on the Jays — waxing nostalgic about the good ol’ days and how much fun it was to have a winner in the city again. I don’t believe I was alone in that.
I predicted that the Jays would make it to the World Series, because it felt good to say that (and very few people would remember it anyway).
Now, listen, there are trolls out there who carry weapons like “graphs” and “advanced metrics” and whatnot, who will tell you that my predictions were fueled by fuzzy feelings caused by an overdose of winning.
But 21 losses later, I stand by my premature declaration.
There’s a stipulation though. As a fan, I’ve done my part. Now the Jays need to do theirs. And that requires making moves that will set this team up for an extended fall — in the short term, seasonally speaking, and yes, metaphorically, when former Jays prospects are winning with other teams sometime down the road.
Simply put, there are key pieces missing here — holes that can be filled through trades that will give the Jays the depth and stability to make a run at the postseason. Right now, despite flashes of brilliance, the Jays are being exposed.
Alex Anthopoulos has until July 31 to decide which way this team is heading.
As my go-to baseball guru, Ben Nicholson-Smith, discussed earlier this week there are several areas that need to be addressed.
At the moment, starting pitching isn’t the main one. The Jays’ rotation has been great (Buehrle), delightfully surprising (Stroman, Hutchison), and decent (Happ, Dickey). That said — if the ship in Tampa Bay starts sinking again, should the Jays go after say, David Price, even though it will cost them a hefty ransom of stud prospects? The correct answer is ‘hell yes they should.’
But the bigger need — and the more reasonable, likely move — is for a quality second baseman, or infielder, preferably a right handed bat. The Rays’ Ben Zobrist fits the bill nicely. There are other options out there — Adrian Beltre? Martin Prado? Daniel Murphy? — but, like Zobrist, all would come at a hefty cost. Should the Jays pay that price? Say it with me: ‘hell yes they should.‘
The division is winnable. And even if this team has too many weak points to address with any one trade, a deal for a star under team control like Price, Zobrist or Beltre would also answer some of the Jays’ long-term questions.
Look, it will certainly hurt to lose top pitching prospects like Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris. It would suck to lose Dalton Pompey. There was a collective gulp when Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard went to the Mets for R.A. Dickey. In the short term Dickey was a valuable pickup. In a couple of years, that deal could really sting. Or in a couple of years, we’ll barely recall the names of those kids we gave up for him.
The game plan two off-seasons ago was to win now. The Jays were all in. They took a gamble, yes — this is a game of gambles. But you can’t back off once you’ve made the move. It’s done. It’s all or nothing.
The last three World Series Champions made big mid-season moves. Last year the Red Sox gave up Jose Iglesias to land Jake Peavy. In 2012, the Giants sold prospects for Hunter Pence. In 2011, the Cardinals gave up Colby Rasmus for Edwin Jackson and relief help.
Oakland, the best team in baseball, picked up Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel for a couple of top prospects, Dan Straily and some other guy they’ll figure out later. You’ll see Oakland in October.
The Jays need a blockbuster like that. The stakes need to be raised even higher if Toronto is going to see the baseball-mania of the early 90s. Prospects are chips that an organization can use to bring it in what it needs now. This is the time to make that move. This is the time to win.
Remember that rush in May? Let’s feel it in the fall.