THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — You know the equation is really bad for the Toronto Blue Jays when adding the best pitching staff in baseball to the cracks shown by the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees only equals fourth place in the American League East at 86-76.
This should have been their year, and it wasn’t. The team’s 3.49 earned-run average was the second best in franchise history and should have carried the team to the post-season. Thanks to an all-too-often inept offence, it didn’t.
Instead, the Tampa Bay Rays seized the moment and the division crown. Now the landscape has shifted dramatically and the big question the Blue Jays must ponder this winter is, "Where do we go from here?"
"I think there are some players here that still have a gear in them that they haven’t hit yet," general manager J.P. Ricciardi said in a recent interview. "I think we’re close, we’re really close, it’s just a matter of getting us over the hump and I think what’s going to get us over the hump is some guys just being the players they should be, and maybe a little better."
Perhaps, but that seems to be an optimistic take on things.
There’s a feeling that this team is quickly arriving at a crossroads, something the departure of president and CEO Paul Godfrey confirmed Monday only seems to reinforce. A replacement wasn’t named but Ricciardi has lost his strongest backer and his relationship with the new president is one that bears watching.
Should things go south in 2009 — and they very well could with No. 2 starter A.J. Burnett seemingly set on opting out of his contract after the World Series, the Yankees having tons of money to spend thanks to their new stadium, and the Rays now in the AL East picture — Ricciardi may end up the next fall guy, even though his contract runs through 2010.
Manager John Gibbons was fired June 20 after a 35-39 start and only the 51-37 mark posted by the Blue Jays under Cito Gaston to close out the season earned Ricciardi a reprieve.
That run also got Gaston a two-year extension through 2010, although given his popularity with fans, his job is probably one of the safest with the club right now.
So how do the Blue Jays not only keep from slipping, but also improve?
First, Burnett must be retained or a suitable replacement must be found for a starting rotation in which ace Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch are the only sure things. Dustin McGowan and Casey Janssen are both coming off shoulder surgery and no one can be sure what their stuff will look like once back. Shaun Marcum is out for the year after elbow surgery.
Rookie David Purcey, top prospects Brett Cecil and Ricky Romero and farmhands like Canadian Scott Richmond are also in the mix, but a rotation made up from that group isn’t likely to be good enough to keep pace in baseball’s deepest division.
That’s why the Blue Jays are already preparing a first-strike offer to Burnett and will press their case hard all October while they have exclusive negotiating rights with the mercurial right-hander.
Their payroll is expected to be in the US$100 million range again, with some $70 million already accounted for.
"If it gets to a point where he opts out, we’re still in the running but I think at that point we’re going to have to start going forward with putting our team together," said Ricciardi. "We can’t sit there and just wait and say, `Hey, we’re waiting on one guy.’ We’d probably have to have a little more of a definitive answer at that point."
That’s because the offence needs work, too.
Vernon Wells is the only regular who performed to expectations, but he missed two months with injuries and the Blue Jays sorely lacked his production. Lyle Overbay, Scott Rolen and Alex Rios each struggled to various degrees while Aaron Hill missed four months with a concussion.
The obvious areas where the team can upgrade offensively is at designated hitter, catcher and shortstop, although Ricciardi said he’s happy with Rod Barajas behind the plate and Marco Scutaro up the middle.
That leaves DH, where top prospect Travis Snider enjoyed a strong September but at just 20, may not be ready for prime time just yet. There are murmurs that free agent slugger Jason Giambi could be a target and Ricciardi said the team would be willing to offer the right player a two-year deal.
But the questions remains if that would be enough, especially if the pitching falls off.
."If our pitching comes down to the middle of the pack and our hitting comes up to the middle of the pack, we probably have a chance to do something that way," said Ricciardi. "Even this year, we thought our pitching would be in the top five and we thought our hitting would be in the top seven or eight. The pitching lived up to it and the hitting didn’t. Usually if you get that combination, you have a playoff team, so I think we’re a better offensive team than we’ve shown, and I think we will be better as we go forward."
Ricciardi is counting on all his players bouncing back to their career norms, which is not guaranteed. If that doesn’t happen, their lineup looks very mediocre.
"Aside from their pitching, they’re just kind of there," one AL player said of the Blue Jays. "They’ve got Wells and Rios and what else? They’re hitting was just an embarrassment in the first half."
Indeed and pitchers didn’t have much reason to throw Wells and Rios many strikes. Another thumper for the heart of the order would help.
"Especially because we don’t have a lot of depth," said Overbay. "I’m not going to go out and hit 35 home runs and pick up his slack, I’m going to do my best but it’s still going to come up short. Hopefully we can find another bat and kind of put some fear into some of these (pitchers)."
Other issues that need tending to include trying to extend the contract of Halladay, which also runs through 2010. This becomes a must if Burnett gets extended and his salary rises past Halladay’s, who must be the top dog on the payroll pecking order.
That may not happen until the spring, however, as the matter isn’t pressing and Halladay may want to test the waters before committing even more of his prime to the Blue Jays.
"We have a little more time with Doc," said Ricciardi. "We have to see the direction ownership wants to go and what we’re able to do with the money they give us."
Said Halladay: "As long as we continue to make that effort to be that post-season team, then you can sign me up. That’s obviously the most important thing for me."
Many players are curious to see how they’ll do with a full year of Gaston in charge and the manager himself is eager to completely make the team his own.
That process will begin next spring and how the team fares early in the season could very well end up dictating whether the Blue Jays end up staying the course, or shifting gears and trying to win via another route.
Until then, they’ll be left to ponder the opportunity squandered in 2008.
"Another disappointing season, to say the least," said Wells. "Our pitching has been unbelievable this year, offensively we didn’t do enough to help those guys. You don’t get too many opportunities or have too many seasons where your pitching staff is dominant from start to finish.
"I think there’s a lot more here. We missed some guys for some periods of time, Scott Rolen missed nearly two months, I missed some time. You’ve got to be able to withstand those injuries and play through them. We did a little bit, just not enough."
