30 Clubs in 30 Days: No.20 Toronto Blue Jays

257 home runs flew over the fences for the heavy hitting Toronto Blue Jays in 2010. In all likelihood that’s a performance that will not be repeated in 2011 and the Blue Jays will struggle to compete with the best division in baseball.

No. 20 Toronto Blue Jays

Projected Rotation

1. Rickey Romero-LHP
2. Brandon Morrow-RHP
3. Brett Cecil-LHP
4. Kyle Drabek-RHP
5. Jesse Litsch-RHP

Projected Bullpen

1. Frank Francisco-RHP
2. Jon Rauch-RHP
3. Octavio Dotel-RHP
4. David Purcey-LHP
5. Jason Frasor-RHP
6. Carlos Villanueva-RHP
7. Casey Janssen-RHP
8. Shawn Camp-RHP

Projected Lineup

1. CF Rajai Davis
2. SS Yunel Escobar
3. 3B Jose Bautista
4. 1B Adam Lind
5. 2B Aaron Hill
6. LF Travis Snider
7. DH Edwin Encarnacion
8. RF Juan Rivera
9. C J.P. Arencibia

Analysis

Rumor has it that the Jays’ lineup will be changing a couple times over before the end of spring training. However, this is the most accurate prediction with the current roster. Bautista surprised a lot of people last year and the Jays awarded him with a multi-year deal, he’s not going to hit 54 homers again but odds are that he still has an all-star season. He’ll carry a lineup that will continue to receive questions upon questions through opening day.

The acquisition of Rajai Davis gives them a solid leadoff hitter and an athletic center fielder. Davis was one of the better young athletes during his time with the A’s and should be another bright spot for this Blue Jays team.

The deal breakers with the Jays will be Adam Lind and Aaron Hill. Both of them played fantastically in 2009 but struggled mightily last season. If the Jays want to avoid being “that other team” in the AL East, Hill and Lind must recapture their success from two years ago.

Romero received a long-term deal from the Jays in the offseason so the team has expressed enough faith in the lefty for him to be the ace in 2011. He will form a solid one-two punch with youngster Brandon Morrow, who struck out 17 in a one-hit performance against the Rays last season. Brett Cecil added 15 wins in 2010 and should end up around that same total in 2011. The last two spots are filled with several questions and candidates whom have only proved to be worth their salt in the minors. The top three spots in the Jays rotation looks solid and shouldn’t be a weak spot for the team in 2011.

The bullpen will be improved as well with the additions of Francisco and Rauch to be the closer and setup man respectively. Dotel, Purcey, and Frasor make this one of the deeper unity in the AL and the Jays should have eight reliable arms in their bullpen at the start of the season.

After studying quite a bit about this team a 20^th place ranking doesn’t appear justified. The Jays have no gaping holes and do have a lot of reliable players on the roster. They just don’t have the talent to make anything happen in the AL East and the season long grind of being in 4^th place will eventually get to them.