Manny Ramirez

The AL East is a battleground and while Toronto may be the best fourth-place team in the majors, 85-77 isn't going to send them to October. 

The John Farrell era doesn't need to be kicked off with another "rebuilding year." They can win now; the Jays just need a little help. 

Enter Manny Ramirez. Some of you may shake your heads at the idea of bringing the 38-year-old troublemaker to Canada but it's not really a bad idea at all. In fact Manny may be the X-factor. 

It has already been an interesting off-season for the Toronto Blue Jays, as they have hired a new manager and some intriguing rumors have emerged.

John Farrell, the former pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox, was hired to replace the outgoing Cito Gaston.  Farrell doesn't have any experience managing at the big league level, but his diverse expertise gave him the edge in landing the job with the Blue Jays.  

Now that the Jays have hired John Farrell as their 12th manager in franchise history, the team can now begin looking into their offseason plans as they look to continue rebuilding in 2011.

The team was fortunate to come away with 85 wins last season, surprising just about everyone. They also surprised everyone by leading the league in homers.

Manny Ramirez has made some interesting comments recently concerning his future in baseball.  It seems he has taken quite a liking to the Toronto Blue Jays.  

The Blue Jays hired Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.  The former Red Sox slugger has taken note and has offered his services.  Canada should be happy and a bit afraid at this news—you never know what you are getting with the flighty outfielder.  

Over the last several years, the Los Angeles Dodgers' management team of owner Frank McCourt and general manager Ned Colletti have utilized the deferred contract option as a tactic to bring in numerous big name players with highly valued contracts—without paying much up front.

Looking back at several of the players who were still part of the Dodgers payroll in 2010, and who will be receiving paychecks from McCourt into the future, there's no doubt that many of the deals have failed miserably.

Alex Anthopoulos finally made it official by announcing the Blue Jays have hired John Farrell, the former pitching coach of the Boston Red Sox, to be the twelfth manager in Blue Jays history. Farrell was considered one of the best minds available. In fact, Terry Francona stated it was not a question of whether he became a bench boss, or even how long (he knew it would be this year), it was a question of where.

I recently looked into who will be available in this year’s free agent class. There are many big names, but these names will likely come with expensive price tags. Additionally, many of these big name players are not so young anymore.

Whoever is in charge of making the decisions in Queens (which according to Jeff Wilpon we will find out shortly!), it might be a wise strategy to avoid these big-name free agents and either improve the team via trade or letting the young players develop.

As the playoffs wrap up, a World Series champ is crowned, and several players are given the MVP and Cy Young awards for their efforts, other players are looking to next year.

These are players that may or may not be sure of where they're playing, and are looking forward to see just how much money they will be making over the next few years. Likewise, any teams that have deep pockets and any holes in their lineup will be looking through what's out there and will try and make their team the best that it can be heading into 2011.

The New York Mets are in the beginning stages of a complete renovation. Don't mind the appearance. This may look like a professional baseball team in shambles right now, but...yeah, actually it is.

Say what you want about the problems with MLB's current playoff system. You can bemoan the addition of the Wild Card, or whine about how home field advantage for the World Series is determined by the All-Star Game, or complain that a best-of-five series is a poor way to determine which of two good teams is superior.

But when the first round kicks off on Wednesday, don't pretend that you won't be watching.