For the Toronto Blue Jays, 2014 was another year of disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. Toronto finished the season with an 83-79 record, 13 games out of first place in the American League East and five games out of the second wild-card spot in the AL.
In an effort to make his team competitive again, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has been extremely active this offseason, with the addition of free-agent catcher Russell Martin and the trade for All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson being some of his bigger moves.
With the Kansas City Royals making the playoffs last season, the Blue Jays—who last made qualified for the postseason in 1993—now own the longest active playoff drought in MLB.
As 2015 approaches, let’s take a look at three New Year’s resolutions that Toronto will need to follow if it intends to contend this upcoming season.
Overhaul the Bullpen
As noted above, Anthopoulos has made several major moves this offseason. But acquiring relievers has not one been of them.
Aside from picking up swingman Marco Estrada, the Blue Jays have not made any strides at all toward improving a bullpen that finished 25th in the majors in ERA last season.
Toronto is also unlikely to bring back free-agent relievers Dustin McGowan and Casey Janssen, creating two more empty spots in its bullpen heading into 2015.
Also complicating matters is the fact that the Blue Jays want to insert right-hander Aaron Sanchez in the starting rotation. Sanchez was arguably Toronto’s best reliever last season, posting a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings pitched.
As things stand right now, the only guaranteed spots in Toronto’s bullpen belong to Brett Cecil, Aaron Loup and Todd Redmond. Estrada will also likely be a reliever if he is unable to win a starting role during spring training.
Toronto could opt to fill the remaining spots in its bullpen by signing free agents, but it’s worth noting that most of the high-end relievers who were on the market have already signed with other teams.
Trading for other relievers is also an option, but this could end up costing the Blue Jays dearly in prospects. Relief pitchers are also usually volatile commodities, and giving up good prospects for them would be a risky trade.
Toronto could always use internal options such as Steve Delabar, Kyle Drabek and John Stilson to fill the remaining holes in its relief corps. But it’s unclear if those pitchers would contribute enough to a team that intends to compete next season.
Despite which route they decide to take, rebuilding the bullpen is huge priority for the Blue Jays entering the new year.
Have a Good Start to the 2015 Season and Stay Consistent
Having a good start to the season is paramount. Yes, the baseball season consists of 162 games, and there’s plenty of time for all teams to make a run in their division. But having a strong start allows players to build confidence early on and lets the team set a good tone for the rest of the year.
In order to have a good start to the season, the Blue Jays could try pushing the pace more during spring training, so players that have been slow starters in the past can get going a little earlier.
While starting the season off strong needs to be a priority for Toronto, staying consistent throughout the campaign should be even important. As fans of the team would no doubt agree, “inconsistent” would be a good word to describe the Blue Jays during 2014.
Toronto started off last season going 12-14 in April before turning it around and going 21-9 in May. The team then went 12-15 in June before going 15-11 in July. It got even worse from there, as Toronto fell out of the race by going 9-17 in August before turning it around with a 14-12 September.
Heading into the 2015 season, the Blue Jays will need to avoid those drastic month-to-month swings and try to stay more consistent. Finishing at least .500 or above each month is a good goal to strive for here.
Have a Backup Plan If the Young Players Falter
The Blue Jays will be heading into the 2015 season looking for contributions from several young players on the roster.
Drew Hutchison, 24, Marcus Stroman, 23, and Sanchez, 22, should all be part of the starting rotation on Opening Day.
Outfielder Dalton Pompey, 22, will likely be the starting centre fielder for Toronto. Newly acquired 23-year-old Devon Travis will get a shot to be the team’s starting second baseman.
That’s a lot of young players that Toronto will be relying on as it attempts to compete for a playoff spot.
And while they’re not young in terms of age, both outfielder Michael Saunders and first baseman Justin Smoak could also be included in this category because they’re still relatively unproven at the major league level.
With so many untested players on the roster, it’ll be important for Anthopoulos to have a backup plan in case one or more of these aforementioned players struggle.
Acquiring depth players and sending them to Triple-A Buffalo is a good way to have some insurance. It’s also important to build a strong bench consisting of players that could step up and be starters if needed.
*All stats are from Baseball-Reference.com
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