Jays plan to give BoSox, Yanks run for their money in AL East
"They spend a lot of money," Wells says. "But they're human just like the rest of us. New York struggled early last year. Everybody's beatable. You've got to play the game."
Not sure whether Manny is human or space alien, but you get Wells' drift.
The Blue Jays think they've upgraded the left side of their infield this year by trading for third baseman Scott Rolen and signing free agent shortstop David Eckstein. They think they're deeper with catcher Rod Barajas, super utilityman Marco Scutaro and veteran outfielder Shannon Stewart.
They know they can pitch, what with perennial Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay, enigmatic A.J. Burnett, Shaun Marcum and the still-emerging Dustin McGowan leading a staff that yielded the second-fewest runs in the AL last year.
They know they're healthier. Wells (shoulder), closer B.J. Ryan (elbow), outfielder Reed Johnson (back) and first baseman Lyle Overbay (hand) are among the key Jays who underwent surgery in a season twisted enough to come straight out of Grey's Anatomy.
Plus -- and Rolen and Eckstein are the poster boys for this -- they think they're tougher this year.
"They're grinders," Ricciardi says of Rolen and Eckstein. "Dirtbags. Not that the other guys weren't. But that might be the one piece we were missing in getting in with the Red Sox and Yankees: Grinding it out day to day."
Ricciardi -- and every player I spoke with this week -- likes this club. A lot.
"You know what?" catcher Gregg Zaun says. "Last year, if we could have stayed healthy, we would have had a shot. But ultimately, I think, the Red Sox were the class of the baseball world. We just couldn't stay healthy. We learned a lot about ourselves. Guys who are around here aren't going to quit, and some of the young guys got chances that they wouldn't have otherwise."
Zaun, beginning his fifth season in Toronto, agrees with Wells.
"I'd say on paper, coming out of the gate, this is the best collection of players since I've been a Blue Jay," he says.
Yes, each spring, the Jays arrive at camp hoping for the best. And each summer, wicked injuries or deep slumps seem to settle in on certain guys.
Directly, the Yankees and Red Sox usually aren't the problem for the Jays. Take last year. Toronto went 9-9 against Boston and 8-10 against the Yankees. The issues came in that the Jays didn't beat up on the teams they were supposed to (9-9 against Tampa Bay, 10-8 against Baltimore and 4-5 against Oakland).
"It's a non-cyclical division," Ricciardi says. "We like playing in the division, because then, if we make the playoffs ..."
It's quite an accomplishment, and it could be a launching pad to greater things.
"The only thing we wish for is a balanced schedule," Ricciardi says, which would mean fewer games against rival AL East clubs and more against other AL clubs. "That would help."
Among the many problems are these: Though the Jays will set a club record for payroll this season, the payrolls of the Yankees ($200 million-plus) and Red Sox ($186 million) continue to dwarf them. That, combined with the fact that both Boston and New York have done a better job of growing their own young players recently, has been fatal to Toronto.
Though Toronto has some promising young players like McGowan, Marcum and second baseman Aaron Hill, Boston (Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz) and the Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy) have better young players.
For the third consecutive season, Baseball America ranks Toronto's farm system 25th of the 30 major league clubs. One bright spot: Toronto owned seven of the top 88 picks in last June's draft. By most accounts, they chose wisely. We'll soon see.
The Blue Jays did get a break this winter when Minnesota traded ace Johan Santana clear out of the AL. They sure weren't sorry to see the Yankees or Red Sox fail to land him.
"We're not too disappointed to see (Erik) Bedard leave, either," manager John Gibbons cracks. "We battled those two and had little success. Although, in Bedard's case, it was nice to have him in the division pitching against those other teams."
Bedard, though, got the break the Blue Jays apparently never will. Shipped right on out of AL East airspace.
"Unless there's an earthquake, we're still going to be in the AL East," Ricciardi says, chuckling.
Would that even do it? What, exactly, might it take to get the Blue Jays removed from the AL East and, thus, away from the shadows (and bank accounts) of the Red Sox and Yankees?
Ricciardi chuckles.
"Maybe a seismic tsunami."
