Toronto Blue Jays

Power Rankings

Date	Ranking	Previous
01/26/2012	16	9
Good business: They didn't bow to fans' WE ARE READY TO WIN NOW SO PLEASE DELIVER UNTO US MANY COSTLY FREE AGENTS carping. That was the only rational move, given that Yu Darvish was the sole fit for a team at this intermediate stage in its development. Bad business: Alex Anthopoulos swung only one jaw-droppingly amazing trade, acquiring the cost-contained Sergio Santos for a fluff-balling prospect. Frankly, he has conditioned us to expect one of those every fortnight. Prognosis as of 11:14 a.m. GMT on Jan. 26, 2012: To contend, they'll need some premature destiny-realization by the touted young'uns (Rasmus, Snider, Arencibia et al). That seems a lot to ask.
10/31/2011	9	12
2011 eulogy: Had they done nothing else besides ditch Vernon Wells, 2011 would've been the team's most glorious campaign since 1993. But then they went and finished .500 in the AL East. I am smitten. Off-season to-do list: Keep pursuing high-upside plays. In this particular offseason, that means a big push for Yu Darvish ... Have Alex Anthopoulos make a intentionally crappy minor trade, so that other GMs stop fearing him and let their guards down ... Establish a Jays-branded series of sign-stealing seminars as a secondary revenue stream. Odds of achieving Cardinals-like glory in 2012: Toronto is not an isolated backwater and Rogers Communications isn't a mom-and-pop operation. There's no reason this organization can't play with the big boys.
09/28/2011	12	13
What went right: They kept their heads above water in baseball's toughest division. Pending Wednesday's result, they could deliver their fifth .500-or-above season in six years. Factor in the two modern-era titles, and the Jays are almost certainly a more successful franchise than the one for which you root, root, root ... They successfully spun the sign-stealing controversy into "we have taken up residence in everybody's head" ... When opposing GMs see Alex Anthopoulos' number pop up on their Caller ID, they throw their phones into the dishwasher and pray for death's cold embrace ... Jose Bautista proved pretty good at hitting. What went wrong: J.P. Arencibia's Twitter feed > J.P. Arencibia's OBP ... Brandon Morrow might have a little bit of A.J. Burnett in him, which could prompt the Jays to order an offseason exorcism ... Travis Snider isn't awesome yet. I demand a refund. Regular-season epilogue: Enjoy your tuque and socialism jokes while you can. The Jays are nobody's punchline.
09/20/2011	13	12
First Jeremy Affeldt loses a wrestling match with a package of frozen hamburger patties, now Brett Cecil slices his pitching hand silly while tending to the cleaning needs of his blender. Heck to Betsy, fellas, just hire kitchen wenches already. ... Remember Adam Loewen? Baltimore pitcher, tall, thought the strike zone was for "tools and squares?" Well, he has reinvented himself as an outfielder, Ankiel-style, and he made a catch the other night that should remind us that even the daintiest pitcher is tougher and more hardy than a thousand of us dorkpundits. This whole treat-pitchers-like-malnourished-bunny-rabbits crap has to end.
09/13/2011	12	16
Here's an international incident waiting to happen. After winning a game against the Red Sox with an 11th-inning dinger, Brett Lawrie jogged around the bases with his tongue hanging out. Somehow, the Sox -- stalwart enforcers of the game's code of machismo -- didn't plant a fastball in his rib cage during the series' final three games (Lawrie got plunked, but the game situation suggests that it wasn't deliberate). So will the Sox exact true revenge this time around, or keep Lawrie hanging on for another at-bat or three? I think he eats one from John Lackey on Wednesday afternoon, and that will be that.
09/06/2011	16	14
Don't believe that Alex Anthopoulos was in Japan this week to scout Yu Darvish, as several Toronto beat guys reported. No, he was there to receive his certification as a 12th-level ninja in a secret midnight ceremony at the Yasaka Shrine. Upon completion, he snuck into Emperor Akihito's kitchen and microwaved a Pita Pocket ... Our new object of young-star fetishism: Brett Lawrie's wrists. The way they whip through the strike zone? Mercy! I hope they don't let stardom go to their head like so many other body parts have. My innocence was forever shattered when Gary Sheffield's shoulders made that sex tape.
08/30/2011	14	12
So, that Kelly Johnson acquisition: Is roster-whisperer extraordinaire Alex Anthopoulos just trying to accumulate more draft picks in anticipation of a free-agent exit, or does he know something about Johnson that the rest of us don't? I bet it's the latter, and I bet that something is a controlling interest in a concern that manufactures white shirts ... While it's possible that Brandon Morrow has too much A.J. Burnett in him for anyone's taste, I can't help but fixate on the decreasing walk totals. When he puts it together -- and yeah, let's go with "when," not "if" -- it'll be something to see.
08/23/2011	12	11
Brett Lawrie is both Canadian and more intense than a centaur rocking out to Motörhead. And so falls another north-of-the-border stereotype, admittedly not one of the more hurtful ones. ... Anyone else worried about Kyle Drabek based on his last few triple-A outings? If he's hurt -- the most logical explanation -- how will Alex Anthopoulos remedy the situation? At this point, I've ascribed near-mythical qualities to him: He can stop the rain, get little Billy's parents back together, you name it. But can he mind-heal a UCL? I bet he can.
08/16/2011	11	13
So much to talk about! The Jays, aided (or not) by a mystery man with a minimalist fashion sense, may (or may not -- the Power Rankings buy into the whole "reasonable doubt" thing) have been stealing signals during home games. This story is enthralling in that 1) Any talk of cheating angries up the blood; 2) It activated and energized Jays fans in a way that we haven't seen in a while; and 3) It further grows the legend of Alex Anthopoulos, who had to know about this ... OR DID HE? The one legit concern: That the stuff about The Man In White could taint Jose Bautista's MVP case. That would be unfortunate ... Jays fans were gracious enough to welcome Vernon Wells back with a nice ovation. Hell, they kept cheering even after he hit a home run. I think I saw a conga line forming in the upper deck, accompanied by a chant of "We don't have to pay him! We don't have to pay him!"
08/09/2011	13	12
That's odd. The Brett Lawrie era arrived without skateboards, anti-establishment bluster or 311 blaring from an iPod boombox in the corner. Wasn't he supposed to be as chock full of makeup issues as the average juvie hood? ... Brian Butterfield, the third-base coach who waved Jose Molina around second base on the way to his first triple since 2004, obviously didn't worry about having a heart attack on his conscience. He got off easy, only having to assemble an ad-hoc oxygen tent around the bag. In any event, I hope Molina's triple prompts each and every one of us to check the batteries in our porta-defibrillators. Accidents will happen.