The Blue Jays went 83-79 and finished in third place in the AL East in 2014, the eighth straight season they've finished no higher than third place. Since the Royals returned to the playoffs last year, Toronto now owns baseball's longest postseason drought -- they haven't been since winning the 1993 World Series. The good news? The Jays had their best record in four years and GM Alex Anthopoulos made two high-profile additions in the offseason. Will it be enough to get the Blue Jays back into the postseason? Let's preview.

More: Likes, dislikes | Over/unders | All team previews | Spring training

Probable lineup

1. SS Jose Reyes
2. C Russell Martin
3. RF Jose Bautista
4. 1B Edwin Encarnacion
5. 3B Josh Donaldson
6. DH Dioner Navarro
7. LF Kevin Pillar
8. CF Dalton Pompey
9. 2B Maicer Izturis

Bench: C Josh Thole, 1B Justin Smoak, IF Danny Valencia, UTIL Steve Tolleson

The Jays lost projected starting left fielder Michael Saunders to a torn MCL a few weeks ago and he is a candidate to start the regular season on the DL despite his seemingly miraculous recovery. Nonroster invitee Dayan Viciedo could make the Opening Day roster, especially if Navarro is traded, as he has reportedly requested. Infielders Ryan Goins, Munenori Kawasaki and Devon Travis are candidates for the starting second base job.

Probable rotation

1. RHP R.A. Dickey
2. LHP Mark Buehrle
3. RHP Drew Hutchison
4. RHP Marco Estrada
5. LHP Daniel Norris

Marcus Stroman has been lost for the season after tearing his ACL during a recent fielding drill and that's a big blow. He figured to be the staff ace by season's end. Estrada and Norris are competing for rotation spots with others like Aaron Sanchez, Todd Redmond and Liam Hendriks.

Probable bullpen

Closer: LHP Brett Cecil
Setup men: LHP Aaron Loup, RHP Aaron Sanchez
Middle men: RHP Steve Delabar, RHP Chad Jenkins, RHP Todd Redmond
Long man: RHP Kyle Drabek

Sanchez was electric in relief late last year and while the Jays say they still believe in him as a starter long-term, once a pitcher has that much success in relief, they usually get stuck in that role. Stroman's injury could be the extra nudge Sanchez needs to join the rotation, however. Cecil is replacing the departed Casey Janssen in the ninth inning. Righty Wilton Lopez is another bullpen candidate. He's in camp as a nonroster invitee.

Under-the-radar offseason transaction

Saunders. For whatever reason Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik was not a fan of Saunders and he was openly critical of his play and conditioning. (Zduriencik said Saunders might have been able to avoid last year's oblique strain if he was in better shape.) The Blue Jays jumped into action and acquired the 28-year-old Saunders for J.A. Happ -- Toronto could use Happ now following Stroman's injury, but that's beside the point -- and got themselves a player who has hit .248/.320/.423 (111 OPS+) with 39 home runs, 38 steals and strong defense in 349 games the past three years. Saunders is no star, but he's a useful two-way player for the bottom half of the lineup.

Fantasy impact rookie: Daniel Norris

Via Scott White's fantasy outlook:

"Aaron Sanchez is the pitching prospect getting all the attention right now, and he's the most likely to capture a role in spring training. But if that role is a rotation spot, he may not be the most prepared for it. Daniel Norris is younger and has less experience in the upper levels of the minors, but he dominated in each of his three stops last year, his 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings ranking first among qualifying minor-leaguers. Yeah, he had some control problems, issuing 3.1 walks per nine innings between the three stops, but the same can be said for Sanchez, who issued 5.1 walks per nine between two. And he didn't have even close to the same strikeout rate. Norris actually had a fourth stop last year, the majors, where he made four relief appearances and one start, so he has the bonus eligibility going for him. Though he's a long shot for a rotation spot this spring, the Blue Jays will find room for him at some point."

Few teams can match the thunder in Toronto's lineup.
Few teams can match the thunder in Toronto's lineup. (USATSI)

Biggest strength

Offense, particularly right-handed power. Over the past two seasons Encarnacion (70), Bautista (63) and Donaldson (53) rank second, seventh and 18th in MLB in home runs. They rank first, fifth and 12th among right-handed batters in homers. Add in Martin's on-base ability and Reyes' base-running havoc ability and you have a dynamic and devastating 1-5 portion of the lineup. Donaldson and Martin should see upticks in their power output now that they're moving into the homer-happy Rogers Centre.

Biggest weakness

Pitching depth in general. The Stroman injury really hurts in general and it also pushes Norris and/or Sanchez into more prominent roles, and while those two are dynamite rookies, they're still rookies. We have no idea what they can do across a full season in MLB. The team lacks an experienced closer but that's not really a problem. Cecil's excellent. The problem is Cecil will now likely be pigeonholed into the ninth inning now rather than be available to put out fires in the seventh and eighth innings. Rafael Soriano is still a free agent and he makes sense for the Jays, especially if they're planning to put Sanchez in the rotation.

Outlook

The Blue Jays made two great pickups this winter in Martin and Donaldson, and a third if you count Saunders, but I still feel like their offseason was incomplete. Their window for contention is very defined -- Bautista, Encarnacion, Buehrle and Dickey are all on the wrong side of 30 and set to become free agents within the next two years -- and while they're clearly going for it now, I think they could have done more to improve their 2015 chances. James Shields in particular would have made a ton of sense as he sat out there unsigned until late February.

Anthopoulos made some nice additions this winter but he also lost some key players, specifically Melky Cabrera and Adam Lind. Those two had a 126 OPS+ and a 141 OPS+ last year. Martin and Donaldson are massive defensive upgrades but you know what? They might not replace Melky's and Lind's offense entirely. The rotation looks shaky in the wake of Stroman's injury and the bullpen looks hit or miss. For a team going all in, there are a lot of question marks on the roster.

The Jays are good enough to contend for a wild-card spot and since there is no clear-cut favorite in the AL East, I feel like we have to consider them division contenders as well. The roster feels incomplete though, like there were more upgrades to be made that weren't this winter.

Coming Sunday: Previewing the Tampa Bay Rays.