Teacher: Good Morning class please take your seats, Welcome to How to Keep a Championship Window Open 101! For today’s lesson we look towards Canada. Can you show me a team that has an organization that has a big market, yet successfully kept their championship window alive because of key moves. That would be the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that has had 2 ways of thinking that have each worked for the short term right now. Enough with that let’s get to the story.
A time machine takes us to 2010. Cito Gaston retired after his 2nd stint as manager after a year where they were good but not good enough for the playoffs. Well even if Gaston retired they had talent. Jose Bautista was becoming one of the best hitters in baseball, Edwin Encarnacion was realizing his potential, as well as a top prospect by the name of Brett Lawrie. Their next move was to get John Farrell to manage. You could understand the move but he would be put to test against the big boys in New York, Boston, and Tampa Bay. The result is a 500 season. Even if they had a mediocre season at least they had hope. They were able to draft top prospects in Aaron Sanchez, and Marcus Stroman. Two men that could be a devastating 1-2 punch in the rotation. What did the front office do as well? Bring back the uniforms from the Glory Days of the Early 1990s thanks to an idea from Toronto icon and rapper Drake. 2012 would be a good year for Encarnacion, Rajah Davis, and Joey Bats but they finished 4th behind the Yanks, O’s, and Rays. This thinking would make the Blue Jays go for a bunch of big names on the market in the 2013 winter. First they had to deal with John Farrell resigning and taking his managing ways to Boston. This meant that the Jays would hire John Gibbons who was on his second stint as manager of the club to replace him. Let the spending spree BEGIN! First they make a blockbuster trade to the Mets for R.A. Dickey and Jose Reyes, the faces of a Mets team that wanted to blow everything up. Next they got a former Cy Young Candidate in Josh Johnson who had a down year in 2012 but he should fit in. The biggest move at the time was a World Series hero from the Giants in Melky Cabrera. Several sports magazines that year picked Toronto to go to the World Series. With those moves plus Encarnacion, Bautista, Lowrie and the prospects they looked like a contender on paper. Even if they had an 11 game win streak at one point in the season the Jays weren’t good enough just yet. Bad news for them was that their old skipper won a World Series in Boston that year. In 2014 they came just short of making the playoffs thanks to a Baltimore Orioles stampede. Then comes the good stuff.
In 2015 the Jays were in a situation that if the team didn’t make the playoffs they would blow it up. This time management made sure they got the right guys.
- Trading Brett Lawrie for a generational talent in Josh Donaldson, and a slugger in Michael Saunders
- Signing a hometown catcher in Russell Martin
- Signing another Toronto native in Justin Smoak, as well as Marco Estrada, and Devon Travis.
Soon the Blue Jays finally broke through. Josh Donaldson won the AL MVP, Marcus Stroman, and Aaron Sanchez had outstanding rookie seasons, Double E, and Joey Bats in their primes, and they weren’t done. Midseason trades to get Troy Tulowitski, and David Price, plus the callup of a 19 year old closer in Roberto Osuna. They ended a 22 year postseason drought that dated back to Joe Carter’s World Series Walkoff against the Phillies. Even if they trailed 2-0 to the Texas Rangers, the Jays came storming back and won Games 3 and 4 in Arlington, and thanks to their two franchise cornerstones they bashed Texas in Game 5 at SkyDome. Even if the Jays lost in 6 games in the ALCS to Kansas City there were plenty of expectations for a championship in 2016. This was the most hyped offseason in Blue Jays history. Every single Toronto baseball analyst picked them to win the World Series. Their fan base grew insufferable. Although the Jays hired Ross Atkins to be their GM they still had the team that Paul Beeston built 6 years ago. The good news for the people of Toronto the Jays would be Contenders again. Michael Saunders became an All Star, as well as Roberto Osuna becoming one of the best closers in baseball. And even if they had injuries or bad blood with Texas they were still a force. That summer they would smack almost every single team that tried knocking them out of the playoffs and made it back as a Wild Card with the same team from 2015. They walked off Dem O’s in the Wild Card Game, smashed the Rangers again in the ALDS with a sweep highlighted by another series clinching walk off. But the bad news for the Blue Jays is that they ran into the pitching rich Cleveland Indians in the ALCS. In 5 games the Tribe crushed the hopes and dreams of Torontonians visions of a World Series. After two Mediocre seasons after 2016 the Jays decided to blow it up. Josh Donaldson, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Edwin Encarnacion, Roberto Osuna, as well as others were gone.
Narrator: The sad thing is that this was one of my favorite teams to watch over that span. When I was in Toronto for 6 weeks in 2016 I went to a game almost every single week and was impressed by how good that roster was. But for Jays fans all hopes of a revival weren’t lost.
Teacher: Even if the Jays had to start all over there was hope. Look at the prospects they had. Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Teoscar Hernandez, among others they had a team that was built for the future. Even if they had a bad 2019 season because of a bad starting rotation despite the flashes from the youngsters. In 2020 with the COVID crisis coming up they went for a chance at the playoffs again. They got the big fish for the rotation in Hyun jin Ryu plus made some bold and brash moves at the August 31 trade deadline. Jonathan Villar, Ross Stripling, Robbie Ray, not to mention Travis Shaw, and Taijuan Walker as well. Not only did they make big moves they made it back to the playoffs with ease despite a bad final week which led them to being swept by their division rivals in the Wild Card Round in the Rays but for Jays fans they are now back in playoff/championship contention. That same offseason the Jays doubled down on their championship window by signing 2 of the big fish on the Free Agent Market in Outfielder George Springer and Closer Kirby Yates. Here is the lesson, even if you think your team is in a downswing and could be on the verge of a rebuild always have hope in the front office no matter how awful they may look. If you do that you can be like the Blue Jays who get the chance to claim their long awaited rewards. CLASS DISMISSED!
Bragging Rights Sports 