1. The rotation – Since Litsch joined the rotation for the second time on July 3rd, the 5-some of Halladay, Burnett, McGowan, Marcum, and Litsch have gone a combined 20-11 over 36 starts with a 3.01 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 2.31 K/BB. The first 4 are a lock for next season, and with the 5th spot either being Litsch himself or Casey Janssen, one can assume the rotation will still be a huge strength of this club. Some pitchers are playing above their heads this season (Marcum, Litsch), but others can do a whole lot more than they’ve done this season (Halladay, Burnett, McGowan).

2. The bullpen – This year’s bullpen has been dominant, which is why it’s almost scary to think of what next year’s bullpen could do. Closer BJ Ryan is well ahead of schedule and should be ready for the start of spring training. With his return, Jeremy Accardo will be pushed to the 8th inning duties, giving us one of the best 8-9’s in all of baseball. If that isn’t enough we have lefty Scott Downs (who has posted an ERA in the mid-2’s as a reliever for two straight years), Casey Janssen (2.33 ERA), Brian Wolfe (who has a 1.39 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 3.60 K/BB in 51.2 IP between Syracuse and Toronto this year), runner stranding machine Brian Wolfe, Jason Frasor (4.23 ERA and 9.07 K/9 in 44.2 IP), and flame throwing Hawaiian Brandon League (assuming he figures out his shoulder, exploratory surgery anyone?).

3. AJ Burnett will be in a “contract year” – In 2005, his first and only contract year so far, he managed to stay healthy all year (making 32 starts, the most of his career) going 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA and 198 K’s. After starting the year 12-6, he went 0-6 in his final 6 starts as his offense caved beneath him. If AJ can stay healthy, making 30+ starts in 2008 and posts numbers even remotely similar to his 2005 campaign he’ll become a very rich man (if he isn’t already), and more importantly, we’ll have a great shot at a playoff spot.

4. Brandon League’s shoulder should be 100% – I’m sure we can all agree that the Brandon League we saw this year was nothing more than a shadow of the Brandon League we saw in 2006 who went 4-4 with a 2.31 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 3.00 K/BB and an incredible ground-out to fly-out ratio over 5 across 97.1 IP between Syracuse and Toronto. His velocity was well down (I don’t care what Jamie says, 93-94 isn’t “close” to 98-100, there’s a huge difference, ask any hitter), and his arm slot was all messed up. Hopefully with 6 months off (August to January) he can heal up to 100% and start throwing heat once again.

5. The catching situation – Curtis Thigpen and Gregg Zaun will most likely split the starting job 50/50 next season, which is the best situation for both us and them. Thigpen has much better defense and most likely over a full season his hitting would be better as well, but I personally don’t think he is ready to start 110+ games and handle the pitching staff all by himself. As we saw in 2006, Gregg Zaun plays his best in a platoon role, and I think only playing 70-90 games next year will give him a huge offensive boost.

6. The injury situation – I’m going to go ahead and say it, it’s impossible for us to have as many injuries next year as we did this year. BJ Ryan for the season, Davis Romero for the season, Brandon League for 5 months, Lyle Overbay for a month, Gregg Zaun for a month and a half, Reed Johnson for 3 months, Troy Glaus for a month (all things considered), Roy Halladay for 3 weeks, AJ Burnett for 6 weeks, Gustavo Chacin for 5 months, John Thomson for a month, and finally, Victor Zambrano for a month (which was a blessing). That’s got to be close to 1000 days of injuries in total. You expect people to get injured over the course of a season, but 2007 was a joke.

7. Left field – If we have learned 2 things this year, it’s that Reed Johnson isn’t physically capable of playing full time (110% plus back injury = trouble), and our offense needs more left handed hitters. Much like 2006, our 2008 left field will be both diverse and effective. Adam Lind will play against righties and backup Frank Thomas at DH, Reed Johnson will play against lefties and backup center and right. Lind isn’t the .370 hitter we saw in September 2006, but he also isn’t the .220 hitter we saw earlier this year. I can see Lind hitting .280 or .290 with 20 or so dingers next year, with Reed hitting around .300 with 10. That’s great production from 1 position.

8. Troy Glaus’ foot – It has bugged him since spring training, and it has clearly affected his performance. His 21 HR, 65 RBI pace is going to be by far his worst totals in any season in which he totaled 400+ AB. He’s been hitting 4th, 5th, or 6th all year in a lineup that was supposed to be one of the top 3 in the AL. The guy is only 30, he still has 3 or 4 good years of baseball left in him. That being said, he is only “officially” under contract for the 2008 season. He has a lot to prove, and a lot to play for in 2008. Expect much better results.

9. The Vernon Wells contract situation – Whether he wants to admit it or not, I think the contract has really messed with Vernon’s head. The longer he goes without breaking out of his slump, the harder he tries and the worse he plays. I also think there might be a lingering shoulder issue, because on his swing he’s opening his lead shoulder earlier than he did in 2006 which causes him to get on top of a lot of pitches resulting in ground balls and popups as opposed to line drives. If he rests until about January then starts working out like he did prior to 2006 for the WBC we could see his best season yet.

10. Lyle Overbay’s hand – The broken hand has clearly affected his power, because he hasn’t hit a HR in almost 2 months. There are also rumors that he hasn’t even been hitting HR in batting practice, which shows just how bad it has gotten. I also think he needs to be moved back into the 5 or 6 slot, the #2 slot clearly isn’t working for him. With a healthy hand and better lineup positioning, he should return to the .300, 20 HR hitter we loved in 2006.

11. Aaron Hill’s breakout – Maybe it’s just me, but 2006/2007 Aaron Hill looks a lot like 2004/2005 Alex Rios to me. Alex went from all batting average to all power, much like what Aaron had done. Now, Alex Rios broke out and combined both average and power in 2006, and I expect Aaron to do much of the same in 2008. I don’t think he’s going to hit the HR that Alex has due to his much smaller stature, but I can see him hitting .290 with 15 HR next year, which would be amazing for us.

12. John Gibbons’ reign could be over – I think both Jim Traber and Jeff Blair were 100% correct when they said at the beginning of the year that John Gibbons was not going to be fired in 2007, no matter what happened. They also thought that if the Blue Jays don’t begin the 2008 season firing on all cylinders, Gibbons will be fired before the end of April and a manager with big league experience will be brought in.

13. JP Ricciardi’s reputation – Whether or not we all like to think so, JP Ricciardi is a very smart man. He doesn’t need to be told by us that the Blue Jays shot at a playoff spot within the next decade is closing. The Yankees have pitchers like Phil Hughes, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy, while the Red Sox have pitchers like Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, and Clay Buchholz. By 2009, the Red Sox and Yankees will have 2 of the most dominant rotations modern baseball has ever seen. When that happens, the Blue Jays will have one heck of a time ever seeing 2nd place in the division. 2008 is the year. It will be year 8 of JP’s 5 year plan, and not only will his job be on the line, his reputation as a GM will be as well. He will pull out all the stops and will do everything in his power to make the Blue Jays a playoff team. There won’t be excuses, there will only be results.

0 replies = fuck all of you.

Reed blows.

Zaun sucks.

If League can get it together.....our bullpen will have too much talent that some guys won't even throw 10 innings next year(ie Jason Frasor, Brian Tallet...)


But yea.....we should win 90+ games next year.

One reason the jays won't contend next year: John Gibbons.

Fire Gibbons and hire an experienced manager for once.

I can see both sides of the arguement about Gibbons. On one side, he's had to deal with a helluva lot of injuries. But on the other side, he hasn't had the results people want to see and it's beoming the same old story so he might be this year's Ken Mocca.

You write all of that yourself rocky? Very well done. As long as the pitching holds up, then theres no doubt that the Blue Jays will be a contending team in 2008.

Wow, nice read. The one thing I caught tho is that isn't Frank Thomas on a 1-year deal?

Player or team option for 2008. I forget which one.

O I C

No, he's here for 2007 and 2008 and then there's a team option for 2009 that becomes guaranteed if Frank hits 1050 plate appearances over 07/08 or 550 plate appearances in 08.

frank signed a 2 year 19 mil deal.....with that plate appearances option

I wouldn't doubt you guys conteding next year or the year after. You just gotta deal with the Sox and Yanks all season.

Well Joe Torre has delt with the injuries on the yankees rather well over the past years. Why the hell can't Gibbons do the same thing.

Well we haven't been injured in the 2nd half and we're still only playing .500 baseball. Our offense has probably been worse since everyone came back as well.

Back injuries and broken thumbs aren't injuries that heal very quickly.

Well not if the player is a bitch....