I am so friggin' there.

I think the Jays have made some decent moves, but hardly worthy of an "A" grade. Have they really improved more than any AL team this offseason--if that was the purpose of the grades? I don't see how that argument can be made. 2 average to slightly above-average starting pitchers were added. Some bullpen parts were added, but there's no guarantee that any one of them will seize the closer role effectively. There's been a moderate upgrade in the pitching staff, but no improvement in the everyday lineup. IMO, if the Jays take a significant step up this year it will be because of further development of young players, not any of their off-season moves.

Giving the Orioles a B-, Minny a C, Detroit a D all seem out of line as well.

The only halfway productive move Minnesota has made this offseason was the Pierzynski move, and that could be argued as a loss for the Twins. Other than that, they've lost key bullpen parts and resigned an average LF to a big deal while failing to trade their other average LF for something useful. I'd say a C is generous.

Speaking of white glitter baby doll tee's, has anybody bought any new official Jays merchandise yet? I picked up a grey fitted cap on the weekend - my local sports store just got the shipment in.

I'm still not sold on the new look, but I was moved to go out and buy it after the Halladay signing last week. I'll have it broken in by spring training.

Eddie, I have the new home grey hat as well. I actually ordered it from the Jays online store about a month ago but it was a preorder and the shipment didn't come in til last weekend. I also got the fullzip sweatshirt-highly recommended-very comfy. I think my landlords are trying to save money on heat so I'm wearing it all the time.

http://economics.about.com
I think the Jays have made some decent moves, but hardly worthy of an "A" grade.

What teams have had a better off-season? To me the Jays are the only team who:

1. Addressed their major weaknesses.
   
2. Didn't create any weaknesses in the process.
   
3. Didn't sign anyone to a likely millstone contract.
   

The Angels have had a great off-season, but a couple of their moves could come back to haunt them (Guillen, Escobar, playing Erstad at 1st). The Orioles signed an old catcher coming off of a career year for a ton of money, and their rotation and bullpen have gotten worse. Detroit paid well-above market value for players; some good, some not.

If the Jays haven't had the best off-season in the AL, there at least isn't too many teams ahead of them.

Cheers,

Mike

Mike: and you didn't even mention the Halladay signing.

http://economics.about.com
Mike: and you didn't even mention the Halladay signing.

Well, it goes without saying! :)

Cheers,

Mike

I think my landlords are trying to save money on heat so I'm wearing it all the time.

Remember, they have to keep it warm... go after them if they don't. Explain the problem, ask them to turn up the heat, and if they don't comply call the city.

Your city government can tell you how warm they have to keep it... if you're in Ontario, info for lots of municipalities is on this page...

http://www.geocities.com/torontotenants/law/law.html

Look under Question 7.

:=) Thanks for lookin' out for me Craig. It's not all that bad, and they have asked a few times if the heat's OK. We're just a little too proud to admit to the old couple that we 20somethings are too cold when they can deal with a chilly house every once in awhile. The sweatshirt's still great though!

I'm not that big a fan of the home grey. Would much rather have the black road cap. Probably will end up buying that one before the season starts.

I'd give the Jays a B+/A, for these reasons:

- Halladay x 4 years
- Miguel Batista (at reasonable cost)
- Hentgen and Lilly on the cheap ("average to slightly above-average", I agree. ESPN writes that Lilly has the potential to have a breakout season and become a premier AL starter. Wouldn't that be nice)
- Speier (good potential as a setup man)
- T-Adams (could be good role-player in the pen. Low-risk.)
- Ligtenberg (possibly a bit pricey, but relatively low-risk. Should be at least average or slightly better)
- De los Santos/Durocher/Chen (low cost/risk. Potential role players)
- Re-signing Cat, Myers relatively cheaply

If JP had signed Worrell instead of Ligtenberg, plus a SS with more offensive/defensive potential, I would have given him an A.

An A+ if he had somehow pried loose a Blanton/Soriano-type pitching prospect.

May still be able to get Soriano. You never know. Bavasi doesn't seem like the smartest GM so far. Odds could go up if they lose out on Irod. They definitely need more offense somehow and there defense really took a hit this offseason.

The only team in the AL that has come close to the Jays to me has been the Royals. Juan Gone was a nice risk, Stairs will help, Leskanic, Anderson, Appier and Grimsley all should help the pitching staff. However I dont think anyone can compare to Toronto though the Angels seem to get high grades for high impact signings that could come back to haunt them.

Speaking of white glitter baby doll tee's, has anybody bought any new official Jays merchandise yet?

I didn't purchase it, but I won an authentic jersey from winning a Yahoo fantasy league. It's the white jersey. Unfortunately, you couldn't customize it. Otherwise I like it.

I was probably the first person in New Brunswick with a cap with the new logo, ordering a black Roots cap shortly after they went on sale.

I recently bought a new official home cap. It reminds me of an old railroad engineer's cap due to the colour and the fact that the oversized logo makes the front of the cap stand straight up. The Roots cap looks a lot better.

http://www.immune26.tv
Do the Jays upgrades warrant an A? I say yes.

This year the Jays will have 128 games (YES 128!) started by pitchers who allowed a lower "batting average against" in 2003 than did the guys they are replacing.

Sure Shilling is better, sure Foulke is better.... but improved starters in 128 games on a team that won 86 (or was it 87?) games last year. This should be interesting.

The Jays have a shot at the playoffs IF Hinske recovers from the hand problem and goes .290/.370/.530 with 25 - 30 homers and IF Phelps goes .300/.390/.580 with 35 - 45 homers. BOTH "IFS" are well within the realm of possibilities.

And I haven't even mentioned the three real improved arms in the bullpen.

Hinske and Phelps should replace the drop off expected in Myers and the loss of Stewart so there O should be as good. I have concerns over Lilly, he being a fly ball pitcher but I really believe Hentgen and Batista will have great years. I think they need a willis/cabrera like contribution from there farm team to make the playoffs. Although the 38 games against the Bosox/Yankees will probably still get in there way, the Jays will be fun to watch this year.

ESPN has a cool article on the playoffs. I was disheartened to see the Jays were one of only 4 teams in the AL since 98 not to make post season. (Detroit, KC, Tampa are the others)

The Jays played approximately .500 ball against the Yankees and Red Sox in 2003. If they had just had the type of record you would expect against the Devil Rays then they should have won 90 games last year.

The hope is the new pitchers remain healthy and effective because there will be some dropoff in performance from Stewart to Johnson unless Gross/Rios come on fast and have immediate impacts.

There's also almost sure to be one or two significant injuries to the pitching staff over the course of the season so some of the guys like Bush, McGowan, Arnold, Peterson, and Durocher have to be able to contribute at times as well.

Grr those Glitter tees are $19.99 +tax and $2.00 shipping

thnx for getting my hopes up.

No, they should be just $2, that's what the clearance sale page says...

I like Phelps but .300/.390/580?

I think 500 AB of .275/.350/.520 would be pretty sweet.

I also think the jury is out on Hinske. Even after recovering from wrist surgery, he never really pulled it together offensively (or, as we all know, defensively). He slugged .443 after the all-star break. I think the Jays would have to be thrilled with .275/.350/.510 and average defense.

"ESPN writes that Lilly has the potential to have a breakout season and become a premier AL starter. Wouldn't that be nice)"

I have ESPN Motion, and in one segment they discuss fantasy baseball and interstingly, they list Lilly (along with Zito and Dontrelle Willis) as guys to be wary of or "buyer beware". One of the guys says and I quote "He's gonna get pounded this year." I believe and hope he's going to be wrong, but you never know.

They also rank the top 10 fantasy pitchers and for anyone who's interested, Halladay is listed in fourth behind Prior, Randy Johnson(?), and Schilling.

Well the NL is the pitcher's league in fantasy anyways.... So I can kinda see that... 2nd in the AL to Schilling is pretty fair. It's close, and could go either way... but in any event I think it's a pretty fair assessment.

RJ is a bit of a strech, as injury concerns are obviously such a big deal with him that his ownership % overall will likely plummet dramatically.

Lilly gives up a lot of homeruns and moving to SkyDome is what they base most of their prognosication on. Lilly's also a flyball pitcher though and Toronto's outfield should be comparable or better overall to what Oakland's outfield was though you might compare Catalanatto to Terrence Long.

I'm expecting an ERA of about 4.50 on the year and it's possible he could do better. Heck it's possible he could put up an ERA under 4.00 but I'm expecting it to be closer to his road ERA of 4.71.

It's not hard to see why Oakland made the deal. They brought in Mark Redman and signed him to approximately the same cost as Lilly and Redman will probably have some good resale cost down the road after pitching in another ERA friendly park with a nice defence behind him.