Toronto has featured a couple really fun SS players over the years, including some of my favorites from their teams prior to Toronto (and I'm still sad that Tulo didn't continue to star in Canada thanks to injuries... however, a certain rookie phenom/son of my Rockies' shersey player took the SS spot away from these two studs at the last minute!
Lineup: Toronto's lineup is heavily reliant on the home run ball, especially early on! Rookie Biggio put up some impressive power stats and rolls out a card that'll impress a lot of fans (stats assembled by Bob's template). His combo of A(20) speed and 17-20 HR range for a 9 is going to make him very draftable and, for most managers, would make him a 4 or 5 hole hitter. However, he's one of only two speed A players in this lineup and, due to his high OB and walk range, he's leading off. Hitting second is an AL MVP in 2016 Josh Donaldson. Despite slightly less power than our 2015 Donaldson, 2016 Josh is an all around stud with a card very similar to 2018 Yelich... except at the hot corner! Third is one of the best power hitters of the decade (and one of my favorite looking Colby cards) -- 2010 Jose Bautista. Joey Bats brings insane 50 HR power to his OB 9, plus he's on at 3 and doubles at 12. Guy is going to be LETHAL when he gets his chart. He's followed by an OB 10, HR at 17 in Edwin Encarncion. Batting fifth is yet another OB 9, HR at 17 guy in 2010 Adam Lind, giving the Blue Jays extreme pop at each of the first five spots. Rookie sensation Bo Bichette hits sixth. He's not blazing fast and he gets on at 6, but Bo has a huge doubles range and some stellar power, giving them a reliable #6 hitter. He's followed by a dependable hitting machine in 2015 Colabello, who may not have a fearsome chart, but with getting on at 3 as an OB 9, is going to knock guys in and extend innings. Martin is a solid, albeit unspectacular, option behind the plate as an OB 8, HR at 18. His +8 arm is fantastic though and the 2B at 15 will offset some frustrating own chart outs. Rounding out the lineup is the speedy Ben Revere, who resets the lineup before all the power mashers come up again. Revere beat out Colby Rasmus (OB 8, HR at 18), preventing the lineup from having all guys with 20+ HR power, but overall giving a more natural number 9 hitter to the squad. Fear the longball (both HRs and general XB hits) with the mighty Blue Jays!
Rotation: The Blue Jays bring out Tier 2, Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 3 with lots of IP potential! The Hall of Famer Roy Halladay is, of course, the top of the rotation. He's a bonafide ace with his C4, on at 18 card with solid K range. However, #2 starter David Price put together an all-around better card in his 2015 campaign. He's got a C6, on at 16 with no doubles card for 7 IP. Don't be surprised to see him going deeper than that, he's one of the coolest cards that Colby and Matthew made (and the 2015 Blue Jays are one of the best teams not to make a World Series). Marcus Stroman takes command of the #3 slot with a Control 4, on at 17 card that doesn't surrender doubles. He's going to be a solid #3 starter who keeps them in games, but is doubtful to set them up for a win if the offense can only muster 1 or 2 runs. Same with number 4 starter Buehrle, who at the very least CAN go 7 effectively if he's dealing. Honestly, the greatest strength of this team is the ability to substantially help a tired bullpen with deep starts when necessary. Definitely not an elite rotation, but better than Baltimore and capable of putting together some hot streaks for the Blue Jays.
Bullpen: An objectively strong bullpen in any other league, the Blue Jays bullpen nevertheless feels weak compared to the mighty collection of arms we've seen from the Yankees, Orioles, Nationals, and others. However, they're still led by a Tier 1, no doubles closer in Ken Giles. He's an absolute fire hose and devastating in the ninth. Giles has the support of three Tier 2 relievers that don't surrender doubles, making for a mean 7th-8th inning combo that they can rotate throughout series. Originally they had a Tier 3, but I rediscovered Matthew P's amazing Janssen and had to add him to the squad. It drops the overall points but definitely bolsters the bullpen's depth! Cecil is going to be scoffed at with his Control 3, but as a tier 3 he'll still get the job done more often than not... but yeah, they've got Giles, Stroman, and Hendricks for the high-leverage situations!
Overall, the Blue Jays clock in at 7140 Points! A big reason for that is the epic lineup, which only has one player below 330 points (and six guys over 400/four guys over 500)... and they've got two 650 point players on the team! Honestly, this team is going to compete -- the Blue Jays always seem to in my leagues, largely thanks to the amount of guys who can put the team on their back! Yes, the bullpen is a concern depth wise over the course of a season, but my "Toronto manager" has always had a "burn the starters" mentality to protect the 'pen... this may cost starters all star votes and warp their run differential by season's end, but don't be surprised to see Toronto squarely in the AL playoff hunt! Here's the point totals for the All Decade squads after adding another "7000 point" club member:
- Yankees 7920 points
- Nationals 7670 points
- Astros 7420 points
- Blue Jays 7140 points
- Rockies 7090 points
- Mariners 6880 points
- Orioles 6830 points
- Marlins 6750 points
- Tigers 6710 points
Back with more analysis! I need to get back to creating all time rosters, but the new role at work has kept me just too busy! Anyway, here's the Jays breakdown:
ReplyDeleteLineup:
This lineup, despite not having a proliferation of 10 OBs, still packs a major punch due to the 9 OBs absolutely raking. I am in agreement on all your players, although I'd swap out 2010 Bautista for his ridiculous 2014 card that was 11 OB, 4 outs, 3 Hrs and 2 doubles which clocks in at a studly 6.73 expected runs vs. the 2010 being at 6.26. Encarnacion's card is right behind him with 6.05 expected runs, and Donaldson right behind him. Lind's card is a bit of a surprising stud with 5.87 runs. Then there's a 3/4 run drop off down to Biggio, Bichhette and Bolabo who each clock in right around 5 runs. Revere clocks in just above Martin, both right around 4 runs. Definitely a bit of a drop off, but it's to be expected.
Rotation:
Slight change up from yours, but I have a different 2015 Price card topping the list with 5 control, 7 IP, 16 outs and 4 singles coming in at 5.72 expected runs, just ahead of Halladay's 2009 card. Stroman comes in at 6.15 which presents a solid top three card, but then there's a drop off and I have Estrada 2015 ahead of Buehrle at 6.61 and 6.78. Not a huge difference though so dealers choice.
Bullpen:
In agreement with all your players, although I have a different Cecil 2015 card that matches Giles but with 4 control coming in as the second best card. Giles leads the way with 4.79 expected runs which is a very solid closer. After him though there's a three quarter run drop off to Cecil, Osuna and Hendricks who all come in between 5.5-5.81 expected runs. Then another almost run drop off to Sanchez. Luckily the starters should be able to carry the majority of the load and the offense should put up a good amount of runs!! Would be a super fun team to play with due to the ability to rake and just enough question marks to keep things really intriguing.
These have gotten me so hyped for when I've got all the teams together and I'm doing previews for the All Decade season that I want to play out... definitely going to have to get the numbers projections for wins/losses, standings, MVP etc etc!!
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