| Re: A Dark Horse?
Anyway, I think the Jays have a legitimately good team. They have two established stud starters (Halladay and Burnett), two young pitchers with stud potential (McGowan and Marcum), and Jesse Litsch is a serviceable 5th starter (3.81 ERA last year).
They have a decent bullpen. Not great, but good. Much better when BJ Ryan is healthy.
They have a quality line-up. Alex Rios is fucking awesome, Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas are dangerous, and Aaron Hill is emerging as one of the better 2Bs in the league. Plus, they have a nice lefty-righty platoon in left field (Shannon Stewart and Matt Stairs). Stewart has batted .299/.375/.421 career vs. LHP, and Stairs has batted .273/.365/.502 vs. RHP.
Also, baseball prospectus is very high on Tampa Bay. They think the Rays will win 88 games. They certainly have a great line-up and defense, it all depends on the pitching. Shields is a good pitcher, and Kazmir is elite, when healthy. Matt Garza is a big-time pitching prospect, plus Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson have a ton of potential. And, for the first time in their existence, they have a somewhat decent bullpen, assuming Percival is effective.
However, Kazmir's injury and the decision to start Evan Longoria in the minors hurt their prospects for this year |