Is This The Year For The Blue Jays? "Season Preview"

    Hey all, I'm Braden McConkey and I am here to report about how the Toronto Blue Jays will battle for 3rd place in the American League East. Many of you will be wondering "why would they want to compete for third place?" and I will tell you why.

    This season was defined by the trading of Roy Halladay, arguably the best pitcher in baseball. This year from then on, was labeled a rebuild year. When your playing in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, there is no chance of having a legitmate shot of makng the post season, during a "rebuild" year.

   Through 13 games the Jays have an average record of 7-6 . One of the best surprises of the year is Vernon Wells who has hit 6 homeruns, only 4 shy of last years mark. The one player who the Jays need to unload for many reasons this season, is Lyle Overbay. He is only hitting .145 and has not hit more than 20 homers since his first year with the Jays. I believe there would be many teams looking for his services and the Jays need to go another direction. This could put Travis Snider, or Adam Lind on first base and give them even more lineup options.

Speaking of Lind, he and Aaron Hill will be counted on for the Jays this season. Last year, Hill had 36 homers, while Lind had 35. They both combined for 222 RBIs and will be counted on this year for even better statistics if the Jays want  a reasonable season.

    There has been some pleasant suprises in some of the Jays players,  but do not believe that they can keep this pace up for the remainder of the season, including Alex Gonzalez. This will not be the year for the Jays, but if the Jays play well enough this year and finish 3rd, and make some good acquisitions, they may have a shot in the next 5 years.