Toronto Blue Jays' 2009 Season Preview

The 2009 Toronto Blue Jays team is an interesting one. Personally, I believe that our offense is a good one. 

The lineup looks like this:

Marco Scutaro, Aaron Hill, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, Scott Rolan, Adam Lind, Rod Barajas, and Travis Snider.

I believe that if Vernon Wells has a solid year, so will the rest of the team. The only problem that I notice with this team is pitching. 

Here is the rotation:

Roy Halladay, Jesse Litch, David Pursey, Scott Richmond, and Ricky Romero.

As can be seen, Roy Halladay is the only man who lasted the entire year in the rotation in 2008. Jesse Litch was bounced from AAA and the bigs all year.

As far as Pursey and Richmond, they came in late in the year when Shawn Marcum and Dustin McGowan went down. Romero, however, did not participate in the rotation at all last year. 

Our bullpen was the best in the majors last year, and has not changed much:

B.J. Ryan, Jeremy Accardo, Scott Downs, Jesse Carlson, Brian Tallet, and Casey Janssen (who might still battle to get into the starting rotation). 

The change that I can point out is BJ Ryan. His arm has gotten weaker and his health is in question. I do believe, though, that if he does go down sometime during the year, Jeremy Accardo, who closed most of the games last year, is a great replacement. 

General manager J.P. Ricciardi  did little to improve the team in the offseason. As mentioned before, I think the offense will score runs. This season will come down to the pitching. If some of these young arms can stay consistent, I think the Jays can surprise some people, although it is unlikely. 

If the Jays reach the halfway point of the season with a bad record, it is likely that ace Roy Halladay will ask for a trade. If so, J.P. will likely be fired (which he should have been already), and the team will begin to rebuild.

It is a mystery if the Jays will play well this year, and I guess we will just have to wait and see.