Is Toronto's Success Measured By Wins?

Some say winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. While I'm not one of those people who thinks that trophies should be replaced by participation ribbons I do think there's more to success than just the W. 

Baseball is a complicated sport. With only eight playoffs spots, some teams know that there chances at October are near zilch before pitchers and catchers even report to camp. The Jays were one of those teams. 

The AL East is as tough as ever and Canada said goodbye to perhaps the greatest pitcher ever to call up north home. While Halladay will be missed greatly, things certainly aren't as bad as they could be. 

Vernon Wells has found his swing, finally. After two years of mediocrity Wells is starting to look like the player the Jays dished out all that money for. Further more he appears to have taken more of a role as clubhouse leader since Doc left the building. Wells seems to be committed to giving Toronto the results that they paid for. 

I chose to mention Wells first out of respect for the veteran but the starting rotation deserves a lot of recognition. Four of the five starters have taken no hitters past the sixth inning. Marcum looks like the pitcher we all saw before he went down with shoulder issues. Romero is building on what was a great rookie campaign. Cecil and Eveland are showing us what they are capable of. Morrow has had some growing pains but I haven't given up on him yet.

Not too shabby for five unproven starters. Keep in mind that Jesse Litsch and Dustin McGowan are on the DL and could provide assistance if needed. Things could be worse for a team that just lost its ace. 

The bullpen doesn't look like it is going to be as good as the 2008 bullpen but Kevin Gregg is looking better than he has in a long time. Jason Frasor and Scott Downs are both free agents at the end of the year so there's a chance neither could be with the team past July. 

Anyone who predicted that the Jays would lead the league in home runs for any amount of time would have been laughed at. These power numbers are no laughing matter. Alex Gonzalez has come out of nowhere to lead the team with nine homers. John Buck and Jose Bautista have been pleasant surprises and I'm sure Hill and Lind will pick the pace and the year moves on. 

This teams reminds me a lot of the 2008 Giants. The Giants knew they were going nowhere and didn't really try to make the playoffs. Their record wasn't great but they put themselves in a good position for years to come. The Jays are probably not going to sustain their success for the whole year but this team is looking good.

If the Jays continue to let their young players develop then we could be looking at a playoff team in a few years time. The front office is committed to spending money when the time is right. Judging by the way things are looking for Toronto, that time could be sooner than we think.