The Toronto Blue Jays folks
Those who have been following me thru the years I have been kicking ass in NBA and NCAA this year but no one notices so I dont post but for MLB season win totals I am 4-0 with a win last year by the skin of my teeth. So lets get on with my pick this year the Jays
The Lineup No particular order but the order I would put them in anyway)
1- R. Davis. A decent avg will get you alot of speed. This guy simply flies. Maybe the fastest player inthe al east. Yes Im including Crawford. as far his total line this year Im going with .290 7 54 and 66 sb's
2- A. Hill Im not a big hill guy as far as fantasy baseball goes and never have been however there is no way he is as bad at last year. He could be 100 points higher and barely get over .300 so lets just say he goes .275 31-95 with decent defense. A great 2 hitter as far as im concerned -
3- A. Lind Bottom Line he will be a mix of his fab season and his shit season. HE will be a great 3 hitter driving in davis and settling in nicely for the next guy. Im going strong with 32-122 with a .288
4 J Buatista Look everyone wants to bash this guy and so be it. Well he may be the only guy to hit over 50 home runs while NOT on juice in many many years. Obviously it took time to get it there but lets just face it. The guy can mash. Simply put .his average will gain a few points but his power goes down by 20 so im going with 34-121 .281
5- T Snider. I had high hopes for this dude last year and he obviously let me down. However I do remember a three week stretch where he was hitting everything in sight right b4 he got hurt again but I reallly really think he has his breakout season this year. Im pining my high hopes on Snider to ride the Jays over 77. wins. This is gutsy or crazy but im willing to go 28-102 .293 throw in 10 steals also
6- E. Encarnacion. Just a baseball player. Does nothing very well but does have some pop. Just go with .250 26 and maybe 80
7 J. Rivera See above. Maybe he needed a change of scenery. Ill go with a modest 21-78 .260 a modest hike from being in this strong lineup
8- Y. Escobar From being all the rage in Atlanta to a flop traded to Toronto. I think The Jays got a big break. Escobar needed to get out of Atlanta. Dont know why but you could see it. I think he has a bounceback year with another modest 13-68 with a .290 avg and maybe 9 sb
9- J. Arencibia. I think this kid will be the next Mike Piazza. I really do.. Is this the time? Well no. Obviously not. However I think he does make a Mike Stanton like jump. I think he could top 20 homers and hit damn near .300
So thats the batting order which I think is pretty strong. Here is the staff
1 R. Romero Scouts have compared him to a young Johan Santana. Well thats a little crazy however he does have talent. Enough talent to make people forget Roy? I doubt it but he will hold his own on a rotation that needs to be decent enough to win games with their stacked bullpen. So for Romero lets go 220 IP 189 Ks 3.76 era 14-11 record
2- B Cecil Is he ready to be a number 2 starter? We shall see. I think the kid may be a tad below romero but not by much. I like Cecil better my self except Romero Ks more guys. With that being said ill give Cecil a 13-9 record with a 190 IP with maybe 135 ks
3 B Marrow. Here is the guy on the staff that will make a difference. This guy is a fucking beast. This is the year he will show it. His k rate is plain stupid. What I would do to have him as a Yankee or even on my fantasy team. He will go 15-10 with 200 ip with 232 ks Thats right you read it here first. Breakout SP of the year.
4 K Drabek For the Jays to win 78 games to make us a winner they need a decent season from guys like this. They will hold Drabek to prolly 175 IP but lets hope he makes them count. He hasnt really impressed me all that much so far but ill say 10-7 with maybe a 4.02 era 170 IP with 124 ks
5 M Rezpczynski there will be somebody here by May. If not then by June
Bullpen will consist of
J Frasor
O Dotel
F Fransisco
S Camp
J Rauch
C Jannsen
5 guys who can close. two guys who can pitch mop up duty. Three guys who can pitch the 8th two guys who can pitch 7th. If Dotel falters throw in Rauch. If they falter throw in Fraqsor. It wont happen. One of these guys will nail down this job. The setup and backend of this pen is the al east best.
So I predict overall a 83-win season. no wild card but seriously easy win this year.
Other predictions
Al east
Red Sox will win 96-99 games
Yankees 90-93
Rays 83-86
Blue Jays 81-84
Orioles 79-82
other divisions later. You may call me nuts and you may have a decent argument as to why but you cant argue that I have won 4 straight seasons. The Royals the Rays The rangers and the astros in 07-08-09-10 so bust by balls as you may but I have the best argument Im perfect