Blue Jay Blues

Toronto busted through last season and broke up the stranglehold that the Pin-stripes and Bean Towners have had in the American League East Division by bumping Boston out of their reserved second place spot. The Jays did it with quality starting pitching. Sadly, Toronto's success appears to be short-lived as losing Todd Lilly will not allow the Jays to bloom again in 2007.

I don't mean to sound down on the Blue Jays because they are a good team which would win several other divisions in baseball, but there is a very fine margin for error in the elite AL East. Right handed ace Roy Halladay has helped speed up Toronto's progress over the last few seasons. Adding A.J. Burnett and Ted Lilly to the mix had the Jays' starting rotation emerging as tops in the division. But instead of picking up another guy to shore up the staff some more, the Jays lost Lilly to a handsome sum in Chicago. That loss puts a lot more pressure on A.J. Burnett to perform this season to pick up some of the slack. Another 10-8 year is just not going to cut it.

The Jays cannot afford any kind of a drop off from first basemen Lyle Overbay or Troy Glaus who were brilliant last season in their first year with the team. We won't have to worry about Vernon Wells who continues to increase his superstar status with each swing of the bat. Or will we? He just signed a mega deal and sometimes this can result in a down year. I remain optimistic as the young Wells doesn't appear to have reached his potential.

Jays backers finished way in the money last season. The boys north of the border have produced winning seasons for their backers in four of the last five seasons. This season won't match the success lining the pockets of 2006 supporters, but it should still produce profit for Jays enthusiasts. The Jays won't be quite as good this season with the loss of a solid starter, but because the go under the radar compared to the Yankees and Red Sox, the Jays will show better value than these higher profile teams.

It wasn't a big shocker when the Blue Jays jumped into the number two spot in the AL East last season. It will be in 2007. Toronto still has enough talent to leave the Devil Rays and Orioles in the dust, but the Red Sox and the Yankees will be tough fish to fry. Toronto is a team which has made great moves to put a solid team on the field, but it just isn't enough in a division which houses two of baseball's best teams year in and year out.