Toronto Blue Jays

Losses: P Roy Halladay, IF Marco Scutaro, C Rod Barajas, P Brandon League, UTIL Kevin Millar

Gains: SS Alex Gonzalez, P Kevin Gregg, C John Buck, P Brandon Morrow, P Lance Broadway, OF Jeremy Reed, OF Joey Gathright, P Dana Eveland

Analysis: Clearly the story of the offseason for the Blue Jays was the Roy Halladay trade, and this alone makes the Blue Jays’ offseason a success. It was a foregone conclusion that the 2010 season would be Halladay’s last with Toronto due to his pending free agency, so give new GM Alex Anthopolous credit for unloading him and getting three serious prospects in return (including top Phillies pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, son of the Moustache).
Naturally the Blue Jays’ other moves became obscured in the wake of trading away arguably the greatest pitcher in franchise history, however glancing at the list of names on the list above it is hard to imagine that these moves would have made much of a splash anyway. They replaced Marco Scutaro with Alex Gonzalez, and while they are pretty comparable fielders, Scutaro is a slightly better hitter (career .265/.337/.384 versus .247/.294/.395). Scutaro’s numbers from last year (.282/.379/.409) scream “career year”, though, and at age 34 it might be foolish to expect him to continue producing at this rate, so the Blue Jays may have been wise to save some money and let him go.
Another move worth mentioning is Toronto’s decision to sign John “Uncle” Buck as opposed to bringing back Rod Barajas at catcher. Buck should certainly be able to replace Barajas’ power, and will have no problem improving on Barajas’ overall production at the plate (an underwhelming .226/.258/.403 in 2009). Barajas was solid defensively, however, so the Jays should expect to lose something in that department with Buck behind the plate.
Finally, Kevin Gregg rounds out what could be an elite bullpen. He is coming off a somewhat down year, his experience pitching late in games without a doubt adds depth to a bullpen that already features proven arms such as Scott Downs, Jason Frasor and Jeremy Accardo.

More moves: Apparently, because GM Alex Anthopolous has recently been quoted as saying that “We still continue to talk to clubs about various trades…we have a lot of irons in the fire with respect to trades and also free agent signings.”
Their major weakness is the starting rotation, but with Shaun Marcum returning from Tommy John surgery (with Jesse Litsch to follow at some point this season) and the addition of Brandon Morrow, the Jays may stand pat here and see if any of the young pitchers that saw time last year can become regular contributors.

Prediction: They are unlucky enough to be in the AL East. The Jays showed last year that they can hit, but with so many question marks in the starting rotation, it is tough to see them even finishing ahead of the Orioles in this division. They are clearly looking ahead to 2011 and beyond.

APT's Prediction: 4th in the AL East


--The Bomb--