The Toronto Blue Jays may not be leading the American League East but they are going to have a huge say vs. the MLB odds in who will. The Blue Jays will be playing the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox down the stretch and Toronto is not an easy team to beat vs. the MLB lines.
MLB odds don’t always favor the Blue Jays but there is no question they are a team on the rise. Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has done a very nice job this season as Toronto could be a contender in the future. The Blue Jays really did nothing under former general manager J.P. Ricciardi but with Anthopoulos at the helm they are starting to make some good moves. He got Brandon Morrow in the off-season from Seattle for virtually nothing and Morrow nearly threw a no-hitter the other day. Morrow leads all qualifiers in strikeouts per nine innings. Toronto’s pitching staff leads the league in strikeouts and their hitters lead the league in home runs.
Toronto is in fourth place in a very tough American League East. They play 29 of their final 56 games in MLB lines against the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox. Toronto is definitely going to be a huge factor in the AL East race. The Blue Jays have an exciting young team that is going to be very good in the future. They will have a starting rotation in the future of Ricky Romero who is 25, Shaun Marcum who is 28, Morrow who is 26, and Brett Cecil who is 23. They will also have Kyle Drabek who is 22 in the rotation in the future. He is pitching very well in Double-A and it won’t be long before he is in the starting rotation.
The Blue Jays are using a blueprint of success as they are looking for power pitchers and power hitters. Anthopoulos is making moves that will pay off in the future. He got Fred Lewis in the trade with the Giants and he stole Yunel Escobar from the Braves. He also traded Brett Wallace to Houston for Anthony Gose. The Blue Jays are not at the level yet of the Yankees or the Rays but they are on the right track. It has been a long time since that could be said in Toronto but now that Anthopoulos is on the job there is real hope for the Blue Jays. And there is no question that the team will have a huge say in which teams make the playoffs down the stretch this season.