Buffalo Boy's Blog

Okay here we go! 14 days 20 hours left till the boys of summer are back on the field. This is my first segment on the state of the Blue Jays headed into the 2008 season.

Today I focus on the front office. Not an on field analysis but lets face it, JP Riccardi and Paul Goddfrey have put money and effort into rebuilding this franchise. No they haven't won as much as we expected, but in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox they have done reasonably well. Two winning seasons in a row (87-75 in 2006 and 83-79 last season) is something to be proud of in this division especially considering the extent of the injuries last year.

A winning record was a minor miracle considering they played without BJ Ryan from May on, went months without Burnett and Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells played with a shoulder that needed surgical repair all season and Troy Glaus was playing on bad knees and plantar fascitis. Those are some big names to have not at their best. Have one or even two of those guys healthy with average seasons and you probably finish with 8-10 more wins potentially ahead of the Yankees for the wild card.   

This year though may be a make or break year for this front office, especially JP Riccardi. No more excuses. The Jays are deep in pitching and have young guys at Syracuse like Lind and Thigpen who if called upon, should be able to provide that needed depth in case of injury.

I think that Riccardi has done well in a winter in which he said not much was going to happen. We got Scott Rolen in place of the flat footed and often flat affect of Troy Glaus and picked up a potential sparkplug for the offense in David Eckstein. Both add World Series experience and depth to this team.

The pitching is still young and a year older and I expect big things from Marcum and Mcgowan which whould help take some of the heat off Halladay and Burnett to be the only 2 big guns in the rotation.

The only thing I want to see the front office address whether it is by getting Gustavo Chacin healthy and contributing again or via trade, they need a lefty in the rotation. Other than that the pieces are in place. I won't hold it against them that Alex Rios isn't signed to a lifetime contract yet, Im willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until it gets done.

Remember too this team has former hitting coach from the Yankees in place as well in Gary Denbo who I think will provide huge dividends in the offense down the stretch. That may be the best acquisition of the off season even though hes not on the field. He came from the Yankees highly touted as a great hitting instructor.

If the team starts slow again, I look for Gibbons to be under a lot of heat and Ernie Whitt to get the nod if things go totally out of whack.