Toronto Blue Jays - The Obama / Trump Years (2010-2019)

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2010

Decade

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Titles:

Top Blue Jays Players of the Twenty Teens

2015 - Won Division, Won ALDS (Texas); Lost ALCS (KC)

2016 - WC, Won WC-Play-in (Baltimore), Won ALDS (Texas); Lost ALCS (Cleveland)

Pitchers:

JA Happ (10.89) - 31

Ballpark:

RA Dickey (7.31) - 30

SkyDome

Marcus Strohman (13.77) - 26

Ricky Romero (7.83) - 26

Team Name:

Roberto Osuna (6) - 26

Blue Jays

Mark Buehrle (6.98) - 24

Casey Janssen (6.17) - 23

Owner:

Marco Estrada (10.38) - 23

Rogers Communications

Brandon Morrow (5.42) - 17

Brett Cecil (7.3) - 16

General Managers:

Aaron Sanchez (8.9) - 13

Alex Anthopolous (2010-2015)

Drew Hutchinson. (0.35) - 11

Troy LaCava (2015)

Ken Giles (2.46) - 10

Ross Atkins (2015-2019)

Shawn Marcum (4.07) - 7

Managers:

Catchers:

Cito Gaston (2010)

Russell Martin (7.58) - 24

John Farrell (2011 - 2012)

JP Arencibia (2.42) - 15

John Gibbons (2013 - 2018)

John Buck (1.76) - 10

Charlie Montoyo (2019)

First Basemen:

Hall of Famers:

Edwin Encarnacion (23.65) - 53

None

Justin Smoak (6.49) - 23

Adam Lind (3.24) - 20

Rookie of the Year:

None

Second Basemen:

Devon Travis (6.47) - 10

MVP

Josh Donaldson (2015)

ShortStop:

Jose Reyes (6.16) - 26

No Hitters:

Yunel Esobar (8.62) - 16

None

Troy Tulowitzki (4.73) - 13

Ryan Goins (3.3) - 11

Cy Young:

Alex Gonzalez (3.52) - 10

None

Aledmys Diaz (1.36) - 8

Notable Events:

Third Base:

Josh Donaldson (21.39) - 31

2010 - Toronto hasn't made the playoffs since 1993. Being in a Division with

Brett Lawrie (11.76) - 11

both the Yankees and the Red Sox has pretty much guaranteed that you're

fighting for third place.

Outfield:

The Jays were looking like they were about to challenge that hierarchy towards

Jose Bautista (34.18) - 73

the end of the previous decade.

Kevin Pillar (14.32) - 35

They had three winning seasons in a row and had a slew of studly young players

Colby Rasmus (6.7) - 22

on both the offense and on the mound. However, it all fizzled due to injuries and

Teoscar Hernandez (1.86) - 17

the unexpected regression or lack of progress of the performance of several of

Rajai Davis (1.56) - 17

their young prospects. Guys like Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Alex Rios and Vernon

Randal Grichuk (2.59) - 14

Wells were Very Disappointing.

Vernon Wells (4.03) - 11

On the other hand, there were a a couple of guys whose careers unexpectedly

took off such as Juan Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. Very odd turn of events.

Notable Events:

Anyway, the Jays had every right to expect to contend for the next several years

with the talent they still had on hand in 2010. Never happened:

2014 - The Jays climb back over .500. It turns out that the RA Dickey and

□ DH - Adam Lind, 26. Coming off a 35-114-.305 season in 2009, the sky seemed

Mark Buehrle deals weren't busts after all as both pitch well leading a

to be the limit for Lind. It turns out that he would never come close to those

rejuvenated starting rotation that also includes rookie Marcus Stroman,

numbers again. He ends up being a decent player, but not what was expected.

JA Happ and twenty three year old righthander Drew Hutchinson.

□ 2B - Aaron Hill, 28, coming off a 36-108-.286 season in '09. Unfortunately for the

Jays, the only thing consistent about his career performance is the inconsistency

2015 - Now that 2014 has vindicated the 2013 spending spree for Reyes,

□ CF - Vernon Wells, 31, once a mega talent, he has a resurgence in 2010 that

Dickey and Buehrle, the Jays spend some more to try to get to the next level

looks like he may be getting his mojo back.

- and it works.

Anaheim trades for him in 2011 and he quickly regresses once again.

□ 3B - Edwin Encarnacion, 27, not a bad player right now, but would end up

2015 - Slugging 3B Josh Donaldson, 29, is obtained from the A's in a

blossoming into one of the most feared hitters in baseball in his thirties

salary dump trade for four players.

□ RF - Jose Bautista, 29, there was absolutely nothing in his resume to portend a

He goes 41-123-.297 and wins the MVP.

54-124-.260 2010 season. He was now a different, and much better,

player and would continue to be one of the top sluggers in the game

2015 - Catcher Russell Martin, 32, is signed as a FA from Pittsburgh

thru his mid thirties

□ SS - Yunel Escobar, 27, picked up in a trade with Atlanta

2015 - 1B Justin Smoak, 28, is signed as a FA from Seattle

□ OF - Travis Snider, 22, the fourteenth overall pick in the 2006 was a bust

□ C - JP Arencibia, 24, first rounder in 2007 was a bust

2015 - Slugging SS Troy Tulowitzki, 30, is picked up from Colorado in a deal

□ RHP - Ricky Romero, 25, sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft.

for Jose Reyes and three youngsters. Along with Donaldson, Encarnacion

After three nice seasons, Ricky blew out his arm in 2012 and it was all over

and Bautista, the deal gives the Jays a slugging star studded lineup

□ RHP - Brandon Morrow, 25. Was picked up in a quality for quality deal

that bludgeons the opposition, scoring 891 runs on the season.

with Seattle with reliever Brandon League going the other way.

Arm problems derailed his career.

2015 - The Jays win the Division and advance to the ALCS before losing to

□ RHP - Shawn Marcum, 28, talented pitcher who battled injuries his entire career.

Kansas City

Seemed to put the injuries behind him in 2010 and was traded to the Brewers

for hot third base prospect Brett Lawrie, 21, in 2011. Lawrie never progressed.

2016 - The Jays offense falls back to earth, dropping 132 runs from 2015.

□ RHP - Dustin McGowan, 28, 1st round pick in 2000 draft. Arm problems

Toronto still makes the playoffs and loses again in the ALCS, this time to

□ RHP - Jesse Litsch, 25, another talented hurler beset by arm troubles

Cleveland. Starters JA Happ and Aaron Sanchez go a combined 35-6.

□ LHP - Brett Cecil, 23, talented 1st round pick in 2007 draft.

The rest of the pitching is average, at best.

His arm didn't seem to be able to hold up to the rigors of starting

There's a lot of guys on the wrong side of thirty on the roster

and he ended up being a solid lefty out of the pen.

□ Reliever - Casey Janssen, 28, solid out of the pen for several seasons for Toronto

2017/18 - The Jays drop 13 games from the 2016 squad that finished second

with 89 wins. They drop another 3 games down to 73-89 in 2018.

2011 - OF Colby Rasmus, 25, is picked up in an eight player trade with the

The main culprit in the decline is the pitching staff which gives up 166 more

Cards. Rasmus had been a first round pick of St. Louis in the 2005 draft

runs (one a game) between 2016 and 2018.

The hitting goes down also, but by less, 50 runs, in that period.

2012 - Lefty JA Happ, 29, is picked up from Houston in a ten player trade.

It's not until after he leaves Toronto and comes back again as a Free Agent

The 2016 club, which was the last year of the Jays mini-run as a contender, was

in 2016 that Happ blossoms into a star going 20-4 in '16.

led by a quartet of sluggers: Donaldson; Bautista; Tulowitzki; and Encarnacion.

The potential was always there.

Only Donaldson made it to 2018 and he was jettisoned at mid season to

Cleveland for their pennant run. As for the other three:

2013 - Tired of missing out on the playoffs, the Jays decide to go for it despite

□ SS Troy Tulowitzki was a physical casualty as he had bone spur

only being 73-89 in 2012. Part of it is probably a hangover from the fact that

surgery which ended his productivity and then left as a FA to Houston

the Jays thought they had the talent to be a contender and it all slipped

□ Jose Bautista saw his production steeply decline due to age and then

away from them. Anyway, it did not appear to be a smart idea to try to build

he left to the Mets as a FA

a contender out of such a badly flawed team..

□ Edwin Encarnacion was still highly productive but was a fiscal casualty

However, Jays management obviously knew something.

as he left for a big payday to Cleveland as a free agent

On the mound, starters Stroman, Sanchez, Estrada, and Happ were still

2013 - LHP Mark Buehrle, 34, and SS Jose Reyes, 30, are picked up from Miami

around in 2018. Other than Happ (who was dealt away in midseason),

in a ten player trade.

they all backslid quite a bit from 2016. Toronto also failed to replace closer

This was a salary dump by Miami with Toronto taking on the financial burden.

Roberto Osuna after he left after the 2017 season - a big part of the reason

the starters didn't do so good.

2013 - Knuckleballer RA Dickey, 38, is obtained from the Mets for prospects

RHP Noah Syndegaard, 21, and catcher Travis d'Arnaud, 24.

2019 - The Jays continue to decline, losing six more games in the standings

Dickey becomes a solid innings eater for the Jays, but Syndegaard becomes

and finish fourth for the sixth time in the decade. When you have big

one of the top young pitchers in the game. Bad trade.

spenders like the Yankees and Red Sox and the ultimate overachievers like

Tampa in your division, you can pretty much pencil yourself in for fourth

2013 - Toronto lays an egg going 74-88 despite the influx of high priced talent.

place every year. There is a silver lining to this cloud for Toronto. They

have a highly ranked farm system and several young talents on their roster:

2014 - RHP Marcus Stroman, 23, is a rookie. He was a first round pick in 2012.

□ 3B Vladimir Guerrero, 20, IFA '15, Big time prospect

□ OF Lourdes Gurriel, 25, IFA '16

2014 - RHP Aaron Sanchez, 21, debuts. He was a first round pick in 2010.

□ CF Teoscar Hernandez, 26, trade with Houston for Francisco Liriano '17

Aaron will emerge in 2016 as a top starter going 15-2

□ OF Randal Grichuk, 27, trade with Cards '18

□ DH Rowdy Tellez, 24, 30th round pick '13

□ SS Bo Bichette, 21, 2nd round pick '16

□ 2B Cavan Biggio, 24, 5th round pick '16

There also may be some young help on the way on the mound