Toronto Blue Jays - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)

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2020

Decade

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Titles:

Top Blue Jays Players of the Twenty Twenties

2020 -WC Lost to Tampa Bay

2022 - WC Lost to Seattle

Pitchers:

2023 - WC Lost to Minnesota

Kevin Gausman (11.15) - 31

2025 - Won ALDS (Yankees), Won ALCS (Seattle), Lost WS (Dodgers)

Jose Berrios (6.81) - 29

Chris Bassitt (4.5) - 26

Ballpark:

Jordan Romano (8.45) - 26

SkyDome

Alek Manoah (7.81) - 16

Hyun-Jin Ryu (4.61) - 15

Team Name:

Robbie Ray (7.1) - 11

Blue Jays

Yusei Kikuchi (0.88) - 10

Steven Matz (2.21) - 9

Owner:

Jeff Hoffman (0.5) - 7

Rogers Communications

Eric Lauer (2.2) - 5

General Managers:

Catchers:

Mark Shapiro (President), Ben Cherington (VP)

Alejandro Kirk (11.3) - 33

Ross Atkins (GM)

Danny Jansen (7.04) - 11

Managers:

First Basemen:

Charlie Montoyo (2020-2022)

Vladimir Guerrero (23.97) - 50

John Schneider (2022-2025)

Brandon Belt (2.0) - 7

Hall of Famers:

Second Basemen:

None

Marcus Semien (7.1) - 13

Spencer Horwitz (1.5) - 6

Rookie of the Year:

None

ShortStop:

Bo Bichette (18.28) - 51

MVP

Santiago Espinal (4.9) - 7

None

Third Base:

No Hitters:

Matt Chapman (7.92) - 14

None

Ernie Clement (8.8) - 13

Addison Barger (1.6) - 7

Cy Young:

2021 - Robbie Ray

Outfield:

George Springer (14.33) - 37

Notable Events:

Teoscar Hernandez (7.93) - 23

Lourdes Gurriel (5.93) - 18

2020 - The Blue Jays broke a three year schneid by finishing over .500 at 32-28.

Daulton Varsho (11.8) - 16

Toronto made the playoffs, losing in the wild card round. It was a dramatic

Randal Grichuk (1.06) - 12

turnaround from a 67-95 mark in '19. It should be noted that by runs totals

Kevin Kiermaier (3.9) - 5

alone, the Jays would have finished below .500 in '20. The pitching gave up a half

Whit Merrifield (0.97) - 5

a run more a game than the league average. The big improvement from '19

was on the offense. A lot of that improvement was due to the progress being

Notable Events:

made by their young hitters. Toronto finished a bit better than their run totals

would indicate due to a solid bullpen.

2024 - Offense declined precipitously last year from 91 over the league average

in '22 to two under the league average in '23. The big culprits were the loss of OF

□ Rogers Communications has owned the club sinice 2000. The Jays have

Teoscar Hernandez and the decline of 3B Matt Chapman. But pretty much everybody

not had a stellar record during that time. '20 tipped the scale to eleven winning

in the lineup also dropped back a bit. Hard to say if the young ones like 1B Vladimir

seasons to ten losing seasons during their tenure. Not horrible, but not great.

Guerrero and SS Bo Bichette will reverse the decline and continue on an upward path.

Also, '20 marked only the third post season appearance for the Jays in the

OF George Springer and Kevin Kiermaier are both thirty four and probably in permanent

twenty one seasons. No bueno on that score. In general, corporate owned

decline. 2B Whit Merrifield, 3B Matt Chapman and DH Brandon Belt are gone. They are

teams fare poorly. What works best is a motivated, competent individual owner

replaced by 2B Cavan Biggio, 3B Isaiah Kiner-Falefa and DH Justin Turner. At best

or lead owner of a consortium. Trying to win by committee don't work so good.

this is a wash. At the end of the day, it looks like the offense's best days are behind it.

Toronto had shallow pockets early on in the Rogers regime which hadn't helped.

In Rogers defense, there are a couple of hurdles that they haven't been able

2024 - The four starting pitchers that led the Jays last year are back.

to overcome. Free Agents don't like to come to Canada because their money

Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, evin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi

is automatically devalued by 20%. An even bigger hurdle is that the Jays have

Closer Jordan Romano and lefty reliever Tim Mayza are also back.

been plunked into a Division with big spending Boston and New York and with

Barring injuries and unexpected declines in performance this group of pitchers

the miracle working Tampa Bay Rays. It would be difficult for any ownership

should keep the Jays in the playoff hunt.

group to succeed with those three in the same Division.

All that being said, Rogers Communications has opened up the purse strings

Offense:

trying to win over the past decade. While not normally big players in the

□ C Alejandro Kirk, 25, '17 IFA, 8 43 .250

free agent market, starting from 2012 thru 2017, they were in the top third

□ C Danny Jansen, 29, '13 draft 16th round pick, 17 53 .228

in payroll and had brought in high priced talent like Mark Buehrle, RA Dickey,

□ 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 25, '15 IFA, 26 94 .264

Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Reyes and Troy Tulowitzki.

It worked somewhat as they won the Division in '15 and made it as a

□ 2B Cavan Biggio, 29, '16 draft 5th round pick, 9 40 .235

Wild Card in '16. More recently, in an effort to get back on top,

□ SS Bo Bichette, 26, '16 draft 2nd round pick, 20 73 .306

they signed Hyun Jin-Ryu for a four year 80 million deal after the '19 season

□ SS Orelvis Martinez, 21, '19 IFA, minors 28 94 .243

and splurged for centerfielder George Springer for 6 years 150 million after

□ 3B Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, 29, '24 FA from Yankees,

the '20 season.

□ OF George Springer, 34, '21 FA from Houston, 21 72 .255

□ CF Kevin Kiermaier, 34, '23 FA from Tampa, 8 36 .265

□ Mark Shapiro came over from a successful stint as GM in Cleveland to

□ OF Daulton Varsho, 26, '23 trade from Arizona, 20 61 .220

become team president in Toronto in '15. He hired on Ross Atkins as his GM

□ DH Justin Turner, 39, '24 FA from Red Sox, 23 96 .276

at that time. The Jays won 93 games that season, but its been steadily

downhill from there, until '20. Shapiro was extremely successful in Cleveland

Pitchers:

helping build an offensive powerhouse there. Preliminary indications are that

□ RHP Alek Manoah, 25, 1st round pick in '19, 3-9 5.87 injured

he may be doing that again in Toronto.

□ RHP Kevin Gausman 32, '22 FA from Giants, 12-9 3.16

□ RHP Chris Bassitt, 34, '23 FA from Mets, 16-8 3.60

□ Charlie Montoyo was hired on as manager in '19. Montoyo got replaced

□ RHP Jose Berrios, 29, '21 trade deadline from Twins, 11-12 3.65

by John Schneider in '22. Something of a lateral move.

□ LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 32, '22 FA from Japan, 11-6 3.86

□ Closer Jordan Romano, 30, '14 draft 10th round pick, 5-2 2.90 36 saves

2021-2022 - The improvement shown in '20 was for real as the Jays won over

□ RHP Nate Pearson, 26, 1st round pick in '17, 5-2 4.85

ninety games in both '21 and '22 and made it to the Wild Card in '22.

□ RHP Adam Cimber, 32, '21 trade deadline from Miami, 0-2 7.40 injured

Since '21, the Jays have been giving up a solid 4 runs per game while the offense

□ RHP Hyun Jin Ryu, 36, '20 FA from Dodgers, 3-3 3.46

has been scoring in the 4.5 to 5 runs per game range.

□ RHP Erik Swanson, 29, '23 trade from Seattle, 4-2 2.97

□ LHP Tim Mayza, 31, '13 12th round pick, 3-1 1.52

2020 - The Jays have a nice young core on offense. They have three young

□ LHP Ricky Tiedemann, 20, '21 draft 3rd round pick, minors 0-5 3.68

sons of former major leaguers - the bloodlines are there - in 2B Cavan Biggio (son

□ LHP Brandon Barreira, 19, '22 1st round pick, minors 0-2 3.98

of Craig); SS Bo Bichette (son of Dante); and Vladimir Guerrero (son of Vladimir).

□ RHP Yosver Zulueta, 25, '19 IFA, minors 4-4 4.08

Craig Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero are both Hall of Famers.

There are some other quality offensive players on the squad, as well, in

2025 - After spending the entire decade being among the elites, the Jays crashed

1B Rowdy Tellez; OF Teoscar Hernandez; OF Randal Grichuk and OF

and burned in '24 and sunk to the other end of the spectrum dropping 15 games

Lourdes Gurriel. It has the makings of a circular lineup.

in the standings. They fell off a cliff on both sides scoring 75 less runs than '23

and giving up a whopping 102 more than in '23.

2021 - The pitching improves dramatically from five runs per game in '20 to four

Toronto will mitigate a lot of the loss of offense with the huge acquistion of 28 year

moving forward. Hyan Jin-Ryu was a holdover from '20. Added to him in '21

old Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander who slugged 44 homers last season.

were lefthanders Steven Matz and Robbie Ray. Also a couple of home grown

pitchers emerged, RHP Alek Manoah, 23, and closer Jordan Romano, 28.

2025 Hitting:

Toronto went from a viable offensive team to a dud in '24. The main culprits were

2022 - Ray and Matz are gone, but they are replaced by RHP Kevin Gausman, 31,

Bo Bichette, 27, and George Springer, 35. Bichette was plagued by injuries the entire

RHP Jose Berrios, 28, RHP Ross Stripling, 32, and RHP Adam Cimber, 30.

season and never developed a rhythm. Springer is getting old. Also, at DH, Justin

Stripling and Cimber came up thru the organization.

Turner did not match his predessor, Brandon Belt's production.

Figure that the hitting will get a bit better this season. Both Vladimir Guerrero

2023 - Toronto reaches the post season for the third time this decade. Ironically, the

and Bo Bichette are in their walk years and should be motivated to excel.

only season they didn't make it (2021), was their best as their runs totals predicted a

Santander now gives the Jays a murderers row in the middle of the lineup.

a 99-63 mark that year. Unfortunately for the Jays, they haven't been able to get out

2B Andres Gimenez, 26, obtained from Cleveland is an upgrade, as well.

of the wild card round in any of those seasons, losing to the Twiins in '23.

Rookie Orelvis Martinez, 23, is a promising young player who can play anywhere.

In the previous three years, the hitters carried the club. In '23, it was the pitching that

He should help.

got the Blue Jays into the postseason as the hitters actually scored two runs less than

the league average.

2025 Pitching:

The collapse of the pitching staff in '24 happened in the Jays bullpen.

Veteran starters Chris Bassitt, 36, Jose Berrios, 31, and Kevin Gausman, 34, did their jobs.

In '23 they were 39-29 3.47 In '24 they were 40-36 3.86. You can add Bowden Francis, 29,

to the group of solid starters in '24. You can say that the veteran three have begun to

backslide a bit as they are getting older. You can also say that part of that was due to lack

of bullpen support which exacerbated the bad times on the mound. The farm system

is down so it's hard to see where the help from the bullpen will be coming from in '25.

The Jays took a flier on Righty Max Scherzer, 40, in the offseason to complete the rotation.