Toronto Blue Jays 09 Season Review

The Jays started the season with a terrific start going 25 and 11 to start the year. They had players emerge into bonafide MLB sluggers like Aaron Hill and Adam Lind that guided the team to that fiery start. However, the jays suffered a season blow when they lost all nine games on a 9 game road stand. The Jays tumbled from first in the AL East to third and it only got worst from there. The Jays lost 70 of there final 118 games resulting in low attendence ratings and there General Manager losing there job. That wasn't the only hardships the Jays encountered during there rough season. Both Alex Rios and B.J Ryan former all stars who had been signed to huge contracts were both released during the year due to lack of production and season long slumps. The year was somewhat of a disaster for the Jays but a few bright spots could make great contributions in the future.





Lets start off with what went wrong. Some people ask how do the Jays collapse after getting off to such an amazing start? Well some would blame it on players like Vernon Wells and Alex Rios who failed to contribute in a significant way all season. Cito Gaston who was called out at the end of the year for being a poor manager and failing to communicate with players. Injuries to pitchers like Marcum, Mcgowan, and Litsch all young prospects who were supposed to make key impacts during the season. There really wasn't one thing that you could label that caused the dissappointing season the Jays had. Just a whole lot of problems that were distractions and eventually led to the downfall of the season. Both Vernon Wells and Alex Rios were signed to huge contracts in the offseason. Former all stars who were supposed to be the leaders offensively but failed to live up to expectations. On July 15th, halfway through the season both players had combined to hit only 17 homeruns which was horrendous considering Rios the year before had 22 alone. Eventually, on August 2nd Rios was released and claimed by the White Sox. It was great that the jays had got rid of his ginourmous contract however Wells 16 million still was on the Jays payroll. At the end of the year, jays manager Cito Gaston was called out by the players for failing to communicate with players and get the most out of young future stars like Travis Snider. " It's almost like he is ignoring everyone" an anomyomous quote from a Jays player. Gaston was shocked and it was just another problem that this team had to endure. Finally, young pitchers like Marcum, Mcgowan, and Litsch were nowhere to be seen as major injuries cost them the season. This resulted in young pitchers from Triple A to be called up and pitch without any big league expierence. These pitchers were put under pressure to perform and struggled but did show hints of the future for die hard jays fans. Ricky Romero was one of those pitchers and midway through the season was a strong consideration for rookie of the year. The Jays had alot of hardships over the coarse of the year and it cost them eventually finishing 4th in the AL East....again!







Lets talk about some things that went right for the Jays. First off, Adam Lind and Aaron Hill both had amazing seasons each collecting at least 30 homers and 100 RBI. Aaron Hill was named the starting 2nd baseman for the AL All Star Team which was a huge honour and also collected some hardware at the end of the year being named comeback player of the year. Adam Lind quietly put up All Star numbers and if the Jays had made it to the playoffs probably would of been a strong consideration for MVP. Both players had tremendous years and are now labeled as some of the most dangerous players in the American League. Other players like Scutaro, Barajas, and Ruiz also showed some glimpse of promise for the Jays future. Scutaro showed that he could play perfect defence as well as hit, Barajas slugged over 20 homers, and Ruiz who was called up in the last month of the season hit 11 homeruns in one month. Yes, there are some promising players in the jays system and trading veteren players for prospects and draft picks was also a important task that the jays accomplished. In the end, the Jays still fell short but with players emerging as stars this team could be competitive in the AL East soon.







In conclusion, the Jays had there share of highs and lows during the 2009 season. Hopefully, with players getting better and a new sense of leadership in a recently hired Alex Anthopoulous to be the new general manager, its only a matter of time before the Jays can compete with the likes of powerhouse teams such as the Red Sox and Yankees.