CTV.ca News Staff

Spring training is supposed to be like New Year's Eve in that there's a renewal of optimism and even the sourest of prognosticators can convince themselves it's going to be better next year. But it's not like that for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays this year -- there's only the hangover.

After three straight years of teasing fans in the spring, followed by a season where the Jays failed to make the playoffs, there is a feeling of despair encircling the franchise like that mean Great White shark in "Jaws".

The Blue Jays are a normally a long-shot in the insanely competitive American East but this year it's three teams they are chasing, with the Rays joining the Yankees and Red Sox as an elite team.

As spring training got under way earlier this week with their first exhibition game scheduled for Feb. 25, there are a number of questions swirling around the team. And they aren't the small questions such as "who's hitting eighth in the lineup" that a successful team has going into the season.

Question 1: Who's gonna pitch?

After finishing the 2008 with the best pitching staff in baseball, the Blue Jays enter 2009 spring training with a starting rotation consisting of only staff ace Roy Halladay and last year's number five man, Jesse Litsch.

After his first great season in three frustrating years (not surprising for a contract year), A.J. Burnett took the money and ran to rival New York Yankees in the off-season.

Shaun Marcum, who was the Jays' best pitcher for a good chunk of the 2008 season, will miss all of this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. And flamethrower Dustin McGowan is nursing his own injury and a May return is optimistic at best.

That left the Jays with three massive holes in the rotation to deal with in the off-season. In normal times, you would expect a GM to go out and pick up at least two solid pitchers on the market, but these aren't normal times. The combination of a falling Canadian dollar and an economic collapse, meant that J.P. Ricciardi was on a tighter leash than a newborn puppy.

Ricciardi , the former boy wonder who has now fallen out of favour with Jays fans, picked up a trio of Hail Mary projects in Japan's 39-year-old Ken Takahashi, former all-star Matt Clement (who hasn't pitched regularly in the Bigs since 2006) and Mike Maroth, who hasn't had a decent season since 2005.

In the best case scenario, maybe one of those guys can become a legitimate major leaguer, but it looks more probable that the Jays will need their young players to step up. David Purcey, who started a decent number of games in 2008, is probably a lock for one of the rotation spots.

Canadian Scott Richmond, rookies Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil are also going to battle for opening roster slots. Casey Janssen who missed nearly all of 2008 due to injury is expected to be stretch out from the bullpen to challenge for a starting spot and maybe southpaw Brian Tallet as well.

If the Jays have one bright spot, it's that their league-leading bullpen is virtually the same as last year's. The Jays 1-2 closing punch of set-up man Scott Downs and closer B.J. Ryan is back, though Downs has already suffered a minor setback with a minor injury in spring training.

Last year's most underrated Jay, Jesse Carlson, will hopefully build on a his growing reputation as a lefty specialist and the Jays have two righty hurlers, Jeremy Accardo and Hawaiian Brandon League, who both have closer-quality stuff.

Unfortunately, to take advantage of a stacked bullpen, the Jays need to be ahead in the game, which may not happen often enough.

Question 2: Who's gonna hit?

But even if a miracle happens and the Jays manage to cobble together a competitive starting rotation, there's still another major question -- who's going to be knocking in runs?

The Jays top two hitters, Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, both took steps back in 2008. Wells was hampered by injuries and Rios seemed to be struck by a complete loss of power.

In the infield, third baseman Scott Rolen and first baseman Lyle Overbay, each need to rebound after a lackluster 2008 at the plate. Aaron Hill, who missed nearly all of 2008 with a concussion, hopes to back to hitting around .300 again this year but may take a while to get completely back to normal.

At shortstop, the combination of Marco Scutaro and John MacDonald with have to do after Rafael Furcal spurned the Jays' offer in the off-season.

Behind the plate, Rod Barajas, who was a pleasant surprise in 2008, will get the majority of the starts and will probably be backed up by free-agent pickup Michael Barrett with prospect J.P. Arencibia pushing hard from the minors.

One bright spot the Jats line-up are their lefthanded youngsters, Adam Lind and Travis Snider. After John Gibbons was fired and Cito Gaston took over behind the bench, Lind was called up and proved he belonged in the majors. Snider is simply the best Jays hitting prospect since slugger Carlos Delgado.

At 21, Snider has the potential to push for Rookie-of-the-Year honours with a sweet swing of a much more experienced hitter. Then again, at 21, he has the possibility of slumping and spending 2009 in Triple-A. But his stint with the big club in Sept. 2008 showed that he is ready for to start for the Jays on Opening Day.

If Wells and Rios can form a solid punch in the middle of the lineup and Overbay or Rolen have a rebound year, the Jays will still need big seasons from a few others to compete over 162 games in the AL east. The Jays are also without a true leadoff hitter and besides Rios, don't have much speed on the base paths.

It's a lot to ask for. The Jays basically need six players to have career years if they are going to compete with the big bats in New York, Boston and Tampa.

Question 3: Who's gonna watch?

The stars are truly going to have to align for that batting order, and really this team, in 2009.

Worse teams than the Blue Jays have made the post-season, but lightning can only strike so many times. And those miracle teams don't generally play in the AL East.

After three seasons of disappointment (and really, 15 years) Toronto fans may not put up with another year of treading water. The team will struggle to spin even the possibility of the playoffs and is unlikely to go into full rebuilding mode that may wake a sleepy fan base.

The fact is the Jays best player, Roy Halladay (who is by far Toronto's most underappreciated athlete -- if only Chris Bosh was as dedicated as he) only plays every fifth day. If the Jays want bums in the seats this year, there better be some genius marketing at work or they need to play the Red Sox and Yankees (who bring their die hard fans with them) every night.

There isn't even a minimal buzz in Toronto this year about the 2009 season. The lack of major signings has not allowed for many words to be written in the media and Cito Gaston has already said that the team is preparing for 2010 as this year is for "rebuilding." A number of my die hard baseball friends have already told me that for the first time in years they won't be getting season tickets. I'm sure they are not unique.

As a fan I wonder, is this what it feels like to cheer for the Leafs? Before next year has even started I'm already saying, "There's always next, next year."