Best Price: $49.95Toronto Blue Jays Add Speed, Bullpen Arms
With Cito Gaston retired, new manager John Farrell takes over a Toronto Blue Jays team that hit a lot of home runs last season but did not get on base enough. The teams 85-77 finish was respectable but good for just fourth place behind the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox in the competitive American League East Division. The team hopes that the addition of speed and an improved bullpen will give them a better chance to compete in 2011.
Gaston, the quiet former manager who won back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992-93, managed the team from 1989 to 1997. He then took 11 years off from managing but returned in 2008 for the last three years of his 46 year career in professional baseball. Gaston played for the Atlanta Braves in the late 1960s and even made an all star team, but his career fizzled soon after. He then got into coaching and eventually was named manager of the Jays.
John Farrell is the new manager. Farrell was pitching coach of the division rival Boston Red Sox from 2006 to 2010, so he knows the A. L. East well. After working with star pitchers like Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Jonathan Papelbon, he will now oversee a nucleus of Blue Jays pitchers who could be on the verge of accomplishing great success.
Though they had to trade ace Roy Halladay a few years ago, the Blue Jays still have plenty of pitching. In fact, to make room in the rotation for potential Rookie of the Year Kyle Drabek, Toronto traded Shaun Marcum, who went 13-8 last season with a 3.64 earned run average in 195.1 innings.
With a few all or nothing hitters in the lineup, the Blue Jays made some moves in hopes of getting more contact hitters who can get on base ahead of their big sluggers. Rajai Davis was brought in after hitting . 284 last season with the Oakland Athletics. Davis stole 50 bases while providing speed in the outfield and he could hit lead off for Toronto. Another lead off candidate is Scott Podsednik, a key member of the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox. Last year while playing for the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers, Podsednik hit . 297 while stealing 35 bases.
Of course, one of the biggest developments in the off season for Toronto was the trade of long time fan favorite Vernon Wells. Wells was traded to the Angels in a salary saving move designed to give the Blue Jays payroll flexibility in the future. In the trade, the Jays got Mike Napoli, a power hitting catcher, and Juan Rivera, an outfielder, in return. Just days after the trade, Toronto flipped Napoli to the Texas Rangers in exchange for reliever Frank Francisco. Rivera is another power bat option capable of 25 home runs if healthy.
Marc Rzepczynski 4-4, 4.95 era last year, rounds out the staff along with Drabek, with Jesse Litsch, Zach Stewart, and Dustin McGowan in reserve ready to be called on if needed. McGowan, however is recovering from two arm surgeries and has missed the last two seasons.
In addition to strong pitching and an improved bullpen, the Toronto Blue Jays feature one of the most powerful lineups in the American League. Leading the offense is third baseman Jose Bautista who had an unbelievable season in 2010, pounding out 54 home runs while driving in 124 with a . 260 average and a . 617 slugging percentage. The Jays are sure to score plenty of runs and with the potential contribution from Drabek, Toronto could contend with the Red Sox and Yankees in 2011.
Bobbie Barton is a fitness trainer She likes SportsFanTreasures.com and recommends you check out their info on Washington Nationals Bedding, Minnesota Twins Blanket and Anaheim Angels Bedding
Two Rays in Line for Classic
The 2010 All star will take place at Anaheim stadium on July 13, 2010 but the action is already underway with the all-star voting sponsored by Sprint. The best news of all is that 2 Tampa Bay Players have their sights locked on the All-Star Locker room and there are a few more who are damn close and with the help of the fans they can make it to the team. Fans with Sprint Smart Phones and selected calling plans can cast early votes now and all Sprint Smart phone customers can begin voting on Monday. The early voting is due to the fact that sprint is sponsoring not only the voting but also the game this year.
A surprise to be in the lineup so far is Longoria, who is have a damn great year and is only in his third season. He currently leads the Rays in RBI’s and on Monday ranked in first place for third base with 2,534,967 votes putting him 963,136 votes ahead of the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez. It looks like a done deal for Longoria. Carlos Pena ranked fifth in the first-base voting with 620,001 which put him far behind the leader for the position Justin Morneau of the Twins who so far has 1,752,276 votes to his tally.
Last year MVP of the all star game Crawford, also looks like he will be hanging another commemorative All-star Jockstrap in his locker this year. He currently is in second place among the outfielders of the American League with over 1,445,615 votes. The leaders American leagues tradition of starting the top three players in the votes means that Crawford will be suiting up beside the Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki who is in first with 1,567,788 votes, and the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton, who was in third place with 1,431,013 votes.
Fans are able to start voting with their sprint smart phones on certain plans beginning on Monday and all fans can cast up to 25 votes for their favorite teams via the MLB.com website or any of the 30 club sites for the individual teams. Online voting closes t the same time as text voting on July 4th during the All-Star Selection Show. The Al-Star Announcements will be broadcast on the TBS superstation. There will also be some interesting changes to the voting this year that will allow the experience to be more enjoyable for both the players and the fans. During the show the fans all over the world will be given a chance to cast “the final vote” to help set the teams and the starting lineup. All voting is being sponsored by Sprint, who is also sponsoring the Game. The all-star selection showed being broadcast via satellite worldwide courtesy of TBS and co-sponsored by Sprint and Pizza Hut/Taco Bell.
For an additional level of interactivity this year fans will also be allowed to vote for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. This is a great opportunity for the fans to be involved with the MVP selections and get to have a say as to who they feel was the best player in the game. The All-Star Game will be televised by FOX nationwide and additional coverage will be available on the web at MLB.com ESPN Radio will be providing official Play-by-Play coverage across all of north America on AM, FM and XM bands as well as HD radio.
Freddie Brister is a huge fan of all sports and recommends checking out his Virginia Tech watch and New York Giants Watch at his shop.
