Toronto Blue Jays 2011 - The good, the bad, the future

[RickD]

This is the 17th in a daily series of short looks at each team in MLB. The opinions expressed are my own..

The Toronto Blue Jays. The official team website says: Hustle + Heart 2.0!

In a division where you also have the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays, you need hustle and heart to make an impact..
Unfortunately, the Blue Jays made slightly less impact than they did in 2010 when they went 85-77.

In 2011 the Blue jays went 81-81, .500 ball for the season, good enough for 4th place in the tough AL East.

The Good:

• Jose Bautista -- .302/.447/.608, 43 HR, 103 RBI, 105 R -- Yeah he was that good this year.
• Ricky Romero was the best Blue Jay pitcher going 15-11, 2.92 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 178 K, 225 IP
• During the month of August, rookie catcher J.P. Arencibia broke the Blue Jays record for most home runs by a catcher.

The Bad:

• Early-season struggles by Brett Cecil and Kyle Drabek resulted in their demotion to the Minor Leagues. In fact, outside of Romero, the starting rotation struggled all year, posting a 4.55 ERA.
• The Blue Jays were ninth in the AL in bullpen ERA. They had 33 saves against 25 blown saves. This doesn't bode well in close games.
• Colby Rasmus - since becoming a Blue Jay in July (via trade from St. Louis, Rasmus batted .181

The Future:

• Eleven players made their Major League debut this season, and at least a handful of those are expected to have major roles with the club in future seasons.
• With the above in mind, with the exception of second base, all of Toronto's starting position players are under club control next season.
• The Blue jays will have a new (old) logo for 2012.

[WilsonC]

I'd add Travis Snider to the bad, more so than Rasmus. Even though Rasmus struggled, the addition of a young player with his talent was a positive for the organization. I'm not too concerned about him yet. Snider, on the other hand, was someone fans were hoping for a breakout season, and he had a number of setbacks and demotions.

Under the good, I'd add Brett Lawrie. He crushed the ball after his promotion, played solid defense, and became an instant fan favorite.