Bullpen a question, but Blue Jays have reasons to believe

We are on the precipice of another Major League Baseball season.

Once again, there are no perfect teams – not even the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers with their 2-0 record.

Every team has flaws and weaknesses; vulnerabilities that can be their downfall. But almost every team has a chance at making the playoffs, too.

Well, not every team. The Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Miami
Marlins have no shot of making the postseason. Those clubs are in rebuild mode or “they don’t care” mode, depending on how you look at them. The Los Angeles Angels, Athletics, and Washington Nationals also have very little chance of being playoff teams at this point.

But the remaining 24 teams have hopes and dreams as the season begins.

Bullpen a question, but Blue Jays have reasons to believe

The Toronto Blue Jays have reasons to believe they can be a playoff team in 2025.

There is no juggernaut team in the American League this year like the Dodgers are in the National League. The AL East is the best and deepest division in baseball, but there is no clear-cut dominant team.

Toronto has the best starting pitching in the division, considering that every other team in the AL East has lost at least one key starting pitcher to injury, while some have lost a couple.

Sure, Jays starter Max Scherzer is dealing with a sore thumb, but he is at the back of Toronto’s rotation and Yariel Rodriguez can step in if necessary. A healthy Scherzer could help the Jays further separate themselves from the pack in the East.

The Jays bullpen was awful last year after being a strength in previous years. It’s a reminder that bullpens are an area where it’s easy for a general manager to make mistakes because it is so hard to evaluate the impact of innings and appearances from one year to the next. A good bullpen one year can break down the next.

As it stands now, this is the area I feel the least confident in about Toronto heading into the season.

I’m not sure what to expect from Jeff Hoffman. I loved the job he did as a high-leverage setup man in Philadelphia. I would feel more confident about him as the Jays closer if I didn’t know that doctors found issues in his physical after reaching agreements with the Braves and Orioles in the off-season. But now the GM in me is leery. That may not be fair, but it’s how I feel.

I like Yimi Garcia, Chad Green and Nick Sandlin from the right side as setup men for Hoffman. I am not convinced about the Jays’ lefty relievers (Brendon Little and Richard Lovelady).

I like the Yankees bullpen as the best in the division by far, which is critical for them considering all of the injuries to their starting rotation. The Jays, Red Sox, Orioles and Rays all have questions at the end of the game to some degree. The bullpen among those four that stabilizes first may decide the order of finish in the division.

This is where a manager can make a difference. Bullpens can be built during a season by utilizing personnel in the right roles and situations.

Bats showed signs of life in Dunedin

The Jays offence has been a big issue over the past couple of years. There were signs this spring that Bo Bichette is back. He looks like himself; healthy and swinging the bat with authority. Remember, he led the AL in hits twice in his career.

Vlad Guerrero Jr. looks like the slugger from last season. Anthony Santander looks like the switch-hitting presence the Jays have long needed in the lineup behind Guerrero. The key, however, will be everyone else.

Yes, they will need internal improvement from George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Daulton Varsho, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider. It would be a huge boost if Andres Gimenez could return to the offensive player he was a few years ago with the Guardians.

Some new personnel and new hitting coaches could provide the boost the Blue Jays need. They don’t have to score the most, they just need to score enough.

The Red Sox are going to have a high-powered offence. They have a chance to slug their way to victory. The Yankees will not score this year anywhere close to what they did a year ago with Juan Soto on the roster. Aaron Judge is going to get walked close to 200 times this season. The Orioles’ young hitters almost all took a step back last year. They are going to miss Santander more than they think. They will be good offensively but not great. The Rays are going to struggle to score this year. They are very young and will be prone to streakiness.

The Jays, Yankees and Orioles will battle to see who scores the most more runs among the three of them. The Jays will be good defensively, but so too will the Red Sox now that they have Rafael Devers off of third base. The Orioles are a solid defensive team as well. The Rays will improve as the season progresses and they get Ha-Seong Kim activated off of the injured list to play shortstop. The Yankees will still be the worst defensive team in the division.

I think the Blue Jays will finish in third place this year but make the playoffs as a wild-card team with 87 wins. The starting pitching will lead the way and the bullpen and offence will be just good enough to get Toronto across the finish line.

Heat is on Atkins, Shapiro

I know there is a ton of pressure on general manager Ross Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro.

They have come so close to having blockbuster off-seasons each of the past two years, but trophies aren’t handed out for coming close. Their jobs are about winning and making money.

It will be up to ownership to what degree they are judged on those criteria. Certainly, if they make the postseason they should be safe, regardless of how far they advance once they get there. That may not necessarily play well with the fanbase, unless it is coupled with re-signing Guerrero.

If the Jays don’t make the playoffs, ownership is going to have an angry fanbase that is going to want some reason to think things will be different next year. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. There comes a time that change becomes necessary, whether it’s fair or not.

Predictions for the 2025 season:

AL East Champion: Boston Red Sox (No. 1 seed)
AL Central Champion: Cleveland Guardian (No. 3 seed)
AL West Champion: Texas Rangers (No. 2 seed)
AL Wild Card 1: Houston Astros
AL Wild Card 2: New York Yankees
AL Wild Card 3: Toronto Blue Jays

NL East Champion: Philadelphia Phillies (No. 2 seed)
NL Central Champion: Chicago Cubs (No. 3 seed)
NL West Champion: Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 1 seed)
NL Wild Card 1: Atlanta Braves
NL Wild Card 2 New York Mets
NL Wild Card 3: Arizona Diamondbacks

ALCS: Rangers beat the Red Sox in 6 games

NLCS: Phillies beat the Dodgers in 7 games

World Series: Phillies beat the Rangers in six games. Phillies starting pitching depth overcomes great starts by Jacob deGrom. Bryce Harper is MVP of the Series.

Awards

AL MVP: Jose Ramirez, Guardians
AL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, Rangers
AL Rookie of the Year: Jackson Jobe, Tigers
NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
NL Cy Young: Zack Wheeler, Phillies
NL Rookie of the Year: Roki Sasaki, Dodgers