I am still not over the disappointment of the Jays missing out on Ohtani and as the off season has progressed it has been one false rumor after another, but over the past couple of months management has been able to sign Justin Turner to a one year contract worth 13 million. It is a no loss kind of move that did not cost all that much and Turner did have a very good year last year with close to 100 rbis. He just is not the marquee player Ohtani is obviously.
As far as the rest of the team is concerned, Spring Training has started and Manoah and Vladdy seem to be in great shape and in the proper mindset to have good seasons. Manoah especially has a lot to prove and if he does not bounce back from his horrific 2023 season, he might be done as a starter in the major leagues and in the Jay's plans.
The rest of the team is pretty much the same and management is relying on the team on simply being better than last year or the rest or the rest of the league being worse. I am 50 50 on this logic, Vlad seems motivated and things could not get worse for Manoah so that is a plus. However, the team was very healthy last year and the pitching staff was lights out, so the team is likely to digress at least a little bit in the pitching area.
My expectations for the team are that it should contend for a wild card spot as per usual, but anything more is a long shot. The Orioles are the best team in the A.L East and there are other teams such as the Rangers and Mariners that have better teams than the Jays do. Plus the Yankees in recent memory have not had two losing seasons in a row, so we all know they will contend too. My heart is in the right place with the Jays, but as far as going anywhere in the playoffs, they will have to be lucky and have players perform out of their minds.
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