Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays finished the 2010 season 85-77, earning them fourth place in the AL East, arguably the toughest division in the league. One of the major highlights of the Blue Jays' season was their power at the plate. The Blue Jays led MLB with 257 home runs in 2010, surpassing their previous record of 244 by the 2000 Blue Jays team.

According to ESPN, the Toronto Blue Jays are trying hard to sign slugging first baseman Carlos Pena to a contract.

The Blue Jays are without a first baseman, as Lyle Overbay became a free agent. The Jays were not interested in his services, so they passed on re-signing him.

The Jays, who were the most powerful extra-base-hitting team last season, appear to want to just keep adding to the power that gave them so much success last season.

If there was one player on the 2010 Blue Jays who was predicatively unpredictable, it was closer Kevin Gregg. After spending just one season with the Chicago Cubs, and not a particularly great one either, Gregg signed with the Blue Jays on a one year deal with club options for 2011 and 2012.

After establishing himself as one the AL's better outfielders from 2003 to 2006, Vernon Wells failed to produce at the dish in 2007 and again in 2009. Injuries almost certainly played a part in his rough '09 campaign, but with two off years sandwiching a productive 2008 season, there were lots of questions to be answered in 2010.

Jays fans have put up with a lot. Former GM J.P. Ricciardi made mistake after mistake, from Alex Rios, to Vernon Wells, to B.J. Ryan, to Frank Thomas. The motto seemed to be "buy high, sell low" in Toronto.

But fear no more. Forget Austin Jackson; forget Jason Heyward. You want a Rookie of the Year?

Cue Alex Anthopoulos.

Adam Lind’s 2010 campaign was disappointing, as he fell well shy of what many hoped was his 2009 breakout (.305, 35 HR, 114 RBI).

The fact of the matter is, he had little opportunity to approach those numbers once again.

His HR/FB in ‘09 was 19.8 percent, significantly higher then what he had posted in portions of the prior two years (13.3 percent and 11.0 percent).

The end of an era is coming...again.

The Blue Jays had their final home game on Wednesday night and had a ceremony honoring Cito Gaston since he will be retiring this year.

With close to 900 wins under his belt with the Blue Jays, Gaston is the most successful manager in the franchise's history.

Jose Bautista used to be a problem for the home team, when that team was the Pittsburgh Pirates.

But now that he has found his stride, or rather his bat, in Toronto, it's now his opponents that are wondering if they have a problem.

He's looking at 50 or more home runs this year. This seems like a "high water mark," at least for now, but even if he regresses to say, 30 to 35, he will still be a dangerous long ball hitter.

There was a lot of news surrounding the Toronto Blue Jays in the final weekend of August.

They were playing the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, and despite having one of his best strikeout totals, Marc Rzepczynski struggled to keep the ball in the zone and suffered as a result.

Three of the five baserunners he walked later came in to score, a costly result when he only allowed five hits. 

If you were a general manager and you had on your roster a player in his sixth year in the majors putting up these numbers (336 AB, 54 R, 13 HR, 40 RBI, .235 AVG, .349 OBP, and .408 SLG), what would you project for his next year?

What if you were to make him a starter on your roster and give him somewhere between 500 and 600 at-bats? 

What if that player, given more playing time, would gain more confidence in his skills, develop a better eye at the plate, and improve the consistency with his power stroke?