Now, as the Blue Jays have assembled perhaps their most competitive team since their World Series years in 1992-93, the talk around the majors is that Toronto's pitching rotation may be as good as any in the game.
Ace Roy Halladay has been among the most dominant starters in baseball over the past few years, although injuries have kept him from completing the last two seasons.
The 2003 American League Cy Young Award winner headlines a staff that includes hot newcomer A.J. Burnett, former all-star Ted Lilly, up-and-coming left-hander Gustavo Chacin and the underrated Josh Towers.
Roy Halladay continues to be the key on the mound for the Blue Jays. (CP Photo)
The focus heading into the 2006 season is on the new number two man Burnett, the most coveted free-agent hurler in the off-season. Burnett combines with Halladay to give Toronto a potent 1-2 punch that compares favourably with Boston's Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett and the New York Yankees' Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina.
Unlike three of those four pitchers, Halladay and Burnett have youth on their side.
Halladay should be saluted for helping the team lure Burnett. When the Jays set their sights on Burnett, they made sure the hard-throwing right-hander had a talk with Halladay about how good things are in Toronto.
Burnett was soon convinced that General Manager J.P. Ricciardi was making the right moves to put Toronto into the post-season and bypassed St. Louis in favour of signing a five-year, $55 million US deal with the Jays.
Toronto's prime goal in the off-season was to assemble a team that would be more competitive than the squad that finished 80-82 last season. With five major player acquisitions including Burnett, the team now feels confident it can compete with the Red Sox and Yankees, who have relegated the Jays to third place in the American League East seven of the past eight seasons.
This year figures to be different.
"I think we have the makings of it," Halladay said. "Those are two teams (Yankees and Red Sox) that will go out and always try to add on, even during the course of a season. We have to do a good job getting ourselves going early. We have a lot of things here to make a push. If we stay healthy, we're going to end up where we want to be."
The plans may fall apart if Halladay's health doesn't hold up. The three-time all-star was cruising along with a 12-4 record and outstanding 2.41 earned-run average before injuring his leg last July 8. At the time, the Blue Jays had as many wins – 44 – as eventual division champion New York.
Halladay also sat out much of the 2004 season with a shoulder injury after winning the Cy Young Award in 2003 with a 22-7 record and 3.25 ERA.
"I had some time off to rest and haven't had any problems ever since then," Halladay said. "It's kind of disappeared this winter so that's nice."
The Blue Jays think 29-year-old Burnett is on the verge of a breakthrough. He's never won more than 12 games but looks to have the potential for more. Last year he went 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA for Florida before being banished from the team in the final week after criticizing manager Jack McKeon and his coaching staff.
His best season was in 2002 awhen he went 12-9 with a 3.30 ERA and 203 strikeouts. Burnett's pitching coach that year was Brad Arnsberg, who fills that role for Toronto now.
"[The Blue Jays] really made me feel wanted and they made great moves getting some new players," Burnett said.
Lilly made the all-star team in 2004 but slumped to 10-11 with a 5.56 ERA last season, missing several starts with a biceps injury. He'll aim for the consistency he showed in 2003-04 when he won 12 games in consecutive seasons for Oakland and Toronto.
"It's kind of nice coming into camp and doing everything the rest of the group is doing," Lilly said. "I started throwing a little bit sooner to get myself ahead and better prepared to come in."
The number four and five spots may be where this staff really sets itself apart from the rest.
Chacin is slated as the number four starter after finishing a fine rookie season with a 13-9 record and 3.72 ERA. Chacin, signed as an undrafted free agent in 1998, was perhaps the team's most consistent starter until he faded slightly in September.
Towers, 28, may be the best number-five starter in the majors. He broke out in 2005 going 13-12 with a 3.71 ERA in 208 2/3 innings.
"Towers has come into his own," Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He competes as well as anybody out there. He throws strikes. He's a winner. He's always been an underdog, but he's earned it to be one of the five guys."
The Yankees and Red Sox have deeper pockets than Toronto and can bring in more help if a starter falters or gets hurt during the season. But both clubs have aging aces (Johnson for New York, Schilling for Boston) and staffs that may not run as deep as Toronto's.
With files from Associated Press
