The Blue Jays have pretty much been a mediocre franchise in the league for the last 20 years. After winning back to back World Series in 1992 and 1993, the club has had some expensive and talented pieces, yet like so many of the ‘god awful’ teams have shown us recently, maybe the club should have tanked it for 7 – 10 years in order to stockpile Grade A level talent through the MLB Amateur Draft?  Toronto has been caught in the middle of a building a team through the Draft, but never seem to be bad enough to receive high enough picks to select ultimate fortune changers for the organization.  Maybe they should try another way..  Lets talk about that today.

By ‘Special Guest  Blue Jays Writer’ Steve Cheeseman  Follow @cheeseman_s

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“Hard Cheddar” – with Steve Cheeseman

Regardless if you’re a casual fan, or die hard Toronto Blue Jay fan, many things come into mind with regard to what should happen next after a terrible 2013 season.  

Do Media/Cable giant Roger’s need to spend more money?  Should they rebuild from the draft?  Should they rent older, experienced players on short term deals?  

How about a shift from the American League to the National League?

For the start of the 2013 season, the Houston Astros made the move from the NL to the west division of the AL.  This was to equally balance the two leagues to contain 15 teams in each.

In terms of performance, it didn’t help.  The 2012 NL Astros finished the season with a 55-107 record, which was good for last in all of Major League Baseball.  

Montreal’s OIympic Stadium will host a Blue Jays Exhibition Game in 2014

While the AL East teams battled it out all year – with 4 teams over .500 – and the Blue Jays just slightly under, the Astros fattened up the A’s and Rangers record. The 2013 AL Astros finished the season with a 51-111 record, which was also last in the MLB(and worst record in franchise history). With that being said, it obviously hasn’t helped the club in terms of success. Maybe the Houston team will be good in 5 more years with picking 1st overall ..Toronto could never afford to be a cellar dweller for a decade like that and survive, especially when the fans know they have the infrastructure to spend some money on talent.  However, would a change to the National League work for the Toronto Blue Jays?

I’ve always been under the opinion that the AL East is by far the toughest division in all of Major League Baseball.

With the Toronto Blue Jays, there are the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Baltimore Orioles.  For a while, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays have been in the top tier of Major League Baseball.  

This year the Baltimore Orioles have also emerged as a definite candidate to join that club for the long term.  With the upstart Orioles jumping into the picture, earning wins within the division has not come easy.   

As a result New York has failed to make the playoffs for only the 2nd time in the last 19 seasons.  They were still 85-77 for the season, 8 games above .500 which was only good for 4th place in the East.

For the 2014 season, and definitely beyond, I’m willing to bet, the Yankees are going to be a lot tougher to play against. Toronto finished dead last within the division with a 74-88 record.

Let’s take a look at their counterpart NL East.  This division is a far cry from what we’ve just discussed so far…almost.

In this division there are the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, New York Mets Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves.  

For the 2013 season, the Braves (96-66) stood alone in the division winning it 10 games ahead the Nationals (86-76).  The rest of the clubs were not even close.  

That would lead most people to wonder.  What if the Atlanta Braves moved to the AL East and the Jay’s to the NL East.

Imagine the Braves in a division with the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees and Orioles.  It could be by far one of the toughest and most competitive divisions in the history of baseball.

If you look at the other side of things, the Jay’s could potentially have a chance of making the playoffs working out of a weaker NL East division.  There is also another way to look at it.  How about the potential for new rivalries:

Toronto vs. Washington (formerly Montreal Expos), or Toronto vs. Philadelphia, which happened to be the last playoff team Toronto faced in the 93 World Series.  

How about the potential of moving the Mets (vs. Yankees) or Nationals (vs. Orioles) to the AL East?

Regardless if it could happen, which it won’t, it would be interesting and different.  Would I like to see this?  As fun as it is to talk about, I say no.  I’m not a fan of the easy way out.  

Being a die hard Jay’s fan means I long nothing more than to beat the Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, and Ray’s.  Not run away.  Toronto has to prove everyone wrong, and become a feared team to play against just like they were in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  

However, things need to change, sooner rather than later.

Roger’s needs to stop nickel and diming this team, and invest for success.  Alex Anthopoulos has to stop preaching patience, and just do his job.  Toronto fans all over, have been patient enough for the last 2 decades.  

Most of the successful club’s in baseball over the last 20 years, if not beyond, have built from within.  When I say that, I mean from the draft and developing their own players.

The worst thing that can happen is renting player’s short term.  One or two to stabilize pitching or depth in the field, I understand.  Buying a World Series by a roster of short time rentals is not the way to go.

Jeffrey Loria who is the owner of the Miami Marlins is proof.  Buy them up, and when it fails…sell, sell, sell.  As far as I’m concerned, he’s a disgrace to baseball, but that’s another story for another time.  

Some players need to stop whining to the media when they are criticized for their play and take responsibility.  No more excuses.  If you have a bad game or even a bad season, own up to it.  

Jay’s fans have to get out and support the team, not just when their winning.  This club represents a nation, not just a city.  It’s something we should all be proud of, and need to get behind.

There are a lot of components to putting together a winning team, especially in a non-traditional market.  In order for this to happen, everyone needs to do their part.  

Regardless if its ownership spending money,  management making the right moves, players performing as expected, or the fans showing up to support the team.  

Either way, everyone has a role and responsibility which must be for filed in or to reach the ultimate goal.

Toronto should be petitioning the MLB right now to move to the National League. While the club spent its most ever on 2013 Payroll, they still have to compete with Boston and New York being able to blow by them in money spent on talent. In a Division with 4 other awesome teams, and an unbalanced schedule – where they have to play those guys 76 times, it makes it impossible to compete. Toronto played 119 of its 162 Games 2013 schedule versus teams over .500.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to our ‘Special Blue Jays Guest Writer’ Steve Cheeseman for preparing today’s featured article.

Steve was born and raised in Marystown, Newfoundland  – and has been an avid sports enthusiast my entire life.  He loves hockey, baseball, and soccer, and continue to play in local leagues where I live.   

However baseball will always be Steve’s favorite sport .   He moved to Ontario, Canada in 2001, and currently lives in the nation’s capital of Ottawa with his wife and daughter.

Steve currently writes, blogs, and freelance sfor several sporting sites.  Contact him at any time (365southpaw@gmail.com).  You can also follow him on twitter   Follow @cheeseman_s or google circles (+Steve Cheeseman).

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