The Blue Jays have spent enough money, done enough talking and endured enough building. This season, they say, it’s put up or shut up – and the first part of that litmus test starts today at 1:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.
“We want expectations. That means you have a good club,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “I want to be a part of a winner. This’ll be my seventh year in Toronto. That’s a long time. Sooner or later, something’s got to happen.”
The law of averages doesn’t always apply in baseball. But the Blue Jays spent money and imported players this offseason, and they didn’t do those things to finish 13 games out like they did last season. They plan on contending.
“Our team is built to win now,” center fielder Vernon Wells said. “We’ve gotten to the point where we have a team that can win. Some of the guys are older, some have been here awhile: It’s time to win.”
Over the last decade, they’ve finished third in the AL East eight times. But there’s clearly a different vibe about this team, no longer content to wait until next year. A veteran team, they may not have many more opportunities.
“That was one thing when I was signing they had stressed, that there was definitely a heightened sense of urgency to win,” shortstop David Eckstein said. “They’ve invested a lot of money to try to put a championship together, so definitely they want to see the payoff now.”
Over the offseason, Toronto added Eckstein, the 2006 World Series MVP, third baseman Scott Rolen, left fielder Shannon Stewart and utilityman Marco Scutaro.
“We feel we can win,” DH Frank Thomas said. But he turns 40 in May, and Eckstein is 33. The often-injured Rolen (broken finger) and closer B.J. Ryan (left elbow) are on the disabled list, with Matt Stairs (hip) questionable for today.
“We have the best club we’ve had in a while,” GM J.P. Ricciardi said. “We’ve got more resiliency. We’ve been through it, understand if [injuries] happen, we don’t panic anymore. You’ve just got to battle through it.”