Toronto Blue Jays
If you judge the Blue Jay’s just by their major-league output last season (67-95) you wouldn’t believe me when I say that they are serious Wild Card contenders headed into the 2020 season. Toronto has a loaded talent pool full of young players with an unfair amount of potential.
Headlined by rookies Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio, they should seemingly be ready to take the next step forward. Many of the young Toronto players got their feet wet last season in their first stint in the majors. This new, young core that has been brought to the majors definitely showed glimpses that they are a legitimate team for this next season.
Guerrero Jr. put on a show in the Home Run Derby this past season. He didn’t win the tournament, but he crushed nearly 100 home runs at the end, a record. Bichette only played 46 games in his rookie campaign, but he posted a 2.1 WAR. He would have had a 6-WAR season if he participated in a full 162 game season at that pace.
The Blue Jays have a few questions headed into the 2020 regular season – will their young core take the next step forward and will the starting rotation be able to supplement the powerful offense?
I believe the Blue Jays roster will be spoiled with All-Stars next season as I am definitely a believer in their youngsters such as Guerrero Jr. and Bichette. However, I don’t think Toronto will progress to the point to where they are threatening the top three in the division.
While there will definitely be lots of progression in this upcoming 2020 season, and their record will reflect it, they won’t move up in their division ranking. Still, they could be similar to the 2017-2018 Atlanta Braves (72-90 to 90-72).