Jays Fanz - Red and White Jays in 2012?

Red and White Jays in 2012?

Imagine the following scenario:

The Jays run out the final three seasons of JP’s contract with much of what you’ve seen since the start of 2006, namely flashes of brilliance, unfulfilled promise, meaningless September games, and a string of win totals in the mid-80s. The Ricciardi Era has run for nearly a decade without producing a single playoff appearance. Fan frustration grows, attendance stagnates, and TV audiences on Sportsnet drop off. Major dollars are being lost. “Uncle” Ted Rogers, never a baseball fan to begin with, grows increasingly restless with a major investment that’s failed to bear fruit and begins to ponder dumping the franchise he rescued from the hell that was the disinterested ownership of Belgian beermeisters in 2000. Something has to be done, and fast.

After the 2010 season, Jays brass decides to launch a total strategic about face due in equal parts to the failure of the JP model and the surprising semi-final finish of the Canadian team at the second World Baseball Classic in 2009. A “Canadianization” of the Jays’ roster is first mooted by the marketing department as a gimmicky means of drawing fans back to the Rogers Centre, but scouts and the player development department quietly acquiesce knowing that an unprecedented wave of Canadian stars are due to hit the free agent market from 2010 to 2013. A list is drawn up and every player on it conveniently grew up a rabid Jays fan during the back-to-back World Series glory days of 1992 and 1993. Make no mistake, these are all quality players, but bringing them together to play on Canadian soil is a move designed to add the belly fire so desperately lacking during the JP era.

Atlanta Braves GM John Schuerholz, who ranks as one the most successful baseball executives of all time, provided a winning blueprint with his systematic targeting of Georgia-born players happy to play for the team they grew up cheering for at a home town discount. (Current Georgia-born Braves include Tim Hudson, Chuck James, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, and Willie Harris, while Mark Teixeira played his college ball at Georgia Tech. A handful of others come from neighbouring north Florida.) It’s no secret; he wrote about it in Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest GM. The Jays will now borrow liberally from the book of Schuerholz, repeating his great marketing pitch for the Canadian players they intend to target: welcome home!

Canucks celebrate the "Miracle On Grass"
at the first World Baseball Classic.

The dominoes begin to fall in the 2010 off season:

O’s ace Erik Bedard of Navan, Ontario, is tops on the list. Bedard becomes the left-handed compliment to Doc Halladay, who is mortal after all and will soon be approaching the twilight of his career.
Pirates LF Jason Bay of Trail, B.C. joins established OF stars V-Dub and Alex Rios soon after, giving the Jays a potent trio of .300 hitting outfielders who combine for 100 homeruns.
The addition of enigmatic A’s starter Rich Harden of Victoria, B.C. provides another big strikeout pitcher to the rotation. Harden has always had the stuff to succeed, but his health record scares off many suitors. Nevertheless, the temptation proves too great to pass and the Jays bring him on board. Remember Chris Carpenter? Harden finally becomes the pitcher everyone thought he would in TO just as Carp did in St. Louis.

In 2011:

The Canucks keep rolling in as Twins 1B Justin Morneau, a former MVP from New Westminster, B.C. inks a deal with Blue Birds, providing some major left-handed pop to the lineup and clubhouse leadership.

In 2012:

Unheralded Royals 3B/RF Mark Teahen of St. Mary’s, Ontario arrives, providing versatility and another solid lefty bat to a Jays club that has listed badly to the right for far too long.
Baby-faced Colorado Rockies ace Jeff Francis of Vancouver, B.C. joins the Jays, adding another plus left-handed starter to the rotation.

In 2013:

Here come some real hometown Jays: Shawn Hill and Russell Martin, both of Toronto (well, Toronto/Montreal for Martin). To date, Hill has performed well in limited innings in the obscurity of Washington, but watch him quietly develop into a reliable starter. From here, Martin looks like Pudge Rodriguez with plate discipline, the sort of break-the-mold catcher who hits with power, steals bases, AND provides gold glove defence. A rare commodity indeed.

Assembled together, your Canadianized Jays are more than the sum of their parts, something that hasn’t been said in these parts for, oh, about 15 years or so. There’s a purpose to their work, national pride, and a rejuvenated fan base behind them. A pipe dream, yes, but a better question might be why not give it a try if the present course fails?