2011 MLB Betting Preview For Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are in a "rebuilding phase", which in pro sports is spin for a team preparing to get the stuffing knocked out of them over and over again. If you look at the ante-post MLB betting markets for the AL East winner or even the overall World Series champions the Blue Jays don't figure near the top of the odds boards. In fact, they're rank outsiders.
Gone from the team are leading hitter Vernon Wells (to the Angels) and star pitcher Shaun Marcum, not as devastating as the loss of Roy Halladay, but still a relatively big blow to the pitching staff. Other departures include the big bat of Lyle Overbay, and the pitching talents of Brian Tallet and Kevin Gregg.
The Blue Jays have some fantastic young prospects including future pitching star Kyle Drabek (of course "future pitching star" usually stands for "future trade bait" for this team). The starting pitching, which kept them in contention last season when they were extremely competitive, includes Romero, Morrow, Litsch, and Cecil, all of whom are capable starters on their day.
The weakness in Toronto's team has to be their lineup, where other than Bautista, who may never repeat his wonderful season of 2010, they lack a lot of power. They should strike out less, and do have plenty of speed, so small ball should be the order of the day. The lineup might work in the NL, but against teams like the Red Sox and Yankees they are going to get blown away more often than not.
MLB World Series betting is available right now for Canadians at Bet365.com where the Blue Jays are 30/1 to win it all. Hey, at least they're still projected to be better than the Baltimore Orioles!
