Quote:
Originally Posted by William Foster
...and while he built a relatively good team with some nice pieces he never drafted a player that may have pushed them over the hump in AL East and the team had been treading water for quite some time.
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The AL East is a big part of the problem. As long as the Jays are stuck in that division they're never going to make the playoffs consistently; the best they can hope for is a one-off like Tampa had last season. The economics of baseball have changed far too much since Toronto won consecutive World Series in 1992-93.
Numbers to consider:
The 2009 season marks the 15th season using the wild card. Over those 15 seasons, the wild card winner has come out of the AL East 11 times. Of those 11 times, only once was the qualifier not either the Red Sox or Yankees. That exception was Baltimore, and it happened way back in 1996.
In terms of AL East division titles, it's no better. Of those 15 seasons, only twice was the division winner not either the Red Sox or Yankees. The exceptions? Baltimore in 1997 and Tampa in 2008.