Friday, September 19, 2008

Decade of Dominance - Toronto Blue Jays

Tito McQueen - Cobb Times Herald

Decade of Dominance - Blame the Management

The Toronto Blue Jays had a very bright future after season 1, when they had just won the AL North, and had reigning MVP Chris Gentry anchoring the lineup and Cobb World all time great Phillip Brown as their #1 starter. Then things started to go south, and like Black Tuesday, the New York Brokers era took a dive and crashed as bad as any market to date under the management of cbwriter. New owner sowden has his work cut out for him, as Cobb League rules don't allow government bailouts.

#26 - Toronto Blue Jays
Franchise Power Ranking: 24
Best Year: 91-71, s2 - Worst Year: 51-111, s7
Postseason Achievements: 1 Division Championship
Best Player: Christopher Gentry - Gentry was the dominant CF in the first two seasons of Cobb World, including a monstrous 65 HR MVP winning season 1
Best Pitcher: Phillip Brown - Brown pitched two and a half seasons for the franchise netting a 21 win season, 2 all star appearances, and one Cy Young.
Best International Prospect:
Benito Beltre
Best Draft Pick: Shane Parrish
Franchise Theme Song: Theme Song to "The Office" - It only takes 37 seconds but perfectly describes the management futility that defined the franchise for many seasons.
Franchise Highlights: Won the AL North in season one behind Christopher Gentry's MVP winning campaign. Phillip Brown won the Cy Young in season 2 with a 21-5 year. Set a franchise high with 92 wins in season 2. Set a Cobb World record for most expensive international with the signing of Benito Beltre in season 9.
Franchise Lowlights: Traded Phillip Brown in his prime to Cleveland in season 3 for Pedro Ontiveros and Vin Sanchez, possibly the worst trade in league history. Also traded away Cy Young calibur pitchers Shayne Campbell, Bobby Davidson, and Shane Parrish for peanuts. Traded Tomas Diaz, the best player left on the team, in season 8 for lesser players. Recorded 4 straight 100 loss seasons from season 6-9. Failed to sign both it's first and second round picks from the season 9 draft.
Franchise Outlook: Just a little patience please. Unlike the 37 second theme song to The Office, this franchise will take a lot longer to sort out, as the hole that was dug by cbwriter is pretty big. By the end of his tenure the team was left with little to work with on the ML roster, a pretty barren farm system, and some bad contracts. New GM sowden has taken a big step in the right direction with the massive signing of Benito Beltre, but it will take a few more players like him to make this team competitive again. But things can only go up from here.

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