Talk:Blue Jays Preview/@comment-93339-20060308155001

"So from one "mid to low-3.00 in ERA" to another there&quot;s a huge dropoff? Interesting."

Let me clarify, with Burnett and Halladay you are guaranteed an ERA in the 2.00s or 3.00s but Towers had an ERA of 5.00+ the year before last. Yes, I think Towers has potential but none of the bottom three are guaranteed success like Burnett and Halladay.

"Johnson hits lefties fine" Well, last year he had 165 ABs vs. Lefties and 233 vs. Righties. So he found plenty of time to hurt the team against righties. Also, his numbers last year for lefties: .279/.335/.418 and righties: .262/.329/.408. I&quot;m not liking either one.

"The current plan is to platoon Eric Hinske with Alex Rios in right field."

That is true but Hinske will still see time at DH, especially if, according to CBSsportsline, Alexis Rios continues his hot spring.

"How is it that the Jays made good offseason moves but project to have the same record as last year? Did the rest of the league improve just as much as the Jays did?"

The rest of my sentence in the original post says "Toronto still goes into the year with the possibility of having huge holes in the lineup."

I like the new players but I think the players from last year will see some regression. Chacin (weak K/BB) will have a tough time repeating his success last year. Speier&quot;s ERA was way out of line with the rest of his career. Their bullpen as a whole is weak. Their two best hitters outside of Wells last year (Catalanatto and Hillenbrand) are both past their prime. Also, Glaus, their most valuable offensive addition has missed substantial amounts of time in 2 of the last 3 years. If I had to bet, I would not say this is a much better team and they have a good young DRays team and the Sox and Yankees in their division.

"But like many, you&quot;ve got a blind obsession with power"

The only reason I brought up power was because you stated, "And you say a line-up without power, but lets look at the CHIGAGO WHITE SOXS."

"The White Sox last year scored 741 runs for an OPS+ of 95. The Jays scored 775 runs for an OPS+ of 95."

Why are we using runs scored and OPS+ to determine power? This includes OBP in the equation. How about we use ISO, which is the true measure of power (SLG - BA). The White Sox had a .163 ISO and the Blue Jays had a .142 ISO. The AL average was .157 ISO. So, in terms of power, the White Sox were above average and the Blue Jays were below. The White Sox were in the top 6 and the Blue Jays in the bottom 5 in the AL. So to say that the White Sox should be an example of a team winning WITHOUT power is misleading and false.