Down To Business | A Toronto Blue Jays Franchise

[Kyle K.]

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Hello everyone, and welcome to my Toronto Blue Jays franchise here on Operation Sports! It has been a very long time since I have taken a crack at a franchise but with MLB The Show 15 being possibly the best sports game to be released with maybe exception to NFL 2K5 and Madden 2005 it has me itching to get a hold of the Blue Jays. Toronto is the obvious choice for me, being Canadian they have always been my team and that will not change any time soon. This franchise will of course have its own twists and turns that do divert from the real life Jays though all roster movements will be all made based on team needs and current state of the franchise, there will be no blockbuster deals where we see 4 prospects go for a big name player unless that is a position we are currently in as a team. There will be absolutely no cheesing the trade system at all, and I will be using 30 team control to make sure the CPU teams do not go on a trading spree.

I will be trying some new things this time around as well with the Jays in making hopefully some videos, maybe monthly recaps or possibly weekly we shall see. There will be series recaps as it is just easier to consolidate all the information into one larger post then to have multiple smaller ones. I hope that you all will enjoy the journey of this franchise and where it will take the Blue Jays (hopefully to another World Series) I look forward to hearing from everyone following and appreciate everyone checking this franchise out. Now lets begin!

FRANCHISE BASICS
A QUICK LIST OF RULES & SETTINGS USED IN THIS FRANCHISE

PLATFORM: Playstation 4
ROSTERS: OSFM v1
SLIDERS: Armor & Swords
SCHEDULE: 162 Games
CONTROL: 30 Team Control
HITTING DIFFICULTY: All-Star
PITCHING DIFFICULTY: All-Star
FIELDING: Auto Fielding, Manual Throwing
HITTING: Button
PITCHING: Classic
QUICK COUNTS: On
GAME PLAY: Will Be Playing All 162 Games A Season

[Kyle K.]

YEARLY RECAPS
A LOOK BACK AT RESULTS FROM PAST SEASONS IN THIS FRANCHISE

[Kyle K.]

AWARDS & ALL-STARS
A LOOK BACK AT ALL AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS IN THIS FRANCHISE

[Kyle K.]

DRAFT RECAPS
A LOOK AT ALL BLUE JAY DRAFTS IN THIS FRANCHISE

[Kyle K.]

BLUE JAYS ADD TO FRONT OFFICE
JAYS ADD SOME FRONT OFFICE SUPPORT AHEAD OF 2015 SEASON


KYLE WEBB (ABOVE) WAS ANNOUNCED AS THE BLUE JAYS NEW ASSISTANT GM

TORONTO, ON (AP) -- It wasn't exactly the change that some fans had been expecting after another disappointing season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014, but it might be a step in the right direction. Alex Anthopoulos has done some very good things with the Blue Jays since being brought on board as the teams General Manager but with sub-par seasons quickly piling up and no real improvement inside of the AL East rumors were abound that 2014 may be a make or break year for Alex. However the Jays have stood firmly behind their General Manager, at least for now. It is with the news coming out today that the Jays have hired a new assistant GM that the hot seat for Alex may finally be heating up moving forward. The Jays have announced that they have brought on board a new Assistant GM who moving forward will help Alex in all day to day operations. Though not a household name Kyle Webb may soon be, he comes from a long history of baseball, being a scout for most of his adult life.

We don't believe that the there should be any hot seat at all when it comes to Alex he has done a very good job at drafting and keeping the flow of talent steady in Toronto. The question however does come as to how long can this building process continue to take moving forward before ultimately it will cost Alex his job. The actual money for the contract with Kyle Webb was not disclosed however we have learned that it is a contract that will run through the 2019 season. Ultimately this makes for a rather long contract for who is as of now only an Assistant GM.

"When looking at how we can improve our front office I believe it is our absolute job to take a look at every possible candidate out there for any jobs we may have open. We have been discussing for awhile now with Alex about possibly bringing on someone to help out with the GM roles, ultimately Alex has the final say in things. We however feel that Kyle brings in a new dynamic in that can really help with our franchise moving forward and we owe that to our fans. We have a lot of important decisions coming up and this will help make a lot of them a bit easier to decide upon when we come to them." - Paul Beeston, Team President

[Kyle K.]

SPRING INTO TRAINING
A LOOK AT FIVE POINTS OF INTEREST FOR THE JAYS MOVING INTO SPRING TRAINING

[Kyle K.]

SUCCESSFUL SPRING WRAPS UP
BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE PITCHING ROTATION, ROOKIES SHOW BIG LEAGUE PROMISE


JOSE BAUTISTA (LEFT), JOSH DONALDSON (MIDDLE), DEVON TRAVIS (RIGHT) LEAD THE OFFENSIVE CHARGE IN SPRING TRAINING

Through the spring it was certainly evident that the bats the Jays had hoped they had did make the trip. Though this is only Spring Training it does show that the team truly does have the power that many people expected they would and some of that can from unlikely sources as well. Lets start off with Devon Travis, who absolutely played himself onto the team with the spring he has. A .284 average along with 3 homers and 17 runs batted in was easily the rookie of the spring at least when it comes to the position players. The two Jose's Bautista and Reyes both also had good springs as well, Bautista showing everyone that his bat is already in mid-season form. The issue in terms of offense looks like it could be in center field and left field where no one really had a spring that stands out and obviously as of right now look to be the two weakest positions on the team. Between Pompey, Pillar and Saunders two of them will need to step up to solidify the rest of the outfield, leaving on man possibly looking at being demoted to the minors.

MARCO ESTRADA (LEFT), AARON SANCHEZ (MIDDLE), MIGUEL CASTRO (RIGHT) LEAD THE CHARGE OF SOLID PITCHING

When it comes to pitching the good news is that most of the young arms did perform rather well in the spring. That being said from the bullpen seeing Marcus Stroman struggle as much as he did is very concerning for the Blue Jays, posting poor numbers across the board he may see himself starting in the bullpen this season. Daniel Norris certainly showed a lot of promise through the spring walks were a problem however and will need to be addressed through the season, it will be between him and Stroman as to who will be the fifth start and that might not be decided until that start. The two veteran starters both showed they still have gas left in the tank with Buerhle really showing some good stuff through the spring and Dickey looking about normal for his spring starts with a bit higher ERA that the Jays ultimately would like closer to 3.50 during the actual season.

Now lets talk about the young arms that really made a strong impression on the Jays top brass. Hendriks and Hynes all but solidified their roles down in the minors, though to Hynes credit he did pitch fairly well in his 7 innings of work. Sanchez and Hutchison both made the best of their starts and have worked themselves into the starting rotation with very good spring, Sanchez was especially good in all his starts. Osuna was hit during his relief appearances but he did only walk 5 batters while striking out 1 per inning, he will be starting the season in the Majors but could be demoted if control becomes an issue. Castro will be the team closer and there as of right now is no question about that, striking out more then 1 per inning and showing he can show down the opposing team when it matters most.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS 2015 SEASON PREDICTIONS

FINAL STANDING: 92-70 2ND IN AL EAST, 1ST WILD CARD
OFFENSIVE MVP: JOSH DONALDSON 3B
PITCHING MVP: MIGUEL CASTRO CP
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: DEVON TRAVIS 2B

[Kyle K.]

JAYS RELEASE STARTING LINEUP
NO HUGE SURPRISE WHEN IT COMES TO STARTING 9, OUTFIELD PLAYING TIME BATTLE COMING

STARTING LINEUP



RESERVE PLAYERS