Toronto Blue Jays: It's time for a rebuild

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It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago the Toronto Blue Jays were a serious contender to win the World Series. Now they are fighting to just finish the season above .500.

It has been a slow start to the year. Right now the team is technically not out of it but at the same time, they kind of are. Two negatives usually make a positive but in this case it is dragging the only Canadian MLB team down.

TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 04: Marcus Stroman #6 of the Toronto Blue Jays talks with Russell Martin #55 on the pitcher’s mound in the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles during the American League Wild Card game at Rogers Centre on October 4, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Before the season started the Blue Jays starting rotation was supposed to be the team’s strength. At this point of the season the only strength seems to be J.A. Happ who has gone 8-3 in 14 starts. The other big three in Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada have been non-existent. Stroman is 0-5 in seven starts and is currently working on returning from injury, Sanchez is 3-5 in 13 starts and Estrada is 3-6 in 13 starts. That isn’t good enough. And the other starter Jaime Garcia, he is 2-5 in 12 starts.

When it comes to being at the plate that has been somewhat a surprise. Toronto ranks 10^th in runs scored and is tied for sixth in homeruns with 85. There isn’t a problem with the long ball, a popular trend for the Blue Jays the past few years but when your team has given up more runs than you’ve scored, it usually doesn’t work out in your favor.

Distractions have also played a big factor this season. The team’s closer, Roberto Osuna had a run in with the law and because of that has been out of action since May 6. By the looks of it he will be out for a while, if not the the whole season.

Then there’s Josh Donaldson who is in need of a new contract. Do they sign him or trade him? It is hard to part with a player of his calibre but at the state the team is in right now, shipping him off for prospects is a must. Taking the chance of holding onto him and him walking in free agency is not something this team can afford.

The team is in an awkward position right now where they can’t decide which way to go. Do they re-sign players or trade them away for assets and go into a full rebuild. At the moment with the amount of prospects in the system and the performance of the team, they are a team that is already in a rebuild but still happen to have some star power. That star power is lacking at the moment but it is there. The team also doesn’t look the greatest because the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are in the same division.

It’s hard to really point a finger and say that one thing is going wrong. It is more like the team is crumbling altogether. At the end of it all, the team needs to start to put pieces together so when guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is ready to make the big club, the team is ready to go on a run.

The final verdict is for this team to call it a year. Make some trades to acquire prospects and go into a full rebuild. The more they wait to try and fix the team they have now will be harder to do than trying to start fresh.