Its been 13 years since the Jays won the World Series and things have changed a great deal. The one thing thats the same between 1993 and 2006 is that the Jays have a team that should be good enough to win the World Series. A significant difference between 1993 and 2006 is the quality of the opposition. The 93 Jays had tough teams to beat of course, but not like today. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are doing everything in their extensive power to prevent the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Devil Rays from even being a post season qualifier. The payroll on the Yankees alone almost equals the payroll of the three teams unlucky enough to be in the American League East that are not from Boston. Some may say at least the Red Sox can rival the Yankees, but its really their fault the Jays have such a uphill battle. If the Blue Jays had but one team to beat they could challenge and lose and still make the playoffs due to the wild card position, but alas the Jays suffer from the same aliment the entire America League suffers from, NY/Boston envy. How can any team in the AL expect to be a wild card team when New York and Boston are in the same division. At least those teams in the Central and West division can still win their own division outright, the Jays are stuck being third perennially in their division. Finally after over a decade Jay fans can come back to the SkyDome and see a quality team play. We may even be able to turn those late night games off in the seventh comfortable in the knowledge that the Jays can hold any team back once they have the lead, but will it be enough to end the playoff drought in Toronto? Unlikely. |
