What Could Go Wrong

September 29, 2012; Toronto, ON, CANADA; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (middle) reacts as he meets with teammates on the mound during the game against the New York Yankees at the Rogers Centre. Toronto defeated New York 3-2. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY SportsSpring Training is finally upon us. Almost every team and fan of said team can have some optimism because hey it’s easy to be optimistic before the season starts. For the Toronto Blue Jays the optimism started in November with all their offseason moves. Adding the optimism from the last few months of the offseason to the natural spring training optimism that every team has and you get an optimism that is off the charts.

However, too much optimism can get sickening for almost anybody. If you’re getting tired of hearing about how great the 2013 Blue Jays are going to be and need some negativity in your life you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s look at all that could go wrong with the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays shall we. Just this one time then we can all go back to drooling over the roster and the real chance of making the playoffs.

R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle could all have trouble making the jump from the NL East to the AL East. Especially when you consider the fact that they’re previous home ball parks were Marlins Park and Citi Field, 2 very pitcher friendly stadiums. Now they’ll be pitching in hitter friendly ball parks like Rogers Centre, Fenway and Yankee Stadium on a regular basis in addition to deeper lineups for almost every AL team.

Ricky Romero’s 2012 could possibly not be a fluke and he could be just as bad in 2013 or worse. Josh Johnson, Brandon Morrow and Jose Reyes are all candidates to spend a lot of time on the disabled list. The Blue Jays starting pitch depth in the minors could get injured or not be adequate when they need to contribute in the majors.

Melky Cabrera’s last 2 great seasons could be because of PED’s, which would make him be the player he was before 2011, even though he didn’t fail any drug tests in 2011. There’s also the long shot that the recent news of the Melk Man being connected to a Miami PED Clinic results in him being suspended for 100 games for a second violation.

Jose Bautista’s wrist injury in 2012 could nag him in 2013 and prevent him from being the Jose Bautista we’re used to. Or even worse put him back on the DL. Edwin Encarnacion and Brandon Morrow could be 1 year wonders. Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus, Adam Lind, J.P. Arencibia, Emilio Bonafacio and Maicer Izturis could all very well be worse than they were last season. They weren’t exactly all great last season either and with the exception of Lawrie being worse would mean below replacement level play. Not that Lawrie regressing wouldn’t be a major hit either.

Casey Janssen and Sergio Santos are both returning from surgery and it could show in their performances. Darren Oliver’s age could finally catch up to him. Everyone else in the bullpen is unproven which could also show in their performances.

The Blue Jays bench could be completely unproductive during the season.

If the Blue Jays have any major areas of need at the trade deadline they’re farm system might not be deep enough after this offseason to make the necessary moves they need to. If the Jays are not contending at the trade deadline and attendance doesn’t get to where they hope it will be Rogers might not be so gracious in adding payroll to accommodate trade deadline moves.

A lot of the American League teams could have great seasons in every division which would make winning the AL East or winning one of the wild card spots less likely.

When you consider all that could go wrong for one of the “World Series favorites” you can’t help but feel like you belong in a mental institution for thinking any Blue Jays team in the last 20 years even had a chance.