If The Jays Don’t Make The Playoffs

March 28, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista (19) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after he scored a run during the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsLet’s get this out of the way now shall we. What’s Alex Anthopoulos going to have to say for himself at the end of the regular season if the Toronto Blue Jays don’t make the playoffs? How would Rogers react to the Blue Jays not having a playoff berth after investing so much money into the team? How is the Blue Jays fan base going to react to another missed playoffs?

I have no idea what Alex Anthopoulos will say if the Blue Jays don’t make the playoffs in 2013. I know what I would say if I was AA and the Jays don’t make the playoffs.

“Kiss my rear end! I’ve been GM for 4 freaking years! What’d you want from me?! This team has no business already being as good as they are. You try taking a team that had Vernon Wells as their franchise player and making them a playoff team in 3 1/2 years.”

Obviously AA wouldn’t say this but who would blame him for thinking it. You can bank on the media not seeing 2013 in the context of AA’s tenure so he’s going to have to be ready to answer all the annoying and ignorant questions.

One of the big questions for people all offseason seems to be how would Rogers react to the Blue Jays not making the playoffs. To that I say silly rabbit winning is for fans.

If you live in Toronto you’ve probably heard a Maple Leaf fan or two say the team doesn’t care about winning because they’ll get their money. The same goes for the Blue Jays. Unlike the Leafs the Jays have to put a decent product on the field to have high TV ratings and sell tickets which they have done. As long as the Jays stay in contention for an entire season fans will show up and watch on TV. The Blue Jays had a huge spike in attendance and TV ratings last year and that was a 73 win team that people were just hoping and praying for. People really underestimate how big the Jays fan base is and like it or not if the team just stays in contention all season and is in playoff races every September Rogers Centre will be packed and TV ratings will be up every night every year and Rogers will profit from it. If the Jays don’t stay in contention until September then we’ve got a problem but that seems very unlikely.

If the Blue Jays don’t make the playoffs Jays fans will definitely be disappointed. If they’re not in the playoff race in September they’ll be crushed. At the same time if you’ve been a Jays fan for long enough just seeing the Blue Jays in a playoff race will be exciting. Of course there will be the insufferable people that won’t stop complaining about what a disappointment the season was. The Jays not going to the playoffs has become the norm to so it wouldn’t exactly feel weird if they didn’t. It will probably be a mixed reaction. But hey I’m certainly not going to tell you how you should feel about it.