Season From Hell? Not So Fast
Jim Turner - October 9, 2004

The 2004 season was a huge disappointment for Blue Jays fans. Looking to build on a surprising 86-win season, the team collapsed instead. The Jays jumped out of the gate by dropping 3 straight at home to the 119-loss Detroit Tigers… and things got worse from there. Injuries throughout the lineup, the failure of the brand new, mercenary-stocked bullpen, and an anemic offense saw the Jays slide down the standings, unable to hold their traditional 3rd place position in the East, and prompting Jays fans and members of the media to dub this "the Season From Hell."

To be certain, there will be no commemorative videos of the 2004 season, but to invoke the Prince of Darkness in reference to a baseball season seems a little strong. Was this really Six Months from Satan? A Pasting from Purgatory? A Beelzebubian beating?

No team, no matter how sharp their front office, or abundant their resources, can expect to win every year. Ok, except for Atlanta. For everyone else, there are going to be years when staying in contention just doesn't happen. Players get old suddenly, or injured, or trades don't work out, and suddenly you're 10 games under .500 at the all-star break and thinking of next year. The trick is to identify these seasons as soon as possible, and to use them as tools to build your next competitive team. By that measure, the Blue Jays season wasn't nearly the disaster that showed up in the win-loss column.

Consider:

  • It was a year of firsts for the Jays, as five pitchers picked up their first major league victories this season: David Bush, Gustavo Chacin, Vinnie Chulk, Jason Frasor and Brandon League. In addition, Russ Adams, Eric Crozier, Howie Clark, Gabe Gross, and Alexis Rios all hit their first major league home runs. All except Clark figure to hit many more in a Blue Jays uniform.

  • In Adams, Rios and Bush, the Jays have found a viable shortstop, right fielder and #3 starter, likely for the next several years. That's a good player development year for any club. Throw in the major league debuts of Gross and catcher Guillermo Quiroz, and you can see the nucleus for the next good Jays team.

  • The Jays recognized that they weren't going to compete this season and were proactive with the health of ace Roy Halladay, shutting him down for the second half of the season. A trip to the surgeon's table for the Doc, and this might have been a season from hell. Instead, the Jays can look forward to a sound Halladay fronting the rotation in 2005.

  • Even the off season of Carlos Delgado can be seen as something of a blessing, as it gives the Jays at least a chance to re-sign him. Had Delgado repeated his .302/42/145 performance in 2004, it wouldn't have translated into many more wins for the club, but it would have guaranteed him a price tag well out of the Jays range in 2005.

  • The Jays enter the off season with no debilitating contracts left on the payroll. Eric Hinske's contract may be the worst one left on the books, and that's not bad. Payroll flexibility is a necessity when working with a $50 million payroll.

  • The Jays were won 19 fewer games than they did a year ago… and attendance went up. There may be a decline next season, especially early on if Delgado isn't back, but this still seems like a market that will support the Jays, especially when they are competitive.

So while 2004 was a bad season, the Jays head into next year with a good chance to be a surprise team again, to climb back over .500 and possibly contend for a playoff berth if either Boston or New York should falter. There are teams out there that are much worse off. Here then, is the top 5 list of teams with a better claim to a "Season From Hell" than the Jays.

5. Seattle Mariners 63-99, 4th in the AL West

Why?
They do have a solid fan base and lots of money, and Ichiro's hits record was nifty, but this was just a dismal season for an aging Mariners team looking for one more run at the AL West title. Instead, they should have broken out the retro Trident "M" uniforms, because this season was a throwback to Seattle's sorry expansion beginnings.

The Rest of the Story

  • Top pitching prospect Rafael Soriano underwent Tommy John surgery and won't be available to start the 2005 season.

  • The retirement of Edgar Martinez marked the end of the Griffey, Johnson, ARod, Martinez era is Seattle. Four Hall of Fame calibre players who spent a significant amount of time together and could not win a World Series. That has to be a little disheartening for the residents of the Emerald City.

  • Carlos Guillen, traded because he wasn't ARod, actually posted a higher OPS than ARod, for the Detroit Tigers. His replacement, Rich Aurilia, was jettisoned at mid-season, as the M's look for someone younger and more productive, like say… Carlos Guillen.

  • They finished 26 games out… of third place. In a division with Oakland, Anaheim and the surging Texas Rangers, it may be a few seasons before Seattle can realistically compete again, especially with contracts like

  • 32-year-old Scott Spiezio batted .215 with 10 homeruns… in the first year of a 3-year/$9 million contract.

    4. New York Mets 71-91, 4th in NL West

    Why?
    The 2004 Mets were expensive and disappointing. Wait a minute, these are the Mets. They're always expensive and disappointing, so what earns them the #4 spot on this list? A late and ill-advised push to make a run for the wild card. The Mets dealt for Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano, a pair of starters who'd picked up the dubious label "best pitchers available" at the deadline. In exchange, the Mets parted with top prospects Scott Kazmir and Justin Huber.

    It's fine to trade prospects to make a run at the playoffs, but it had better be a successful run, or at the very least an interesting run. Finish 20 games under .500, and a bad case of buyer's remorse sets in. Benson is a free agent, while Zambrano is signed through next season. He'll need to have a huge season as part of a Mets resurgence to salvage these mind-boggling trades.

    The Rest of the Story

  • Manager Art Howe was dismissed, with his "genius" tag from Oakland somewhat tarnished.

  • Japanese import Kaz Matsui had a pedestrian season at best, batting .272 with a .727 OPS, all for the low, low price of $5 million.

  • $16 million of Mike Piazza bought just a .266 average and 20 home runs.

    3. Arizona Diamondbacks 51-111, 5th, NL West

    Why?
    Even in their darkest hour, the Jays never lost 111 games in a season, and they certainly didn't do it with a rotation fronted by Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb. Hey, you think Johnson would agree to be traded to a contender now? How about now? What about now? The fact that they couldn't deal their 41-year-old ace has to be troubling, because there are no guarantees that Johnson will repeat his spectacular 2004 and his value will never be higher than it was at the trade deadline.

    The Rest of the Story

  • Richie Sexson, last season's big acquisition was hurt and managed just 90 at bats. He's now a free agent.

  • The team's average age is 63.

  • It will be a long uphill climb for the Diamondbacks, especially if they can't deal assets like Johnson and Luis Gonzalez for prospects. Snakes fans should keep those 2001 World Series memories close to heart, because it's going to be a while before Arizona contends again.

    2. Kansas City Royals 58-104, 5th, AL Central

    Why?
    The Royals, like the Jays, entered the 2004 season hoping to improve on a surprise winning season. After picking up some firepower in Juan Gonzalez and Matt Stairs, there was every reason to believe that the Royals could build on 83 wins and challenge for the AL Central title, especially with no teams named Yankees or Red Sox in the division. Six months later, the franchise had registered the first 100-loss season in its illustrious history.

    The Rest of the Story

  • Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa defined the term "sophomore slump."

  • Royals right fielders slugged .393 as a group.

  • Royals left fielders slugged .325 as a group, and there are no grade A prospects in the system ready to step in and produce runs.

  • First baseman Mike Sweeney remains a productive hitter, but he also makes $11 million a year, which is about $8 million more than the Royals can afford, and he's signed until 2007.

  • Outside of rookie Zack Greinke, the Royals don't have a single quality starting pitcher. A front three of Halladay, Lilly and Bush is light years beyond anything the Royals will be able to muster for at least the next couple of years.

    1. Montreal Expos 67-95, 5th NL East. R.I.P.

    Why?
    Whether or not your team suffers from incompetent management, a lack of prospects, a small payroll, low attendance, or has just lost 115 games, at least you still have a team. Sadly, that's no longer the case in Montreal.

    A Jays fan informing an Expos fan that they've had a season from hell is like someone from Florida travelling to Baghdad and complaining that it's been a rough summer. After years of neglect and life as a lame duck franchise, Major League Baseball finally euthanized the Expos. 'Spos fans have had to suffer through the strike of '94 derailing a possible World Series appearance, the subsequent dismantling of that team, the selling off of every decent player the team produced, usually at rock bottom prices, the shenanigans of Jeffrey Loria, the same Loria winning a World Series with the Marlins, home games in another country, and the disinterested management of Major League Baseball itself.

    Watching the last game in Montreal, part of me wanted the entire crowd to unleash a storm of golf balls and forfeit the game, handing Bud Selig a black eye that he richly deserves. To their credit, the fans showed restraint and bid a fond farewell to their Expos, perhaps the only team in baseball that truly has claim to the title "Season from Hell."

    Oh yeah, and the banner should have read 1994 NL East Champions.