From SportingNews.com Toronto Blue Jays preview It was a bleak offseason for the Blue Jays, who sat idly by and watched their A.L. East counterparts retool and reload. Toronto went the entire offseason without signing a single free agent to a major league contract; instead, the Jays are going with a youth movement. THREE QUESTIONS 1. Who slides into the rotation behind Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch? Opposing managers hated facing the Blue Jays last season because they always could trot out a starter capable of throwing seven or eight shutout innings. That's no longer the case. Halladay is as good as ever, and Litsch had an outstanding sophomore campaign. But A.J. Burnett is gone, Shaun Marcum (Tommy John surgery) will miss the entire season and Dustin McGowan (shoulder surgery) won't be back until May at the earliest. Toronto has numerous options for the final three rotation slots, though that's not necessarily a good thing. There are inexperienced youngsters (David Purcey, Brett Cecil, Brad Mills), an inexperienced not-so-young guy (Scott Richmond made his MLB debut at age 28 last season), a former reliever returning from shoulder surgery (Casey Janssen) and guys trying to resurrect their careers (Matt Clement, Mike Maroth). That's not the recipe for success in the A.L. East. 2. Is Travis Snider ready for a full-time job? The young outfielder certainly looked ready during his call-up late last season (.301 average, two homers, 13 RBIs in 73 at-bats). Snider, the 14th overall pick in the 2006 draft, has been quickly climbing the Jays' ladder. "Snider is definitely ready," says Frank Neville, a Phoenix-based minor league expert who provides scouting reports for Sporting News. "He'll strike out in large numbers because he doesn't always have a consistent approach at the plate, but he's got great raw power, can hit to all fields, and shows good bat control. I expect 25 to 30 home runs and an average around .260 as a rookie in 2009. Long-term he's got as much power potential as anyone." Snider will compete for the left field job this spring. The A.L. East already has the two front-runners -- Tampa Bay lefthander David Price and Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters -- for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award, and Snider is a strong dark-horse candidate. 3. Will Toronto get enough offensive improvement to stay competitive? The Blue Jays won 86 games in baseball's toughest division last year, but it wasn't because of their offense. The pitching staff had a major league-best 3.49 team ERA, and the offense did just enough. Given the state of the 2009 rotation, the offense must improve. The Jays have veterans -- third baseman Scott Rolen and first baseman Lyle Overbay -- at the corner infield positions who appear to be aging quickly. And then there are the two could-be superstar outfielders, Vernon Wells and Alex Rios. Wells is supremely talented but increasingly frustrating. The Jays need him to find consistent excellence. Rios has been more consistent than Wells the past few seasons, but he hasn't produced a breakthrough season just yet. The consensus is there's a monster season hidden somewhere in Rios; will he find it? PROJECTED LINEUP 1. SS Marco Scutaro. Career .325 OBP not exactly leadoff-caliber. 2. 2B Aaron Hill. Ability to rebound from nasty concussion could be key to lineup. 3. RF Alex Rios. Still hasn't tapped into power potential. 4. CF Vernon Wells. Is this the Wells of 2007 (.706 OPS) or 2008 (.840 OPS)? 5. DH Adam Lind. Starting to figure out big-league pitchers. 6. 3B Scott Rolen. Played more than 115 games only once in past four seasons. 7. 1B Lyle Overbay. Was decent in '08 (.270, 15 HRs) after awful 2007 (.240, 10 HRs). 8. C Rod Barajas. His .294 OBP in 2008 left much to be desired. 9. LF Travis Snider. Top prospect will be part of this lineup for a long time. PROJECTED ROTATION 1. RHP Roy Halladay. An ace in every sense of the word. 2. RHP Jesse Litsch. Underrated starter won 13 games with a tidy 3.58 ERA in 2008. 3. LHP David Purcey. Allowed fewer than two runs in four of his 12 starts. 4. RHP Casey Janssen. Former reliever missed 2008 with shoulder problems. 5. RHP Scott Richmond. Was 1-3 in five spot starts last year. PROJECTED CLOSER LHP B.J. Ryan. If he is healthy, the ninth inning won't be the Jays' problem. GRADES Offense: D. They were 11th in the A.L. in runs scored and aren't much better now. The potentially explosive middle-of-the-lineup duo of Rios and Wells never has reached its potential. If Hill is healthy, he'll be a nice addition. Rolen and Overbay are past their peak power days. Pitching: C. The Jays have an ace (Halladay) and a solid sidekick (Litsch), then huge question marks. The bullpen, though, should be a strength. Four lefthanded relievers are coming off excellent seasons -- Ryan (32 saves, 2.95 ERA), Jesse Carlson (2.25 ERA), Scott Downs (1.78 ERA) and Brian Tallett (2.88 ERA) Bench: C. There isn't much pop, but there's defensive versatility. Jose Bautista can play either corner infield spot and in the outfield. Joe Inglett filled in nicely at second base last year, and can play the outfield. John McDonald is one of the best-fielding shortstops in the league; his career .276 on-base percentage keeps him on the pine. Manager: B. In his first tour with Toronto (1989-97), Cito Gaston led the Blue Jays to four first-place finishes and two World Series titles in his first five seasons. And he went 51-37 after taking over for John Gibbons last year. But without any offseason reinforcements in a brutal division, there might not be much Gaston can do this year. Sporting News prediction: The Jays will finish in fourth place in the A.L. East again. And they'll be a lot closer to fifth place than to third place. --

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