Welcome back to the next post in my 30 MLB Teams in 30 Posts countdown (plus the contest - see the bottom of the post for details on that).
#2: Toronto Blue Jays (Previous Rankings - 2019, 2020: #11, 12)
The Toronto Blue Jays make a huge leap from outside my Top 10 to #2 in my overall rankings! There are many reasons for Toronto's meteoric climb, among them:
- The Blue Jays have a number of bright, young stars.
- The Blue Jays play teams I generally dislike (Yankees, Red Sox) a lot so I find myself rooting for them often.
- The Blue Jays could be considered a "home" team for me. Their stadium isn't much further from my house than the Pirates or Phillies.
- Toronto is a nice city.
- Canadians seem nice.
- Did I mention all of the Blue Jays young talent?
Also, shout out to Brett Alan who left this comment on my previous post:
I'm not sure if Brett knows exactly how close I came to having the Reds in the #2 spot this year. Seriously. The Reds can be thankful that I made my 2022 rankings prior to the deplorable comments made by the Reds' front office. If you haven't been paying attention to how little the Reds management likes the team (and the fans), get a load of this:
“Well, where are you going to go? Sell the team to who? That’s the other thing: You want to have this debate? …. What would you do with this team to have it more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exist? It would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else. Be careful what you ask for.”
That was uttered by the Reds Phil Castellini, son of the owner and president of the Cincinnati Reds. In all honesty, had I not already created this year's rankings, I do think the Reds would have landed in a spot other than #1 for the year. Sure, the Reds will (probably) always be my true favorite team...but for 2022 at least, my loyalties are up for grabs. I haven't watched a single Reds game since Castellini's comments - if he doesn't care about his own team, why should I?
I will, however, be seeing the Reds play live in about a week...in Toronto of all places. I was this close to buying a Blue Jays hat to wear to the park instead of my Reds gear but in the end I think I've decided to support the Reds - or at least the Reds players. Plus, at least most of the money I'm spending is going to the Blue Jays and the Toronto area rather than Cincinnati...the Blue Jays, after all, are trying to win - and also not saying stupid stuff to and about their fans all the time.
My 2022 MLB Rankings (so far):
#30: St. Louis Cardinals
#29: New York Yankees
#28: Boston Red Sox
#27: Washington Nationals
#26: San Francisco Giants
#25: Chicago Cubs
#24: Milwaukee Brewers
#23: Miami Marlins
#22: Atlanta Braves
#21: Texas Rangers
#20: Arizona Diamondbacks
#19: Philadelphia Phillies
#18: New York Mets
#17: Baltimore Orioles
#16: Los Angeles Dodgers
#15: Los Angeles Angels
#14: San Diego Padres
#13: Oakland Athletics
#12: Colorado Rockies
#11: Houston Astros
#10: Minnesota Twins
#9: Pittsburgh Pirates
#8: Cleveland Guardians
#7: Tampa Bay Rays
#6: Detroit Tigers
#5: Chicago White Sox
#4: Seattle Mariners
#3: Kansas City Royals
#2: Toronto Blue Jays
#1: ???
Contest entries to date (see here for details):
Crocodile 40
Fuji 39
Brett Alan 37
John Sharp 33
bbcardz 33
hiflew 28
Matt 28
The Lost Collector 24
Night Owl 14
Mike Matson 15
Jafronius 7
Nick Vossbrink 4
Wilson 3
Adam Kaningher 2
Alan Deakins 2
madding 1
Wrigley Wax 1
Elliptical Man 1
Up next, is the final post in this series for 2022! Rather than guessing the #1 team (which is a gimme at this point), I think you should use your comment to persuade me into rooting for a specific team for this year. Why should I root for a given team? Give me something to care about for this year's baseball season.
I'd say instead of rooting for the Reds, you turn your attention to the Bengals! Defending AFC champs, very solid young core. Keep your fandom rooted in Cincy!
ReplyDeleteI feel like you should root for the Oakland A's. If you did, you'd be in very rare company. Pretty sure there'd only be two of us in the sports card blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteYou really should become a Marlins fan. I have will lots of cards for you!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to waste my time trying to get you to root for the Red Sox. That being said, I'd be ok if you started to root for the Blue Jays. Even though they're division rivals, I don't hate them. They are a fun young team and they have ties to Western NY.
ReplyDeleteI root for the Tigers, and it's not been an easy task the past few years. Maybe we'll meet again in the future in the World Series, a 1940 rematch.
ReplyDeleteGood Job!
It sounds like you did a lot of my job for me..
ReplyDeleteI can't say be a Cubs fan since our ownership is making some questionable moves these days, but at least they continue to say the right things. I didn't know about those comments, that's a damn shame.
ReplyDeleteI suggest the Padres.
ReplyDeleteDodgers, Giants, and Diamondbacks are ranked worse. Rockies never win anything.
One of the better mascots in MLB.
Plenty of eye candy if you attend a game, especially in the summer.
Competitive team.
But if they win it all, it will be their first, so you won't be a band wagoner.
When is the last time the Padres won ANYTHING? Other than a made up "best farm system" title. Just saying
DeleteI have often wondered what I would do if I no longer wanted to root for the Rockies for whatever reason. My #1 though is that I wouldn't want to root for any other NL team simply because I have so much time rooting against them. I probably would also avoid the West again this time simply because I am not as young as I used to be and staying up until 1 AM for a game to finish every day is not fun.
ReplyDeleteThat would leave me with the AL East and Central. I have always hated the Yankees and Red Sox and that will never change. I have no respect for the Cleveland organization now, so they are out. Who knows where Tampa will be playing in a year or two, so they are out. The White Sox are a big city team, albeit the #2 team in the city, but still a big market, so they are out too.
Leaves me Baltimore, Toronto, KC, Detroit, and Minnesota. Oddly all of these team won World Series titles during my childhood. Even more oddly, I was rooting against each of them the year they won. I don't think I could really go wrong with any of those choices, but for some reason Detroit just stands out to me.
You would have different criteria, but probably not much different, but that would be my choice.
No, I didn't DREAM that you might actually be considering giving up on the Reds, and I didn't know about Castellini's comments, although of course I'm very much aware that the Reds haven't been spending the money necessary to be even somewhat competitive.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Mets fan, as you know, so I can't in good conscience try to talk you into rooting for any other team. So I guess my pitch would be that this is a team which has been hamstrung by management which won't spend, too, but now we do have new ownership willing to put the money in. At the same time, we'll always be the underdogs in our city, and we're a team which hasn't had a World Series win in decades. And they really are a fun bunch to watch. That's my pitch, I guess.
But I hope the Reds do get new ownership or at least some change in attitude soon.
Root for the Twins! They're young, fun, Buxton is healthy (MVP!) and they're the best team in a bad division. Go ahead, I dare you! No wait...I double dog dare you!! lol
ReplyDelete