30 Teams in 30 Days 2018 19 Toronto Blue Jays

Did you know that the Toronto Blue Jays are the only Major League baseball team to play their home games in Canada in 2018? I'm trying to think of some more interesting trivia about them, but this is a middle of the road team that did very little to distinguish itself among its very tough AL East competitors over the offseason. OH, the Blue Jays were the first team I played for in T-ball as a kid. I wore that cap all the time; I even took it outside with me during an earthquake drill when we were supposed to leave everything at our desks. That's some interesting trivia...

All-Acquired Factor

Kevin Pillar is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game, and this year he'll be flanked by two new teammates: Randal Grichuk, acquired in a trade with the Cardinals, and Curtis Granderson, plucked off the free agent market on a one-year deal. Although those are the only two new acquisitions to show up in the SI baseball preview, there was also quite a bit of turnover in the infield: Yangervis Solarte (ranked 440 by MLB.com) and Aledmys Diaz (617) were brought in via trade (with the Padres and the Cardinals, respectively) as insurance for oft-injured infielders Devon Travis (who is healthy but performing poorly to start the year) and Troy Tulowitzki (who is not so much, having just had surgery on both heels). Also joining the team via trade is Gift Ngoepe, the first African-born player to reach the major leagues, with the Pirates last year.

Fifth Starter

Also part of the All-Acquired festivities, lefty Jaime Garcia (337) was signed to a free agent deal to round out a very strong rotation. In another personal connection with the Blue Jays, Garcia is the only Major League player to share my birth day and date. Along with Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada, that makes 60% of Toronto's starting rotation born under the Cancer birth sign.

Bullpen

Speaking of Cancer pitchers, Korean former closer Seung Hwan Oh joined this team after a proposed deal with the Rangers was scuttled due to a problem with his physical. I guess those Canadians are a little more forgiving about stuff like that, due to their universal health care, but the debacle still caused Oh's fantasy rank to drop to 467. The other top setup option is 2017 Divisional All-Star Ryan Tepera, who clocks in at 480 on the fantasy rank-O-meter. Two other newly-acquired veteran former closers made the team out of Spring Training as Non-Roster Invitees: Tyler Clippard and John Axford.

Fantasy Astrology Relevance

I've already mentioned the All-Cancer-All-The-Time starting rotation, but J.A. Happ also starts for Libra, while Marcus Stroman started the season as the Taurus ace. Before Josh Donaldson went on the DL with shoulder inflammation, he was leading a very strong pack of Sagittarius third basemen, while his real life teammate Justin Smoak is stuck behind Wil Myers and Matt Carpenter in the first base pecking order. And Aquarius draws its late-game battery from Toronto, with both closer Roberto Osuna and catcher Russell Martin.

Song

YYZ - Rush

The hands-down best instrumental piece from Canadian progressive rock band Rush starts with a riff based on morse code for the letters Y, Y, and Z (pronounced "zed" in the local vernacular), which is the call sign for their home town Toronto airport. As if that wasn't perfect enough, Rush lead singer / base player Geddy Lee is a huge baseball fan, who has jammed with Randy Johnson, and who once threw out a ceremonial first pitch for the Blue Jays on Opening Day!