That's all Folks!

And so, it all comes to an end with a whimper, at 83-79.

The Jays played above .500 (but marginally so) in every month but May, where the one nine-game skid put them in a hole out of which they'd never climb.

Still, there are the positive signs: the emergence of Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch suggest that there may be pitching depth to carry the team (or from which the Jays can trade) in the coming years.

Our hope before the year was for a 90 win season, with the hope of some sort of swoon from the rest of the American League. Obviously, neither happened. Moreover, looking around the AL, it seems unlikely that the Jays are going to catch the likes of Cleveland, Detroit, the Yankees or the Red Sox resting on their laurels, or putting their development into turnaround for a year or two.

If the Jays are truly going to compete when the 2008 season gets underway in six months, they need to look at upgrading at every position, not merely the ones that seem weak now.

It's always instructive to remember that the Jays emerged as a contender when they traded two of the team's best and most popular players in December of 1990. Sometimes, good just isn't enough to put you over the top.

What's next for us
While we were getting our yearbook signed and renting a tux for the prom the other day, we figure that we'll be pressing through the winter with the blog, giving our take on the playoffs over the next month. (We'll have to listen to our friend the Red Sox fan gloat his way through the postseason...again.)

Also, we'll likely go through the team player by player, and tear them all a new one. (Not really...this season was all Josh Towers' and Mickey Brantley's fault anyhow, and they're gone now. So print those 2008 playoff tickets!)

Our posts might be slightly less frequent, but we think about the Jays every day, so we should be able to find something to write about through the offseason.

Final Thoughts
Hey, if nothing else, working on this blog day-in day-out has made this season and all of its peaks and valleys a lot more fun for us, and we thank those of you who have contributed through your comments, emails, links, Ballhype love and random post ideas tossed around over beers...all of it. You rock.

Mostly, we're still amazed that people come to the blog and read our scribblings everyday, and we're eternally grateful to you for including us as part of your day.

Now if only we could figure out a way to make a living at this...