The Need for Speed

Who hold the NBA Jerseys Blue Jays record for most stolen bases in a season?
Now, I'm thinking that most of you are Googling this furiously, but I'll save you the work. It was Dave Collins, or "Doc" as Rance Mulliniks usually refers to him, who swiped 60 bases way back in 1984 before a good chunk of you were even a twinkle in your parents' eyes. Since then, only Roberto Alomar (55 in 1993), Otis Nixon (54 in '96) and Shannon Stewart (51 in '98) have hit the half century mark.
Looking back at Blue Jays playoff teams of seasons past, speed was always part of the equation. A look at their five postseason appearances seasons tells us as much:
For whatever reason, the stolen base has gone the way of the Dodo bird down at One Blue Jays Way. Quite frankly, I'm not sure why. Back in the day, the Blue Jays were annually among, the top running teams in the game. Taking the extra base led to tack-on runs and a lot of wins. Some might argue that the recent lack of running should fall at the feet of manager Cito Gaston who, at first glance, would appear to be a 'sit back and wait for the 3-run bomb' style of skipper. But as the table shows above, four of the five playoff seasons had Gaston at the helm and there's no denying that they ran a whole bunch.
Of the returning players, Vernon Wells had the most steals with 17. After that, everyone else was in the single digits. Infielder Mike McCoy, an off-season waiver claim from the Rockies, was 40 for 46 last season with Colorado Spings (AAA) but will likely spend his season with Las Vegas (AAA) as injury insurance for Alex Gonzalez and John McDonald. Joey Gathright, in camp as a non-roster invitee, is the only real threat - he's had 20 or more steals in three of his six Major League seasons despite playing part-time. But he's a long shot to break camp with the club.

I've always been a firm believer in team speed because it rarely goes into a slump. And with the way Toronto's offence has, at times, sleepwalked its way into slumps over most of the last decade, here's hoping that deficiency is filled in the not-too-distant future. There's nothing wrong with taking the game to your opponent, especially when not a lot of people are expecting this team to win in the first place.
At least it might make games more exciting.
The end of the Jays' running ways coincided with the arrival of former general manager J.P. Ricciardi and the myopic offensive approach that was drilled into his head during his years under Billy Beane in Oakland. While Ricciardi's first order of business in Toronto was to shed payroll, he also turned a team with above-average speed into a team that worked the count and waited for the big bomb. The strategy never panned out and, when the power dried up, which it did three or four times a seasons, the Jays couldn't score. That was never more apparent than last season where Toronto finished second last in the A.L. to the Tigers in bags swiped. The words 'manufactured runs' and 'Blue Jays' were rarely written in the same sentence.

So where does that leave the 2010 edition of the Jays? Well, because of the base to base approach preached over the last eight years, it's not like Ricciardi and his people were drafting a bunch of athletes with speed, so there are no real burners at any level. A quick glance through the Jays' minor league system reveals just one name of any significance, outfielder Darin Mastroianni, who stole 70 bases in 85 attempts between Dunedin (A) and New Hampshire (AA). But his one home run in over 540 plate appearances and the fact that his name is not mentioned on any scouting service as a top prospect tells me this is likely the last time you'll read his name.