Blue Jays goals start with dethroning Yankees for divisional crown

TAMPA —When he gathered the full team for his first full-on address of spring training, Blue Jays manager John Schneider talked about priority objectives for the season ahead.

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And the order of business at the top of the list: Winning the American League East.

That would mean dethroning the incumbent New York Yankees, who the Jays faced on Tuesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the cathedral of Grapefruit League venues.

“At that first meeting, Schneider said your goal is to win the division and get that first-round bye,” reliever Anthony Bass said. “That should be everyone’s goal. It’s no easy feat with who is in our division, but setting that tone right away … I think it’s great.”

The list of incentives for winning the AL East is lengthy, of course, and top of mind given how the post-season unravelled this past fall, with a stunning Jays exit against the Mariners. Win the division, get a bye, get home-field advantage and don’t be saddled with a best-of-three series.

It’s been a constant theme since camp opened here four weeks ago as Schneider and his coaching staff have hammered home the importance of nailing the small details that when not executed can cause winnable games to slip away.

Daily drills at the player development complex have been tireless in that regard, a ramp-up from previous springs. The message is clear: A game thrown away in April has the potential to do as much damage as an excruciating loss in September, especially when the division crown is the target.

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“I think just the details are what it takes,” said Blue Jays bench coach and former Yankees great, Don Mattingly. “It’s easy to say we want to win, but there’s a price to pay for that and sometimes it’s the small details that talented guys don’t always have to do.

“It’s making sure we hit every cut-off man, making sure we’re moving our feet, catching routine balls, making sure we’re not running into outs.

“Those details are important for the entire season. If you lose a game in April because you’re not taking care of those things, it can cost you a pennant and a chance to go to the World Series.”

There is a firm confidence among the Jays that the division can be there’s for the taking if they take care of business. At sports books across North America the Yankees are clear if modest favourites to repeat (even money in many spots compared to the Jays in the 2-1 to 2.5-1 range.)

Those odds are skewed towards the Yankees on a couple of fronts, For one, they are the Yankees, a public team if there ever was one. For another, they won the title last year by a wide margin over the Jays — 99 to 92.

On the other hand, the Yankees were buoyed by that incredibly sizzling start with a 49-16 record before a modest remainder of the season. That hot stretch effectively ended the divisional race before it began.

But the lessons learned from the playoff defeat — where the vagaries of a short series can skew a good team’s chances — remain front of mind with the Jays.

“We feel like we learned from that series about how hard playoff baseball is,” Jays third baseman Matt Chapman said recently. “That’s why it’s so important to win your division and not play in a wild card game.

“It’s really hard to win a playoff game and when you only get a two out of three chance it’s even harder.”

It’s far too early to talk about the specifics of a potential race with the Yankees, given the remaining business of spring training to sort out. But with the injury bug biting the Bronx Bombers, the intrigue will build as opening day approaches.

It’s difficult to declare gamesmanship in Grapefruit League games, but Tuesday’s lineup was amusing at the least. The defending division champs sent out ace Gerrit Cole to face the Jays, who did not bring one pitcher expected to be on the roster when the team breaks camp, including starter Drew Hutchison.

That’s not new for the Jays, who aren’t big on tipping their pitching arms to divisional foes, especially one they expect to battle with for the top spot.

And the message that was delivered at the start of spring training has taken root and the players are taking it to heart.

“There haven’t been that many teams I’ve been with that have made that point clear right from Day 1,” Bass said. “If you want to win a World Series, start with a specific goal of winning the division.

“When (Schneider) said that, there was a lot of head nodding in agreement. It was, ‘We hear you loud and clear and everyone’s on the same page.’ We learned last year what the value of all that could be.”