Welcome Back!

Hello everyone! I'm the owner of /t/bluejays, a tribe that has rose up after an outstanding season of baseball for all Blue Jays fans.

It was a year of uncertainty at first but then came the big trades, Troy Tulowitzky and of course, David Price. The Jays then spread their wings to the sky and flew above the AL East standings, and as soon as you knew it, they were first place.

But the emerging team wasn't done yet, because they had the playoffs to try and win a world series title. They faced the Rangers, and when it seemed they were gonna get swept, they pulled themselves back into it, and then came the magical game 5 of the series...

It was the 7th inning, a tie game 3-3, at home for the Jays with Bautista up to bat. You can watch the at-bat down below...

And...

The Jays finished that game, 6-3 to the Rangers and were moving to the Royals now, but it would prove to be a tougher series.

The first two games went down the gutter, but then the Jays won one, but then lost the next.

The last game proved to be very close and tumultuous, but unfortunately things didn't go their way, and it was the Royals who took the American League Crown and went on to win the world series.

For all Jays fans though, it was a satisfying season. Finally the Jays had a good cast of players, a destructive batting lineup and a world series appearance since the 1992-1993 era, dating back to 20+ years, a whole generation of fans buried in the past.

The Off-Season

After that large season, it was time to move on. Some important staff left and came, some players left, some came, etc.

Below is the 10 most influencial and important moves for the Jays during the off season.

If you want to read more on all the off season moves before I took a large break, just click me, you can trust me.

1. Alex Anthopoulous, General Manager of the Jays, along with Paul Beeston, the President of the club leave the staff crew: This proved to be a very tough pill to swallow for the fans all across Canada to handle (with a few exceptions of course). They lost the manager who built and grew some solid players from the farm system, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez (the two main ones to name out of the few), traded for Josh Donaldson the American League MVP, got Troy Tulowitzky and of course, David Price. A lot of speculation and controversy was grown out of this decision, but it comes to the next important factor...

2. Blue Jays sign Shapiro as new CEO and Ross Atkins as General Manager: This move brought in even more controversy as to why Anthopoulous decided to leave. Nonetheless, they're the new staff for the team and we can all hope for the best in their decisions.

3. David Price leaves the Jays to sign a 7 year deal with the Red Sox for 217 million dollars: Unfortunately for the Jays, it happened. The Red Sox offered a deal to the fabled pitcher, and a very good one, enough to send him out of Toronto. It's unsure yet how much it's going to affect the 2016 season for the Jays, but one can only hope it won't too much somehow...

4. Blue Jays resign Marco Estrada to Two Years of 26 Mil: The Jays on the other hand were able to get one of their most important pitchers, Estrada back on the squad for yet another two years. It was one of the more positive off-season transactions for the team. So, welcome back Ace!

5. John Gibbons returns as Manager for 3 years: The somewhat controversial manager is back again to take the reins for the club. Nothing really new from him other than that.

6. Mark Buerhle goes for Free-Agency: His time with the Jays is unfortunately over as well, due mostly to old age, which also hindered on his performance in the late run of his career. He wants to go to St. Louis and retire there.

7. Blue Jays resign J. A. Happ for 3 years: It looks like the Jays wanted to give him another chance as a starter and they decided to resign him. Hopefully he does better for them this time around.

8. Blue Jays Trade Liam Hendriks for RHP Jesse Chavez: A slightly less important one, but it did happen of course. Some people had ill feelings to this one.

9. Munenori Kawasaki signs with Chicago Cubs: The legend, Kawasaki isn't in the Jays club anymore. I can't say there will be a bush party tonight...

10. The Jays resign Justin Smoak for another year: The Jays keep their depth at first base with this resigning (Collabello will split part time with him).

And here we are!

We're just a few days away from the first game of the season. It looks for the most part like the roster has been molded together for the 2016 franchise, so without further ado, here's your roster for this hopefully great year of ball!

Pitching

Starting Pitchers: Marcus Stroman, R. A. Dickey, Aaron Sanchez, J. A. Happ & Marco Estrada

Relievers: Roberto Osuna (Closer), Drew Storen, Brett Cecil, Jesse Chavez, Gavin Floyd, Joe Biagini, Arnold Leon, Ryan Tepera & Aaron Loup (DL)

Position Players

Catcher: Russell Martin, Josh Thole

First Base: Justin Smoak & Chris Collabello

Second Base: Ryan Goins, Darwin Barney & Devon Travis (DL)

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, Darwin Barney

Third Base: Josh Donaldson (the one and only), Darwin Barney

Left Field: Michael Saunders, Ezequiel Carrera

Centre/Center Field: Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera

Right Field: Jose Bautista, Ezequiel Carrera

Designated Hitter: Edwin Encarnacion, Justin Smoak

Finally!

By the time I'm writing these lines, it's been two hours of hard work, dedication and some research.

I hope that you guys are just as excited as I am for this season. I still have decisions to make, whether or not I will continue hosting my tribe (because it takes a lot of time and involvement which I'm not certain I have exactly).

Thanks for the support you guys give me. I would not have made this post if it wasn't for you all.

So without ado, we will back next Sunday for the season opener against the Rays.

Thanks, Noisestrike