TORONTO BLUE JAYS

It's been a common refrain for the Jays for some time now.

The organization is in flux; a tumultuous economy and a devalued Canadian dollar handcuffed Ricciardi in his attempts to add veteran pitching and offensive pieces that might have inched the Blue Jays closer to Tampa Bay, New York, and Boston. The organization turned to a former leader, Paul Beeston, who is holding the fort as president until he can find a CEO.

Gaston, the Jays' last great manager, produced the most majestic teams and moments in franchise history in the 1990s. Yet when he looks around the clubhouse now, there are no Joe Carters, Roberto Alomars, John Oleruds, Pat Hentgens, or Jack Morrises. Camelot has been a ghost town for 15 years.

The consensus of pundits: They are closer to last than first.

In a division brimming with amazing talent, the Jays are simply fighting to keep their heads above water. There's hope, beginning with an improving farm system and the addition of Kevin Millar, who could transform an often quiet and uptight clubhouse. It's a team that employs one of the best pitchers of this generation in Roy Halladay, the 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner.

It's a team with talented players such as Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, both of whom have seldom played up to their potential.

But if the Jays are good, it will be a surprise.

"We hope so," said Ricciardi. "Rios and Wells have to be those [elite] type of players to be the type of team we have to be to get where we want to go. We need [Lyle] Overbay and [Scott] Rolen to bounce back and [Aaron] Hill to come back.

"Rolen looks good. He understands his body a little better. We need him to be Scott Rolen - the way he plays defense. We don't need him to be more than he is. We have supporting guys around him."

Hill is a terrific second baseman and a sparkplug who hit .291 with 17 homers and 78 RBIs in 2007. Last season, he was limited to 55 games because of postconcussion syndrome, but he has not had a problem in spring training.

Overbay is one of only three lefthanded hitters in the lineup, but he hit only .215 with no homers and eight RBIs vs. lefties last season, which is why Millar's role could be important.

"Our offense is going to be better just for health reasons," Ricciardi said. "We'll be able to put the right guys out there. Defensively, we're better. We've got a good bullpen, so obviously the big question is how our young pitchers respond.

"We know it's a tough division to throw them into the fire, but we have some talent, and getting experience is going to help them develop in the majors."

Ricciardi is also eager to watch the development of left fielder Travis Snider, 21, who should start, and lefthanded-hitting Adam Lind, who will DH against righthanded pitching.

"This team will compete," said Millar. "Whenever you have Halladay at the top of your rotation and a bullpen like [we] do, [we're] going to be a tough team.

"Last year I wasn't here; they didn't score runs, and that's what they need. This team can do some damage because they can pitch, and when you pitch, you win. Just like Tampa Bay last year. They keep pitching."

But Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum, two starters in the middle of the rotation, are gone for part or all of the season.

"Whenever I'm ready, I'll pitch," said McGowan, who had shoulder surgery last May. "I need to get my range of motion back. I hope to pitch this year.

"It's disappointing now to be a part of it because when we're all healthy, we have a very good pitching staff. But we have good young talent here. They have to step up and be better pitchers and we could surprise."

Marcum had Tommy John surgery and the optimistic timetable is an August return. Casey Janssen, who underwent shoulder surgery last March, then had more shoulder trouble in camp, could enter the mix by May.

The injuries have made Jesse Litsch, a bulldog type, the No. 2 starter behind Halladay. The Jays are going to rely on rugged lefty David Purcey, lefthander Ricky Romero, and 29-year-old rookie Scott Richmond to round out the rotation. Highly touted pitching prospect Brett Cecil might find his way north during the season.

"We can surprise people but we're going to have to put young kids in spots where we don't know what kind of yield we're going to get," said Ricciardi. "Our system has never been better than it is now. We have a lot of players on the cusp of making it to the big leagues and they're going to struggle when they get up. We've got more coming. It's going to be a nice transition.

"Our scouting and player development have done as well as anybody else. We don't get notoriety. People forget we led all of major league baseball in pitching - both starting and bullpen - first time it's been done since 1969. Four-fifths of our rotation was homegrown when we did it."

The Blue Jays were hurt by A.J. Burnett's departure to the Yankees and by a rash of injuries the past three seasons, from closer B.J. Ryan to McGowan, Marcum, Janssen, and Jeremy Accardo (forearm, elbow).

"We're inexperienced on the mound," Ricciardi said. "Some days they're going to awe us and some days they're going to owe us. We get Marcum back in August, now you're looking at three pieces in the rotation. At some point you have to get the kids experience."

The bullpen's ERA was 2.94 last season, but there was some late concern in camp this spring about Ryan's decreased velocity. Ryan underwent Tommy John surgery in 2007.

Scott Downs and Accardo, who has shown great stuff, could emerge as the closer if Ryan needs to be shut down. Brandon League, Brian Tallet, Jesse Carlson, Shawn Camp, and Jason Frasor throw hard and have very good stuff. If the starters can put the bullpen in position to hold leads, this group probably won't disappoint.

Ricciardi and Gaston are also hoping Halladay's work ethic rubs off on the younger pitchers.

"I always look to him," McGowan said. "To me, he's the best pitcher in baseball, so every chance you get to watch him, you need to study what he does. Sometimes you're scared to talk to him because you know how locked in and in a zone he gets. Every guy on this staff respects him and looks up to him.

"Can we all live up to what he does? It's hard. You watch him day to day, his workouts, and it's impossible to do any more than he does. He's in a different league."

The Jays are striving to be in the same class as Tampa, Boston, and New York. But this season, they might be closer to Baltimore.