"Entering 2017, the core of the team was getting old. José Bautista was 36, Russell Martin was 34, Josh Donaldson was 31, Troy Tulowitzki was 32, Kendry Morales, who was Edwin Encarnación's replacement, was 34. On the pitching side of things, Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, and Francisco Liriano were 33 and 34. Their two promising pitchers, Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman, were still in the mid-20s."
"Unfortunately, the Jays got off to a rough start, beginning April with an 8-18 record. They had a strong May (18-10), but had a record below .500 in both June and July. Entering a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 18, the Jays were 10-5, moving them to just three games behind the second wild card, albeit in a logjam of teams."
The Blue Jays reached Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS but lost to the Royals despite having the tying run at third and then fell to Cleveland in the 2016 ALCS in five games. Entering 2017 the roster had an aging core — Bautista, Martin, Donaldson, Tulowitzki and Kendry Morales — while Estrada, Happ and Liriano were in their early-to-mid 30s and Sanchez and Stroman were in their mid-20s. The season began 8-18 in April, improved in May but stayed below .500; a late August sweep by the Cubs and a 3-7 August finish undermined playoff hopes. Liriano was traded to the Astros for Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernández.
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