Toronto wouldn’t have great sportsbook odds to begin with, but trading Roy Halladay to Philadelphia definitely didn’t help matters, at least in the short term. No team has more pitching questions than the Blue Jays heading into the 2010 season.

The Blue Jays will go with either Shaun Marcum or Ricky Romero on Opening Day, but Marcum hasn’t pitched in a year and a half due to Tommy John surgery, and Romero is just in his second year. Romero was 13-9 with a 4.30 ERA in his rookie campaign, but he struggled late in the year. The Blue Jays got Brandon Morrow from Seattle, and he was 2-4 with a 4.39 ERA as he went between the bullpen and the rotation for the Mariners. Mark Rzepczynski and Brett Cecil are the leading candidates to fill out the rotation so far, but both are still extremely raw, although they showed glimpses last year. The Blue Jays still have Jesse Litsch and Dustin McGowan on the sidelines, as well as Scott Richmond, and the first two may not make it back to the mound at all in 2010.

So, how do the Blue Jays navigate all of this? They have to pray for no more injuries. It’s strange that no fewer than four Toronto pitchers have had elbow problems in the last couple of years, and they may have to look at the way they train their pitchers. It’s going to be a rough season, and the young Toronto staff can’t get disheartened by results. The name of the game is improvement this year, which doesn’t bode well for their World Series odds. They should be just aiming to stay out of last place.