Is this the year the Blue Jays are competitive?

Chances are you haven’t heard about the baseball team that cried wolf.

It’s a tale eerily similar to that of the children’s book, the one about the boy who repeatedly shared false alarms to the point where no one believed him when he did tell the real story.

It has been 20 years since the Toronto Blue Jays qualified for Major League Baseball’s postseason. Yet at this time of year ever since Joe Carter’s memorable home run that won the 1993 World Series, Jays fans from coast to coast have shared in optimism for the upcoming baseball season.

The 2012 season was no exception. Injuries, however, decimated the team and exposed holes in the lineup and within the farm system. The Jays finished a disappointing fourth in the American League’s East Division with a 73-89 record, 22 games behind the first-place New York Yankees.

It was an all-too-familiar scenario.

“They have been so bad for so long and they haven’t played very well lately. That has left a bitter taste in the mouths of a lot of fans,” explained Gregg Zaun, a baseball analyst for Rogers Sportsnet. “They’re a lot better on paper heading into this season, but they’re still going to have to go out there and win ball games.”

An illness prevented Zaun from accompanying his Blue Jays Connected partner Jamie Campbell earlier this week when Campbell made a brief stop in Regina as part of the Blue Jays’ cross-Canada promotional tour. Generating hype for this year’s edition of the Blue Jays has been relatively smooth sailing, according to Campbell.

The blockbuster deal with the Miami Marlins that landed Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, in addition to the signings of free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, created a buzz in Toronto not felt since the championship seasons of 1992 and 1993. Those players added to the mix of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Brandon Morrow will play in front of a sold-out crowd at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians in the season opener.

“They haven’t had a reason to cheer about anything in Toronto, beyond the Argonauts winning the Grey Cup last year, for a long time,” Campbell said. “It has almost become necessary to have a post-season run just for the psyche of the city. One team has to step up and do something about it, and the Blue Jays are wellpositioned to do something about that.”

The Jays have been picked by many to win the American League East this season. A few pundits have slotted Toronto in the Fall Classic, ahead of perennial playoff contenders like the Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers.

It’s water-cooler conversation that rings familiar with “the boy who cried wolf ” scenario.

“Five years ago when Roy Halladay was still the ace of the staff and they had signed A.J. Burnett and Dustin McGowan was still healthy, there was some talk that that could have been the year they challenged the Yankees or the Boston Red Sox,” Campbell said. “Every spring you sort of rely on that false hope. But this year you cannot argue with the fact that, on paper, they look tremendous.”

The proven names the Jays added are the difference from previous springs.

Josh Towers was once the ace of the pitching staff in 2005 and was expected to be a mainstay for years. Young left-hander Ricky Romero was touted as the next 20-game winner in franchise history. Prospect Henderson Alvarez was being compared with Seattle Mariners Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez.

Third baseman Eric Hinske was named the American League rookie of the year in 2002. Fellow youngsters like Russ Adams, Gabe Gross and Alex Rios were labelled as the next core of the Blue Jays. Eric Thames, Anthony Gose, Alex Gonzalez ... the list goes on. Not one of the aforementioned players is on the Jays’ opening-day roster, and none reached his expectations while wearing a Blue Jays uniform.

Should Blue Jays fans prepare for October baseball in Toronto this year? The Los Angeles Angels added slugger Josh Hamilton to an already-potent lineup with Albert Pujols. Justin Verlander still pitches for the Tigers, and CC Sabathia and Robinson Cano still wear Yankees pinstripes.

“(Toronto) still has its hands full,” Zaun cautioned. “There’s a lot of parity in the American League ... it’s definitely not going to be easy — not at all, in fact. But they’re in a lot better position to be competitive than they have been in the past.”

“I like their chances. The division is there for the taking,” Campbell added. “Bautista and Reyes and a lot of those guys aren’t going anywhere, either. This isn’t a one-year shot. There is that to take comfort in.”