Blue Jays headed to offseason after missing playoffs: What went wrong?

The Blue Jays closed out 2014 with a 1-0 loss against the American League East-champion Orioles, finishing the season 83-79, third in the division and ninth in the AL. Led by Jose Bautista's tremendous season Toronto had one of the league's best offences, but it wasn't enough to lift them into the playoffs.

Here are a few key reasons why the Blue Jays will be watching the postseason with the rest of us.

1) Lawrie and Rasmus didn't deliver

The Blue Jays were counting on Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus to be vital complementary players this season.

Once again, Lawrie couldn't stay on the field, playing in only 70 games. He had a slow start with the bat in April (.192/.243/.384, 26 games) but rebounded in May and June (.275/.333/.441, 43 games) before fracturing a finger on June 22 that would keep him out of the lineup until early August. When Lawrie finally returned, he was pulled after one at-bat due to back tightness and would end up missing the rest of the season with a strained oblique.

After an encouraging 2013 season, Rasmus struggled both at the plate (.225/.287/.448) and in centre field (-8.8 UZR) and was relegated to pinch-hitting duty in September. He's a free agent this offseason and it's already clear he won't be back in Toronto.

2) Bullpen blowup

Just a year after posting the ninth-best bullpen ERA (3.39) in baseball, the Blue Jays' relief pitchers combined for a 4.11 ERA in 2014, the sixth-worse mark in the majors.

Casey Janssen was one of the league's most consistent relievers between 2011-2013 but his K rate plummeted in 2014 and his ERA took a hit, going from 2.56 in 2013 to 3.94 this season. Steve Delabar, an all-star in 2013, was sent to Triple-A in mid-June as he encountered control issues in the first half of the year.

Toronto thought they had the pieces to form a top-notch bullpen but relief pitching is unpredictable by nature and it didn't happen in 2014.

3) Defence doesn't cut it

The biggest difference between the Blue Jays and division-winning Orioles was on defence. Toronto's starting pitching compared favourably with Baltimore's but the O's excellent defensive play shaved their staff's expected ERA by nearly half a run.

Bautista was the only full-time Jays position player with a plus-UZR rating and Jose Reyes had the worst defensive year of his career as he did not have the luxury of playing next to Lawrie for most of the season. GM Alex Anthopoulos said during his season-ending news conference that Reyes will get more days off next season to rest his aging body.

4) Quiet trade deadline

The front office's inactivity at the trade deadline didn't sit well with the players at the time and with good reason. It was obvious even then that the Jays lacked the depth to truly compete for a playoff spot and the team's flaws continued to be exposed as the season went on.

More MLB coverage on Yahoo Sports: