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The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

hockeyfan1

hockeyfan1

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From ESPN RumorCentral (MLB);


So far this offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays have done little by way of improving a pitching staff that finished 12th in the American League last season with a 4.26 ERA. However, if some of the free agent options out there start to get nervous and lower the asking price, there's a chance the Blue Jays might be interested.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos told the Canadian Press earlier this week that "from a free-agent standpoint, we have been given a price and we just don't necessarily see the value right now." However, that hasn't stopped the organization from doing their due diligence, just in case.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Toronto "might finally be preparing to pounce." Henotes that the Jays "have done extensive background work on right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, digging into his medical records, and also remain interested in righty Ervin Santana and other free agents."

Toronto is in a better position than most teams are to make a bid on those free agents who come with the albatross of a qualifying offer attached as the Blue Jays top two draft picks are both protected. If they sign either Jimenez or Santana, they would only lose the No. 49 overall pick.

If they didn't want to lose a pick at all, they could decide to make an offer to Bronson Arroyo, however, as ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports, the pitcher says that a dozen teams have made contact with his agent but he has yet to come close to a deal with any of them. "I don't even have an offer to turn down," Arroyo said. "So I might still be sitting here on March 1. I have no idea."
 
Orioles and Jimenez are apparently closing in on a deal, so if the Jays are going to get in on another starting pitcher it'll be Ervin Santana.
 
Peter D. said:
Tough not to feel duped after last season's promise of injecting any increase in revenue into the team.
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Well, it is worth keeping in mind that because of the escalating nature of the Buerlhe and Reyes contracts,  the Dickey extension kicking in and a couple of other things that the payroll is going to rise by something like 20-25 million this season even without any additions.
 
Potvin29 said:
Wasn't it a promise to increase it last season, which they did?  Or was there another promise?
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I recall AA saying that any increase in revenue due to higher attendance would be put right back into the team. 
 
Nik the Trik said:
Peter D. said:
Tough not to feel duped after last season's promise of injecting any increase in revenue into the team.
Click to expand...

Well, it is worth keeping in mind that because of the escalating nature of the Buerlhe and Reyes contracts,  the Dickey extension kicking in and a couple of other things that the payroll is going to rise by something like 20-25 million this season even without any additions.
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Yes.  Although these increases will be essentially covered by the team's portion of the new television deal.  So payroll has increased by a healthy margin, but Rogers is not necessarily spending more than they did last year out of their own pocket.
 
Peter D. said:
Nik the Trik said:
Peter D. said:
Tough not to feel duped after last season's promise of injecting any increase in revenue into the team.
Click to expand...

Well, it is worth keeping in mind that because of the escalating nature of the Buerlhe and Reyes contracts,  the Dickey extension kicking in and a couple of other things that the payroll is going to rise by something like 20-25 million this season even without any additions.
Click to expand...

Yes.  Although these increases will be essentially covered by the team's portion of the new television deal.  So payroll has increased by a healthy margin, but Rogers is not necessarily spending more than they did last year out of their own pocket.
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The only caveat is the Canadian dollar is doing worse relative to the US, so there are added costs for that.  It's crying poor for a massive company though.
 
Peter D. said:
Yes.  Although these increases will be essentially covered by the team's portion of the new television deal.  So payroll has increased by a healthy margin, but Rogers is not necessarily spending more than they did last year out of their own pocket.
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Sure but they have other contracts to concern themselves with next year, including Rasmus and another 6 million dollar bump for Reyes. So re-investing in the team doesn't necessarily mean using that money this off-season on their choice of a mediocre group of free agents.
 
OldTimeHockey said:
Are they crying poor? I've seen nothing to say that Jays are not attempting to spend more cash.
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Neither have I. I certainly haven't gotten the sense that the lack of activity has been for lack of trying, just lack of success in their various pursuits.
 
bustaheims said:
OldTimeHockey said:
Are they crying poor? I've seen nothing to say that Jays are not attempting to spend more cash.
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Neither have I. I certainly haven't gotten the sense that the lack of activity has been for lack of trying, just lack of success in their various pursuits.
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Well I do think there's a lack of trying. As Nik points out, are they really going to push their hardest for mediocre pitchers that are surely going to be overpaid due to a mediocre class of free agents? That sounds an awful lot like signing David Clarkson because he's the best out there.
 
OldTimeHockey said:
Well I do think there's a lack of trying. As Nik points out, are they really going to push their hardest for mediocre pitchers that are surely going to be overpaid due to a mediocre class of free agents? That sounds an awful lot like signing David Clarkson because he's the best out there.
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I really don't. The Jays were in on the bidding for Tanaka, they were in talks with Jimenez. They had discussions with McCann. They were in trade negotiations for Kinsler and Fister. They're in the running for Santana. They've been involved with a lot of the high profile players that have moved this summer, they just couldn't seal the deal on any of them.
 
bustaheims said:
OldTimeHockey said:
Well I do think there's a lack of trying. As Nik points out, are they really going to push their hardest for mediocre pitchers that are surely going to be overpaid due to a mediocre class of free agents? That sounds an awful lot like signing David Clarkson because he's the best out there.
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I really don't. The Jays were in on the bidding for Tanaka, they were in talks with Jimenez. They had discussions with McCann. They were in trade negotiations for Kinsler and Fister. They're in the running for Santana. They've been involved with a lot of the high profile players that have moved this summer, they just couldn't seal the deal on any of them.
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Oh I know they're involved...My only point is they don't appear to want those players as badly as the teams that received/signed them.....Yes I know that is coupled with whether the player wants to play in Toronto as well.

Would Jays fans be happy if they grossly overpaid for a pitcher that came in and faired similar to Johnson?
 
bustaheims said:
I really don't. The Jays were in on the bidding for Tanaka, they were in talks with Jimenez. They had discussions with McCann. They were in trade negotiations for Kinsler and Fister. They're in the running for Santana. They've been involved with a lot of the high profile players that have moved this summer, they just couldn't seal the deal on any of them.
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I think that the disagreement here stems from the fact that the Jays haven't really seen anyone this off-season that makes them want to deviate from the course or philosophies that AA is running the team with. I have no doubt that they were "involved" in some of those discussions but I have to suspect that in some of those cases their involvement was limited to pretty quickly learning that they weren't going to be able to offer Tanaka or McCann the sort of money/term they got from the Yankees or offer the Rangers the sort of assets they'd want for Kinsler.

So while I agree that I wouldn't characterize that sort of off-season as reflecting a lack of effort, I also wouldn't characterize it as being one where they really wanted any of the players available.
 
bustaheims said:
OldTimeHockey said:
Well I do think there's a lack of trying. As Nik points out, are they really going to push their hardest for mediocre pitchers that are surely going to be overpaid due to a mediocre class of free agents? That sounds an awful lot like signing David Clarkson because he's the best out there.
Click to expand...

I really don't. The Jays were in on the bidding for Tanaka, they were in talks with Jimenez. They had discussions with McCann. They were in trade negotiations for Kinsler and Fister. They're in the running for Santana. They've been involved with a lot of the high profile players that have moved this summer, they just couldn't seal the deal on any of them.
Click to expand...

If I come to the table with $5 and try and buy a $500 item, I guess it is trying.  AA continues to toe the Beeston/management line on contract duration and how much they are willing to spend on free agents. 

It's great that AA calls up agents but if he isn't going there with a price remotely close to the asking price, it's not really all that effective.
 
L K said:
bustaheims said:
OldTimeHockey said:
Well I do think there's a lack of trying. As Nik points out, are they really going to push their hardest for mediocre pitchers that are surely going to be overpaid due to a mediocre class of free agents? That sounds an awful lot like signing David Clarkson because he's the best out there.
Click to expand...

I really don't. The Jays were in on the bidding for Tanaka, they were in talks with Jimenez. They had discussions with McCann. They were in trade negotiations for Kinsler and Fister. They're in the running for Santana. They've been involved with a lot of the high profile players that have moved this summer, they just couldn't seal the deal on any of them.
Click to expand...

If I come to the table with $5 and try and buy a $500 item, I guess it is trying.  AA continues to toe the Beeston/management line on contract duration and how much they are willing to spend on free agents. 

It's great that AA calls up agents but if he isn't going there with a price remotely close to the asking price, it's not really all that effective.
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Should he really be getting into a bidding war with the Yanks though?
 
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