The Blue Jays bid over $50MM for Yu Darvish, falling just short of the Rangers' $51.7MM bid, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. Here's the latest on the Blue Jays’ division, starting with a right-hander who spent three up-and-down seasons in Toronto…
- Several teams are kicking the tires on acquiring A.J. Burnett, but the Yankees will have to absorb significant salary to make a deal and Burnett can veto trades to ten teams per year, according to George A. King III of the New York Post.
- The Yankees bid less than $20MM for Darvish, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Orioles GM Dan Duquette explains the team's shrinking pro scouting department to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. "In an effort to make an impact on the franchise, I can argue that the scouts are most valuable to a team at the amateur level,” Duquette said. “They can have a bigger impact on this organization.”
- Former Rays catcher Toby Hall has decided to retire, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The 36-year-old spent seven seasons with the Rays and last played in the Major Leagues in 2008.
- Dan Hayes of the North County Times hears the Rays are one of the teams that has asked the Padres about Anthony Rizzo (Twitter link). However, the Padres, who have been flooded with interest, aren't matching up that well with the Rays at this point, according to Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- MLB executives expect Gio Gonzalez to be traded relatively soon now that Darvish is no longer available, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). The Red Sox are among Gonzalez’s suitors.
MB923
”
Several teams are kicking the tires on acquiring A.J. Burnett, but the Yankees will have to absorb significant salary to make a deal and Burnett can veto trades to ten teams per year, according to George A. King III of the New York Post.”
I’ll take a bag of balls for him.
KyleB
Ok, but you have to give the bag back.
MB923
We keep the bag and give you back A-Rod instead.
Rangersfan32 2
Or we’ll just keep the bag.
KyleB
Teixera or the deal’s off.
MB923
Deal off.
Next topic, manager exchanging. You give us Wash for our next ALDS and ALCS, we’ll give you Joe for your next WS (Hey they are a combined 5-0 in those)
0bsessions
Francona’s a free agent and he’s 8-0 in the WS.
MB923
Francona FTW
MB923
I wonder if the Jays bid $51.6 million
Rangersfan32 2
I can’t imagine what profanities AA would be yelling if they did. If they were serious about Darvish then that knowing they were just 200k off would suck.
KyleB
I doubt this report is completely accurate, but if it is, it’s good for the Rangers. It would at least mean that they didn’t outbid everyone else by a large amount…just enough to win. As I said, this news would not get out though.
Rangersfan32 2
Either way you think about it though. Spending only 300k more than the Dice-k bid for a far superior pitcher and winning the bid is impressive in its own right.
KyleB
Yea, it is. I’m cautiously excited about this. They’ve made me happy I renewed my season tickets again this year. I’m sure i’ll see that posting fee when my ticket renewal form comes in the mail next year though.
BuyBuyMets
He’s not superior to anyone until he pitches in MLB…..
Rangersfan32 2
Speaking directly about stats from Japan, Darvish is superior to Dice-K. Speaking in terms of stuff and make up, Darvish is younger, taller, has better stuff, sick offspeed pitches, and sky high potential, he is vastly superior over Dice-K.
BuyBuyMets
IF he is effective in the U.S. and IF he stays healthy he may be worth getting excited about. Fully 90% of Japanese “greats” have been below average big league players. Karl Spooner was better than Sandy Koufax at one time too. Get back to us in a couple of years and I may agree, but until he does something, anything in the majors, he’s not even superior to Vin Mazzaro
0bsessions
With the Matsuzaka bidding, teams could at least say “Seriously? Wow, didn’t see that coming” considering the next highest bid was something like $30MM. If this report is accurate, that’s got to hurt.
That said, I don’t doubt its accuracy. Toronto and Texas were considered the two biggest suitors and reports coming out ahead of the bidding were that Darvish and his representation would be insulted by anything less than what Matsuzaka’s posting fee was, meaning anyone seriously interested was apt to top that $51.1MM fee.
0bsessions
I’m pretty sure knowing you were off by under a couple million on a bid exceeding fifty million has got to be plenty demoralizing enough that it only being a difference of 200K probably wouldn’t be any worse.
Either that or the Jays just weren’t all that serious with their $50MM+ bid.
Lunchbox45
demoralizing is the absolute best word to describe this scenario.
Imagine convincing owner ship that this is the best bet, and then falling so short..
slider32
It sucks as it is the Jays were the only other serious competiter for Darvish. What a downer.
vtadave
So assuming they were willing to dole out the posting fee and then 5/80 or whatever to sign him means that they should have money to spend. Time for AA to place a call to Mr. Boras re: Edwin Jackson and Ryan Madson.
Joshua
I don’t believe a word of that reported Jays bid. There’s no way Griffin knows, as the Jays would never let it leak (which they made very clear today in an AA conference call).
johnsmith4
Not even Paul Beaston? I wonder if James Paxton has an opinion on the matter?
dredog
What does Kevin Gray say?
slider32
Maybe the leak was in Japan?
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
the nippon ham fighters only get information on the top bid, so they wouldn’t know what the Jays bid.
renegadeisback
According to Griffin’s sources/drinking buddies.
ice_hawk1002
not to be confused with bob elliott’s drinking buddies
0bsessions
”
The Blue Jays bid over $50MM for Yu Darvish, falling just short”
Ouch.
“Burnett can veto trades to ten teams per year”
I totally misunderstood that for a second. I was just imaging a scenario of the Yankees basically asking and asking and then upon getting to the eleventh potential suitor saying “Ha! You’re maxed out on your NTC!”
“The Red Sox are among Gonzalez’s suitors.”
Is this remark just in here to tie in all 5 ALE teams? It seems rather out of place.
101andcounting
I think it’s more because it’s Heyman’s column. It’s not like he’d go a whole column without scratching the Red Sox behind the ear*
*This was originally a much more obscene metaphor, but I didn’t want to tick off the mods.
JacobyWanKenobi
I think it’s so that this post shows up in the twitter feeds of redsox fans for more page views. 😀
slider32
AJ will win 14 games for the Yanks this year. Burnett is 121-111 in 12 seasons with a 4.10 ERA not too shabby. This is better than Don Larson for his career.
0bsessions
John Lackey won twelve for the Sox this year, doesn’t change the fact he stunk out loud. Yeah, it’s entirely feasible Burnett will have fourteen decisions that come up as wins for him, but the Yankees offense will have a lot more to do with that than him not being a bad pitcher.
slider32
John Lackey isn’t pitching this year, he will get no wins. Dice K insn’t pitching this year he will get not wins, Johan Santana didn’t pitch last year, and go no wins. Who would you rather have.
yahoo-XUZ2IDV7UTSOQSKTUIV4OXEHJU
Are my only two choices AJ Burnett or Don Larsen?
BeenThereDoneIt
LOL, I remember him being up something like 11-0 after the second and he couldnt even make it to the fifth inning to get the decision. He left in the 4th with the score at 11-7 or something close to that.
ice_hawk1002
if the issue is simply not having enough amateur scouts, why not just hire more? how do they expect to do their homework on young talent in other organizations??
Lefty
This whole blog story is about players except for the Orioles section.
Duquette is talking about scouts!
What is wrong with this picture?
Come on Dan Da Man step up to the plate with Angelos and convince him to sign Oswalt and Kuroda and leave Prince Fielder for another team!
cacavolante
thank god you arent running the orioles.
Lefty
You type this because you live a life of fear!
Live a little Caca… Live a little!
cacavolante
no, i type this because i just lived through a string of mediocre to brutal gm’s and i finally see a guy trying to clean up our scouting and player development and im encouraged by it. besides it would probably take 15 mil to get oswalt here and i can watch the pitchers we already have get hit all over the yard for much cheaper than that.
Wilsonl
Another Gonzalez for the Red Sox?
0bsessions
God, I hope not. Someone’s going to overpay for him and I don’t want it to be us.
Rangersfan32 2
Yeah a combination of high walk rates and facing the AL East offenses day in and day out doesn’t scream success to me. Sox would be wise to look elsewhere. Honestly, wouldn’t it make perfect sense to pick up a Oswalt or Kuroda on a short term deal?
James Scheuerman
Someone’s going to pay Oswalt 10 million to rehab his back at their facility.
KyleB
A less talented Gonzalez.
No Neck
Missed it by THAT much
johnsmith4
LOL AA = Get Smart
* Edit * AA must also have a “cone of silence”
soxxxxx
wouldnt exceeding Dice K’s bid have made some sense? It just seems strange to bid 100,000k less than the dice-k bid
Lunchbox45
nothing about the bidding system makes sense
if the rangers had bid 49 million you would applaud AA.
The winner wins, thats it
Jose_Bautista
There is no definitive proof of 50MM bid from Jays. All speculation. Nowhere in the article it’s confirmed.
No one from Jays front office including GM has either confirmed bidding or not bidding. So yes, WE WILL NEVER KNOW.
It’s just bunch of speculations, there couldve been NO bid. Or a bid less than 30MM.
stl_cards16
For Jays fans that had their hopes built up sake, I really hope they bid over $50MM. If not all of this was just hype and they were never really serious about landing Darvish. With how good he has been in Japan, you knew it was going to be right at Dice K’s record.
Encarnacion's Parrot
Dear Griffin: Please stop trolling my already torn heart.
joeybw
How?
Padres have too many 1B, Rays need a 1B. Rays have too many SP’s (if possible) and Padres need one.
This is one of the GM’s trying to rip the other one off. Either Friedman is offering some mid level prospect SP instead of a Wade Davis type or Byrnes is asking for Shields.
Bob M.
for real just give them Wade Davis.
Rangersfan32 2
You want Davis? If I was going after a Rays starter, Davis would be near the bottom of my list.
joeybw
Dude, that’s kinda the point. I’m a Rays fan.
markr
i would hope byrnes is asking for hak ju lee
michael
I would hope he likes the sound of laughter. Beckham would be closer.
markr
a borderline non-prospect who showed some signs of life this season and can’t stay at shortstop which significantly hurts his value, for a top 20 offensive prospect in the game..riiight
lee had an outstanding season at a difficult position to fill, but he’s still a bit away from the majors. rizzo tore up AAA at the same age of lee, there’s value on both sides of this proposal.
AirmanSD
“Padres have too many 1B, Rays need a 1B. Rays have too many SP’s (if possible) and Padres need one.”
There is the misconception. The Padres don’t need a SP, they would not mind netting one provided he has higher upside then their current options. The Padres currently have ready for the majors Stuaffer/Luebke/Richards/Volquez/Moseley/Bass. None of them are top flight, but neither is Davis. In addition the Padres have Kelly/Castro/Erlin/Wieland/Oramas/Hernandez all in AA or higher and near ready. Pitching isn’t what the Padres are targeting, unless it clearly institutes an upgrade.
The Padres are still after hitting and position players specifically at SS. The Padres want a prospect that matches Rizzo’s value that plays SS, that’s the problem with the match up. The Rays don’t want to give up Lee (which would be an overpay), and that has to be who the Padres want for Rizzo. According to minorleagueball’s John Sickles the both rate as B+ type prospect the difference being the positions and SS is far harder to find then a 1B. But that is irrevelant to the Padres, SS is the only true weakness in their system. Thats the hole that the Padres hope to fill in any Rizzo deal.
Remember the Padres have at least 2 option years remaining with Rizzo, this isn’t something that have to do right now. Depth is never a bad thing.
Beersy 2
You are correct. The last thing the Padres need to do is trade Rizzo for a mid rotation starter, they have plenty of those on the way. If they can’t pry a SS from somebody, an athletic outfielder who can hit for average and field wouldn’t hurt either. If Byrnes can’t work an extension out with Maybin they will have to replace him down the road. I’ve said it before on here, Rizzo to the A’s for Choice. That deal would benefit both teams.
James Scheuerman
The A’s don’t want a 1st basemen. They already have Barton, Brandon Allen, Chris Carter and Kila Ka’huehue(whatever his name is). Choice is about the only decent prospect they have. They aren’t giving him up.
BeenThereDoneIt
If you cant remember his name, he probably isnt worth much,
Beersy 2
Bartons’ bat really doesn’t fit the 1st basemans role, Rizzo would be an upgrade. Carter can play the outfield and the A’s also could use Rizzo or any of these guys at DH. As for their farm system, I think Parker, Green, Gray, Cabrera, and Taylor would have something to say about the A’s only having one decent prospect.
Fstuffup
50 MILLION!?! NOOOOOO!!! I would rather have them not bid at all than lose by that much such a heartbreaker!!!!!!
nats2012
Do they lose that money or get it back?
joeybw
They get it back. Even the Rangers get their money back if they can’t sign him.
nats2012
Oh, that’s not bad but should have bid 55 mil just to lock him up.
joeybw
They had no idea what the other teams bid but they had to figure 50 mil+ would be enough.
nats2012
Yeah but you had to know it was gonna be a little more than Dice K.
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
nope, no one “had to know”
Lunchbox45
I’m surprised it got this high
I was thinking 40-45 million easily takes it
sammykhalifa
I don’t understand baseball any more. They think it’s an outrage that will not stand for teams to pay 5 million to a second-round draft pick, but are totally cool with the idea of sending out $50MM just for the rights to talk to someone and maybe get him to play.
nats2012
Great point.
KyleB
I agree partially, but at the same time Darvish is ready to come over and contribute now, where as draft picks usually take 3-4 years or so to develop.
Ryan Aguirre
But we don’t know what TX is getting with Darvish
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
It’s not for the rights to talk to him, it’s to buy him out of his obligation to play for the Nippon Ham Fighters. If there was no posting fee the Fighters would be losing their best pitcher for nothing.
sammykhalifa
Okay. So why isn’t it OK for the Royals to buy Bubba Starling out of his obligation to be a quarterback for Nebraska, or for the Pirates to buy Josh Bell out of his decision to go to Texas?
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
Um, what? That’s exactly what they did.
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
double post woohoooooooo
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
ROGERS IS CHEAP BLAH BLAH BLAH
Lunchbox45
can’t believe they didn’t bid an extra 1.8 million! gosh!!
nestleraisinets
trade burnett to the mariners for 1 wii for CC…
NYPOTENCE
Please someone take this heap of s*** off the Yankees’ shoulders. I bet he would do fairly well in the right situation just not in the “bright lights”.
Lunchbox45
As a jay fan, this may be shocking to hear.. but I don’t want him here
MeOnTheInternet
AA got outsmarted, too cute with the bid and lost
sal
outsmarted? how can you outsmart someone on a blind bid?
H E I N Z
The same way you get outsmarted in The Price Is Right when you bet 1 dollar more.
The thing is, for some reason they figured nobody was gonna bid what people bid for Dice K….Rangers took the rumours that Yu wanted his posting to be higher than Dice K’s because he feels he’s better than him. Rangers took the chance and bid a little higher…..and won.
IMO. outsmarted.
but I’m glad AA and Rogers were willing to spend 50MM +.
AJCBE
But on the Price is Right, everyone knows each other’s bid, so that analogy fails. Jays put out what they were comfortable with. That’s all you can do in this system. Has nothing to do with being outsmarted.
YODA777
The only way the Rays get Rizzo is by starting with Lee and adding another prospect. Rizzo is rated the number 1 first base prospect in all of baseball. Furthermore, outside of the offensive stiffling Petco Park, Rizzo will become a masher. Lee would fit into the Padres collection of excellent elite prospects, as they really do not have an upper level shortstop prospect at the moment.
AirmanSD
Stop. Please. Its a dream if you think that Rizzo is worth more then Lee. Yes, Rizzo has a chance to be an elite level masher at 1B. But you are really undervaluing Lee here. Lee has a chance to be above average both offensively and defensively at SS. The both could bust or both become all-stars. But at this point they are both unproven prospects, with basically equal overall value. The difference is that one is that shortstops are harder to produce. Thus Lee has greater value even if he is slightly further away.
Besides you have to look at how it impacts the Rays to make that deal. The Rays have had problems filling their long term SS as well. Lee might be the answer, which is why they will value him more then if they had a SS truly entrenched at the position.
But that is just my position. I for one don’t understand the Rays fans who believe that Davis is worth Rizzo, but I also can not understand Padres fans who think he is worth something of a package of prospects.
Douglas Rau
What’s the point in bidding only $20 million for Darvish? The Yankees must have known the bidding would be in Dice-K range. If you’re going to give such a low ball bid, why bid at all?
snowmen10
I think it’s just like what happened when Yankee bid Nakajima… They throw something in just for the sake of it… If everybody feels Darvish is the next Dice-K and will not bid high, then they can pick him up.
Yankee usually spend tons of money on a proven players in the MLB. Igawa is something unusual…
Bogtrotter6
According to Jeff Blair of The Globe and Mail, the 50MM figure is incorrect for the Blue Jays bid. Blair claims that it was quite a bit lower- closer to 40MM; he seems confident that this lower figure is more accurate.