The Blue Jays have committed about $130MM to their 2016 roster, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. The club has signed three mid-rotation starters to go with three already signed options. GM Tony LaCava will continue to search for pitching, both starters and relievers. Per LaCava, “we do think the offence is one of the best in the game, so we’re not really interested in looking too much at improving that.” Toronto led baseball with 891 runs scored – 127 more runs than the second place Yankees. And the lineup as currently constructed is arguably stronger than before.
Here’s more from north of the border:
- The recent additions of Marco Estrada, Jesse Chavez, and J.A. Happ ensure the Blue Jays can avoid spending for elite pitchers like David Price and Zack Greinke, per Nicholson-Smith. Last winter, the Royals replaced staff ace James Shields with Chris Young, Edinson Volquez, and Kris Medlen. They also inked unappreciated bullpen stalwarts Ryan Madson and Franklin Morales. Toronto now needs to find some bullpen reinforcements, especially since they dealt away one of their best relievers, Liam Hendriks, to acquire Chavez.
- Re-signing Price “was always a pipe dream,” writes John Lott of the National Post. Lott notes that many in the fanbase are frustrated with the acquisition of innings-eaters over an ace, but former GM Alex Anthopoulos wouldn’t have found money for Price either. Their three new starters combined for 85 starts last season, a volume that will help the offense continue to carry the team.
The issue with not resigning Price is that both the media and even the Blue Jays Organization made it seem like he was the one to shepherd them to the promised land. Particularly with the run they went after the Deadline, it was akin to “Angels in the Outfield” they couldn’t lose
Torontonians are getting really pissy (I’m pissy too) about not resigning him because of how much Rogers credited him with the success and take it as a sign that Management is not committed to winning despite their best chances in a decade. but JA Happ is a pretty decent pitcher and there is still a shot making the playoffs next year
Keep in Mind: Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, EE, Tulo and Martin are all still Blue Jays.
Just don’t ask me who would start gm 1 of a World Series
I’d rather not sign him also. Giving and pitcher 25-30m over 5-7y is more than likely going to end in a bad way when the person in question is already 30yo or older when the deal is signed. CC Sabathia is a classic example just on deal 1.
You can find (somehow) a dominant guy who is only in his mid-late 20’s and get him under contract for 25m or so? That’s the one you try and get, not these older people, but that’s what some teams go after and have to do because of fan pressure.
Price, Grienke will be beneficiary’s of large market teams fan pressure to attempt to win.
Stroman.
My money would be on Stroman. I think the Jays are banking on him taking a step forward, which is fine. Everyone is angry at Rogers for not spending more on the Jays, but he can only spend what the team makes. The team lost 17.9 million in 2014. They undoubtedly made some sort of profit last season because they made the playoffs, but they still aren’t going to sign Price for over 200 million.
There was an expectation, rightfully or not, that after Rogers saw the fanbase explode, and how much extra revenue the team could generate from that, that there would be no reason not to drastically increase payroll and keep that momentum going. After all, sure they didn’t make $200 million off the run, but they did make about $40 million more in the last 2 months of the year according to reports, and that’s nothing to sneeze at; that more than cover’s Price’s annual salary and it’s only from a fraction of a season. The team not making a run at a big arm that would more than likely make them unbeatable in the ALE next year after all the extra money they poured into Rogers’ coffers, has fans feeling gipped.
The team lost 17.9 million in 2014 lol wow have you been schooled, are you kidding me. This team makes 80 million dollars a year alone off just the fox playoff broadcast deal and the tv revenue sharing deal the league does. Sorry they didn’t lose 17.9 million, but the team is good at pretending they are not a big business team.
stepupjays, yes they did. I get that it doesn’t fit your personal narrative, but the blunt reality is that Rogers is a publicly traded company and the information about how each business unit has fared is a matter of public record.
There’s absolutely no reason for Rogers to tell shareholders that they lost money on the Blue Jays if it isn’t true. If they made money, they’d be shouting from the rooftops about it!
Rogers’ media division (which includes the Jays) had $58 million in operating profit in Q3, compared to $23 million in Q3 2014, largely because of the Jays and Sportsnet. So you can see the impact on the bottom line from just a couple months of sellout crowds and massive TV ratings. Problem is, in the end the Blue Jays don’t mean much to Rogers or its shareholders, it will never move the needle much for a company that is on pace for $13 billion in revenue and $5 billion in operating profit this year. So there isn’t a big need to maximize what they get from the Jays and reinvest in the team, because no matter how popular the team gets, there is a fairly limited ceiling it can achieve compared to Rogers’ other divisions.
I agree, Stroman could take over for Price, but I wouldn’t bet on it. At least the Jays should sign a pitcher like the Shark or Chen.
Rogers doesn’t allow the team to sell their TV and media rights on the open market and assesses whatever dollar value they choose. The latest number available had Rogers ‘paying’ $35 million per season (2012), while teams like the Angels and Rangers, with smaller/split TV markets each have 20-year contracts for $3 billion. Rogers certainly understands that the team is worth much more than $36 million a year to them, but if they paid them market value, the Jays would have a huge profit on paper and fans would be screaming for a $250 million payroll.
Alex Anthopolous had the following quote:
“He pitched four times against [the] New York [Yankees] and won three. He was a huge part of us winning the division. We have strong interest in bringing David back. I think we’ll be in the game, but again, with free agency we don’t know. I think it’s fair to say he’ll get a lot of interest from other teams.”
I don’t think it is necessary true to say that AA wouldn’t have found the money either. He may have had different priorities.
cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/alex-anthopoulos-david-…
Definitely. I don’t think anyone can really claim Rogers would’ve been adamantly against the payroll going up enough to sign Price, after all the extra revenue the team pulled in over the last 2 months of the season, and could pull in over a full year with the fanbase that excited about baseball again (which they are risking by cheaping out on mid-rotation arms). That may simply be something Shapiro doesn’t want to pursue like AA may have.
The money was there. Don’t pick up the option on Dickey, don’t waste 13+ million on Crapp and add Romero’s salary and you are there. Add Sanchez to the rotation and hope Hutchinson and be the #5 guy and you are there.
No disrespect, but when aren’t Toronto fan’s ever pissed? Because being someone who was born/raised & is still a resident of the ‘416’, most Jays fans I know, have made being angry at Jays management into an artform. Thus making listening to M. Wilner on TheFan 590 after every game, my comedy relief.
Honestly, I doubt price would choose to play there with a free market.. That’s something that people always forget.
Not blown away by Happ and Chavez, but they’re serviceable and give us depth. My current pipe dream is for us to move Bautista to 1B and sign Heyward. I know it’ll never happen but it would improve the offense and especially the defense
Liam Hendriks definitely was not one of our best relievers. Yeah, i know that he pitched to a sub 3 era with a great FIP. But he mostly pitched in mop up roles and yes, i know a lot of his innings were in the 7th or later. But that doesnt mean high leverage, situations. He pitched late in the game when we already were up 5 runs. That being said, we will see how he does in Oakland. The jump in his velocity definitely makes him an interesting piece in the pen.
I don’t understand how they would balk at giving a 30yr old Price as 6-7 yr deal because of the term, but are ok giving a 33yr old Happ a 3yr deal. I’m fine with adding Happ but get off your wallet!
“Mid rotation starters” is pretty generous describing Dickey and J.A. Crapp. While the Blue Jays didn’t need Price, they did need a #1 guy who could break losing streaks. That’s the kind of pitcher that the Blue Jays definitely do not have. Stroman might be that one day, but he is years from that level. Dickey, Crapp and Chavez are all #4 #5 type guys and will lose lots of games for the team leaving a lot of pressure on Stroman and Estrada to be Cy Young level for this team to have any hope of competing.