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A question of $12 million

WellsRules — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:22:08 GMT

With the offseason here and the on going speculation of AJ Burrnet's opt out I wanted to look at the salaries of the Jays.

This year the Jays spent about $90 million. During the season Ted Rogers promised money for a big bat. Assuming that he still intends to show the money I am going to say that he is willing to shell out a further $20 million. That would give the budget of $110 million. If you look at the team and get creative I will show you how in that budget I can bring in a new Shortstop along with CC Sabathia, and Manny Rameriez.

First lets figure out the contracts.

Manny's value right now is high. He should expect and is looking for 4 years at $20 million/year.

CC is going to command even more. He is looking for about 5 years at $24/year

So how is it that we can afford them.

With Thomas and Zaun off the books and by the time everyone is renewed and assuming an average of a $1 million increase on arbitration cases with the loss of Burrnet the Jays have about $75 million in contracts for the next season.

I propose that BJ Ryan and David Purcey be traded to Texas for Elvis Andrus. That would save the Jays a further $10 million.

I then propose we part ways with Overbay and trade him for a sack of potatoes saving us another $7 million.

We now have $32 million to spend on CC and ManRam without new cash. CC takes his $24 and that leaves Uncle Ted to shell out only $12 million more for ManRam.

That would give us as a team:

SS Andrus
2B Hill
RF Rios
DH ManRam
CF Wells
LF Snider
1B Lind
3B Rolen
C Barajas

John Macdonald
Joe Inglett
Marco Scutoro
Curtis Thigpen

As for pitching:

Doctor Halladay
CC Sabathia
Jesse Listch
Casey Janssen
Brett Cecil

Dustin McGowan will return somepoint in May to fill in for whichever of our starters gets injured. (It's bound to happen)

With Carlson, League, Accardo, Downs and the rest of the gang in the bullpen we are easily going to be able to find a replacement for BJ.

So JP and Ted. Will you spend $102 million?

Don't Get Any Ideas...

willowzy — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:35:55 GMT

In a world full of money hungry executives and change for more marketing ideas, one has to wonder if Blue Jays fans will one day be affected.

Before the start of the 2008 baseball season Tampa Bay made a change. A new look and a new name. No more Tampa Bay Devil Rays... just the Tampa Bay Rays.

It prompted me to think that the same could easily be done with Toronto but in my opinion hopefully not. Sad but true, Ted Rogers or whoever could easily change the team from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Toronto Jays.

Stop and think of that for a second... the Toronto Jays. We already remove the "Blue" from most posts when we are typing but it just wouldn't be right without it.

People were upset when Skydome was changed to Rogers Centre. However, if the "Blue" was removed I don�t think people would be upset. I think they (including myself) would be pissed off.

So, let�s hope that our boys in Toronto don't get any stupid ideas...

Will the Real Vernon Wells Please Stand Up?

SuperMan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:46:16 GMT

Often called the "franchise" of the Toronto Blue Jays, Vernon Wells has now played 7 years of Baseball, wondering back in forth between good player and superstar, in 2002 Wells got his first start for the Blue Birds as everyday CF in a year that saw many young promising stars put up solid statistics(Eric Hinske, Josh Phelps, Roy Halladay) where he hit .275 with 23 HR and 100 RBI.
He followed that up with a monstrous 2003 where he hit .317 with 33 HR and 117 RBI, this year fueled the promise even farther with a first All-Star appearance, and winning his first GG for his superb defence in CF.

At this point of his career, with promising OF's in the system such as a young Alex Rios, it looked like nothing could go wrong for Wells until he suffered his first injury setback in the 2004 season and only hit .272 but still put up a respectable 23 HR and 67 RBI with a .337 OBP, that off-season the man who had protected Vernon in the line-up at the clean-up role and was the reason that Vernon was able to hit so many 1st pitch Fastballs into the LF bleachers left, Carlos Delgado signed with the Florida Marlins, leaving us without a clean-up hitter until JP Ricciardi in his infinite wisdom brought us the Manitoban Corey Koskie who would infamously play one year with the new look Jays, Wells definately lagged this year despite his misleading power numbers where he hit 28 HR, and 97 RBI, but his numbers dropped in BA, OBP, and OPS.

The 2006 season brought Wells back to the glory days of 2003, with a smoothe swinnging intimidating white knight by the name of Troy Glaus coming to town, Glaus was the complete key to our offence and made Pitcher's pay for there mistakes, so for yet another year just like in 03, Pitchers had no choice but to pitch to Vernon, to avoid giving Glaus a chance to hit with a runner on base, ecspecially with a good supporting role of hitters such as Shea Hillenbrand or Lyle Overbay in the on-deck circle, Vernon was heavily protected in this line-up, he stayed healthy which will be another subject I will bring up. But most importantly Vernon saw a dramatic upgrade in every Offensive statistic since 2003, he hit 32 HR's, 106 RBI's, with a .352 OBP % and a a 542 SLG%, it appeared as the Vernon Wells we all knew and love was back.

In December, 2006, Vernon signed his 7-year 126 million dollar deal to stay in Toronto for a very long time, JP Ricciardi also signed long time White Sox, and former A's slugger Frank Thomas to a 2 year deal, to give Wells even more added protection.
But the inability to stay healthy, and with a slumping Troy Glaus who had injury problems himself, Vernon suffered the most for the first half of the year we mostly saw the 2004-2005 Vernon Wells who struggled in clutch situations, to make matters worse in a game against the Boston Red Sox, Vernon Wells hit his shoulder hard off the RC wall on a catch in Left-Center Field, that game he would hit 3 HR off, 2 of them off starter Josh Beckett, but on the 3rd HR he was clutching his shoulders almost immediately after the swing when he was rounding the bases, Vernon was never the same after this game, and would go on to his worst Big League season ever hitting 16 HR, to go along with a .245 BA and a sickening .304 OBP, the first year of his contract and in every obstable possible except defensivley, Vernon Wells had dropped the ball.

Then in January of 2008, JP Ricciardi pulled off a surprising move in trading Troy Glaus who had wanted a trade since the trade deadline to the St. Louis Cardinals for fellow injury-prone 3rd basemen Scott Rolen, with Frank Thomas being released in April of 2008, Vernon Wells was left without any form of protection and suffered immensley with low power numbers and RBI totals just like the rest of the team, Vernon then suffered a broken wrist in early May at a game at Progressive Field against the Cleveland Indians, he'd return on June 8th only to get injured with a strained hamstring over a month later, Vernon has assembled a very average season for himself only hitting 13 HR, with 57 RBI. But lately hitting infront of the hot hitting Alex Rios, we've seen a resurgence in Vernon who hit 2 HR and 6 RBI in his final two games of an important series against the Boston Red Sox, the question is where does he go from here? Does he try to establish his postion in the 4 spot, or does he slump back to mediocrety and end with another disapointing season, love him or not next season is push or shove for Vernon Wells.

Did Cito Gaston Save The GM's Job

G-Ram — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:57:22 GMT

Well Cito Gaston has the Blue Jays now playing at a 94 win pace since he came in for Gibbons who was paced at about 77 wins. The offense looks good. Maybe not an offensive power house.. mostly because we lack the big power hitter, but guys like Rios,Wells,Lind among others have really started to hit at a respectable level under the new Regime.

Before Cito Gaston came in and the Blue Jays were 4 games under 500 and falling fast and it was well known that JP was likely finished as a Jays GM by seasons end. He said time and time again that "this team is better then they are showing", which was kind of snubbed at. But the difference between the pace of wins between Gibbons and Cito is HUGE. We can all say that the team was bound to hit stride soon enough, but that last series in Milwaukee in June was at a pointwhere you can say "This team was looking done" but the team has really rebounded under Cito, and while there are still ups and downs this "Nu Jays" team seems more competitive, resilient and motivitaed under a strong team philosophy.

The Conclusion is that maybe this team IS better then what it was showing with Gibbons and now Cito has bought JP Riccardi a year to find us the big bat to take us from a good offense to a Very good offense. 1-2 big bats at 1B and/or DH maybe all this will need.

www.bluejayfever.com

Stuck with the same team?

BluejaysFan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:07:11 GMT

The trade deadline has gone and there is nothing to report on behalf of the Jays. No moves or any transactions. They were supposedly in the hunt for Bay and Ibanize but it would do the ball club better if we did not trade for either one of the two. First and formost i think Jason Bay is overrated heavily, i don't care if he his canadian or Japanese, this club needs some talent. There were reports that the Pirates were asking to much of a high price. They reported that before but I dont really follow that because i think the yankees got the better of the Nady deal even though all rumors reported that the asking price for Nady or Bay was high. It would has been nice to move Eckstein and zaun but really it would not help becuase the return would virtually be nothing. I think it does the ball team a great deal of good if we stick with Mcgowan and Marcum, and our top 3 prospects in the minors as oppose to renting a player like Ibanize or trading for Bay which would make things more troublesome given the fact Lind plays left.

I commented on a post on this site and said that the most likely thing that will happen is the bluejays making no trades whatsoever. To this point my comment stays valid. The reason for not dealing Burnett may be becuase JP wants to finish the season off with a winning record and on a good note so his job is not further in jeapordy. This is just speculation but maybe teams didn't offer him greater compensation then what Burnett would have recieved if he signed elsewhere during the offseason. We don't know but as fans we love the creation of optimism with the team when a trade, good or bad, occurs. I do not blame other teams having a hard time trading with the bluejays becuase of the fact that they lack moveable good players on the current roster on the major league team or the Minor league teams. Since most of the teams that are looking to upgrade coming the trade deadline are in the hunt, the Jays do not serve as a very eager team to try to construct a deal with, given that the most servicable players are locked up. Teams like the Jays usually have the most difficult time trading away their assets becuase of the exent to how misrable the Jays players have performed this year.

Well hope you enjoy the same old team this next half. The most we can do is hope for them to turn on the hitting, and stay strong pitching wise. I really look forward to alex rios hitting 150 with runners in scoring position and two outs. just joking. At least JP didn't make a stupid move we would regret.

Cecil Up, Burnett Traded?

Scuba_Steve747 — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:49:25 GMT

The Blue Jays have called LHP Brett Cecil up to AAA earlier today.

Also, earlier today, there were whispers that the Jays are offering Burnett an extra two million dollars per year for the last two years of his contract. Surely, this is to see where AJ stands. If he accepts then the Jays will keep him for a relatively nice price tag. However, it is doubtful that he accepts this offer. With Carlos Silva making 12 million per year over the next four, why would he?

So after the Jays offer Burnett the extra two million per year and he rejects, expect him to be traded for three or four prospects. This is where things become a bit more interesting. With Brett Cecil being called up to AAA, the Burnett situation makes a little more sense. I expect him to make a few starts for the Syracuse Chiefs before getting called up to the majors. This will likely be a few weeks after the AJ Burnett trade.

So I ask you guys, what do you make of the Cecil/Burnett situation?

Predict the Trade Deadline

Scuba_Steve747 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:15:44 GMT

With the trade deadline approaching it appears the Blue Jays will be sellers. There is a very small chance the Jays will catch the Yanks, Rays or Sox. With that said, the Jays will likely look to build up for a run next season.

So who do the Jays trade? And who do they trade with?

I believe the Jays will trade three players: Matt Stairs, David Eckstein and AJ Burnett. I can see Stairs and Eckstein being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for some decent prospects but nothing to write home about.

I can see AJ Burnett going to either the New York Mets or the St Louis Cardinals. He should be able to net a nice package as he has good numbers career and he's been picking it up as of late.

So who do you see being traded and to where?

Trade the Doctor

dowcraig — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:52:21 GMT

I ask you this � what is the purpose of keeping our Ace, Roy Halladay. Sure, he�s the best player, let alone, pitcher that we have. As much as I think we still have a chance in 2008, the viewers of BJF are just as confused. In two recent polls, one asking if our season is over because of having 6 guys on the DL and the other asking if our playoff hopes are gone, it pretty much split. With 6 guys on the DL, 21 of 38 respondents thought that we were done. Now, more recently, 12 of 23 people thought we still had a chance. Not a very positive outlook, if you ask me. With this mind, perhaps it is time to give up and rebuild.

If we�re going to end up doing this, we need to consider moving everyone and with the recent outburst by our silent leader, Doc, stating he was pretty much getting tired of the awful, day-in and day-out performances of this team since JP took over, I think that you realistically need to think of moving him.

Now is the time to compete, but, we do have a relatively decent corps of young players who could potentially field a decent, Rays-esque, line-up in 2010 or 2011, probably with a new GM. In a time that has already seen our manager, Gibbons, fired, you�re probably not going to see JP extended when his contract runs out, just like the contracts of most of the players on this team. If you take a look at the salaries page, you�ll see that beyond Hill, Wells and Rios, everyone signed longer-term is gone. That includes Overbay ($7,000,000), Rolen ($12,630,000), Burnett ($12,000,000), Downs ($4,000,000), Halladay ($15,750,000) and Ryan ($10,000,000). The difference between 2010 ($87,500,000) and 2011 ($39,000,000) is $48,500,000.

Blow the team up. Get rid of everyone signed until 2010 or earlier and keep your corps. If you can get something good for Wells OR Rios, take it.

Back to our most marketable players, Halladay. With recent deals involving pitchers, netting teams some decent return, imagine what, according to Jeter and Bush, the best pitcher in baseball could grab you, at such a steal. Halladay makes $14,250,000 in 2009 and compared to Santana ($16,984,216), Pettitte ($16,000,000), Hudson ($15,500,000), R. Johnson ($15,100,546), Zito ($14,500,000), and Buerhle ($14,000,000), you�re just getting a steal at this rate. Carlos Silva, just got a 4/year $48,000,000 contract. Miguel Batista got a three-year, $25,000,000 contract a few years ago, Adam Eaton got much of the same, Ted Lilly and Gil Meche got similar contracts, Vincente Padilla is getting about $11,000,000/years for the next three.

So, C.C. gets traded to Milwaukee. He�s about to get a $20,000,000/year contract. In turn, Cleveland gets Matt LaPorta, the Brewers� #1 prospect. Rob Bryson, projected to be a closer by 2011 and former Jay, Zach Jackson. Last year, two big trades, Santana and Bedard get traded and both teams got a great return. This is a Mats Sundin type situation, where you can trade your star and best player, in an attempt to jump start the rebuilding process.

I say do it. Rebuild baby. Rebuild.

www.bluejayfever.com

Face Of The Franchise.

willowzy — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:28:32 GMT

I figured I would post my very first blog to test this thing out. So if your going to start why not start big.

Toronto Blue Jays + Face Of The Franchise = Vernon Wells.

I always hear that association but I am now wondering why? No disrespect to Mr. Wells but why is he the "Face Of The Franchise".

Why is a player that isn't the best player on the team the "Face Of The Franchise". Its a question I am currently asking myself because Wells is good but Halladay is better. Wells is a great player in his own right but he is not as consistant as Halladay and injuries don't play a factor in this debate because Halladay has had his own share.

I am a big Vernon Wells fan. He is awesome and I appreciate everything he has done for Toronto and I think he is a great player but why is the the "Face Of The Franchise".

Roy Halladay without a doubt is the Blue Jays best player now and has been for the past few seasons. Halladay is a guarentee to put up all star numbers every season and is as close to a sure thing victory you can get when he is starting. Halladay leads by example and is the leader of the Blue Jays.

A leader is someone who people learn from an listen to. Now I am not saying people dont learn from or listen to Wells, but when Doc speaks there is a different aura, a different attitude and people stop what they're doing and focus. There is that extra bit of seriousness.

Why Vernon Wells the "Face Of The Franchise" when Halladay is clearly superior I do not know. Is V-Dub deserving? Yes but so is Halladay. So I will close by saying, if Wells is the face of the franchise then I say Halladay is our captain and leader.

AL That Much Better Then The NL?

G-Ram — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:39:34 GMT

Well as the all star weekend comes to an end... guess that! The AL Wins again. Sure the NL had a 2 run lead into the 7th inning and a 1 run lead in the 8th but the AL took it home once more.

So now I ask you this, is the AL just that much better then the NL or are they just that much more lucky? This game probably could have gone either way, home field advantage definitely helped out. How about in 06 when Trevor Hoffman blew a lead in the 9th when it looked like the NL had it in the bag. Hey even last year when the NL came all the way back from a huge deficit to ALMOST win late. Is that BAD luck?? Or inability to get it done when it matters?

Is the key word here ALMOST? Trevor Hoffman ALMOST locked up a win in 06? Did the NL ALMOST pull off a late rally in 08??? Did they ALMOST hold onto a late lead in 09??

How about Dan Uggla, after that 2 error inning? I was sure that the NL were just, in fact cursed when I saw that. Lucky for Dan Uggla they lived a bases loaded 0 out Jam (Surprisingly).

I thought to myself when I saw the rosters that the NL had this one in the bags. I mean when you have Chase Utley,Lance Berkman, Albert Pujols and Chipper Jones batting consecutively it makes you think "Wow that's 6-7 runs right there" Not the case. I don't know if the AL is THAT much better but it just seems like when the chips are down, they come through with the big play, hit, DP.

What is your take on the domination of the AL over the NL?

http://www.bluejayfever.com

Brett Cecil The Next Big Jays Starter

G-Ram — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:32:50 GMT

Well in the past year and a half Litsch, Marcum and McGowan have all made impacts in the MLB to date. Who will be the next impact pitching prospect? Many will say David Purcey but I will say Brett Cecil.

Cecil has been converted from a closer into a starter and after a slowish start in New Hampshire he is posting killer numbers sporting a 2.86 ERA, 52 hits ,66 SO, 20BB in 63IP. What is more impressive is his ground ball-fly ball rate is 2.03 which is terrific. In the minors a good thing to look at is SO/BB ratios and GB ratios because they are typically the only stats that WILL carry over into the MLB to a certain extent. The fact that Cecil is dominating by getting ground balls and striking people out at better then a K per 9 bodes well for his future. The only thing possibly holding Brett Cecil back in the near future is that he's still on a pitch count (as I mentioned earlier he's a reliever beening converted to a starter). By the end of the year the Jays hope he will be in gear to log 6-7 innings a game when his stamina is built up.

In the grand scheme of things Cecil has better stuff then Purcey, Litsch, and Marcum. McGowan is the only big leaguer/near big leaguer that has better over all stuff.

I expect to see Cecil making the team at some point in 09 and the likely hood becomes that much greater if AJ Burnett is moved.

http://www.bluejayfever.com

AJ Burnett Trade Rumors

G-Ram — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:17:52 GMT

Well about a week ago it had looked like a deal was getting pretty close between the Blue Jays and Phillies for AJ Burnett (Several scouts were reported at both camps). Since then it has died down a lot and Ken Rosenthal has said there is no interest from either the Cards or the Phillies.

According to http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ The Philly made an off that did not please JP. The Phillies won't discuss prospects Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, or Greg Golson in trades. The Yankees reportedly also have NO interest.

Seems like interest has fallen for Burnett but I think things will pick up the sooner we get to the deadline, especially now that the Mets have won 9 in a row and are in full charge behind the Phillies.

http://www.bluejayfever.com