Jays Considering Decrease in Payroll?

As reported on TSN.ca it seems that the downturn in the global economy may seriously hinder the teams plans this off season.

To quote JP Ricciardi:

"The economy is definitely having an effect on us, so maybe our spending has slowed down a little bit."

With that said it looks like the Jays will be either stand pat or will attempt to unload some salary. The Jays are currently hampered by massive contracts (Wells, Rolen, Ryan), which are in all likelihood impossible to move. The only possible way I can see the Jays being able to move these players is by eating massive portions of their respective salaries.

The Jays do have some young options for 2009 in Lind and Snider, but they will not be good enough to carry an offence that has been bad for 2 seasons into the playoffs. Combine that with the fact that the starting rotation is now a complete mess, perhaps a real option should be to hold on to these contracts, let them expire, and re-build properly.

I hate to say it, but it seems that Roy Halladay needs to be traded.

Various News and Thoughts

1) AJ Burnett's agent has notified the Jays brass that he plans to opt out of his current contract, thus allowing him to test the market as a true free agent. Basically this means that AJ's days in Toronto are over. We cannot, and should not overpay a player for one very good season in the majors. We did it once with him and got 1 full season from the guy. Goodbye Mr. Burnett, we barely knew you.

However, with this news the Jays MUST make it priority number one to remove Jesse Litsch from the number 2 pitching position. Someone like Ryan Dempster or Jake Peavy (dream) should be seriously looked at either through free agency or via the trade route.

2) JP has been hard at work signing some bums to fill out the Jays roster through the waiver wire. I would post names ans stats, but I highly doubt we will see any of these guys in Jays uniform... or at least I hope not anyway.

3) The Yankees have declined the option on Jason Giambi's contract. The Jays should be opening the vault to acquire this guy. He would fill a MAJOR hole in the Jays weak hitting lineup.

The Hoss is Staying in Toronto

The Jays decided to use up Rod Barajas' option - so the Hoss will remain a Blue Jay for the 2009 season. The Hoss hit .249 with 11 homeruns and 49 RBI's and posted a .704OPS in 349 AB's in 2008. Not exactly earth-shattering numbers, but good enough to earn approx. $2.5 million next season.

The Jays are hinting at having Curtis Thigpen or possibly Brian Jeroloman as the backup catcher who breaks camp.

This is not the start to free agency I was looking forward to. The Jays finished in 4th place in 2008. Doc and AJ combined for 40% percent of the Jays wins last season. Once A.J leaves that will create a major hole. Combine that with our serious lack of offence, we will be in trouble. To compete the Jays need to upgrade DH, C, SS, and remove Jesse Litsch from the number 2 pitching position. When I say the Jays are going to have a "bad team," I mean it comparatively to the rest of the AL East. The Rays will only get better, the Yanks and going to open the vault, and BoSox will be the BoSox. Combined that with the fact that Baltimore is seriously looking at players like A.J Burnett and Mark Teixeira, we are looking at a hard battle for 4th place next season.

The same place we finished in 2008.

EDIT - The Mets have picked up Carlos Delgado's $12 million option for next season - so for those dreaming to see him back in a Jays jersery, that won't be happening any time soon.

Canadian Adam Loewen Signs with the Jays

Mainly a PR move if you ask me.

He's not going to take time away from Wells, Rios, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Hill, and Barajas, which leaves DH and SS. If Adam Loewen becomes our DH, we are in SERIOUS trouble.
I wish Loewen all the best, but a successful transformation from pitcher to hitter for Adam would be a major accomplishment.

Winning With Halladay

Roy Halladay has two years remaining on his contract. If the Jays don't win during the next two seasons, he will sign elsewhere. At least, if I was him, I would.

If the Jays plan to win while Roy Halladay is around, team payroll must be increased. The Jays are a seriously offensively challenged team, which must be drastically improved in order to complete with the Red Sox, Yankees, and now the dreadful Tampa Bay Rays.

The Blue Jays must sign someone in the offseason that can hit 30plus homeruns even on a off year. The need someone who can drive in runs even if he is hitting .240.

Peoeple claim that one of Wells, Rios, Snider, or Lind could be the man to take care of this. However, all of those players would need to have a career year in order fill that hole. Wells hit 32 homeruns in a season once, but hasn't come close since. Rios hit 24 homeruns in his previous career year, and it is unfair to think that Lind or Snider can fill that offensive hole.

The Jays must open to the bank to acquire a legit homerun hitter over the offseason. Players like Manny, Giambi, and Delgado(if he is not optioned by the Mets) must be seriously looked at by mamagement if they are serious about winning while they have a legit ace like Roy Halladay.

Hopefully now with Beeston on board we will have someone who will approach Ted Rogers and seriously outline what this team needs to effectively compete.

We should now understand that the Rogers vault needs to be opened in order to compete. The AJ Burnett situation has clearly outlined this.

The Bee in Beeston (Paul Beeston is Back)

Sorry for the lack of blogs the past couple weeks. I have been extremely busy with work.

Some interesting tid-bits have occured since I last posted. The Jays have brought back another member of the glory years to try to right the ship. Mr. Paul Beeston will take over as the "interm" CEO for the Jays until a suitable replacement can be found. To me this means Beeston will stick around until JP is removed from the organization. JP is now being sandwiched by Gaston and Beeston, two men that are much smarter baseball people then he is. It is only a matter of time now.

Reports on the AJ Burnett situation don't look overly promising. It is being reported that there hasn't been much talking since the Jays made the extension offer. This doesn't suprize me one bit. Burnett can make much more on the open market. From a personal economics standpoint, there is no reason for Burnett to re-sign with the Jays.

Again, this is shaping up to be a very interesting offseason.

Godfrey Steps Down as President

After 8 years the Jays president Mr. Paul Godfrey has stepped down.

"On Monday the 69-year-old ended his eight-year reign with the club, satisfied with all that was accomplished on the business side but with the sole lament of not reaching the post-season." link - http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/508203

This is interesting on many levels. First off, I highly respect Mr. Godfrey - He is a highly accomplished individual and a smart politican. However I felt in this case he kept his friends a little to close (JP). I think this was the right time for him to move on. The attached article mentioned that he is in the market for a "new gig." I am not overly clear what that means, perpaps something NFL/Toronto related.

What makes this senerio even more interesting is the fact that JP no longer has the Godfrey safety net. A lot of the time a team President wants to have "his guy" in as the GM/Coach. With the extension to Cito, it looks like he is safe, but JP only has one more year left on his deal. So, what happens now? I have to think if the Jays are not clearly ion the race come next July, JP will be gonzo.

There are a lot of question marks with this team right now. We have no number 2 pitcher, no power hitter, and now no President. This off-season will be very interesting.