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While the Jays are not actively negotiating with Shields' agent, Page Odle, they are again discussing the pitcher internally, trying to determine a price at which they would be comfortable signing him, sources said.
The team also is doing additional background on Shields, "digging" for information in the words of one rival executive.
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To sign Shields, the Jays likely would need to backload his contract the way they did with free-agent catcher Russell Martin, who will earn just $7 million in the first year of his five-year, $82 million deal.
Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston told Sportsnet 590 The Fan at the end of last season that he expected the team to spend at least $135 million to $137 million on its roster in 2015.
The Jays currently are at about $130 million, based upon contract information from Cot's Baseball Contracts and numbers exchanged with their two remaining arbitration-eligible players, third basemen Josh Donaldson and Danny Valencia.
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http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/t...nterest-011715
So basically the Jays and a lot of other teams are interested. I just wish ownership would open the wallets a bit, throw the fans a bone. They're top 10 in payroll right now, but with the richest owners in the game why not add an extra 10-20 mil and really go for it?