[JayP]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

He's basically calling the Blue Jays cheap in that article and saying he doesn't understand why they go about their business with their franchise players the way they do. You can put any spin on it you want, but the Jays looks like clown show to everyone outside the Rogers world. Rosenthal is a pretty respected baseball guy.

Or no one cares. I just went to Reddit's very active /r/baseball section - there isn't even a thread about Donaldson going to arbitration. This is unimportant news that is only being talked about because (A) it's January and nothing is happening in the baseball world (until just recently with Davis and Upton signing) and (B) the Jays have a huge online presence and click on anything that involves the team.

Every single action the team has made this summer points towards a large reduction in payroll coming possibly as soon as next year is over. I think their are some dark days ahead for us Jays fans, so hopefully we put together another run this year. Jose and Edwin are likely going to walk when they get low-balled (if we aren't in contention, these guys need to be traded), Tulo will be shipped out assuming they can find a taker, and I have a hard time believing Donaldson won't be running out the door when he finally get his free agency after being nickle and dimed for the past 4 years. He's going to want to collect, especially given he was an extremely late bloomer.

You were talking about how the payroll would be $70 million this season two months ago and the Jays have actually raised payroll. You're just shifting to the vague future after being proven wrong already. Basically your argument is "they brought in Shapiro who didn't have a lot of money to work with in Cleveland so he won't have a lot of money to work with in Toronto".

When you talk about Donaldson being nickled and dimed during his arb years you clearly don't understand how compensation works in the MLB. Everyone gets nickled and dimed in their arb years.

Toronto is going to be an absolute circus this summer if the Jays don't start out well and stay in contention. The local market is already frothing at the mouth over a lack of action this summer and Price not being offered anything. Their call in shows are already an absolute gong show and spring training isn't even here yet. Shapiro and Atkins will take all the blame, but we all know whose orders they are simply carrying out.

Who cares? The team shouldn't be run to please a bunch of bandwagon fans. The club as a whole was lacking depth in a major way and that's been addressed very well. People love to just consider who the starters are, but forget that it's a long, long season and multiple players are going to have long term injuries. That's the nature of the game. 95% of the fans couldn't care less who the back-ups are, but when they are crap like Mike McCoy or Kawasaki it can really sink your team.