2011/12 Toronto Blue Jays Off-Season

[flambers]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

I'm very supportive of signing Darvish as I think he's about as much as a sure thing as there is, and the Jays obvious need for front end starting pitchers.

With Fielder I am 50/50. The positives of having him in the line up are obvious: potentially having two 30 HR 100 RBI guys is pretty exciting, instant credibility to the Jays, he's just a very marketable personality and would sell tickets.

But to have him locked up for potentially ten years at what will be a very steep contract just doesn't appeal to me and doesn't seem to gel with what AA is doing and obviously contradicts everything Beeston and AA has said regarding "payroll parameters" etc.

DJF had a really good comparison on Fielder and Vernon Wells at the same age:



From Fielder's perspective I think he could really benefit from being in Toronto as he would become an instant superstar in a major city and be a huge asset on a talented young team.

As conflicted as I am as to whether signing Fielder is a good long term solution for the Jays I doubt I could help being really excited if he did become a Jay.

I bet the Jays are not even involved with Fielder in any discussions.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by flambers

I bet the Jays are not even involved with Fielder in any discussions.

I wouldn't be surprised if AA put his offer on the table and walked away. Something like 6 years @ 20mil per (or whatever offer AA thought was reasonable). Low-ball him, tell him the offer is there if he wants it and hope no better offer rolls around.

I imagine someone will have more interest in Fielder then we do, but it isn't completely impossible that our offer wins.

Signing Darvish and Fielder would put a lot more butts in the seats though.

[The Big Chill]

Source says Darvish winner to be announced tonight or early tomorrow.

http://www.natsinsider.com/2011/12/b...it-begins.html

Source says Boston did not submit a bid.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/pla...=346940&spln=1

I don't know if these are necessarily accurate or not.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Signing Darvish and Fielder would put a lot more butts in the seats though.

Well I don't think signing them would in and of itself put more butts in seats... winning more because you signed them would. Although I do think that having a marketable Japanese star like Darvish would make Jays broadcast rights in Japan measurably more profitable.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Hope we get him, but I think TEX and WSH (if they both did actually bid) would over pay by a lot to win him over.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

The Yankees were one team that put a bid in.

Although................

Three MLB executives speculated that the Blue Jays and Rangers are candidates to win the bidding for Darvish, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...ral-today.html

Be nice to see the Jays come out of this the winner.

[nik-]

ugh ... Rangers are a better place to end up (in the present at least), but maybe baseball in Texas in July and August will swing the decision

[dustyanddaflames]

What happens if the winning team doesn't come to a contractual agreement with Darvish? Does he continue to pitch in Japan, and wait until next year to be posted again?

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

What happens if the winning team doesn't come to a contractual agreement with Darvish? Does he continue to pitch in Japan, and wait until next year to be posted again?

He would continue to pitch in Japan, but I'm not sure what happens after that. I remember hearing something about a rule change that would make it more likely that he just stays in Japan, but I can't remember the exact details.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

He would continue to pitch in Japan, but I'm not sure what happens after that. I remember hearing something about a rule change that would make it more likely that he just stays in Japan, but I can't remember the exact details.

"At the conclusion of what amounts to a four-day silent auction, the team with the highest bid will have 30 days to reach an agreement with Darvish. If a deal is reached, the winning club will pay the posting fee and Darvish will have free reign to play stateside. Should no deal be finalized, Darvish's rights will return to the Fighters. "

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

I believe the MLB only submits the highest bid to the Fighters and the team posting remains anomynous. I have read if and when the contract negoiation fails, the Fighters will not accept the second highest bid. As well, if the bids seemed unreasonable, the Fighters will not have any negotiation with any team at all.

[VERVE]

Edit: Oops, sorry to The Big Chill, looks like I repeated some points from one of your earlier posts.

According to some some media source, Yankees put up a small bid within 2 hours prior to deadline. Boston did not post a bid. So I am guessing Jays and Rangers are the main teams and perhaps a couple of mystery teams (like the Nats or Angels) in the bidding.

The winning bid may be announced earlier than the allotted 4 business days. Perhaps within the next 2 days or so, we may get to find out who won the negotiation rights to Darvish. I must say the Jays chances do look a little more promising than before.

http://riveraveblues.com/tag/yu-darvish/

[KootenayFlamesFan]

• The Yankees' bid is modest, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Indications are the winning bid is "sky high."
• Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter) that the Fighters plan to accept the posting bid no matter how large it is.
• The Nippon Ham Fighters were very excited by how large the high bid was according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Still no word on the the money, though.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...ral-today.html

[bluejays]

If history dictates the future, the Jays will not be announcing how much they paid for his negotiating rights. My money is on Anthopolous sweet talking his way to a deal, but when it actually comes to shelling out the cash, Texas has the benjamins. I don't know what to expect from the guy really, but if AA did his extensive research, with his pretty solid track record, how can you not put your trust in his decision?

[Otsy]

MLB.com is hinting Cubs might be in too, but could be just a way off rumour based on Theo knowing how the bid process works with dice k.

Also saw a tweet that one bid was sky high, suggesting 50+ mil. I don't think the Jays would be throwing that around.

[VERVE]

Uh oh. The Cubs also bid for Darvish. Their new GM and the former Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein, who put in a post of $51,111,111.11 million for Matsuzaka in 2006 is at it again. Obviously, he was very aggressive once before and will he do it again with the Darvish post. Maybe. I feel like Jerry Seinfeld who has just been hoodwinked by the scheming Newman and uttering his name in frustration....

EDIT: Otsy just beat me to the post re cubs bidding by 4 min...

[zukes]

I believe only the winning team gets a chance to sign him, if they fail he goes back to Japan.

Next year, if I recall, Darvish would have enough service time in Japan to be a free agent.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

This is interesting.................

9:43am: There's "buzz" that Toronto had a "whopper of an offer," according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). Grant suggests the Rangers bid in the $40-49MM range.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...g-process.html

Maybe the Jays will get him after all??

[flames_1987]

I'm not going to be surprised at all if the Jays do get him. The only reason it may come to a shock to some, is the talk last week at the winter meetings re: the Payroll Parameters.

I believe that if AA firmly believed in Darvish's stuff after going to see him, that the ownership would fork over the money. I think the only thing ownership is trying to avoid is spending money recklessly on aging free agents or something for simply short term gain.

That being said, this all sounds like a lot of hearsay to me, so hopefully we can find out today what is the outcome.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

What happens if the winning team doesn't come to a contractual agreement with Darvish? Does he continue to pitch in Japan, and wait until next year to be posted again?

Could be a sign and trade. The Yankees won the bid for shortshop Nakajima but he doesn't want to play there. They need to work out a sign and trade or he'll be back in Japan.

[GirlySports]

What's a whopper of an offer? Around 60 million?