2015-2016 Blue Jays Off-Season Thread

[Caged Great]

Would not have wanted to sign him for that, but it is confirmed. Rogers are absolutely moronic.

Not re-investing a dime back into the team after they made you 100 million dollars makes the optics surrounding the organization and fan loyalty return to nothing. All the good will will evaporate.

It's one thing to get out bid, it's another thing to not even try.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Would not have wanted to sign him for that, but it is confirmed. Rogers are absolutely moronic.

Not re-investing a dime back into the team after they made you 100 million dollars makes the optics surrounding the organization and fan loyalty return to nothing. All the good will will evaporate.

It's one thing to get out bid, it's another thing to not even try.

And it's even another thing to publicly state you are trying when you are not.

At least have the balls to say, we have budget, it's not increasing over last year, signing Price would mean spending less in other aspects of the game, which we are not going to do.

The relationship between ownership and Blue Jays fans has to be one of the most toxic in North American sports. They are goddamn lucky they are in Toronto, or they'd be another Montreal Expos. At least Rocky Wirtz had the sack to stand behind his actions. Becoming rather evident as to why AA took his ball and went home.

[savemedrzaius]

Here's what Stroman said...two great teammates by the sounds of it.

Even though our time together was limited, you took every opportunity to take me under your wing and teach me your ways. For that, I am forever thankful. Watching and critiquing my bullpens. Treating everyone with class and respect. Putting your teammates first. Showing up early, and staying late. Forming a bond with every single guy on the team. I could go on forever. Thank you @davidprice14. Thankful and lucky to have been your teammate and to call you a friend. You deserve every single penny. More than deserving. Going to miss you at the top step after every inning. With that being said, I can't wait to compete against you. Excited already thinking about it. Thank you for everything CHAMP. Look forward to beating you every chance I get for many years to come! #TylenolPM

[The Familia]

What a mess our society has become. We are in the middle of an economic recession and this guy is going to get paid $31 million a year to throw a ball. What a joke. I can't even see blame the league or team. I blame the mindless fans who continue to pay ridiculous prices to go watch these "superstars".

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by The Familia

What a mess our society has become. We are in the middle of an economic recession and this guy is going to get paid $31 million a year to throw a ball. What a joke. I can't even see blame the league or team. I blame the mindless fans who continue to pay ridiculous prices to go watch these "superstars".

Would you rather the billionaire owners pocketed more of the money for themselves?

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by The Familia

What a mess our society has become. We are in the middle of an economic recession and this guy is going to get paid $31 million a year to throw a ball. What a joke. I can't even see blame the league or team. I blame the mindless fans who continue to pay ridiculous prices to go watch these "superstars".

"Throw a ball" Yeah, what a joke indeed. They are doing a little more than "throw a ball". It's not like these guys just magically are the best in the world at what they do. They've been working at it since they were kids. The stars deserve what the market is willing to pay them.

Do you watch the NHL? Any other pro sport? Then who are you to call fans "mindless"?

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Would not have wanted to sign him for that, but it is confirmed. Rogers are absolutely moronic.

Not re-investing a dime back into the team after they made you 100 million dollars makes the optics surrounding the organization and fan loyalty return to nothing. All the good will will evaporate.

It's one thing to get out bid, it's another thing to not even try.

This is my biggest issue with the team. I certainly wouldn't want Price at the deal he got, but c'mon Jays, at least pretend you're trying. Maybe they were afraid he would accept something reasonable had they offered it since his first choice was supposedly Toronto. I really wish the team was owned by one rich guy instead of some stupid corporation. Hard to give a crap when all they care about is money and the #1 priority of the team's rivals is winning. The Sox and Yanks must love being in the same division as the Jays. All the resources in the world but they refuse to use them because all that matters is how much Rogers is trading for on the stock market.

[bluejays]

Again, given the dollar value he signed for, I don't blame the Jays whatsoever for not tendering an offer. It's not like a movie where they just throw a figure out and offer it. There are initial discussions and they likely were told that Boston was going to be offering $31M+ per season. Offering $26M simply isn't going to get it done, so what's the point or possibly making what can be perceived as an insulting offer? Boston will be screwed as it's a player option. No way Price will ever be in a position to opt out.

What I am kinda irked about with Rogers, are two things - 1) dicking with fans by not managing expectations properly; 2) not increasing their budget more given the profits.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by fleury

Again, given the dollar value he signed for, I don't blame the Jays whatsoever for not tendering an offer. It's not like a movie where they just throw a figure out and offer it. There are initial discussions and they likely were told that Boston was going to be offering $31M+ per season. Offering $26M simply isn't going to get it done, so what's the point or possibly making what can be perceived as an insulting offer? Boston will be screwed as it's a player option. No way Price will ever be in a position to opt out.

What I am kinda irked about with Rogers, are two things - 1) dicking with fans by not managing expectations properly; 2) not increasing their budget more given the profits.

They had the money to do it if they wanted, they're just cheap. Our only hope is that Rogers sells the team to a legitimate owner who likes/cares about winning. Pro sports isn't about making more money than last year, pro sports is about winning. Owners of successful teams view it more as a hobby more than anything. Sure, they don't want to lose money but don't kid yourself, it's an ego thing for most of those guys. As long as Rogers owns the team, the Jays will always be at a disadvantage, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle every single season.

There will NEVER be sustained success as long as Rogers owns this team.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

This is my biggest issue with the team. I certainly wouldn't want Price at the deal he got, but c'mon Jays, at least pretend you're trying. Maybe they were afraid he would accept something reasonable had they offered it since his first choice was supposedly Toronto. I really wish the team was owned by one rich guy instead of some stupid corporation. Hard to give a crap when all they care about is money and the #1 priority of the team's rivals is winning. The Sox and Yanks must love being in the same division as the Jays. All the resources in the world but they refuse to use them because all that matters is how much Rogers is trading for on the stock market.

The NFL does a lot of things wrong, but one thing they do right is that corporate ownership of Franchises is not allowed.

[kmart]

While I don't accuse Rogers of being cheap (Blue Jays are a top 10 payroll), I do find Toronto sports teams to be poorly managed. This is due in large part of the corporate empire that is MLSE (who is partially owned by Rogers). There is no way that not one of Rogers' pro owned franchises shouldn't be a contender at one point in the last 20 years, but up until this years' Blue Jays they haven't ever been in contention. Toronto teams have been without direction for a while and that speaks volumes about conflicts inside the organization.

I often think that there are way too many butting heads in MLSE and Rogers that they cannot put together a decent team in any pro sports league. Of course being a fan of these teams that is a tough thing to swallow.

[browna]

Price was always going to be a rental from the second he got traded to the Jays and Rogers has always been cheap.

Not sure what's news here outside of some false hope propgated by the media with a lot of time on their hands.

Bottom line, anyone expecting Rogers to turn profits around back into the team after cashing in for the first time in their ownership, is out to lunch. They've held back on starting pitching the last two season at least, when its clear that the offense is enough to get the team 3/4 of the way there. But they cheaped out twice, and went back on a mid season promise in 2014 to get All Star break help.

Anthopolous basically sold his soul to get Rogers to bend this trade deadline. If, and its a big if, you ever hear any Rogers execs, I am sure the plan will be to see how the new president and new GM do, and that there will be money at the deadline if required. Of course, thinking its as easy as jetting in some rentals at the deadline as they did last year, and ride the wave to the playoffs every year, is foolish, but that will be the corporate talk to sell hope.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by browna

Price was always going to be a rental from the second he got traded to the Jays and Rogers has always been cheap.

Not sure what's news here outside of some false hope propgated by the media with a lot of time on their hands.

Bottom line, anyone expecting Rogers to turn profits around back into the team after cashing in for the first time in their ownership, is out to lunch. They've held back on starting pitching the last two season at least, when its clear that the offense is enough to get the team 3/4 of the way there. But they cheaped out twice, and went back on a mid season promise in 2014 to get All Star break help.

Anthopolous basically sold his soul to get Rogers to bend this trade deadline. If, and its a big if, you ever hear any Rogers execs, I am sure the plan will be to see how the new president and new GM do, and that there will be money at the deadline if required. Of course, thinking its as easy as jetting in some rentals at the deadline as they did last year, and ride the wave to the playoffs every year, is foolish, but that will be the corporate talk to sell hope.

I agree except for AA having to sell his soul to get Rogers to bend. I don't think Rogers was consulted on last year's deal at all. It's been reported in the past They are completely hands off when it comes to baseball. They set the budget and Beeston and AA are free to do what they want so long as it's within the budget. Rogers would Only have to be consulted if the budget was to be exceeded (like in 2014 when AA went to them and they said no).

AA had not spent his entire budget last year, he had room to pay with and he saved some dollars on Reyes. No consultation with Rogers required so long as Beeston was fine with it and we all know Beeston was not happy with the way Rogers treated him on his way out.

I don't think last years trades were in the plans at all which is why Shapiro was not happy with AA. He was supposed to inherent a team with loads of pitching projects. What he acquired was not what he thought he was signing up for.

[Mightyfire89]

What a surprise! David Price is just another money grubbing scumbag professional athlete? Say it ain't so. As always, money talks louder than anything else. Boo to you Mr Price. Boo, I say.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Mightyfire89

What a surprise! David Price is just another money grubbing scumbag professional athlete? Say it ain't so. As always, money talks louder than anything else. Boo to you Mr Price. Boo, I say.

The Jays didn't even make an offer to Price. What are you mad at him for?

[The Big Chill]

What difference does it make if the Jays made an offer or not? There were a lot of people on here during playoffs saying they wouldn't want Price back even for 20 mil a year, let alone the 30+ mil that he got.

My heart wanted us to go out and get Price, especially after comments that he would like to play in TO, but my head knows that is a terrible contract for any team with an internal budget. The risk might be ok for a team like Boston who will spend their way out of trouble, but that would be crippling for the Jays in 3 years when Price is in a steady decline.

[zukes]

I am going to echo what some on here have said. This team needs to be bought by one rich dude that actually cares about winning. There is no way that the Jays need to have a budget at where they are.

1) Toronto is one of the largest markets in baseball by population
2) Toronto is the #1 TV market in baseball and has the best TV deal.
3) Fans would sell out the Rogers Centre if there was a winning team
4) They outright own the Rogers Centre which they paid pennies on the dollar for.
5) Even if the Jays lost some money, it would be a drop in the bucket for Rogers, but with all of the above, I do not see how the Jays could possibly lose money, especially when you know what they charge for food and beer at the Rogers Centre.

I am so sick of them being run like a small to mid market team. It is complete BS.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by kmart

I do find Toronto sports teams to be poorly managed.

I don't think they are poorly managed... I think they were poorly managed but I think they all have competant front offices at present (at least as far as hockey, baseball, and basketball go... I don't follow MLS or the CFL to know about those).

[SuperMatt18]

Rogers get a lot of ####, and probably should reinvest more in the team, but really they spend up there with pretty much any other team not named Boston, New York, or Los Angeles.

Going back to 2013 they have been around 10th in league payroll spending around $130 million.

Also hard for them to just bury money into the baseball team when it is counted as part of their media business and they have shareholders to answer to. I would love for them to go spend $200 million per year on player salaries but really it just isn't realistic.

Decent article here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle26640038/

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Rogers get a lot of ####, and probably should reinvest more in the team, but really they spend up there with pretty much any other team not named Boston, New York, or Los Angeles.

Going back to 2013 they have been around 10th in league payroll spending around $130 million.

Also hard for them to just bury money into the baseball team when it is counted as part of their media business and they have shareholders to answer to. I would love for them to go spend $200 million per year on player salaries but really it just isn't realistic.

Decent article here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle26640038/

They have spent an a decent amount on the team for only really 3 of the 15 years they have owned the team. That said, the problem is they aren't spending enough to win despite taking every opportunity to stand a soapbox and tell people how they are in it to win a World Series. They have 3/4 of everything they need to win a championship, but refuse to take that last step. They need to pick a strategy, publicly communicate it, and stick to it. If they want to win the World Series, they have to bite on large contracts to augment the pitching. If they aren't willing to do that, they need to stop wasting everyone's time, unload the veterans and build from within. They keep jumping back and fourth between strategies, and it's kept the team in a holding pattern for 15 years.

As a fan, i'm more upset with the lies and deceptions of Rogers than I am the payroll. Stop this bull#### train that never stops. Stop planting articles on sportsnet saying you are in on player "X", stop sending the message out that if the team is competing the budget can be reevaluated, stop flat out lying to your fan base. I don't agree with this stance in a market like Toronto, but I'd have much more respect for Rogers it they came flat out and said "We are not the Yankees and Red Sox and our budget reflects this, our payroll is significantly higher than other teams in the league, we think we can win without having a 200M a year payroll with high performing management teams in place, and rather than pursing free agents we are going to build from within and use our above average payroll to keep players we develop within the organization".