2011/12 Toronto Blue Jays Off-Season

[Sylvanfan]

[QUOTE=flambers;3450852]Totally agree..... but if your fan base are ticked off that will result in less season tickets.

QUOTE]

Losing will also result in the same thing. Use Rogers deep pockets to stick to a viable plan to build a winning team. Don't spend crazy money and have buyers remorse three years from now. Fans will buy tickets to watch a winner.

[flambers]

[QUOTE=Sylvanfan;3451174]

Originally Posted by flambers

Totally agree..... but if your fan base are ticked off that will result in less season tickets.

QUOTE]

Losing will also result in the same thing. Use Rogers deep pockets to stick to a viable plan to build a winning team. Don't spend crazy money and have buyers remorse three years from now. Fans will buy tickets to watch a winner.

I agree for sure, but the Jays fan base has run out of patience (i.e. Fan590 had a 4 hour call in show last night I heard it was nasty).

Watch the games on TV and look at the huge amount of empty seats.

It has to be a concern for management.

I personally like what AA has done......

[flames_1987]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I was just as excited during the Halliday, Wells, Rios, Hill era too! Look where that got me.

Are the Jays youngsters better than those guys? Jury is still out.

There are alot of question marks. 1B Lind had a horrible year. 2B Johnson has been dumped by every other team. Who's in left? Why? I don't know. Snyder can't hit anything offspeed.

#1
The offseason is far from over.

#2
The Jays have a major league team that with a few additions could easily contend for a playoff spot. That's just the big league team, your support is in the minor leagues where the Jays possess one of the leagues best prospect pool. A BIG DIFFERENCE from those days before when you were excited. We are going to see talent coming in waves for this team and not to mention when the Jays are able to make a run, they have very valuable pieces available at their disposal to make some trades, that could really put them over the top.

#3
To consider this another year of hearing the same story, from the Jays perspective at least, is not fair in my mind. Since AA took over, we have seen a clear direction of where this team is going, and watch it get stronger every season. Of course this team still has a few question marks, when AA took over nobody expected by this time for the Blue Jays to be fielding a World Series ready team.

#4 Snider still at such a young age, and with so much success in AA and raw talent, still deserves a chance in left.

#5 Again, the offseason is still so early in it's process...and outside of being part of the 99% of teams that didn't land Darvish, it's been a very good ofseason for the Jays

[flames_1987]

At the end of the day, fans will buy tickets to watch a winner. Fans will buy tickets for a very short period of time to watch a free agent, but without a sustainable winning product on the field, any glitz and glamor of trying to sell tickets by just grabbing a big name for the sake of it, disappears very quickly.

Forget about Darvish for a second, would any true Jays fans really object to the moves that are being made by this team? I think a lot of us could agree that this team is actually progressing a lot faster then we though it would. The whole idea that somehow the Jays are forced to make a move right now, to compensate for fans that got caught up in the Darvish sweepstakes, is laughable.

It amazes me how quickly people lose perspective when something doesn't go their way for a team.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

love the new logo and design of jersey. why not give the fans what they want? nice move jays!

[flames_fan_down_under]

Definitely a let down yesterday to hear that Texas won the posting. However I guess the reality is that it was a silent auction so the Jays had no way to know how much other teams were bidding. Still fairly early in the off season, and still moves to be made.

Would have been fun to have seen Darvish in a Jays jersey though.

[OzSome]

Me, i am not dissappointed they didn't win the Darvish lottery. $51M just to pay the Japanese team, then you have to sign the guy for probably $5M minimum...okay maybe $10M a season. Let's just say $56M total spent this season. They could spend that money on someone good even if he only plays for a season or two in TO and they still have some leftover money. I have never seen Darvish play so I don't know much about him. My Japanese friend on the other hand says he is a good player but up and down(inconsistent). Not sure if he knows what he is talking about or not, though.

[Jason14h]

Me, i am not dissappointed they didn't win the Darvish lottery. $51M just to pay the Japanese team, then you have to sign the guy for probably $5M minimum...okay maybe $10M a season. Let's just say $56M total spent this season.

The contract asking price is 75 mil for 5 years

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

The contract asking price is 75 mil for 5 years

So you are looking at 126 million over 5 years. That's best player in the league money (A-Rod, Pujols) for a guy who has yet to throw a pitch in the MLB.

Hell even if he signs for 49 million over five years that is 100 million. Personally I would be throwing that money at Fielder and then move Lind in a package for a proven #1 or 2.

Honestly while Darvish would have been nice, that money can bring in some other good pieces.

[moon]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Hell even if he signs for 49 million over five years that is 100 million. Personally I would be throwing that money at Fielder and then move Lind in a package for a proven #1 or 2.

Who is going to trade a proven number 1 or even 2 for Lind?

I keep hearing his contract is supposedly good but does that matter that much when he is a meh hitter and not a young guy?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by moon

Who is going to trade a proven number 1 or even 2 for Lind?

I keep hearing his contract is supposedly good but does that matter that much when he is a meh hitter and not a young guy?

Not going to get a top 2 guy straight up for Lind but he would be a valuable piece in a package with some propsects.

[cross16]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I was just as excited during the Halliday, Wells, Rios, Hill era too! Look where that got me.

Are the Jays youngsters better than those guys? Jury is still out.

There are alot of question marks. 1B Lind had a horrible year. 2B Johnson has been dumped by every other team. Who's in left? Why? I don't know. Snyder can't hit anything offspeed.

Fair, but at the same time I dont' think any team during the Riccardi era was as good as this one. Riccardi never had Batista, and also never found a shortstop which IMO is pretty key to being a competitive team. He also gave out so many top heavy contracts that their depth was just brutal, something they don't have to worry about now so IMO ya they are different and thre is a different sense of excitment, but that's me.

Let's wait until the offseason is actually done before those questions can actually be answered. Personally, i'm fine with either Thames or Snider in left becuase even with a question mark in left field this is going to be a top 10 offence in the Majors. Pitching is the bigger question mark.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by cross16

Fair, but at the same time I dont' think any team during the Riccardi era was as good as this one. Riccardi never had Batista, and also never found a shortstop which IMO is pretty key to being a competitive team. He also gave out so many top heavy contracts that their depth was just brutal, something they don't have to worry about now so IMO ya they are different and thre is a different sense of excitment, but that's me.

Let's wait until the offseason is actually done before those questions can actually be answered. Personally, i'm fine with either Thames or Snider in left becuase even with a question mark in left field this is going to be a top 10 offence in the Majors. Pitching is the bigger question mark.

I agree, JP's team never had the farm system nor the MLB talent this current team has.

As for Snider or Thames, its possible neither of them could make the team this year.

JP had Doc but not much else.... Rios and Wells normally under achieved....

[dustyanddaflames]

Some interesting things I hear on MLB radio from my way home last night, I believe it was his catcher from the Nippon Ham Tossers talking...

1. Darvish's bullpen a day before his start, consisted of 80-90 pitches, and I mean letting it fly. Talked about the struggle Texas might have in telling him this won't continue to happen in America.
2. Pitchers in Japan, if your are their #1/2 starter, would wear numbers 11 or 18 for all teams. Pending the club, the ace starter would wear #18, while their "next in line" guy would wear #11.
3. If Darvish's club was up comfortably, yet the other starter was still in the game, Darvish would continue to pitch. Was a sign of respect.
4. Darvish was first noticed at a U-16 (I think) baseball tournament (compared it to America's Super Bowl)... so people have known about him for a long time.
5. Said it is quite the spectacle watching Darvish and his fans following him around airports. Also noted that most away games would sell out simply because of Darvish.
6. Noted Darvish would have been an international free agent in two years time, but approached the club, and asked to be posted due to the respect he had for the Ham Gunnars. Said he wanted to show them how thankful he was to them, buy allowing them to make money off his posting.
7. Said the Ham Dingers were a middle-of-the-pack club in terms of financing, similar the Oscar-Mayer in America.

I think that was it... oh, and that Darvish just discovered his cut fastball last season (or the season before, can't remember), and became really comfortable with it instantly.

[Matty81]

Jays focus in the media is shifting over to Beltran. I think he would be a great addition on a 2 year deal but seems like he will get 3. Still a great player, just wonder if he might start to decline a little over the next couple.

[Gozer]

Darvish:
The Rangers easily out-bid the Blue Jays and the Yankees bid in the $15-17MM range, according to Heyman.
-mlbtraderumors

[dustyanddaflames]

If true - then all the rumours regarding Rogers wanting to acquire Darvish at all costs were completely bunk. That is quite a difference in 15-17 million dollars. Surprised to say the least, thought they Jays would have been right behind the Rangers in terms of dollars bid.

[cross16]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

If true - then all the rumours regarding Rogers wanting to acquire Darvish at all costs were completely bunk. That is quite a difference in 15-17 million dollars. Surprised to say the least, thought they Jays would have been right behind the Rangers in terms of dollars bid.

Depends on the rumors I guess. There were some reports on Tuesday that Jays bid 51.1 and just barely lost out, from Griffen of the Star http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseba...0-million?bn=1

We'll likely never know, but I think given how much attention was paid to the Jays interest I find it hard to beleive they didn't put in a competitive bid.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by cross16

Depends on the rumors I guess. There were some reports on Tuesday that Jays bid 51.1 and just barely lost out, from Griffen of the Star http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseba...0-million?bn=1

We'll likely never know, but I think given how much attention was paid to the Jays interest I find it hard to beleive they didn't put in a competitive bid.

Griff is a goof, and Blair called him on the carpet about that number.

"The Jays bid on Yu Darvish," he told guest host Jeff Sammut. "They did not bid $50-million, as the Toronto Star is reporting. That's totally, absolutely false and inaccurate. And frankly, I'll put my sources up against anybody's sources when it comes to that. The bid was nowhere near $50-million."
-http://www.drunkjaysfans.com/2011/12/blair-richard-griffin-is-full-of-####.html

[dustyanddaflames]

MLBTR I believe has two people (one being Heyman) who squashed the Toronto Star's report of the Jays bid.