Link

I don't like the idea committing this much money just to keep the team at status quo because as it stands now, they are exactly the same team as they were last season but it's nice to see the Blue Jays show some onions.

Ya, its nice to see the Jays step up to the plate with the big bucks. I'm happy with the effort, but they're worse than last year. They lost Lilly and Speier and that back end of the rotation with Chacin/Marcum/Towers/Janssen/McGowan is just plain ugly.

Not to mention their competitors inking the likes of JD Drew, Lugo, Pettitte, that Japanese dude ....

It sucks for the Jays in the AL East because they've got to compete with these free spending juggernauts.

There is no salery cap in basball, so who cares how much they spend.

OPEN THE VAULT!!

sometimes we forget that the money actually has to come from somewhere, and that spending huge amounts of money does not necessarily guarantee a championship or even making a profit (both examples from the new york yankees).

I agree. Open the vault. Unfortunately our vault is about 1/3 the size of the yanks and bosox.

Would you actually have been happy if they spent 70 mil on JD Drew? Or the Renteria money they gave Lugo (and look how well Renteria did for the BoSox).

The Jays have done very well considering the nature of the marketplace. The deals signed this year are eerily similar to the monsters given out before baseball went on strike. Vernon at 17 or 18 or whatever is unbelievably reasonable when you see the money the Juan Pierre's and Gil Meche's of the world are getting.

gotta remember tho, if we let Wells walk, it give the Yankees and BoSox the chance to jump on him....and even tho this wont make us better than last yr, it also makes sure that it wont significantly hurt us next yr if he stays in the AL East

I agree with what LowerBowl is saying, this team still has a long way to go.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the effort this organization is putting into staying competitive, but as it stands now, they're exactly the same team they were last year, heck, maybe even a little bit worse. First of all, they lost Lilly who (let's face it) was the team's second best starter last season in terms of overall consistency and didn't have the health problems like Burnett or Chacin or didn't suffer in performance like Josh Towers. Losing a guy like Lilly doesn't seem that bad at first glance but when you take a look at the back end of the rotation as LB pointed out(Chacin/Marcum/Towers/Janssen/McGowan), it looks horrible and JP needs to get one (maybe even two more pitchers) to complete the rotation or it won't matter how good the offense is.

They also lost Speier who was their second best reliever, I'm just not ready to trust young guys like Jeremy Accardo and Brandon League in the 8th inning, even though they showed glimpses of being very solid pitchers, the Jays need a veteran relief presense in the bullpen and over the last three years, Speier gave them that while being extremely consistent and avoiding the peaks and valleys that most relievers encounter.

As for the middle infield situation, all JP basically did was bring in a couple of veterans (Jason Smith and Royce Clayton) who'll compete with Russ Adams and John McDonald for the SS position while Hill moves over to second base full-time. I like the approach JP is taking here because he doesn't want to commit alot of money to the position but I'm not sure it makes the Jays any better nor does it solve the issues they had there last season.

The only position where the Blue Jays clearly upgraded was at DH with the addition of Frank Thomas but other than that they have several major holes to fill before the winter is up.

Brainless, sure, but what were they supposed to do? Give Lilly that money? Pay that money for Lugo? I'd rather the Jays try to win with what they have than give crap contracts to decent players. This offseason is just utterly f***ed and I'm glad the Jays ponied up for Vernon instead of the many marginal players that are getting 10per after a few GMs went crazy.

The way those young arms like Accardo or League end up becoming solid is doing work in the later innings...I'm OK with them blowing up a few times. I don't know who you would have wanted to Jays to grab, but I'd say the odds are they were way out of a reasonable price range.

Though saying all this, yes, I take your point. I think they're just in a really rough position being in that division.

From the interviews with JP, it sounds like they want the same-ish team as last year. They started building a team last year and they want them to gell over a season or two.

I'll take that over the knee-jerk signs and trades that seem to happen alot in sports.

And Ted Rogers has more money then God....let him spend it.

That's exactly it. Not only do the Jays have to finish ahead of the Yanks and Bosox in the standings, but they also have to play them each about 20 times a year. Its tough facing those lineups so often when other wild card contenders like Minnesota don't have to play them as much as the Jays do.

The playing field in baseball is just so uneven because of the economics of the game and the Jays bear the brunt of this reality. Until there's some sort of divisional shakeup or a salary cap, its gonna be really tough for the Jays.

I need to rant about JP for a second. I'm really disappointed in his draft picks and the farm system he's compiled. He's been the GM for 4 or 5 years now and the only home grown talent he's produced is Hill and League. That's unacceptable. JP came advertised as having a keen eye for talent. But he hasn't delivered at all in that regard.

At least this money will deliver more talent than the $100 million it would have taken to get Lilly and Meche. And I'm more than comfortable with Chacin in the rotation--now that he's over the traditional sophomore slump, he should be a dominant pitcher again.

Besides, I want to see what McGowan can do with a full year in the rotation. He's been messed around with so much that he hasn't had much of a chance to showcase his talent. I'd take 5 bad starts to begin the season if he becomes a solid starter by the season's end.

Good hitters + Bad pitchers = exciting ballgames. Wasn't that the theory between the rules of the new NHL? And if New York could out hit anyone into the playoffs despite their terrible pitching staff the last couple years, surely we could attempt the same. Next year should be fun.

Still, a few things disturb me. Way too many people had career years last year. And isn't it pitching and defense that wins championships? Considering that truth alone, I'd almost rather see J-Mac start. And yes, JP's drafting record disturbs me. I'll give him a couple more years to judge that, though--because I have no real choice.

Finally, the Cards won the championship last year. Did I just type that? That is wrong so many ways. If they can win it all, surely we can get lucky one of these next few seasons and win it all.

With the Wells extension and the Jays need for pitching, rumors have popped up about Rios possibly being dealt. I dont know about anyone else here, but i think JP may make a mistake doing this. Rios has shown significant strides the past few years, and the only real addition to our offense this yr has been Thomas. Rios is another bat we need to keep in the lineup because of his consistency and power. Sure we have Wells, but if Glaus or Thomas get hurt, which isnt out of the ordinary for either player, we need someone with actual power to step up (Overbay has the pop but only for doubles). And again, Thomas is old, if for some reason he was to retire before the end of his contract, our offense bottoms out and we're worse off than in '05. Rios is young and doesnt hit FA for another 4 years. Despite our need for pitching, i think it would be wise to hold onto him and just trade our prospects, who likely wont see big time action for awhile with all the longterm contracts we have and our pursuit of the playoffs...this wont be a team that brings up prospects at the end of the year anymore.

Well, it got signed, and I for one am happy. Considering that people are getting overpaid left and right, 18 a year seems about right in todays marketplace for Wells. God knows what he could have fetched if he said he's going somewhere else.

we get the better deal if he opts out too...before he starts making 23 mill

And the contract leaves cap space to boot for the next few years, which is glorious...it's also disturbing how much of a bargain AJ Burnett is now, considering what pitchers made this offseason.

Since Zito and Wells now make the same amount of money, who would you rather have?

I'm pretty sure I'd take Wells over Zito.

Zito's the next Mike Hampton....f***ing brutal deal after letting Schmidt walk.