RocketsDWM wrote:I'm just surprised they didnt move Wells to the Angels before they signed Matthews Jr. Probably could have received some top prospects and then they would have the money to get Young next year (and then for this year you put Rios in center and sign a third starter)
I'm not sure if they even knew they were going to sign Vernon before last week (which probably isn't a very smart way to go about things).
Back then it appeared like they had no intention of offering anything like this to him, and a trade looked very likely. It must have been the fact that they were unable to sign Lilly or Meche. That's the only thing that could have changed their plan over that short amount of time.
As for Michael Young, well his entire reason for coming to Toronto would be gone (he's close friends with Vernon, and they've always maintained that they want to play with eachother at one point in their career) if they had traded Vernon. Of course, money always talks, but he wouldn't have that other incentive to come here.
bdrotoronto wrote:It's more that the signing by itself doesn't make them any better their teams from the last three or four years. They didn't bring anyone new in, and are just paying an extra $12M/year to a guy who was already a key part of the teams that typically won about 80-85 games a year. It's more like treading water, but not an improvement, and it zaps them of a lot of resources to get other things they need.
I'd have to say that actually having Vernon Wells on the team is better than the possibility of not having him. If we could have gotten a good trade for him, I would have certainly been in favour of it, but at this point, we don't know what was out there. Maybe Ricciardi looked at his options on the trade front first, found there was nothing worthwhile, and decided to sign their best player.
Also, you call the addition of Frank Thomas nothing? He instantly became the best hitter on the team the moment we signed him, and if he can repeat his season from last year, is an MVP candidate. That move actually allows the offense to compete with the offenses of New York and Boston.
We also don't know whether this zaps them of any resources either. You'd think a GM would know what the paramaters of the payroll in the future were before signing a deal like this that could inevitibly cripple the team, as well as the possible repercussions in terms of not being able to sign others. If the payroll continues to get a boost or is maintained at this level from Ted, then this contract won't be that big of a problem.
The offseason isn't over yet either, and the Jays still need a #3-4 starter. Let's wait before everything turns out before evaluating whether the team is actually better or worse than last year.
bdrotoronto wrote:It's more that the signing by itself doesn't make them any better their teams from the last three or four years. They didn't bring anyone new in, and are just paying an extra $12M/year to a guy who was already a key part of the teams that typically won about 80-85 games a year. It's more like treading water, but not an improvement, and it zaps them of a lot of resources to get other things they need.
We also don't know whether this zaps them of any resources either. You'd think a GM would know what the paramaters of the payroll in the future were before signing a deal like this that could inevitibly cripple the team, as well as the possible repercussions in terms of not being able to sign others. If the payroll continues to get a boost or is maintained at this level from Ted, then this contract won't be that big of a problem.
Well, this is true for sure. Every time I assume the Jays are out of money the last few years, they seem to come up with $10 or $20 million lying around that they said they didn't have. At this rate for all we know Rogers has more money to spend on the team than Steinbrenner. Which probably suggests they've been lying all along about what their true budget is, but Jays management has been pretty tough to figure out on a lot of things for about a decade now.
You've got a diamond, You've got nine men You've got a hat and a bat, And that's not all..
Maybe Yoda or one of the mods can change the title of this thread as this is a done deal now. Rosenthal has learned the specifics of the contract. It does include the two clauses that were widely reported (the opt-out can go into effect after the 4th season), in addition to a lot of the money being in "bonus" form, meaning that it won't count on the official Jays payroll (don't why the Jays do it like this, they just have since Rogers came here). Also, much of the money is backloaded to give the Jays more financial freedom to acquire a pitcher or two through free agency or a trade. The press conference is set for Monday.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6276146
^Thanks for the sig Soty!^ "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other..." Ecclesiastes 7:14 ΠKΦ
Wells is not overrated. He is a team leader who can do everything, including making CF look easy, arguably the most important position on the field. On top of that, in Toronto he has the reputation of being a better person even than baseball player: maybe that is not seen on the field or on the stats, but it is important nevertheless. I think this is a great signing: like Vernon himself says, it gives him the chance to do something special that has never been done in Toronto, and we has proven developing into a star in Toronto that he will work hard to achieve his goals )which included last year not having a typical slow start, just look at what he did in April after training hard in the off-season). I can't wait what type of player he will become knowing that he will be here and knowing that he is being paid to be the franchise player to finally lead them to the playoffs...
Besides, how can anybody justify letting the franchise player go even if you are getting back some good talent. Show me a good team without a bonafide franchise player. This is not to say Halladay cannot be the face of the team, but pitching is only one aspect of the game: Vernon was crucial to this team and has helped turn it around and will now lead it to the playoffs...now all we need is some pitching, and that would be awesome if we could sign Michael Young the year after...
An unanswered question is better than an unquestioned answer
Cafe Home
Fantasy Football
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy Hockey
by mweir145 » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:30 pm 
At this rate for all we know Rogers has more money to spend on the team than Steinbrenner. Which probably suggests they've been lying all along about what their true budget is, but Jays management has been pretty tough to figure out on a lot of things for about a decade now.
What's the entire point of even having a team then?
