Official Toronto Blue Jays "Birds Nest" Thread

[SPTO]

Re: Official Toronto Blue Jays "Birds Nest" Thread

I'm sorry but I don't share your "win now at all costs" philosophy. I want to see the kids develop and see if they can grow up as a team together. Sure we might have growing pains but that's the way it is when building a club through the farm system. I WOULD trade Rios only because we have a glut of outfield talent ready to come up.

I think Scott Downs may have earned himself a spot as a back of the rotation guy so we could trade Lilly away for a bat if needed. I could see the Jays with a rotation of:

Halladay

Burnett (i'm really hoping the Jays would let Arnsberg go to Burnett's house and talk to him)

Chacin

Bush

Downs

Minor leaguer


If we can get a couple bats and Burnett then I think things will be definitely looking up.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: Official Toronto Blue Jays "Birds Nest" Thread

I'm don't really have a win at all costs right now mentality. But sooner or later the Jays should be competing for a playoff spot. There's no use in having 10 pitching prospects unless you're going to trade some of them. No team is going to have 8-10 pitchers with 2 years or less of service time.

I want Burnett but I don't think he's going to end up here. He's going be the most sought after FA and should command a long-term deal starting at 12 mil per season. I'm not sure if the Jays want to pay somebody more than what Doc makes.

JP said last nigh Downs isn't going to be starter next season unless there's injuries. He has put himself in the mix for the long man job out of the pen.

I would let Lilly walk. He's probably going to make 5 mil in abritration and I would rather put that money towards somebody else. Dave Bush could give you a better performance than Lilly at near min. wage.

I would be calling up Melvin to see if they would be interested in trading Lee. The team has a 8.5 mil option which I expect them to pick up but they might have trouble signing him to a long-term deal.

[theaub]

Re: Official Toronto Blue Jays "Birds Nest" Thread

I'm don't really have a win at all costs right now mentality. But sooner or later the Jays should be competing for a playoff spot. There's no use in having 10 pitching prospects unless you're going to trade some of them. No team is going to have 8-10 pitchers with 2 years or less of service time.

I want Burnett but I don't think he's going to end up here. He's going be the most sought after FA and should command a long-term deal starting at 12 mil per season. I'm not sure if the Jays want to pay somebody more than what Doc makes.

JP said last nigh Downs isn't going to be starter next season unless there's injuries. He has put himself in the mix for the long man job out of the pen.

I would let Lilly walk. He's probably going to make 5 mil in abritration and I would rather put that money towards somebody else. Dave Bush could give you a better performance than Lilly at near min. wage.

I would be calling up Melvin to see if they would be interested in trading Lee. The team has a 8.5 mil option which I expect them to pick up but they might have trouble signing him to a long-term deal.

I would be shocked if Burnett doesn't sign here. I would bet a hell of a lot of money that Burnett will be a Jay next year. I don't think that Burnett will command $12 million, I'd figure more in the $8-9 mil range, which is about right for a pitcher with a sub 3.50 ERA.

Lilly won't be here next year if the Jays can get Burnett. A top 3 of Halladay, Burnett and Chacin is pretty good. The bottom 2 will be Bush, and either Towers (doubtful), McGowan (questionable), or a free agent signing (probable). Hell, if the Jays went after Kevin Millwood, I'd be very pleased.

In the outfield, I wouldn't be surprised to see Toronto go after Brian Giles. A high-OPB leadoff hitter is exactly what the Jays need, and he's a lot easier to get than Carlos Lee.

EDIT: Also, I would definitely not trade Alex Rios. If he can get a little head shake in the offseason, he'll be a 20-20 guy next year.

[SPTO]

Re: Official Toronto Blue Jays "Birds Nest" Thread

Here's a good story to cap off the year.

TORONTO (CP) - This is the winter J.P. Ricciardi has been working towards since taking over as Toronto Blue Jays general manager following the 2001 season.

He's got a young but experienced nucleus that's ready to make some noise, the financial flexibility on his roster he has long sought, plus lots of money to spend and well-regarded prospects to trade to bring in some missing pieces.

The stage is set for this organization to take the next step.

"We're not that far away," Ricciardi said during his of end-of-season meeting with beat writers.


"I think that when you talk to agents and they say, `Hey, you've got a good thing going on,' you become a club that can now sell that. That's the challenge we have in front of us, how do we get guys to come here that want to make a difference."



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https://<img class="bbCodeImage" src..._TSN_20k.jpg"> The Blue Jays spent some $50 million US in payroll in 2005 and finished at 80-82, third in the American League East behind (who else?) the New York Yankees and wild-card champion Boston Red Sox.

They clung to the fringes of the post-season race well into August, when the loss of ace Roy Halladay, who fractured his left leg July 8, finally caught up to them. Ricciardi believes that as is, these Blue Jays are a mid to high 80s win team with a healthy Halladay.

"I don't think we accomplished what we set out to do this year," Halladay agreed. "I know that personally, all that matters now is winning.

"We're kind of at the point where we're starting to get over that rebuilding ... so it's time we started getting it done, getting ourselves into the playoffs."

To get over the hump next year the Blue Jays need, at minimum, two solid bats, preferably with power, a front-end starter to support Halladay in the rotation and another arm to deepen an already strong bullpen.

With about $160 million to spend over the next two seasons, Ricciardi said the club's 2006 payroll could reach $80-$85 million. Of that, $40 million is already committed to nine players.

So where does that leave the Jays?

First and foremost the offence must be addressed.

Though they finished fifth in runs at 775 - the most anomalous stat of the year - they were ninth in hits (1,480), 11th in home runs (136), 11th in slugging (.407) and among the bottom third in hitting with runners in scoring position (.267) - leading to a 16-31 mark in one-run games.

White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, the top power hitter eligible for free agency, will be too expensive, said Ricciardi. Potential free agents Erubiel Durazo and Jeremy Burnitz are more likely to be in the Jays price range, although Ricciardi isn't committed to a power guy.

"Obviously, we'd like to have a big power bat but I don't think they are going to be that much available for us so we may have to go along the lines of more contact, more on base, try to have a thicker lineup one through nine," said Ricciardi.

"Situational hitting from the standpoint of us making more contact might be more important than us hitting home runs."

A.J. Burnett, the hard-throwing Florida Marlins right-hander, is another free agent the Blue Jays have interest in but expect a bidding war to erupt for his services. Burnett is very close with Toronto pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and that could end up being the Jays' trump card.

Another pitcher they may have interest in is lefty Jarrod Washburn, who has reportedly received a recruiting pitch from Jays reliever Scott Schoeneweis, a former teammate with the Angels.

"I think you always want to have more pitching," said Halladay. "There's a lot of things to fill and you have to kind of prioritize and I think pitching always wins."

And then there's the trade market, with the Jays boasting several prospects like Gabe Gross, Brandon League and John-Ford Griffin who are ready to step in and contribute. The Jays could package them for the likes of Aubrey Huff, Adam Dunn and Lyle Overbay.

"We already have (started talking trade)," said Ricciardi. "We've talked to a lot of people, laid the groundwork."

But as often happens that talk can lead to nowhere and Ricciardi says consummating trades has become tougher with fewer teams needing to move money, which has turned dealing back into need-for-need exchanges.

And with some players still holding a bias toward playing in Canada, Ricciardi could very well find himself having to overspend to bring a player north, or with no one desirable willing to take his money.

"I think we would overspend for someone that we think is still going to hit his upside and someone that we think is still young," Ricciardi said.

As for the coming to Toronto issue, he said: "To me this is one of the best cities in the world to play in and I just don't think enough people understand that. But I do think the one thing in our favour is that our players like it here."

If the Jays can't make the big moves, they'll revert to a backup plan in which they continue to try and build themselves up through pitching and defence while relying on better situational hitting to bring across more runs.

"If that's the route we have to go, we're a pitching-defence and less of a power club, we've got to be really good in that area," said Ricciardi. "I'd love to have four guys hit 30, 40 home runs but I don't know if that's ever going to happen."

Under that scenario a rebound season from left-hander Ted Lilly, one of eight Blue Jays eligible for arbitration, is critical. An all-star last season, Lilly was on the disabled list twice this year and was inconsistent while healthy.

He could also be packaged with prospects to bring back some offence.

Centre-fielder Vernon Wells is another player who the club needs more from.

Although the 26-year-old hit 28 homers with 97 RBIs, Wells has the potential to do more and put those numbers up after a terrible start to the year.

"I think Vernon has all the capabilities to do bigger and better things," said Ricciardi. "I think he knows that. We probably put a lot of pressure on Vernon because we expect a lot out of him and it's only because we know he's capable of doing it. He can come back here next year and totally carry this team."

It's for that reason Ricciardi feels good about his group, even if it returns intact for 2006. The next two years are the ones in which Ricciardi promised a contender when he was named GM and which will define his tenure with the Blue Jays.

"When you see the Clevelands of the world, the White Sox of the world, the Oaklands of the world and the Minnesotas of the world that go from 60, 70 wins the previous year and start getting into the high 80s and low 90s, I think we fall in that category," said Ricciardi.

"And I know just talking to agents and to people in baseball they see that in us and I know the Red Sox and the Yankees, they're not afraid of us but they notice what's going on."

Not to mention that Ricciardi can't endure another mediocre season.

"Just personally from my end I'm sick of losing," he said. "That's the pressure I put on myself. I think we've done everything we were asked to do and said we were going to do here. ...

"We want to win. And we want to be a in situation where we are close to winning. I think we've done all we needed to do to get to this point.

"I think we are going to play our best baseball the next two years."

CP story