Blue Jays renewing interest in James Shields as his price drops

[glory]

What's stopping the Jays from signing Shields, seeing what happens in 2015/16, and then trading guys like Shields and Reyes in 2017 to save money? They may have to eat some salary, but it's not like that's not an option.

[JaysAllMighty]

I'm ok with winning back to back world series then being s***** for 3-5 years until we get rid of the bad contracts so I if they sign him to a 5 year 110mil deal and we win in 2015/2016 then are terrible until 2020 then oh well. Haven't had much to about since the early 90's anyways.

 

Exactly. Lets be all in for 2-3 years rather then just an ok team. I'm really tired of not being in the playoffs. It's time to s*** or get off the pot.

[BTS]

Exactly. Lets be all in for 2-3 years rather then just an ok team. I'm really tired of not being in the playoffs. It's time to s*** or get off the pot.

 

They've been all in for two years now.

[Stangstag]

They've been all in for two years now.

 

Not truly "all-in", more of a half-assed "all-in."

[baubau]

Not truly "all-in", more of a half-assed "all-in."

 

They've given up 2 top 50 prospects, a good chunk of their farm at the time of the Marlins trade, and inherited contracts that pushed the team in the top 10-15 in MLB of payroll. Just because they haven't spent crazy on a UFA doesn't mean they haven't gone half-assed "all-in". Truthfully the team gave up too much and for the wrong people. They did a dumb-ass "all-in".

[BTS]

Not truly "all-in", more of a half-assed "all-in."

 

It doesn't really get more 'all in' than they were going into 2013. The farm system was depleted and payroll was taken to top-10 in the league with a roster of expensive veterans.

[jays4life19]

I'm really really hesitant to post this. What the hell though.

 

I have a friend who works for the Jays in a very front line job (sales) and he told me his co worker told him the Jays made an offer to Sheilds and he turned it down because he didn't want to play here. He's kind of a dick and i'm 99% sure it's not true....and i don't want to be that guy who's like "i have a source who tells me ect ect"

 

So yeah it's most likely ********. But i thought i would share.

[GD]

I'd lean towards saying "poorly executed all-in" than "half-assed all-in."

[Orgfiller]

I'm really really hesitant to post this. What the hell though.

 

I have a friend who works for the Jays in a very front line job (sales) and he told me his co worker told him the Jays made an offer to Sheilds and he turned it down because he didn't want to play here. He's kind of a dick and i'm 99% sure it's not true....and i don't want to be that guy who's like "i have a source who tells me ect ect"

 

So yeah it's most likely ********. But i thought i would share.

 

I thought you were talking about Shields for a second, lol.

[jays4life19]

I thought you were talking about Shields for a second, lol.

 

He's told me other things which have turned out to be BS so i never post it. ha.

 

But since MLBTR picked it up and there was a thread about it....what the hell.

[Slot Machine]

I dunno I'd consider going into consecutive all in seasons with black holes on the roster pretty half-assed.

[RealAccountant]

Who cares about 2017. I actually would like to see a playoff mlb game in Toronto while I'm young.

 

If that means sacrificing a few years so be it. At the current pace 2017 team is going to be garbage anyways

[RealAccountant]

Speaking of Dickey, given the Jays window of contention, would you rather trade Norris and Pompey for a #1 or sign Shields to 4 years and 80M?

 

 

I know I'd stand pat, but I think some would go for Big Game Shields.

 

You honestly cannot acquire a better pitcher for the AL east then Shields who has done it year in year out

[RealAccountant]

Do you guys really expect AA to lock up both Edwin and Bautista past 2016 to 20M+ per year? There's just no feasible way that happens (without a massive payroll increase).

 

No. I expect neither to be in their prime after next year. That is why we must do everything possible to.win now

[BTS]

I dunno I'd consider going into consecutive all in seasons with black holes on the roster pretty half-assed.

 

That's more because they decided to go all in with 11ty holes and couldn't possibly fill them all without increasing payroll by 70 M in one offseason.

[GD]

That's more because they decided to go all in with 11ty holes and couldn't possibly fill them all without increasing payroll by 70 M in one offseason.

 

Also, the players they brought in were either injury prone, hella expensive, both, or s***** as f***.

 

As opposed to durable, underrated, and salary-efficient like Martin, Saunders, Smoak and Donaldson. Guilmet and West, to a lesser extent.

[TwistedLogic]

Am I the only one that doesn't expect Bautista or Edwin to cash in on monster contracts when their current deals are up? I feel like both of them will probably be at a stage where they get a Beltranish contract, I don't think it'll be as much of a shot in the foot as people think it will.

[HERPDERP]

What's stopping the Jays from signing Shields, seeing what happens in 2015/16, and then trading guys like Shields and Reyes in 2017 to save money? They may have to eat some salary, but it's not like that's not an option.

 

1.) If Reyes/Shields s*** the bed, no one will want them and/or we'd have to eat a ton of salary

 

2.) If Reyes/Shields actually perform as expected, our team performance would regress if we traded them away unless AA gets lucky in trades.

[HERPDERP]

Am I the only one that doesn't expect Bautista or Edwin to cash in on monster contracts when their current deals are up? I feel like both of them will probably be at a stage where they get a Beltranish contract, I don't think it'll be as much of a shot in the foot as people think it will.

 

Beltran got a 3 year 45m contract at the age of 36, even though his numbers were still pretty good.

 

Bautista will be a FA at 35 while Edwin will be at 33.

 

Bautista can get at least a 4 year deal as long as he doesn't regress a ton.

 

Edwin can still get one big last pay day.

[BTS]

Am I the only one that doesn't expect Bautista or Edwin to cash in on monster contracts when their current deals are up? I feel like both of them will probably be at a stage where they get a Beltranish contract, I don't think it'll be as much of a shot in the foot as people think it will.

 

V-Mart got 4/17 entering his age-36 season. Edwin (34) and Bautista (36) should be able to get at least that if their performance holds up over the next two years.

[Key22]

The Jays are not going to get Shield so the whole topic is silly. AA's policy of not commenting means that every agent in baseball can "leak" that the Jays are talking to their clients and can use the Jays to prop up interest and salaries. Sports journalists when they need to meet a deadline can also just plug in a "Blue Jays are interested in XYZ" because there is no one around to refute it.

 

The Jays can't sign free agents - 20 years of losing, Toronto, higher taxes, Toronto, turf, Toronto, a directionless team, Toronto, perception that payroll won't be enough to compete with at least 2 other teams in the division.

 

The Jays are not going to win with a farm based organization - for all the hoopla Tampa gets they never won. A couple of good years riding an exceptionally good pitching staff - big deal.

 

The Jays can have a hole at 2b - so long as the defense is solid which it will be with Goins/Kawasaki. The team is probably a bit better than people think.

 

Years ago they used to do a positional analysis of teams. So maybe it's time to stack up the Jays Rotation, Bullpen, line-up and bench against the other AL East teams and see how we line-up at 1B, DH, SS, 2B, 3B, C etc.

 

IMO the Jays should be trying to trade Reyes if at all possible - his contract while bad is probably better than Vernon Wells.

[BTS]

The Jays are not going to get Shield so the whole topic is silly. AA's policy of not commenting means that every agent in baseball can "leak" that the Jays are talking to their clients and can use the Jays to prop up interest and salaries. Sports journalists when they need to meet a deadline can also just plug in a "Blue Jays are interested in XYZ" because there is no one around to refute it.

 

The Jays can't sign free agents - 20 years of losing, Toronto, higher taxes, Toronto, turf, Toronto, a directionless team, Toronto, perception that payroll won't be enough to compete with at least 2 other teams in the division.

 

The Jays are not going to win with a farm based organization - for all the hoopla Tampa gets they never won. A couple of good years riding an exceptionally good pitching staff - big deal.

 

The Jays can have a hole at 2b - so long as the defense is solid which it will be with Goins/Kawasaki. The team is probably a bit better than people think.

 

Years ago they used to do a positional analysis of teams. So maybe it's time to stack up the Jays Rotation, Bullpen, line-up and bench against the other AL East teams and see how we line-up at 1B, DH, SS, 2B, 3B, C etc.

 

IMO the Jays should be trying to trade Reyes if at all possible - his contract while bad is probably better than Vernon Wells.

 

The Rays led all of baseball in positional fWAR in the 6 years from 2008-2013.

[Spanky99]

They've been all in for two years now.

 

So were the 90 and 91 Jays?

[BTS]

So were the 90 and 91 Jays?

 

So?

[Spanky99]

Am I the only one that doesn't expect Bautista or Edwin to cash in on monster contracts when their current deals are up? I feel like both of them will probably be at a stage where they get a Beltranish contract, I don't think it'll be as much of a shot in the foot as people think it will.

 

Well, that remains to be seen, I could see EE asking for something more lucrative, remains to be seen, obviously.

[Spanky99]

So?

 

So could be 15/16?

[Spanky99]

Key22 is dumn.

[ElNik2013]

You honestly cannot acquire a better pitcher for the AL east then Shields who has done it year in year out

 

 

 

And who did it during his prime, which is behind him and who is 33 (?).

 

Having said that, if the rumours are true that his price tag could be down to 4 years and 70 to 80M, then of course that's way better than the numbers that were thrown around earlier in the off season.

 

I highly doubt though that Shields or any other FA pitcher would sign with the Jays.

[Spanky99]

The Jays ring to it, had a lot of late 80's, then, they went full derp on what I believe was Beeston pulling strings, AA has remarkably set the Milb system straight and has done a great job this winter, if they feel he has flexibility in concerning money, the BP and trade for Zobrist would be suffice, by no means would I be against Shields, but the local TBR faithful are correct at what we should be acquiring. f***, Big Game James, he isn't worth it.

[ElNik2013]

Also, going back to whether or not Bautista would be re-signed, I think if the team doesn't win in 2015 or 2016, Bautista would be looking to sign with a team that has a legit shot to win. Also, assuming Donaldson continues to put up 4-War seasons in 2015 and 2016, he would be a nice trade commodity.