Smokey

That's not true at all. Not only did Darvish cost a lot less, but he was also supposed to be the best pitcher to ever come out of Japan with numbers that exceeded Tanaka's. The Jays were also in a much better position at the time to take that type of risk and the level of outrage can't even be compared. Quit making s*** up.

But all that matters is that the Jays dropped out and the inconvenient truths need to be swept under the rug.

Sorry lady, didn't realize that you were on your rag... I'm just expressing my frustration with a stupid policy that according to the article posted, eliminated any chance of him signing here. In fact, I can't even recall the last time this team signed a FA pitcher to a ML contract (might have been Tomo Okha in 2007). That's a joke and you'd think that a team in this position would be too embarrassed to even bring up this type of policy publicly... but apparently you can do as you like when you have arguably the dumbest fan-base in the sport.

I'm sure the Yankees didn't start the negotiation at $25m annually and if the Jays didn't go far in the discussions, I'm led to believe the length of contract had a lot to do with it.

"The Jays have long been known to place a five-year maximum on contracts and were unwilling to make an exception for Tanaka. It is unlikely they could have matched the Yankees’ largesse, even on a five-year deal. “We never got that far,” the source said." http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/01/22/toronto-blue-jays-refused-to-go-past-five-years-for-masahiro-tanaka/

I don't think anyone is really complaining about not paying Tanaka $25m/yr... it's more about the fact that even at $15m/yr the Jays still wouldn't have a realistic chance.

Let's not forget shipping out all those prospects for the pleasure of paying MB $16m annually.

The issue isn't about commenting on other players, it's about the ridiculousness of a policy that puts further restrictions on signing players to play on the turf, when instead they should be providing extra incentives.

"Everyone has to admit there has never been a better window to try and compete" http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-bluejays&tid=88174 You're a joke!

You have no right to poke fun at the same BS you were spewing less than a year ago. Are you that unaware of your own stupidity? FFS It's one thing to be clueless and it's another to be a completely unaware dolt!

No, LOL at you and your more delusional friend (jaybooster) for buying that s*** and repeatedly spewing it as a fact.

Of course you CAN'T blame AA for not having much to work with... It's not like he had anything to do with last off-season's moves.

A highly respected journalist by the name Kevin Gray is reporting that a deal with the Blue Jays is imminent. j/k

Like I said, you're not being realistic. Going all-in and folding within a year is not an option for The Fat Greek. His only choice at this point should be adding a few wins to the SP, 2B and the bench and hoping for the best, or do as you're suggesting and give AB's away to flakes like Goins and Sierra and in the process ruin the the slim chance there is to compete.

You seem confused as usual... this team isn't in a position to pay almost $40m for the services of MB and Reyes unless they're planing on competing. I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but to completely write them off at this point and to suggest experimenting with unproven marginal talents is not being realistic.

Well the previous two offseasons have been major failures so maybe we should be expecting the worst lol. However, I think him recognizing that his job might be at jeopardy will make him do something... whether something stupid or not shall be seen though.

I don't really agree with the logic behind that. I'm not too optimistic about this team myself and not too crazy about Jimenez but I don't think AA can make the moves he made last offseason and now just take a defeated approach and not do anything to improve the club. The payroll being as high as it is simply doesn't justify that - You either improve the club or you blow it up and we both know that he's not doing the latter. Besides, I think you're exaggerating a bit about the number of holes on this team. I don't have a doubt that Melky will be better, the catching spot is obviously improved and there's much more depth at the back of the rotation which killed the team last year. Gaining 3-5 wins in the offseason (SP+2B) could make a big difference if other things go well and possibly get the team to 90 wins. I know the chances of that are slim but Alex has gone too far to stop now. This should pretty much be his last chance to redeem himself to some extent and I definitely think he'll do something... Let's just hope it wont be a big f***up like last year.

http://cdn.arwrath.com/1/167853.gif

http://media3.giphy.com/media/MjeLFmy6Lx8di/giphy.gif

Ya he's grown on me a bit since those days but I still can't help shaking my head at the prospects of him finding the future mother of his kids from a third world country who he's never met in person.

If that's the case then why not just sign him to a 3 year deal in the first place? Since anything short of nailing AA's wife would mean he's coming back for the 2014 season anyway... there was no way AA would fire him so fast and make himself look stupid in the process.

What are you talking about??? I'm just saying this extension was unnecessary and that Gibby wasn't going anywhere else without it. Is that really that hard to register? I mentioned a few reasons and you chose to cherry pick this one. Besides, believing JPA is capable of catching a knuckleballer when the team is devoting a roster stop to his personal catcher is an egregious mistake even if it lasted only one game.

How exactly does this "provision" benefit the club? Does anyone actually think that without this option being picked-up we might take a chance of losing him??

Which part of my post gives you the impression that I perceive myself to be an expert??? The fact is that Gibby is not a highly sought-out asset since he was not even considered in the running for any other managerial openings, ever. So what's the harm of letting this season play out and going from there? Is giving Gibby more confidence really going to change the way he manages this year? Also, lets not forget that this team played some terrible baseball last year - constantly swinging for the fences and not shortening their swings with 2 strikes led by JPA who Gibby originally thought was good enough to catch a knuckballer. I'm not trying to say the whole season was Gibby's fault by any means but he did absolutely nothing to aspire any confidence except for managing a loaded BP. I know this move is ultimately inconsequential but IMO it speaks volumes about this organization's terrible culture which rewards people who are absolutely undeserving.