Money in the game is shifting. Look at Freeman's extension and recent pitcher deals for arms that aren't even front or even mid rotation guys. These guys are enjoying the money flowing into the game from these regional tv deals, and the costs of signing even moderate talent is going up.
This scares the hell out of me for the Jays since it's very clear AA is not interested in paying those kinds of prices to try and improve the team and recent history is showing that the talent development system is really suspect. Combine those two factors and the future looks pretty grim. You can't trade for everyone Alex and your farm system isn't good enough to make up for ignoring the free agent market as a way of acquiring talent. Sure, every year there will some guys out there that turn out to be bargains for a variety of reasons, but even then, there's no reason to think AA has eyes on these guys and even if he does... Waiting them all out isn't a viable strategy that will pay off every year.