jays76

Exactly! I understand it maybe not making sense to add Papelbon and Shields (even though if they wanted to go balls out they easily could without the sky falling). It's the ridiculous self imposed budget restrictions of 6M, etc that are frustrating when it would take 12-15M to adequately plug a few of our holes to be seriously competitive. They just seem to pull these restrictions out of their ass and it's maddening..

I think it's a bit lower but for arguments sake let's say it is 125M, how does it still boil down to having 6M left?

We're less than 120mil right now but apparently there's only 6mil left to spend, actually Sportsnet & AA will now be claiming 3mil after factoring Bellisario & Santiago possibly making the team out of spring training.

Zero chance the Jays spend $150 mil on salary, I'd love for the Jays to get Axford and Evereth Cabrera who would both be reasonable but even that seems like it would take a miracle at this point.

Could be another successful dumpster dive and a couple of bargain bin gems for AA.

I'm down with Goins to start the season just to build some confidence and get the defensive mindset going with the infield but then it'll boil down to that bottom of the order trade off where it's Saunders, Smoak, Goins, Pompey. Then again substituting Izturis/Kawasaki/Tolleson for him at the plate isn't that much much better..

The big hole will be 2B where we see ground ball after ground ball get ripped through at critical times.

I think that depends on if everything breaks right for your org and you're filled with all the right FO personnel. They've mastered the art of drafting & building within (Less so with Billy Beane but then again how many GM's do they make a movie about). Cutch's huge hometown discount also really helped the Pirates and the Rays are in limbo now, however kudos to them for being awesome the past decade with the bare minimum. The thing that bothers me about our payroll isn't the amount but it's the perennial BS factor from Rogers and our FO. They constantly try to double talk and insult the intelligence of our fan base on the regular with their media spins. How do we have 6mil left when we've currently spent less than 120mil (117 was reported in the last Sportsnet article) and Beeston had promised it was going up? Even now he's saying they can easily take on significant salary if it fits within their plan. What about filling holes (some at a reasonable price) doesn't fit the plan?? Let me guess this mega corporate conglomerate forgot to hedge and protect themselves against the falling dollar right, I'm just tired of the games and lies with this team. You haven't made the playoffs in 20+yrs and you've come this far in the offseason, pony up the extra money needed and knock off the garbage already Rogers. Stop crying false budget restrictions and limitations to the press, I think most fans don't want to hear it anymore.

Janssen built an awesome career here, yeah his velocity was waning and he was bad post all star break but it'll be interesting to see what he does next season (and how much of his downfall was really attributed to the DR virus). $5mil if he's a total bust isn't the worst gamble in the world for them, if he contributes then it's $3.5 for the season with no $1.5mil buyout and and they re-sign him again for $3.5-5mil (depending how good his year was). So maybe $7-9mil for 2yrs of him as Tyler Clippard's replacement and insurance if Storen flames out. Might be a really good signing for them and a big loss for us, hopefully not though..

AA is playing hardball and the waiting game with McGowan & Janssen. I have a feeling they both come back on bargain basement contracts.

I have to agree with the majority that it's playoffs or bust obviously for AA but what I'm wondering is how much this pressure will effect his decisions, I wonder if he and Beeston will go all out to make the playoffs this year. Maybe this trade deadline they're going to be really active since it's their final year together and will go balls out. Or who knows maybe Rogers will neuter them and put the clamps down since they know there's a pending regime shift. It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes down this year but I hope the FO inner politics won't get in the way..

Lol nice.

Exactly! He's putting on a brave face with his false bravado but he doesn't have close to the leverage he thinks he does to pull off his bully act. The Jays have the leverage here and are backed by the league who's been warring with Angelos for years. Pride comes before the fall and he's setting himself up for a nice one this off season.

I don't see that hard headed stooge Angelos coming out on top here, as mentioned no self respecting exec wants to get sandwiched between Angelos, his sons & Buck Showalter. He's digging in here but the most damage done will be to himself. Already reports are coming out that the FO work environment is toxic, having DD stay now is the ultimate poison pill. This crappy off season might be getting a lot worse for O's fans..

With his stuff I'm sure he would be.

True Smoak would be it.

They really need to stop Hassling the Hoff.

AA has to have at least one reclamation project this off season.

Me personally I'm just looking for a little more consistency with him. He was definitely the most polarizing and enigmatic pitcher on the staff last yr. You truly never knew what you were going to get from him game to game, more so than anybody else. An alternating pattern of 7 innings of the greatest stuff you've ever seen followed by him getting lit up & destroyed the next outing. He definitely has the tools to be a front of the rotation guy, hopefully he fully capitalizes on his talents this year. I'm excited to see how he'll work together with Martin.

Are you saying being pushed early and fast before he had the proper time to develop led to his injury? He's another year out from TJS so hopefully he can put it all together this year. He really drove me insane at times last year with his Jekyll/Hyde routine and epic meltdowns but I could really see him turning the corner and being more consistent. I think everybody's pretty high on him and expect big things. No.1 is a stretch I think but I'd love to see it.

Isn't that what's happening? I thought those were the latest rumblings, Beeston staying for 1 more year now apparently.

Except for the hunchback of Notre Dame thing Hutch has down pat, he's got the trademark on that.

I've never been a huge Jack Johnson fan but I have to admit that Breakdown song always makes me feel like whipping up a daiquiri and lighting a fattie.

Yeah he's definitely a free spirit with his just keep livin comment (a la Matthew McConaughey who's also an rv enthusiast) and his appreciation for Jack Johnson along with the wanderlust Chris McCandless vibe. He could just be a hipster going through a phase but he's a breath of fresh air imo from your typical testerone filled jocks (I'm looking at you Brett Lawrie). I just hope he comes through on the field or else we'll be seeing all the weirdo, flakey, misfit articles about him.

What a hot mess, this needs to end soon.