Dustin Parkes and Andrew Stoeten covered that Geoff Baker blog post and it's layers of bullshit.
This was a good part:
"I don't know the answer. All I know is, the Blue Jays let it be known early on at the winter meetings that they weren't going to spend big on Prince Fielder over more than five years. They went out and traded for a closer rather than spend on one in free agency. These may wind up being prudent moves, but was that really the reason they were made? "
How has Baker been in this business for so long and not grasped the concept that what a GM says he is going to is not exactly what he is actually going to do? How has he grasped the concept of not showing your hand? And I am in favour of signing Fielder because I think it'll be entertaining to watch and I want him to be Bautista's special line up friend, but I am also completely aware of the reasons to be cautious and I'm very glad I don't have to make that decision. Also, they traded for a closer with a prospect. Why spend money when that deal can be made? I think that's a plus for Anthopoulos.
And finally knowing about the Dave Stewart situation does not an insider make. That was pretty well known news back in the day.
Now it's all right to have issues with Rogers and to criticize the moves, but at least get the facts straight. And don't freak out about Rogers possibly buying the Leafs when it hasn't happened yet. And please don't make stuff up to make Mariner fans feel better about themselves now that they have to see Albert Pujols on a regular basis.
This was a good part:
"I don't know the answer. All I know is, the Blue Jays let it be known early on at the winter meetings that they weren't going to spend big on Prince Fielder over more than five years. They went out and traded for a closer rather than spend on one in free agency. These may wind up being prudent moves, but was that really the reason they were made? "
How has Baker been in this business for so long and not grasped the concept that what a GM says he is going to is not exactly what he is actually going to do? How has he grasped the concept of not showing your hand? And I am in favour of signing Fielder because I think it'll be entertaining to watch and I want him to be Bautista's special line up friend, but I am also completely aware of the reasons to be cautious and I'm very glad I don't have to make that decision. Also, they traded for a closer with a prospect. Why spend money when that deal can be made? I think that's a plus for Anthopoulos.
And finally knowing about the Dave Stewart situation does not an insider make. That was pretty well known news back in the day.
Now it's all right to have issues with Rogers and to criticize the moves, but at least get the facts straight. And don't freak out about Rogers possibly buying the Leafs when it hasn't happened yet. And please don't make stuff up to make Mariner fans feel better about themselves now that they have to see Albert Pujols on a regular basis.
On Sunday, I made the mistake of interacting with Joe Cowley on Twitter. About a tweet or two into it, I realized he was that guy. He will also be the guy who stated that he can't find an NFL game on TV while in Toronto. There are only about 75 games to choose from on any given Sunday from September til February if you use that new fangled invention called a remote control. Oh and according to Cowley, Bautista isn't competitive. That's credible journalism right there.
So, your argument is that even though Rogers has Anthopolous on a short, tight financial leash (which has been confirmed) it's actually not obvious because we don't know exactly what that leash is?
ReplyDeleteReally?
You've made it impossible to be wrong in this little scenerio of yours. Either he doesn't sign a big dollar FA and "the move wasn't really best for the team" or he does and everyone was wrong about Rogers being cheap.
But, the facts aren't quite as ambiguous.
AA made it clear he did not want to trade Molina to get Santos but had to. He was uncomfortable making that move but didn't have a choice. If he didn't want to trade Molina and had been given the money by Rogers to sign a FA, he would have signed a FA and kept Molina.
Also, the organization has made it clear that they will not increase payroll until the team draws more fans. They have no will to push payroll in the pursuit of winning and expect the fans to support this mentality and pay to watch an average team play before increasing payroll.
And that means that they are limiting the money spent on FA's, and so Baker is correct.
The first one you can try to say is just a guess based on what AA has said, perhaps looking between the lines too far, but the second is straight from the mouth of Beeston.
One of the hardest financial lessons I had to learn growing up was just because I have money, doesn't mean I should go out and spend it. Say Toronto splashes out and gives Fielder a huge contract - how do they deal with Bautista? How do they deal with future free agents that know they can go big with contracts. The Yankees have to pay a premium just to be the Yankees. Spend the money smartly I say.
ReplyDeleteTGT23, in regards to the Molina situation, AA said it was a tough decision to make. He said the the same thing about the Vernon trade and the Johnny Mac/Aaron Hill trade. So where are you getting that he was forced to make it? Isn't it remotely possibly that he thought the value on the FA market was ridiculous and that using a trade was a way to fill a hole? And that he said what he did to pacify a fan base that was upset about losing Molina?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Beeston has been saying all along that winning will bring in more fans, which will allow him to reach $120 million. He never said that he couldn't raise payroll at all. Other people are reading into that.
AA has consistently said that the performance on the field would dictate when to add a high-profile player. This message has been consistent. Is spending stupid money on Fielder going to make up 10 to 15 wins? No. So why everyone is shitting on Rogers and calling them cheapskates?
I think Rogers is cheap mostly because on Canada Day (with Doc in town) they offered only 10k souvenir t-shirts to a game they knew was basically sold out.
ReplyDeleteWe have the crappiest giveaways considering the Jays represent a whole country.
#stillbitter
A true short story about you (Yu)
ReplyDeleteI met my wife in Toronto on January 1, 1985, and quickly after, she developed a less than nominal interest in baseball… she confused me into thinking she had an interest as we courted.
This week, I have spent a lot of time on Blue Jays stories and blogs... and because of my heightened anxiety level, my wife thinks I’m on some porn site,
So I said…
I’ve only been spending excessive time recently researching Yu dear, and guess what…
I’m pretty excited about how Yu can be a part of where we can really go… you knows… as a team… I think maybe 5 years with Yu would be great!
After that… well it depends on how much money Yu would want to keep going.
What do you thing dear, does it make sense to You?
Do you think that Yu would have interest in this kind of deal, I just love it!
It’s actually keeping me up at night thinking about Yu…
Do you have any better ideas on keeping Yu for longer than 5 years?
Of course by Tuesday night at 5:00PM Yu may not be here anyway…
Oh… you may not know the business and legal side of that possibility, sorry, long story…
But you do know that I want Yu even if it doesn’t make business sense, because Yu can be easily exploited for $M’s with that pretty face and hot sexy appeal… I hope you know that…
Is there any popcorn!
Rojak
rjakola@gmail.com