Blue Jays 2016 Payroll

[Deebo]

Oh...okay.

http://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/702523973905620993

Not that I necessarily believe this either...

Rosenthal says he's hearing the same.

Term and total value higher, but less than 30M AAV.

 

[Zee]

 

[cabber24]

If I had any sway with the Blue Jays which I don't,I would get rid of this attitude of a player,he's bigger than the team....It,s getting tired of the way he conducts himself with a chip on his shoulder.

I vehemently disagree.  There is no Blue Jays player on that team that wears his emotions on his sleeve the way Jose does.  And that also transcends off the field as well, so to speak.

Cocky, brash, proud, embracing, emotional, outspoken, bold.  That's Jose Bautista for you in a Jays uniform.

I'd rather have a Bautista with all of his fiery-ness than one who just minds his own business.

I was growing tired of his behavior before last year but I learned to love his behavior because he backs it up. The chip on the shoulder is what makes him Bautista. Consistently clutch in the most tense moments. The guy is absolutely integral. His contract comments are consistent with his character and I am not at all surprised by his approach.

It's hard to find a whole lot about the profitability of the Blue Jays but I did find this article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-success-reaping-big-profitable-rewards-for-rogers/article26640038/

If this article is right, there really isn't much more room for spending on Jays for them to remain profitable.

 

[dappleganger]

Sources have confirmed Jose is looking for a life-time contract from the Blue Jays. 100 years/$1 billion.

If Jose dies before the end of the contract, it transfers to the Bautista Family Education Fund. http://bautistafund.org

This could get interesting?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Stoeten brings up a good point - has any team ever gone over 5 years on a player entering their age 36 season?  He asked on Twitter and said most people came up with Barry Bonds getting 5 years going into age 37, but I think we can all agree that is a rather unique situation.

 

[dappleganger]

Stoeten brings up a good point - has any team ever gone over 5 years on a player entering their age 36 season?  He asked on Twitter and said most people came up with Barry Bonds getting 5 years going into age 37, but I think we can all agree that is a rather unique situation.

As good as Jose is, and he is really good, he's not Barry Bonds or Miguel Cabrera.

The only way the Jays should go 5 years is if they get a discount on the average value of the contract.

 

[bustaheims]

Stoeten brings up a good point - has any team ever gone over 5 years on a player entering their age 36 season?  He asked on Twitter and said most people came up with Barry Bonds getting 5 years going into age 37, but I think we can all agree that is a rather unique situation.

Yeah. 5 years is a big commit at that age. I don't know if too many teams would be comfortable with a contract that called for that number of guaranteed seasons. I think the only way he gets more than 3 years is if the extra seasons are in the form of options - either vesting or the team's/mutual.

 

[dappleganger]

Stoeten brings up a good point - has any team ever gone over 5 years on a player entering their age 36 season?  He asked on Twitter and said most people came up with Barry Bonds getting 5 years going into age 37, but I think we can all agree that is a rather unique situation.

Yeah. 5 years is a big commit at that age. I don't know if too many teams would be comfortable with a contract that called for that number of guaranteed seasons. I think the only way he gets more than 3 years is if the extra seasons are in the form of options - either vesting or the team's/mutual.

The bad thing for the Jays is if Jose makes it to FA someone will give him 5 years.

 

[bustaheims]

The bad thing for the Jays is if Jose makes it to FA someone will give him 5 years.

I'm not convinced someone will, but, if they do, that's a contract the Jays are better off without - and, realistically, if they're not close to an agreement in July, there's a good chance they trade Bautista.

 

[Joe S.]

As soon as this new regime came in - I resigned myself to the fact that Bautista and EE would most likely be playing their last season with the jays.

And honestly - I'm ok with that - as much as I like Bautista, he's not worth the 5 year risk at his age. He may be in tremendous shape - but reflexes can degrade with alarming speed...

The smart thing to do is pass... 3 years sure... 4 years, I guess, but 5 is too much... I have no issue with 3 years at a crazy number...

 

[Kin]

As soon as this new regime came in - I resigned myself to the fact that Bautista and EE would most likely be playing their last season with the jays.

Thing is, I really don't think it has anything to do with the new regime. Look at the numbers TimKerr linked to earlier. Bautista was always going to be looking to cash in on this contract, probably his only shot to get paid market value for his services. Ditto with EE.

Alex or not, the salary structure of the team was always due to explode. Simple truth is that AA didn't build a team based on young guys with many years of team control.

Unless AA somehow convinced the board to spend on this team like they were the Dodgers of a couple years ago, this was always going to be a tough gig. He just made sure he wasn't around when clock struck 12.

 

[dappleganger]

Did the regime change make it more likely that Bautista and Encarnacion don't re-sign? Maybe. But I don't think AA re-signs them either, not for the money that's being throwing around. It's not a smart move to sign players over 35 years old to large contracts with term.

Odds are, Jays will be better off either trading Joey Bats and EE or letting them walk.

 

[Frank E]

He just made sure he wasn't around when clock struck 12.

This sums up my opinion of why AA isn't with the Jays anymore.

I'm not sure he thinks he would have survived it after mortgaging pretty heavy this past summer. 

 

[Joe S.]

I just want to clarify my position here when Im referring to the 'new regime'... I'm not trying to imply that AA would have done it but these guys won't...

What I meant was these new guys have no emotional attachment to these players,  but they also seem the types who wouldn't overpay for an older player and have an albatross of a contract... That's where my head was at when I wrote that.

 

[Kin]

I just want to clarify my position here when Im referring to the 'new regime'... I'm not trying to imply that AA would have done it but these guys won't...

What I meant was these new guys have no emotional attachment to these players,  but they also seem the types who wouldn't overpay for an older player and have an albatross of a contract... That's where my head was at when I wrote that.

Fair enough. I was just saying that regardless of any specific moves that may or may not have been made by AA vs. Shapiro/Atkins the team was going to come up against the realities of their budget this off-season and the Bautista/EE contracts were almost certainly going to set that off.

 

[bustaheims]

In other news, the Jays have finally acquired Dominic Brown, after failing to land him in the Halladay deal. They've signed him to a minor league deal.

 

[Frank E]

Whoo boy, I think this year is Bautista's swan song with the Jays:

"It?s no secret that in a publicly traded company everybody can track performance fairly easily,? Bautista told reporters. ?Stock prices are closely monitored by the whole financial world.

"I think there is a direct correlation with the success of [Rogers] earnings per share after we started experiencing success. Are they going to put it out in the media and say, ?Because of the Jays, we made all this money?? No. But everybody can read between the lines.?

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn-goes-one-on-one-with-bautista-1.444572

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

But, then, Bautista himself is emotional, sometimes appearing to be Ted Cruzesque in his stridency. ?I?m not going to change who I am,? he likes to say, which means he?s not going to apologize for flipping his bat like a 10-year old. He?s very smart; he recently went back to the University of South Florida to complete his BA in business, and while he loves his game, he understands the game?s business, how the owners? revenues have grown at an astoundingly higher rate than players? salaries in the 20 years since The Strike of 1994-95, and how big market, big local media teams like the Jays, Yankees and Red Sox can hide those revenues from the Central Fund and revenue-sharing with the equivalent of Swiss bank accounts.

He has studied all the aging metrics, and defies them the way he defied his projected career path of being a utility player. When Jose was 30, he led the league in homers (43), walks, slugging, OPS and OPS+.

At 40? ?I am preparing to be physically capable of doing the same,? Bautista says. ?I am preparing to defy those aging curves by my strict adherence to physical, mental and nutritional routines. When I missed time (at 31) with hip problems, I changed everything,? he says. ?I studied, I learned about my body, and how to keep it at peak performance levels, and how to maintain it. I study how Chip Kelly prepares his players. I do what he teaches. I do what Tom Brady does. It is about discipline and diet and strive for physical and mental states that defy aging. I love a good steak; I cannot eat red meat. There are a lot of things I love, but I cannot be who and what I want to be and eat and drink them.

?It has been suggested that when I told the Blue Jays what it would take for me to sign an extension and pass up free agency (next November), it was because I absolutely believe that I will perform at my expected level past the age of 40.?

And, oh, by the way, he wants six years, not five.

http://www.gammonsdaily.com/peter-gammons-jose-bautista-and-the-future-of-athletic-preparation-and-longevity/

 

[L K]

But, then, Bautista himself is emotional, sometimes appearing to be Ted Cruzesque in his stridency. ?I?m not going to change who I am,? he likes to say, which means he?s not going to apologize for flipping his bat like a 10-year old. He?s very smart; he recently went back to the University of South Florida to complete his BA in business, and while he loves his game, he understands the game?s business, how the owners? revenues have grown at an astoundingly higher rate than players? salaries in the 20 years since The Strike of 1994-95, and how big market, big local media teams like the Jays, Yankees and Red Sox can hide those revenues from the Central Fund and revenue-sharing with the equivalent of Swiss bank accounts.

He has studied all the aging metrics, and defies them the way he defied his projected career path of being a utility player. When Jose was 30, he led the league in homers (43), walks, slugging, OPS and OPS+.

At 40? ?I am preparing to be physically capable of doing the same,? Bautista says. ?I am preparing to defy those aging curves by my strict adherence to physical, mental and nutritional routines. When I missed time (at 31) with hip problems, I changed everything,? he says. ?I studied, I learned about my body, and how to keep it at peak performance levels, and how to maintain it. I study how Chip Kelly prepares his players. I do what he teaches. I do what Tom Brady does. It is about discipline and diet and strive for physical and mental states that defy aging. I love a good steak; I cannot eat red meat. There are a lot of things I love, but I cannot be who and what I want to be and eat and drink them.

?It has been suggested that when I told the Blue Jays what it would take for me to sign an extension and pass up free agency (next November), it was because I absolutely believe that I will perform at my expected level past the age of 40.?

And, oh, by the way, he wants six years, not five.

http://www.gammonsdaily.com/peter-gammons-jose-bautista-and-the-future-of-athletic-preparation-and-longevity/

Honestly, I believe that he is capable of being productive.  He is a fitness freak.  The problem is his offensive game might stay productive into his 40s, but his defensive game has already declined to the point that if we didn't have Encarnacion already I would be talking to him about either moving to LF or transitioning to 1B/DH.

 

[cabber24]

I think the Jays should just go out there and win the whole damn thing, make lots of money and then sign Edwin and Bautista because they can afford to.