Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Jon Heyman of SI.com that he thought carefully before locking up Jose Bautista to a $65MM extension. "When you spend that kind of money, I don't think you can ever be completely comfortable," Anthopoulos said. "And I am one to agonize over everything, anyway,'' Both Anthopoulos and Bautista acknowledged that a second 54-homer season is unlikely, but that doesn't mean the former utility player can't produce. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors…
- Boston's front office has not seriously considered cutting Tim Wakefield.
- Dennys Reyes, who can opt out of his contract Friday, will likely make the team as well, according to Heyman.
- Two scouts say Marlins third baseman Matt Dominguez isn't ready to hit in the major leagues. However, he's an above-average defender.
- Though manager Joe Girardi won't say as much, Ivan Nova has locked up the Yankees' No. 4 starter job, according to Heyman.
- It appears that Oliver Perez will find a job. The Yankees and Brewers aren't interested.
- Scouts tell Heyman that Twins pitching prospect Kyle Gibson isn't far from the majors.
The sox are on a P.R. high right now they could probally get away with cutting Wake with little fan relation damage. I imagine they will keep him for now given that Hill and Albers still have options left and are likely to start the year in AAA.
Agree with you about keeping him right now because of Hill and Albers.
But even if all the great things that the Sox have done this past off-season, signing Crawford, trading for A-Gon, re-build the bullpen, I think a lot of fans would react about Wake getting cut.
Everyone is saying Wake thinks he is still a starter. Well who wouldnt want to start.
But how many times throughout the years has he gone to the bullpen without being asked but seeing someone needed to for the better of the team. Wake is so unselfish in todays game where most players are selfish.
Ive loved watching Wake through the years but he really is toast now. I dont want the Sox losing ball games because of his legacy.
Wake has shown when he knows its done(whether for the start or the season).
Plus Wake will probably lose less games than Beckett and Dice-K(though of course not combined)
Being a professional guy has given Wakefield a team first player, i’m sure if given the choice he would start but given the depth and the stage of his carear he knows the only way he could play for the sox is a long reliever.
As for public relations, there are so many generic fans who don’t have the respect for Wakefield that most of gained watching him pitching those 2851.1 innings and 179 wins.
And the sad fact is, every team has those fans.
Which is a shame for a guy like Wake.
Albers DOESN’T have any options left, which is why he might make the opening-day pen.
Perez is said to have received some interest, so it appears he will get a job, though scouts say he needs to adjust to throwing 85 mph instead of 95.
Scouts need to adjust to the fact that Pérez sucks at any velocity.
If he can dial it down even further, to around 25, he can be a peanut vendor. What there is not a market for, apparently, is that huge gray area spanning 26 to 84 MPH.
He wouldn’t suck enough at 95 to justify cutting him like the Mets did. His problem is that at 85, he doesn’t have the smarts to learn how to pitch, and instead blames the batters for not swinging at his stuff.
BTW I don’t understand how this article can say “it appears he will get a job”. Where is there anything which says that a team has actually said that there is interest? The only way the Yankees “had interest” was probably a result of going over all of the players that were released at their daily meetings, and saying “he sucks, we don’t want him”.
Wakefield For President! seriously if obama got elected then Timmy definitly can.
Schilling as his running mate!
So, Anthopoulos thought long and hard about the decision?
Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all night.
Let me translate Anthopoulos statement.
Woops.
We will see who made the whoops after next year because if Bautista produces 35 100 rbis then he is worth the contract and most people believe that he can put up those numbers
i agree thats a hell of a lot of money to cough up to a player with one good season. big risk for AA and the Jays. if he can repeat success its a good deal, but really no reason to believe he will
If you dont believe in Bautista then take a look at some videos and some swing comparisons, look at how he swung while before the jays then look after. The two swings are worked apart Dwayne murphy has done wonders for Jose and you will see it next year
It’s not about the money. After 2010 he is getting paid what he should in 2011. It’s the years you have to worry about. Waaaaay too long of a contract. It will be an albatross.
compared to numerous other deals that are north of $100mill for 7 plus years, bautista will not likely be an albatross at all. all he needs to do is maintain some semblance of last season. he could literally cut his HR total in half and still come close to earning his contract
He’s going to produce 35,100 RBI’s? I’d say AA got a heckuva deal then
But he wont
LOL. If that’s what you got from his statement you are a terrible interpreter.
“Laugh out Loud” dude!!!!!! Totally! Listen, let me break it down for you… Bautista had what we call a “fluke season”… happens all the time. He will never, EVER hit anywhere close to 54 HRs again. Thats a promise. In fact, look at his stats, he hit more HRs in 2010 than he did in 09,08,07,06, and 05 combined. This is one, if not the worse contract placed this offseason and if you are half way human you’ll see the fear and regret in Anthopoulos comments. This is just as bad as Vernon Wells contract. Denial is a river in Egypt Toronto… dont fool yourself.
WOW LMAO. You are making yourself look really dumb. When on earth did I ever say Bautista was going to repeat what he did last season!? NEVER. When did AA ever express that JBau was going to repeat what he did last season. NEVER. If AA or anyone ever thought Bautista was going to repeat what he did last season he would be getting paid Albert Pujols-type dollars (HE’S NOT). That contract they gave him was showing everyone that they believe he can produce, NOT IN ANY WAY REPEAT. LMAOOO. How on earth do you get from that contract that they think he is going to repeat 54 HRS!? HAHA.
And I love how you believe AA is regretting his signing of Bautista a month after signing him when no one has seen what Bautista is going to do this year. You would regret something if Bautista falls off. He hasn’t even had the chance to fall off. You’re a joke.
Ha ha now your “LMAO…OMG!” He is making Albert Pujols money… thats my point. Albert Pujols had 5 years in a row where he “proved” himself by hitting above 300 and driving in 100 plus RBIs and 30+ HRs. So, he got a contract that paid him 14 million a year. Pretty much the exact contract that AA gave Bautista for one good year. You can argue with me all you want but the truth is, it was a horrible idea, business decision, and an absolutely ridiculous contract.
I said he wont ever hit ANYWHERE CLOSE to 54 HRs again.. thats all and he wont. In fact I would be very shocked if he hit 20 HRs this year but again, he probably wont.
Im gonna go ahead and say you “star player” stats this year will look like this:
HR: 15
RBI: 65
B.A.: .255
(this is what kind of player Bautista is) NOT a 15 million dollar player
Good luck with him 😉
I don’t think you know what Pujols-type dollars are. Pujols-type dollars are close to $30 MM a year. What Pujols has been getting paid is half of that, clearly underpaid. BAUTISTA IS NOT MAKING PUJOLS-TYPE DOLLARS. Unbelievable, why is it so hard to get that through to you WOW. And I love how you just average the years before with what he has done since September 2009, when most experts see Bautista hitting 35+ HRS this year.
And again, my first comment was about your interpretation of AA’s statement. I guarantee you AA does not regret the deal he JUST MADE. The season hasn’t even started and you believe he regrets a deal he made 1 MONTH AGO. Are you serious!? Stop talking.
Really? Pujols dollars are 30 million a year because he signed a 30 million per year contract, right? When did he sign? I must of missed that.. and I live in St. Louis. Odd. Cant really claim “Pujols money” is 30 mill when he hasn’t signed a contract for that. I don’t know how you guys do it up there in Canada but Im pretty sure you have to make that money first before you claim you have it. Its like explaining numbers to a five year old with you. Learn the definition of a fact vs speculation before you continue. Take a debate class if you have to, you’ll learn. Im pulling for you. Pujols is not underpaid. Pujols signed a contract with the Cardinals that paid him 14-16 million a year. Which BOTH Pujols and the Cardinals at the time figured he was worth. Just because the guy out played his worth doesn’t mean he is underpaid. Bautista however is a perfect definition of being overpaid.
I didn’t average Bautistas stats from Sept on.. Look at his career dude, the guy is horrible.
AA will regret it, as will you. Only time will tell how naive you are.
Nice trolling… How can you possible claim to know what he is or what he isn’t. An entire staff of scouts/coaches judged the guy to be worth what he is getting paid, yet you in your supreme arrogance seem to know that he will be a 15/65 guy. This way if for some reason he does regress you can say I told you so? Or if he plays 80 games due to injury and he has 15/65 you can say see, he just cant takeit. Stop being an idiot and watch it play out.
LMAO. Let me translate your reaction to Bautista’s performance thus far: “Wups.” Turns out AA is a genius and is incredibly happy with the decision he made in signing Bautista. Dummy stfu. “The guy is horrible” LMAOOOOO. Donkey
Its not even a month in yet… hold your canadian horses buddy.
“It appears that Oliver Perez will find a job. The Yankees and Brewers aren’t interested.”
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uh, Ben?
“It appears that Oliver Perez will find a job”… not necessarily in baseball.