“The external perception is that the Blue Jays are a team ready to win but also a team in transition,” MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince writes in a piece detailing how 2016 stands out as a win-now season for the franchise. While the Jays have several major players and young stars controlled into 2017 and beyond, this could also be Toronto’s last season with Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, R.A. Dickey, Brett Cecil and (perhaps) even manager John Gibbons if the new front office wants to hire its own dugout boss. Here’s some more from north of the border…
- The Jays are “willing to be much more flexible” in talks with Bautista than Encarnacion when it comes to contract length and money, Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair reports. Encarnacion is rumored to be asking for a five-year deal, though even a four-year pact could be too much for the Jays. The debate over contract length has reportedly already been a stumbling block in talks between Encarnacion’s camp and the Jays, with the club reportedly offering extensions of only one or two years. It seems like Toronto will have to be flexible if the team is to keep Bautista, as its reported preference for a deal in the three-year/$75MM range is about half of Bautista’s demands.
- Paul Kinzer, Encarnacion’s agent, told Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun that his client’s reported demand for a five-year deal is inaccurate. “We have never put a number on the terms of the length of the contract. We have never discussed a dollar amount,” Kinzer said.
- There is “no chance” the Jays re-sign both Bautista and Encarnacion, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets, as the club simply can’t put two more large salaries on the books when Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki are also signed to major deals through 2019 and 2020, respectively. I explored the difficulties Toronto would face in extending both sluggers in a Bautista extension candidate piece last November, and given the reports since, it’s becoming increasingly possible that neither player is wearing a Jays jersey in 2017.
- Gavin Floyd will make a start in a minor league game today, which could bring more clarity to the still-unsettled fifth starter’s battle between Floyd and Aaron Sanchez. Gibbons was rather vague in comments to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) yesterday about whether the Jays were any closer to a decision. Both starters have pitched very well this spring, adding to the debate as to whether the Blue Jays should go with the veteran reclamation project or the promising but still raw youngster. Andrew Stoeten of Blue Jays Nation points out that Sanchez still has unanswered questions about whether or not he can retire left-handed hitters after getting hit hard by lefty bats last season, while an NL scout tells Jeff Blair (in the previously-linked piece) that Sanchez has the “best stuff I’ve seen anywhere this spring. They’re crazy if they put him in the bullpen.”
- Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom opines that Sanchez should be in the rotation, arguing that if the Blue Jays put him in the bullpen again, transitioning Sanchez back to a starting role will be more difficult down the road. Given Sanchez’s top prospect status, “it’s far more important to the organization to know whether Sanchez can stick as a starter than it is to know whether Floyd can stick as a starter….The information on Sanchez is just worth more.”
Don’t worry about ‘ole Gavin Floyd. His agent is Mark Shapiro’s father. He got paid from the Indians last year, and will be paid by the Jays this year. He’ll be given every opportunity to stay with the Jays. Ross Atkins knows which side his bread is buttered on…..and John Gibbons knows ‘manager in waiting’ Eric Wedge is keeping tabs as well.
Except that Floyd’s agent is actually Mike Moye.
moyesports.com/home/clients/active-clients/
Ben Nicholson Smith also tweeted about this. Why everyone is so committed to this narrative is beyond me. It’s like there are Sanchez lobbyists running a smear campaign.
Ron Shapiro was Gavin Floyd’s agent last year, and I’ve found no story saying he changed agents.
It says right in the agency database that he is represented by Moye Sports Associates…
What makes you say that? Seems he’s been repped by Moye for a while … mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/braves-to-sign-gavin-fl…
I’d Love to see the BJ’s keep the band together by signing these two aging sluggers for 5 more years. But history suggests that if they were to sign both guys for 5 years each, their team in 2018 will look a lot like the Phillies of the past two seasons. No organization wants to end up on the wrong side of the reduced production end of of 5 year pacts which are paying a premium for a player barely producing and definitely not at premium levels. Sure it’s easy for me to spend someone else’s money, but I would definitely not want to be the guy who has to take the blame when neither of these fan favorites are on the team due to financial reasons going forward. But it would definitely be in the best interest of the organization to look toward the future and not sign either of these guys for any length longer than 3 years. Good luck to that organization on their future decisions!
I don’t understand how people think both these guys can’t be kept, given how the organization owns one of, if not the biggest market in MLB. Fans are finally coming to games, given how the Jays are finally fielding a competitive team. It boggles my mind that it seems the direction the team is headed towards is that of a small market team.
However, I think I would prefer they keep Bautista over EE, as EE would cost more given his power and he’s a few years younger than Bautista. But then again, he’s already a DH, whereas Bautista can still play the field, although in a few years he’ll definitely be relegated to the DH spot. I just feel like Bautista has been the heart and soul of the team since he broke out, and definitely been their most popular player for a while.
I’m not very optimistic with this team given the recent head office changes the past year, and it wasn’t like Shapiro built a great team during his stint in Cleveland. He won the division once, almost came close to the World Series in 2007, and was in the post season one other time in 2013. Most of the time that team was mediocre and rarely made any noise. Yep, not very confident in this teams future with Shapiro in the fold.
I don’t think that there is no possible way that both players can’t be attained, I simply think that the new regime simply won’t extend their purse enough to keep both guys for 5 years. I highly doubt that both guys will get 5 years with TOR, and with the weak crop of free agents on this years market, I am sure that both of their respective agents are communicating to both players that if they don’t get exactly what they want with TOR, explore your options in free agency. From a business perspective, I don’t think anyone from the owner to the GM will be in a rush to give either player 5 years either. The only people who are rooting for 5 years are the specified players, their agents, and today the fans of Toronto. However, if they were to achieve these 5 year pacts, those same fans will be complaining that ownership should not have given these guys that many years if/when their production does not line up with their premium salaries.
I don’t see the jays signing either Joey Bats or EE . They are both great players and will get rich from other teams willing to pay a premium for something they don’t have or don’t have enough of. Power bats . I feel the Jays will have enough with Donaldson, Tulo and Martin to form a very nice middle of the order for a nice price. There is no need to add a 25 to 30 mil player in their mid to late 30’s with already declining defensive value regardless of what they have done in the past. The Jays are part of a corporation and ultimately have to answer to a board of directors whose job it is to set a reasonable budget and make sure it is adhered to.
ColoredPaper, he outlined it for you very clearly. This should be extremely simple to understand, and you’d understand it just fine if you could only get over your anger at the change in management.
Think this through a bit more. You don’t want your favourite team to be burdened by huge salaries to declining players. It doesn’t matter how much you like them now — as they decline, you’ll like them less and less. Consider Jose Reyes: everyone loved him early in 2013, but by mid-2015 his massive salary and poor on-field performance was considered an unbearable weight on the Blue Jays’ ability to compete. He -had- to be moved in order for the Blue Jays to get to the playoffs.
Eventually, the same will happen with Bautista and Encarnacion. Nobody knows when — could be 2017, could be 2020 — but do you want to be shovelling $50 million in their direction in the meantime with fingers crossed? Or would you rather sign or retain several younger players?
Very well put Warren! I guess I was trying to relay the same message, but I must have not been as clear and direct as you were! Great read!
Doesn’t it depend on who these younger players are? Power is at a premium. Players under 29 rarely reach free agency. When they do, they go for top dollar, which usually prevents Toronto from competing for them. It would be nice if you could just replace them with younger versions of themselves, but is that really likely? Remember, the only reason they ended up with Toronto is that they were nobodies when Toronto acquired them. They were just happy to have a team sign them. Not exactly a formula you can rely on for building the next generation.
Not to dispute your point at all, I just want to go extreme with a scenario. Would you rather have a pre-arb guy who hit 29 homers in AA and 22 in AAA making only 507K with the possibility for that to translate into the Show with some seasoning? Or would you rather have a guy in his 4th year of a 5 year pact that was coming off a .246 season with 13 homers in 102 games making 27.5MM in each of the next 2 years that can only play DH? That’s called bad money. I love both guys, and love them even more as members of Toronto, it just appears that history taught us to not overpay the aging slugger.
Shapiro will have the Jays as a .500 team in 3 years at the latest, and will be blaming AA to the media. It’s what he does.
And the superior scouts AA assembled will be producing for other organizations, while the Jays will have a bunch of Ivy League gads – that make good impressions and always talk as if the’re in a job interview – drafting players by looking at data on their computers. And the Jays will be producing 3 MLB players every 2 years.
PC baby! Impressions and perspectives are all!
I don’t see the Jays signing either one of EE or Bats . Either player will receive great offers from other teams and the Jays could match but they shouldn’t . I can see Joey producing for the next couple of years for sure as he is in great shape but I wouldn’t bet on 5 or 6 years . The Jays are owned by a corporation and not a private flamboyant owner . They have to look out for their stock holders interests and try to keep spending in check. They have a budget and will stick close to it. I’m sure they feel they are already stretching the budget as it is. Earlier I thought they would sign Joey only but not at the amount he is now asking for. The extra money next year can go to some pitching.