They’re losing that talent. We’re already seeing the messy results.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/kelly-leaked-trade-rumours-could-sink-blue-jays-trade-plans/article28861805/
On Monday night, the Jays agreed to trade outfielder Michael Saunders in a three-team exchange that would have netted them Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce. We can’t “know” know that happened, but we know.
We know because most of the network-affiliated U.S. insiders whose primary job it is to ferret out and expose deals before they’re finished were all over it. These guys occasionally get one wrong, but not all at once. Later, Bruce would essentially confirm it.
We can argue about the wisdom of the trade. Actually, we might as well, since everyone and their cousin was on Twitter picking it apart before it was done. Bruce is Saunders, just healthier and a hell of a lot more expensive. You can make the case for it, but you have to do logical gymnastics to get there.
The deal collapsed when one of the involved players – reportedly an unidentified Blue Jays minor leaguer – failed a physical.
From a Toronto perspective, there is both harm and foul. You don’t get the guy you wanted. The guy you tried to get rid of now knows you don’t rate him. And everyone involved looks foolish. It’s a trifecta of incompetence.
What does matter is that this thing is already springing leaks like a Popsicle-stick canoe, and pulling the focus of spring down with it.
Where are Atkins & Co. on this? Oh, they’re over in the executive bunker, pretending that when you pinkie swear a baseball buddy to keep your secret, he always does – no take-backs.
“I can’t comment on negotiations,” Atkins said with regard to Bautista. “There’s really nothing we can say. There’s really nothing more to it than that.”
Roger that, chief. Someone asked again in a different way. Looking pained, Atkins took the fifth. And again. And again. And again. And again. Six times in all.
“To me, it doesn’t need to be public,” Atkins said. “And it won’t be … [significant pause] … from our end.”
So where’s the info coming from? It could be a Rogers exec trying to put pressure on Bautista, and going through their main rival to provide distance. It could be a semi-informed busybody passing on gossip masquerading as fact. It could be Bautista’s camp planting misinformation. It could be a Blue Jays staffer. There’s huge interest and a lot at stake – the perfect mix for all sorts of shenanigans.
If you’re not going to meet Bautista’s non-negotiable demand, the right play is to announce that now. There is a risk that Bautista goes rogue and demands a trade, or enters an epochal sulk. But he needs a career performance this year to give himself a shot at a nine-figure deal. There is no surer place to do that than buried in the midst of Toronto’s best-in-the-game offence. That reality likely guarantees his co-operation, however grudging. It’s either that or sign him.
Give in or give up – those are the smart things to do. The dumb thing is what they’re doing – dithering while others hijack the conversation.
It’s now up to the Jays to prove they know what smart sounds like before someone else reports it for them.
