Jays have only 17.4 million in salaries committed for 2012

[darth_federer]

Some teams have all the luck.

Just a couple of years ago, the Blue Jays were stuck with massive commitments to both Alex Rios and Vernon Wells. But thanks to some old fashioned generosity by White Sox general manager Ken Williams and Angels general manager Tony Reagins, the Blue Jays don’t have to worry about paying either of them anymore.

The Blue Jays are now blessed with tremendous financial flexibility moving forward. In fact, according Cots Contracts, the Blue Jays have only $17.4 million in payroll commitments for 2012. This includes contracts for Adam Lind, Ricky Romero, Rajai Davis and prospect shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and buyouts for Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch, Edwin Encarnacion. Aaron Hill still has a series of club options from 2012-2014 and the club will have potential arbitration cases with several players, including Mike Napoli, Yunel Escobar and Brandon Morrow. There’s also the matter of whether they sign the arbitration-eligible Jose Bautista to a multi-year contract.

Don’t forget that the Blue Jays also have a boatload of early draft picks — seven in the first 80, to be exact — which should help bolster what is already one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. The American League East is a tough place to compete, but Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos is quietly building something pretty interesting in Toronto.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/ ... -for-2012/



Assuming that extra playoff spot opens up in 2012 are we going to go for it?

[J-Roc]

Here's the breakdown.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... utput=html

[kavan]

Not bad, hopefully we can pull some wins out I am glad but if these players all turn out look out 100million in pay roll haha. Enjoy it while you can Rogers!

[dagger]

Hopefully, if they get a multiyear deal with Bautista they give him part of it upfront as a bonus - at least for payroll purposes - so the full hit isn't part of next year's budget. There is the latitude now to give him some of his future money on this year's payroll.

[dballislife]

it all depends on how much salary ur willing to spend now, this is what i hate about baseball, when most winning teams have payrolls from 120-200 mill, jays owners have never been willing to escape the 60-80 range, i do have high hopes for this team though, they have much better winning chances then the sad raps n leafs

[wlujaysfan55]

"people will come Ray, people will come"


I agree with AA - as the jays put out competitive teams, win more games and hopefully make the playoffs, the fans will come back in higher #'s and naturally, Jays payroll will increase.

No use wasting money on a mediocre team.

[Leolovinliberal]

it all depends on how much salary ur willing to spend now, this is what i hate about baseball, when most winning teams have payrolls from 120-200 mill, jays owners have never been willing to escape the 60-80 range, i do have high hopes for this team though, they have much better winning chances then the sad raps n leafs

Tampa spends less than that and they've been quite good over the last few years.

[dagger]

"people will come Ray, people will come"


I agree with AA - as the jays put out competitive teams, win more games and hopefully make the playoffs, the fans will come back in higher #'s and naturally, Jays payroll will increase.

No use wasting money on a mediocre team.

It's not so easy to get fans back when you lose them. There is always a lag, so it's important to spend money to show your own fan base as well as prospective free agents you want to win now as opposed to some time at the end of the decade. This winter wasn't the time to spend, but next year is... If they keep stalling, I'm going to assume Rogers isn't waiting for a competitive team, but a steady profit of a small revenue and expense base.

[dagger]

it all depends on how much salary ur willing to spend now, this is what i hate about baseball, when most winning teams have payrolls from 120-200 mill, jays owners have never been willing to escape the 60-80 range, i do have high hopes for this team though, they have much better winning chances then the sad raps n leafs

Tampa spends less than that and they've been quite good over the last few years.

But it wasn't sustainable.

You want sustained competitiveness, not a trip to the playoffs once or twice every 20 years.

[wlujaysfan55]

"people will come Ray, people will come"


I agree with AA - as the jays put out competitive teams, win more games and hopefully make the playoffs, the fans will come back in higher #'s and naturally, Jays payroll will increase.

No use wasting money on a mediocre team.

It's not so easy to get fans back when you lose them. There is always a lag, so it's important to spend money to show your own fan base as well as prospective free agents you want to win now as opposed to some time at the end of the decade. This winter wasn't the time to spend, but next year is... If they keep stalling, I'm going to assume Rogers isn't waiting for a competitive team, but a steady profit of a small revenue and expense base.

Until the jays are truly trying to "win now", I am a proponent of not throwing away $'s. Not sure when that turning point is from middle of the pack team to legitimately vying for a playoff spot but we're not there right now & we may or may not be there next season. Not to say payroll won't increase or that the jays won't sign players but I believe AA is setting up a team that will compete, at a reasonable total team salary & with a perpetually strong farm system. I'd expect that once he's done building the foundation for this team, with what he believes is a strong farm system & with a team that is legitimately competing but is a player or two away from really taking a shot for the playoffs, AA will hold off on major deals that will add major salary well into this decade.

[Raps in 4]

it all depends on how much salary ur willing to spend now, this is what i hate about baseball, when most winning teams have payrolls from 120-200 mill, jays owners have never been willing to escape the 60-80 range, i do have high hopes for this team though, they have much better winning chances then the sad raps n leafs

Tampa spends less than that and they've been quite good over the last few years.

But it wasn't sustainable.

You want sustained competitiveness, not a trip to the playoffs once or twice every 20 years.

Minnesota has been consistently competitive with a low payroll (except for last season where they neared the $100 million mark).

[wlujaysfan55]

Tampa spends less than that and they've been quite good over the last few years.[/quote]

But it wasn't sustainable.

You want sustained competitiveness, not a trip to the playoffs once or twice every 20 years.[/quote]

Minnesota has been consistently competitive with a low payroll (except for last season where they neared the $100 million mark).[/quote]


One model for the Jays is a balance b/w the Yanks/Red Sox model & the Rays model. Ergo, deep & talented farm system coupled with a higher team salary but of course, nowhere near the Yanks/Red Sox.

Imo, a team philosophy similar to Minnesota's (but with more power at the plate) coupled with spending the right money on the right players to push the team over the edge is what's required for sustained competitiveness.

[PimpHandStrong]

Last I checked, Minnesota wasn't in the AL East (maybe this has changed?).