RealGM

I was just thinking. Jays didnt get into the Fielder stakes because of the length of his deal..... also if Pujols was say a 4-5 year deal, Jays might have atleast made a bid, rite? ...... Its the huge 10 year deal that scare off teams and likely will haunt them like A-rod isin NY rite now.

so look this offseason. The top FA Josh Hamilton will demand top level dollars, but because of his history its very realistic that he ends up on a 3-4 year deal. It basically eliminates the risk factor and gets you a premiere hitter.

I mean, yeh pitching is the need rite now for sure, but wouldnt this be a real statement by the JAYS to the fan base. Can you imagine a 1-2-3 punch of Bautista-Hamilton-Encanacion

Would you sign Hamilton at a rate of say, 90 Million over 4 years?

Except someone will offer him $160M over 8. I'm sure Texas makes the offer you suggest, so he would probably stay put and continue to enjoy post season play. If we want Hamilton, we will have to over pay in either years or dollars and possibly both.

So would you give him $160M over 8?

On a short term deal(2-3years) I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Jays uni. But on a long term deal (6+ years) I'd have no interest in him.

We can and might offer something him realistic like the 4/90 you mentioned. However, somebody will get desperate and give him something like 8-9 years for close to 200.

For a player with ongoing issues like Hamilton, you are really really sticking your neck out tying him up for so long. The Rangers aren't going to, and they probably have the best handle on whether they think Hamilton can hold it together, or will fall off the wagon repeatedly. If they don't believe in him, we shouldn't either. Like I said one team will, and they end up likely getting burned.

He probably doesnt even want to come here.

Not really interested, he will demand more than 5 years at $25-$30 mil per year and we need pitching more than hitting.

I think assuming some GM will get crazy is pretty safe, but from time to time cooler heads prevail (and he's got pretty much every marker to induce chilled craniums) and at that point I'd hope the Jays got interested. Somewhere between 4/80 and 5/90 would be my absolute max, but I think he's likely to at least get into Reyes (6/106) territory. The problem for the Jays is that I'd hazard to guess that right where AA would get into the mix, so would a half dozen other teams. It's a catch-22 for the Jays in that the price point where he's remotely worth the risk, we won't be his first choice any longer.

Still, he's the rare UFA with some elite tools that might actually only draw a lukewarm market because of everything else about him.

More than yearly dollars, it's the length that bothers me with Hamilton, and 4 years is maybe the mark I'd probably stop at. I'd be happier with 3... even happier with 2... but for four years, 90 million? Ehhhhhhh... I guess I'd probably be willing to do that.