Towers could be back in '08

[The-Insider]

Here's a shocker -- you haven't seen the last of Josh Towers in a Blue Jays uniform.

The right-hander, who was batted back and forth between the rotation and bullpen in 2007 and ended up going 5-10 with a 5.40 ERA, will be back battling for the fifth spot in the 2008 rotation, general manager J.P. Ricciardi said yesterday.

"At this point we intend to bring him back," Ricciardi said. "We need all the pitching that we can get. We plan on Towers being here."

When Towers zipped out of the Jays clubhouse without speaking to the media following their final game of the 2007 season, many assumed he would not be back, that the Jays had zippo interest.

But even though he is arbitration eligible and earned $2.9 million US in '07 in the final year of a two-year, $5.2-million contract, Ricciardi is not deterred.


"For the fifth spot in a rotation, for $3-million bucks, that's what starters are going for," Ricciardi said. "Just look at the numbers and do the math."

It

[Mak]

Please no Josh Towers. We had enough.

[Mak]

also...a link would be nice

[arrpy]

Please, anything but Towers....

[whiterasta80]

I can confirm the overall point though. I read it somewhere (maybe Yahoo Sports) as well.

As to Towers being back, I guess the assumption is that he'll get his butt kicked in arbitration, and then we have a minimum salaried pitcher to cover injuries. If he somehow makes money in arbitration we just renounce his rights (which doesn't set us back at all).

[Holmes]

Riccardi's unwillingness to do anything (don't give us that bull about "don't expect us to do much because we can't" attitude) is outright irritating and we are going to pay for it next year when we field the exact same "meh" team.

What a disaster.

[OldNo7]

When I heard we were eyeing Clement, I thought to myself "gee, why not just bring back Josh Towers?". Boy oh boy I hope JP thrills me by getting both.

[Modern_epic]

I can confirm the overall point though. I read it somewhere (maybe Yahoo Sports) as well.

As to Towers being back, I guess the assumption is that he'll get his butt kicked in arbitration, and then we have a minimum salaried pitcher to cover injuries. If he somehow makes money in arbitration we just renounce his rights (which doesn't set us back at all).

I think your salary can't go down from the last year through arbitration, but I might be wrong.

[TR50]

why? why JP why?

[whiterasta80]

-= original quote snipped =-



I think your salary can't go down from the last year through arbitration, but I might be wrong.

I wondered about that, but I couldn't imagine a reason for offering him arbitration otherwise.

[Geddy]

Maybe JP thinks the Jays are too good, and wants the opponent hitters to at least have a chance.

[The-Insider]

also...a link would be nice

http://torontosun.com/Sports/Baseball/2...6-sun.html

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/teams/report/TOR/10482598

Towers passed through waivers unclaimed after the trade deadline. If JP intends to trade him, it wouldn't be a wise gamble. I think that at best, the Jays might get an organizational filler similar to the PTBNL deals they got for Hinske/Schoenweis (and the Jays would probably have to eat some salary as well). So this is a high risk low reward situation, which are the kinds of decisions that should be avoided.

[LLJ]

It's really hard for me to become more of a diehard baseball fan because of management "moves" such as this.

[asif9t9]

I think the point of arbitration is his salary won't go down......it'll stay at $2.9M, or maybe one penny more. JP says $3M is the going rate for fifth starters. Josh Towers has done nothing to warrant a raise to an arbitrator. In fact, he probably owes us some money.

The real issue here is JP needs to find fifth starters who can also be in the bullpen. Long seasons mean guys miss starts and you need to shuffle the rotation. As bad as Towers has always been, he's one of those guys who looks like he needs to be a starter, or nothing else. His pitching motion is too awkward for a bullpen guy.