Jays sign Rios AND Hill

asif9t9 · Post #1 » by **asif9t9** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 7:12 pm

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/ar ... p&c_id=tor

Rios for 6yrs and $64M.

Hill for 4yrs and $12M.

Both seem to be low. I wonder if seeing a guy like Casey Janssen go down with a possible career ending injury makes these guys think twice.

And what's great is both these contracts are easily tradeable if needed.

No need for two seperate topics when you're commenting on the same event. Threads have been merged, and I added the link to the original post. - STJ

asif9t9 · Post #2 » by **asif9t9** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 7:15 pm

I know JP looks good for signing both these guys today. And for decent contracts.

But let's face it. He's been here way too long. Signing Rios and Hill is for the next few years. Marcum and McGowan seem to be on track. But we can't wait on JP for another couple of years.

These guys might be signed for a few more years. But JP has this year only.

Post #3 » by **SmallTownJournalist303** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 7:50 pm

Link?
I'm assuming your sources are correct, and those are two fantastic contracts, especially the Hill one. Despite his early showings this year, Aaron's a fantastic defensive second baseman with a developing potent bat; that contract is going to seem like grand larseny two years from now.

Michael Bradley · Post #4 » by **Michael Bradley** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:05 pm

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/ar ... p&c_id=tor

Aaron Hill either loves Toronto or has an extremely crummy agent. A 4-year deal for $12 million plus three consecutive TEAM options? Wow. I'm assuming the team options are fairly lucrative, otherwise Hill has forgone not only his remaining arbitration years but possibly his first three free agent years on top of that. That takes him into his early-30's. Fantastic deal for Toronto. Even if Hill doesn't progress as expected, he's still very tradeable.

The article says that no opt-out clauses were included, so Ricciardi has finally smartened up a bit. Hopefully this type of deal is waiting for Dustin McGowan if he has a strong/healthy 2008.

asif9t9 · Post #5 » by **asif9t9** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:12 pm

I get my news via text msg from TSN. Plus I was listening to the Fan590 at the same time.

I was doing the other thread just for the sake of talking about JP. Lots of talk about giving JP credit for signing these guys. But as Jack Armstrong always says, it's not about winning the press conference.

Post #6 » by **SmallTownJournalist303** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:19 pm

We bitch about JP in every thread, so I thought as long as the bitching is in regards to this topic then the threads might as well go together, haha. And for future reference, links are necessary when posting breaking news, because not all of us get TSN texts.

RockTHECasbah · Post #7 » by **RockTHECasbah** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:52 pm

Good moves. But Stewart over Johnson was bad, and the Blue Jays are Toronto's true treadmill team.

stro4swift · Post #8 » by **stro4swift** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 10:41 pm

Very good news to hear that they inked both of these guys long-term.

Post #9 » by **OldNo7** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 12:56 am

That Hill deal is mind boggling...forgoing his arbitration years to earn a paltry 3 mil? Even if he remains a .280/12/75 guy for the life of the deal, his defense is pretty much deserving of that in this day and age.

cb4_89 · Post #10 » by **cb4_89** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 2:34 am

wow great deals

edit: imagine the players union pulls a barajas v2.0 here?

Post #11 » by **OldNo7** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 2:41 am

refresh me on what happened there?

PopAGat · Post #12 » by **PopAGat** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 2:45 am

Great deals. Rios is a great player. Happy to see Hill back for only 3 million. I like everything Hill does. Rios is the consistent guy and will give us hits when we need them.

Post #13 » by **OldNo7** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 2:51 am

PopAGat wrote:Great deals. Rios is a great player. Happy to see Hill back for only 3 million. I like everything Hill does. Rios is the consistent guy and will give us hits when we need them.

Like tonight? Oh wait...

I kid, I kid

asif9t9 · Post #14 » by **asif9t9** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 3:09 am

What I like about Hill and Rios is they're fairly consistent. You know what you'll get game in and game out. A guy like Vernon is so frustrating because one game he's an all-star, next game he's a fringe player.

Post #15 » by **Schad** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 5:39 am

Michael Bradley wrote:
Aaron Hill either loves Toronto or has an extremely crummy agent. A 4-year deal for $12 million plus three consecutive TEAM options? Wow. I'm assuming the team options are fairly lucrative, otherwise Hill has forgone not only his remaining arbitration years but possibly his first three free agent years on top of that. That takes him into his early-30's. Fantastic deal for Toronto. Even if Hill doesn't progress as expected, he's still very tradeable.

The article says that no opt-out clauses were included, so Ricciardi has finally smartened up a bit. Hopefully this type of deal is waiting for Dustin McGowan if he has a strong/healthy 2008.

Battersbox is reporting that the team options are a one-off at $8m per year; at the end of the three-year initial deal, the Jays GM will have the option to extend at that price for either one, two, or three seasons, depending on his performance.

That's an excellent deal on a number of levels, IMO; it will give the team quite a bit of flexibility in deciding Hill's future with the club, and if he really breaks out, a total price of 6/$36 for his prime years will be one of the better bargains in baseball.

RingItUp! · Post #16 » by **RingItUp!** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 7:22 am

Schadenfreude wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Battersbox is reporting that the team options are a one-off at $8m per year; at the end of the three-year initial deal, the Jays GM will have the option to extend at that price for either one, two, or three seasons, depending on his performance.

That's an excellent deal on a number of levels, IMO; it will give the team quite a bit of flexibility in deciding Hill's future with the club, and if he really breaks out, a total price of 6/$36 for his prime years will be one of the better bargains in baseball.

Part of me can't quite believe the Jays were able to lock up Hill for that price. I mean, if Hill continues to develop, even below his current trajectory, he's still a steal.

I gotta give JP a hand for this deal. I've $h!t on him enough around here but these two deals, market value or below for young players who project to continue improving, are very solid.

raps4life~ · Post #17 » by **raps4life~** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 2:52 pm

this is a bit confusing but Hill will make more than 12 mil

Hill's four-year, $12 million extension, which begins with the current season, is a little bit more complicated, considering it includes club options for 2012, '13 and '14. By Opening Day 2011 -- Hill's final year before possibly becoming eligible for free agency -- the Blue Jays must decide whether they want to pick up a three-year option worth $26 million.

Should Toronto decide against giving Hill an additional three seasons under his new contract, the club has until 10 days following the 2011 World Series to go one of three routes. At that point, the Jays could either decline to renew Hill's contract or elect to exercise a one-year option worth $8 million or a two-year option worth $16 million.

whysoserious · Post #18 » by **whysoserious** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 5:30 pm

Hill's deal is very cheap overall. Very good signing for the Jays. I expect Hill will be one of the better bargains in baseball by the end of next season as I expect his numbers to go up significantly over the next two year's as he improves.

He may already be a good bargain, but if progresses the way he should he'll be a steal.

jamaicamon · Post #19 » by **jamaicamon** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 5:52 pm

asif9t9 wrote:I know JP looks good for signing both these guys today. And for decent contracts.

But let's face it. He's been here way too long. Signing Rios and Hill is for the next few years. Marcum and McGowan seem to be on track. But we can't wait on JP for another couple of years.

These guys might be signed for a few more years. But JP has this year only.

Honestly i dont know where all the JP hate comes from, over the years we havnt gotten past the yanks and sox but neither has anyone else. The fact is over the years he has steadly improved the lineup and looking at our first five pichers, doc, burnett, mcgowan, marcum and litsch, we got some of the best young and veteran pitchers in the game today. Now if he lost hill and rios i would of been pissed but he didnt so nothing but more props from me.

It appears to me that everything is rounding into form quite nicely with mostly all the players entering stages where they should be playing their best ball.

asif9t9 · Post #20 » by **asif9t9** » Wed Apr 9, 2008 7:30 pm

JP's problem is he talks too much. First he said hee could do it like Oakland, with a limited budget. That failed. Then he said he needed more money. Now he has more money ($97M). And hey, so far so good this year (7 games). But look at the predictions by everyone for this year. We're going into another year with no hope.