flatjacket1 wrote:Schadenfreude wrote:There's some truly unusual math involved here, because you're suggesting that the money itself equates to 10 WAR, which fails to take into consideration that virtually any player added is going to bring salary with them, not to mention the fact that it's not solely finding those wins above replacement, but finding them in the necessary spots. We could perhaps have acquired ten players, each worth 2 WAR, but that ain't the game.
That's no small consideration. Last season, fewer than thirty starting pitchers posted more than 3.5 WAR; we acquired two such pitchers, plus another guy who -- prior to last year -- had posted five consecutive years above that mark. We topped it off with someone who has been top three at his position rather consistently.
We needed three starters, an outfielder, and a shortstop, and lo, that's what we got. Having the money and the prospects made that possible, but the acquisitions themselves are a little more complicated than waving the money-and-kiddies wand and having the necessary pieces appear.
You have to get young upside guys, like Gio who doubled his fWAR 1 year after being traded. Guys who are making the minimum.
We gave up like what? 50 years of control for market price 10 years worth?
SS a position of need? I beg to differ.
All I'm saying is that I bet there are GM's out there that could of had a better last few months. You seem to be dodging that.
Years of cheap control matter more to teams that can't afford to get established Major League stars. In other words, it mattered to the Jays prior to this season because the payroll was significantly lower. Once it increased to the level that it did, it became much less of an issue because they could afford to acquire more established talent. A team that can afford Jose Reyes doesn't need to buy a lottery ticket and hope Adeiny pans out. A team that can afford to trade for R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle doesn't need to throw Henderson Alvarez out there every 5th day until he learns how to strike hitters out, or wait for Syndergaard, Nicolino, etc, at the expense of Bautista's prime, or throw Drabek out there when he isn't ready, etc, etc, etc. In a game of certainty vs. uncertainty, in most cases certainty wins. If the Jays wanted to accelerate their window to compete, they needed the certainty that veterans bring, not the hopes of prospects.
AA needed to pick a side. He either had to win while Bautista was still elite and under contract, or he had to go the other direction. He not only chose to win with Bautista, but he did about as much as one GM could do to make it happen within one off-season. You say some GM's could have done better, but that's subjective and really pointless to speculate on since no one knows what was available. When Dickey was acquired, posters were talking about trading for Felix Hernandez instead. That wouldn't look so smart right now. Justin Upton had a no-trade clause and Toronto was on the list. It's foolish to think other GM's could have done better without knowing what was out there as an alternative.
Don't get me wrong, it was fun for a few years watching AA gets Morrow pre-breakout, and Escobar when his value was down, and Rasmus, etc, etc. But if he wanted to win, he couldn't do that anymore. He had to get elite, or damn near close to elite level talent that has a reasonable chance to maintain that level over the next few years. The players he brought in do present risk for various reasons (Dickey for age, Reyes for durability, Johnson for injury risk, Melky for PED cloud, etc), but they also present high upside given what they have done in the past. Not sure what more Jays fans could ask for. If d'Arnaud, Syndergaard, Nicolino, etc, all pan out, as long as the Jays make the playoffs and/or hopefully win a title over the next five years, it really won't mean much.
