Report: Melky to White Sox on a 3 yr $42M deal

[Lateral Quicks]

$14-$15 for Melky is too much when you have bullpen holes to fill. Russell Martin can bat 2nd, offense is ok.... Pitching is more of a need at this point then a LF'er with injuries in his track record

I was going to respond to this by saying that I'd want someone with a higher OBP than Martin batting second. But then I uncovered a fun - and perhaps disturbing - fact that Martin has a higher career OBP than Reyes. And Reyes only got on base at a 32.8% clip last year, which is pretty terrible for a leadoff hitter. So I guess we can live with Martin in the 2-hole, especially if he can carry on from last year's spell-binding 40.2% rate. If not, I'd like to see Bautista bat second followed by Encarnacion and Donaldson.

Ugghh... Reyes is really at risk of becoming an albatross contract for this team...

[Michael Bradley]

I'd rather have Saunders as well. Still has upside with the bat and provides much more value on defense and the base paths. Not to mention the cost savings over the next two years.

The issue will be whether the Jays spend in order to improve other areas, and that remains to be seen. Judging recent history with this regime, I'm not expecting much, but I wasn't expecting much a month ago before Martin, Donaldson, Travis, and Saunders, so maybe they'll surprise me again.

[Randle McMurphy]

So I guess we can live with Martin in the 2-hole, especially if he can carry on from last year's spell-binding 40.2% rate. If not, I'd like to see Bautista bat second followed by Encarnacion and Donaldson.

Martin's career OBP is better than Melky's. It's also 2nd on the team behind Bautista, I believe.

Ugghh... Reyes is really at risk of becoming an albatross contract for this team...

Oh, I think we might be beyond that point already. I just hope his hitting doesn't decline.

[dagger]

I'm OK with this as long as we spend money else where

Don't hold your breath.

There have been rumblings in the media that the payroll isn't going to be as high as had been speculated. One theory, advanced by Chisholm, is that it's going up in Canadian dollars - so technically not a lie - but as we all know, in recent weeks the C$ has been plunging.

I'm not at all convinced the Jays will spend more in US dollars. We still have a significant issue with the bullpen - which is going to carry, I'm guessing, 25-30% of the innings pitched, especially if we go with Sanchez in the rotation as his innings will be watched. Estrada is no inning eater either. AA has said he didn''t like the price point of free agent relievers, that the fix won't come from free agency, so now 29 other GMs can hold us over a barrel in a trade.

[Michael Bradley]

Reyes is an albatross, but he had a 3.3 WAR last season, and is projected to be at 3.0 next season, so his bat/baserunning can still compensate for his terrible defense. How much longer that will last is anyone's guess (hopefully at least 2 more years). I think we've gotten to the point where no one is going to take his salary without the Jays eating a huge chunk of it, so as long as he is a 3 win player and there isn't a better SS option available internally, then just accept his faults and hope it doesn't hinder the team's chances to contend.

[Schad]

We get the sox third round pick since the Yankees get their second round pick and their first is protected...

It doesn't work this way anymore. We get a pick in the compensation round that follows the first round. A first round that, it must be said, is going to be pretty bloody short with so many teams sacrificing their first rounders to sign players.

[dagger]

I have moved past Melky since we acquired Saunders, it makes good sense not only for 2015 budgeting but for 2016 as well. We lose some average, but gain power and defence. For 2016, it means a lot more $$$ flexibility since Saunders will be cheaper than Melky even at the price Chicago got him for.

What bothers me is that crap keeps fall out of the sky when it comes to the Jays' spending, presumably leaked for a purpose to the Rogers-controlled writers. It leads me to believe we have not generated the offset we felt in acquiring Saunders

Cases in point:

Out of the blue, we're told last week by Shi Davidi that this season's budget has to account for the potential buyouts for Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnation and RJ Dickey, even though we are never going to pay those of Jose and Edwin. That's presumably because the buyouts, if paid, would be deposited in their accounts in calendar 2015. I'm no accountant, but I think this could have been deferred to 2016. Are the Jays the only team in major league baseball using GATT rules?

Then, we hear again on a rather delayed basis, that the Jays are sending $3m to the Mariners to compensate for the salary difference between Saunders and Happ.

If the above is accurate, subtract a total of $7m from what we thought the Jays had. Even though $2m of that ($4m if Dickey has an amazing season) might go unused.

Then there is the whole thing about the better FA relief pitchers being too pricey for the Jays, so we're going the trade route with our secondary pitching prospects. I hope we aren't drawing the line between first tier and second tier prospects right behind Norris in the quest for a decent bullpen. Still, a couple of good prospects - good enough for some Toronto top 10 lists and certainly most of top 20 lists - seem likely to be sacrificed to get cheaper but decent relief help that fits the budget.

It just sounds like once again, Beeston gave us another snow job about payroll going up. Chances are, it's going to be the same as last season in US dollar terms ($137m was our opening day ML payroll). It could even be a bit less.

[Duffman100]

Oh, I think we might be beyond that point already. I just hope his hitting doesn't decline.

Or, if you know, we had the balls to move him to 2B, maybe his defense wouldn't look at bad either.

[Lateral Quicks]

Reyes is an albatross, but he had a 3.3 WAR last season, and is projected to be at 3.0 next season, so his bat/baserunning can still compensate for his terrible defense. How much longer that will last is anyone's guess (hopefully at least 2 more years). I think we've gotten to the point where no one is going to take his salary without the Jays eating a huge chunk of it, so as long as he is a 3 win player and there isn't a better SS option available internally, then just accept his faults and hope it doesn't hinder the team's chances to contend.

He's definitely pricey, but I'm not sure he classifies as an albatross quite yet. Isn't one WAR value at $5-6M or so? So last year he was worth $15-18M, and he's being paid $22M this year. We'd definitely have to eat money to move him but hopefully no more than $7M per + the buyout, so ~$25M. If we had a legitimate guy in the system to replace him I'd probably do that; problem is we don't.

[Michael Bradley]

Reyes is an albatross, but he had a 3.3 WAR last season, and is projected to be at 3.0 next season, so his bat/baserunning can still compensate for his terrible defense. How much longer that will last is anyone's guess (hopefully at least 2 more years). I think we've gotten to the point where no one is going to take his salary without the Jays eating a huge chunk of it, so as long as he is a 3 win player and there isn't a better SS option available internally, then just accept his faults and hope it doesn't hinder the team's chances to contend.

He's definitely pricey, but I'm not sure he classifies as an albatross quite yet. Isn't one WAR value at $5-6M or so? So last year he was worth $15-18M, and he's being paid $22M this year. We'd definitely have to eat money to move him but hopefully no more than $7M per + the buyout, so ~$25M. If we had a legitimate guy in the system to replace him I'd probably do that; problem is we don't.

He was worth his 2013 and 2014 salary, but expecting him to be worth $70M over three years in 2015-17 is a different story. As long as he maintains a 3 WAR he won't be terribly overpaid but unless they move him off short I just don't see how much longer his offense can continue to bail him out as he gets closer to his mid-30's.

[dballislife]

picking up a couple of pen arms or a starter should help offset this

[Waylon Mercy]

I'd rather have Saunders (especially at his price) instead. For one reason or another, Melky had become very overrated by the fans here.

Which is funny considering you overrate that scrub Colby Rasmus

[Graham's Cracker]

Since we offered Melky the qualifying offer, he's essentially taking a little over $13 M for year 2 and 3, when you factor in the difference.

[Randle McMurphy]

I'd rather have Saunders (especially at his price) instead. For one reason or another, Melky had become very overrated by the fans here.

Which is funny considering you overrate that scrub Colby Rasmus

Overrate, actually judge him properly on merit, what's the difference?

[Kurtz]

Since we offered Melky the qualifying offer, he's essentially taking a little over $13 M for year 2 and 3, when you factor in the difference.

Can't blame him. I mean, best-case scenario he replicates this year, and maybe gets an extra 1-2 mil/year on his next deal. Worst case, he replicates 2013, and gets roughly whatever's coming to Colby this year..which I imagine is not all that much (relatively speaking).

In baseball, timing really is everything.

[flatjacket1]

Maybe Trollney was right about him not liking the turf. 3/45 doesn't seem all that unreasonable considering the contracts that are flying around these days.

The turf thing is a joke. Agents just use that to drive up the price, and why shouldn't they?

Regarding Melky leaving, I would have loved to see us resign him. It's a shame but figure we still have some cash available on a one or two year deal (Considering how we structured Martins contract).