2011 Blue Jays/MLB Thread

[Kin]

Also, to be slightly more charitable to managers/coaches, there's no hard and fast agreement as to what makes for a great defensive player. Take a look at, say, Ozzie Smith and Cal Ripken. They couldn't be more different. Ozzie was small, could cover huge amounts of ground and made flashy acrobatic plays. Ripken was big, slow and studied each and every hitter to know where to stand to give himself the best chance to make each play. Smith ranks as the greatest defensive shortstop of all time according to DWAR, while Ripken ranks as #4. Even so, Smith won 11 gold gloves to Ripken's 2. Some people, Roberto Alomar fans for the most part, value that ability to make the flashy acrobatic play above things like positioning and just making a ton of defensive plays.

 

[bustaheims]

There are some rumblings in the twittersphere that the Jays may have submitted the highest bid in the Yu Darvish sweeps.

 

[maplesyrup]

There are some rumblings in the twittersphere that the Jays may have submitted the highest bid in the Yu Darvish sweeps.

Yeah, but I wondering, how do these people know?.. and, there's a big part of me that thinks there is little chance Rogers approved a 50 mil + bid. I guess we'll see.

 

[Trolloc]

There are some rumblings in the twittersphere that the Jays may have submitted the highest bid in the Yu Darvish sweeps.

From what I gather all reports on them winning the bigging is speculative at best.

http://twitter.com/#!/Buster_ESPN/status/147083693767397376

Rumored Bidders:

@NewSchoolSSShan Shariff

Hearing the Rangers, Jays, Nationals and Mariners submitted bids for Yu Darvish. Oh, and someone else was playing possum-the Yankees. #MLB

 

[Trolloc]

Win or lose, if the Jays actually bid it is a good sign they are willing to spend money. Just seems they are trying to do it as intelligently as possible.

 

[bustaheims]

Yeah, but I wondering, how do these people know?.. and, there's a big part of me that thinks there is little chance Rogers approved a 50 mil + bid. I guess we'll see.

It actually wouldn't surprise me if all the hype about how high the winning bid would have to be and all that scared a lot of teams away and that the actual winning bid won't be as high as people think (despite some of rumours floating around the twittersphere).

 

[Kin]

I have to say, I'd be legitimately excited for Darvish. The whole highly touted player from Japan thing is kind of unique because it's a little like one hand of black jack for super-high stakes. Either you walk away doubling your money or with empty pockets.

 

[Corn Flake]

While $30-50 mil posting is a crazy amount, I wonder what the total cost to develop a star pitcher is when you think of the money, time and resources spent on the more typical method... its in the multi $ millions for sure.

To drop a wad of cash on a guy who steps in next year as (what I assume to be) a #2 or #3 on the staff may not be as crazy as it sounds.

 

[Kin]

To drop a wad of cash on a guy who steps in next year as (what I assume to be) a #2 or #3 on the staff may not be as crazy as it sounds.

I think that with most people it's more that you'll probably end up spending 80-100 million or so on a guy when you have almost no idea what he'll do in the big leagues.

 

[Kin]

Also, the Red Sox traded for Mark Melancon today, so that'll probably be how they try and replace Papelbon.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The ol' 3-syllable-last-name closer secret.

 

[Trolloc]

From actual decent sources we can cofirm a few things or at least be confident in them.


1) Wilner stated that not even the winning team knows that they won yet. Any rumors at this point are likely not true. If teams don't know, the leak would have to come from the Japanese Club (who knows the winner) or Major League Baseball. All these local reporters have zero chance of finding out. The Japanese Club will accept the big officially on Tuesday. Offical word wont come until then.

2) Another respected reporter claimed the bid was "sky high". This can mean a dozen things, the likely is one team bid an absurd amount. People were expecting the bidding to be from 50 million to 60 million...higher then 60 million would be sky high in my opinion. Does this eliminate the Jays? I am not sure. If this rumor is true, given the Jays history of not over spending I wouldn't put my money on them. Hopefully, I am wrong and sky high means north of the border

3) It seems Jays/Texas had the most interest in Darvish and are the favourites by most reporters. A lot of people seem to think the Yankees didn't make a serious bid.

 

[bustaheims]

Evan_P_Grant: The "buzz" is that Toronto had whopper of offer on Darvish. Many reasons for Jays to bid more than $50mm. Believe Rangers bid. Prob. in $40s

Evan_P_Grant: Even if Jays' rumored bid is rejected, it's a win because it keeps him out of New York.

Evan_P_Grant: Besides keeping him away from Yanks: 1. Pure talent; 2. Jays difficulty in luring pitching talent; 3. Romero-Darvish combo sick 1-2.

Evan_P_Grant: Ultimately, if Jays bid $50 mm, there will be a lot of pressure from Japanese team for him to sign with Jays.

Evan_P_Grant: Most important thing to know about this process is that it always seems to be game of liar's poker right up until winner is announced.

Grant is a baseball writer for the Dallas Morning News

 

[maplesyrup]

The more I think about it, the more I'm hopeful there's some fire where all this smoke is. I mean, not only is it a big spin at the roulette wheel here, it also prevents other teams (specifically the Yankees and to a lesser extent the Rangers) from entering the casino. What I mean is it's not just the Blue Jays + Darvish that's important, it's also maybe the Yankees - Darvish.

 

[Andy007]

Well considering the Jays barely have a semblance of a pitching staff, let alone a good one, the possibility of taking Yu away from NY is only part of why it would benefit them.

I have a feeling this is going to be a long, speculative process though.

 

[maplesyrup]

Question. Though the Ham Fighters have a deadline of Tuesday, they could reveal the winning bidder prior to then, correct?

 

[bustaheims]

Question. Though the Ham Fighters have a deadline of Tuesday, they could reveal the winning bidder prior to then, correct?

The Fighters don't actually know who the winning bidder is, just how much the bid is. Right now, if things are to be believed, that only people that know who the winner is work in MLB's front office, though, I suspect the winning team has been unofficially informed.

 

[maplesyrup]

Question. Though the Ham Fighters have a deadline of Tuesday, they could reveal the winning bidder prior to then, correct?

The Fighters don't actually know who the winning bidder is, just how much the bid is.

That makes sense... prevents shenanigans... but they could reveal the winning figure prior to Tuesday nevertheless, correct? 

 

[Kin]

Question. Though the Ham Fighters have a deadline of Tuesday, they could reveal the winning bidder prior to then, correct?

Yes. And the team is the Fighters, and they are or were sponsored by Nippon Ham. They don't actually, you know, fight ham.

 

[bustaheims]

That makes sense... prevents shenanigans... but they could reveal the winning figure prior to Tuesday nevertheless, correct?

In theory, yeah, they could. I just don't think they will. It doesn't really serve any purpose for them to announce the number before they announce their decision.