BLUE JAYS SENDING A STRONG MESSAGE BY AIMING FOR THE TOP IN FREE AGENCY
But team setting itself up for harsh criticism if it fails to bring a big name star to Toronto
Given that sometime over the next few weeks he's likely to sign one of the richest freeagent contracts of the off-season, Trevor Bauer can afford to have a little fun.
And few in Major League Baseball like to stoke the fire on social media the way the talented and outspoken starter does. So it was little surprise that Bauer got things humming with a tweet during the wee hours of Saturday morning asking the following question: “What do you think @Bluejays fans? Is Toronto a good destination?”
While not the first time Bauer has issued such a poke, this one was in response to a comment made by outfielder Randal Grichuk suggesting the fiery righthander would be the perfect Christmas present for Jays fans.
For a team looking to continue its ascent to perennial contender status, it certainly would.
In 11 starts last season for the Cincinnati Reds, Bauer had a 1.73 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 73 innings.
The Bauer bluster is mostly in good fun, but it also speaks to a larger point of this off-season and the arena the Jays are working. The fact that they are shopping at the elite end of the market certainly affirms the long-term strategy of the Jays' front office.
And beyond the obvious competitive advantage of landing a high-end player, the benefits run deeper.
“You're demonstrating to your players that from ownership down there's a belief in them — in their ability, in their potential and in the foundation that exists,” team president Mark Shapiro said the other day on a Zoom call. “I do caution the teams that win the off-season are not often the teams that win during the season. It's most important that we get better and it's most important that we impact the team in a positive way.
“I do think that while we are playing (in the market) with those elite players, that there are multiple ways for that to happen.”
The latter comment could be interpreted as a mild hedge from Shapiro should the team strike out on Bauer and others in the top tier of the free-agent hunt, most notably centre-fielder, George Springer.
There are no guarantees, after all, and little to stop a player if his preference lies elsewhere.
But the mindset is also illustrative of the measured aggression the Jays' front office is employing in its long-term build, one designed not just for a run at one season of contention, but a protracted series of them.
Fans love to see it, as does an ownership group that hopes it will be able to fill a stadium again some day.
“It has been interesting to see our level of interest and engagement be (seen) as such dramatic news, but I think that maybe it's reinforcement to our fans that we're taking the next step,” Shapiro said. “For us to be engaged at the top end of the market this year is encouraging.”
Perhaps most important from an operating standpoint is that owner Rogers Communications is standing by a game plan scripted by Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins long before the pandemic arrived.
The buy-in from Rogers is rooted at least in part from the regency bias of recalling how profitable the playoff teams of 2015 and 2016 were and the coast-to-coast popularity those teams generated.
“There is already an understanding of what our revenues were last year and what they're likely to be next year,” Shapiro said. “We've also seen incredible examples of what winning can do in this marketplace in '15 and '16 in a very recent context.”
Perhaps oversimplifying the math, it sounds like Shapiro has convinced the Rogers board that winning will lead to more winning, which will in turn lead to more revenue. Makes sense.
Most prudently, the key is to avoid doing what so many MLB front offices have been forced into this winter. Rather than react and contract following the mammoth losses of 2020 and ongoing hit projected in 2021, for now, anyway, Rogers seems committed to staying the course.
The process is already well along after a payroll purge in 2019 followed by the four-year, US$80-million deal pledged to ace lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu a year ago this month.
“Everyone (at Rogers) has been good about understanding that we're in abnormal, unusual times and that we're not functioning in a normal environment,” Shapiro said. “Yet, let's ensure that we don't deviate from the progress we've made and keep the plan moving forward.”
Because the Jays have been bold in their stated intentions this off-season — pretty much as aggressive as anyone in baseball, really — there will be a tendency to grade the team harshly if they fall short of the big targets. They've opened themselves up to such criticism. But because management isn't interested in sitting at an all-in table at any time, this winter is just one inning in the long game of it all.
“Everything we are doing is (with) a long-term focus,” Shapiro said. “We have always said the intent is to build a sustainable championship team. We expect (this off-season) to be the next step in a ramp-up that allows us to be a championship-calibre club for multiple years.”