Pandemic makes recruiting a tough sell. Chisholm,
Difficulty finding a home, season in minor-league park won’t impress reluctant players
The Blue Jays should savour the signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu for as long as possible because it might be a long time before the franchise can make that type of splash again in free agency.
The ugly truth, the one no one really wants to talk about, is that the recent fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will likely have a long-term impact on Toronto’s ability to sell athletes on this city. Convincing star ballplayers to set up shop in Canada was difficult enough before, and after Major League Baseball was recently denied entry to the country, it’s about to become even more challenging.
In approximately three months, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins will begin the off-season task of adding more talent to his young core. With holes in the outfield and a constant need for pitching, the hope was that Ryu — who allowed three runs on four hits over 4 2⁄3 innings in his Jays debut, a 6-4 win over Tampa Bay on Friday night — would mark the beginning, not the end, of Toronto’s spending spree.
That no longer feels realistic after the Jays were denied an exemption to allow crossborder travel. There’s a slim chance the coronavirus will be under control by the time baseball’s off-season begins in November, but it’s much more likely that the disease will remain a threat until there is a vaccine, which could be a year or more away.
That means there will be just as much uncertainty facing the Jays this winter as there has been for the past few months. Adding free agents like outfielder George Springer, infielder Marcus Semien or right-hander Trevor Bauer makes sense on paper but good luck getting them to sign with a team that doesn’t have a home. For guys with options,
Toronto is one of the last places they would turn.
The ballpark issue is new, but a lot of the other challenges existed before. Players in the visitors’ clubhouse often can be heard complaining about how things operate up here. Teams don’t like the inconvenience of needing to clear customs, players don’t like the roaming charges or the lack of American sports channels on television. Don’t even get them started on taxes.
This place feels foreign to them because, well, it is. According to MLB, approximately 72 per cent of all players on this year’s opening day rosters were American, and a lot of them need to live here before they realize our lives aren’t that different. The team provides a support system for families and accountants handle the books; all the players need to worry about is performing on the field. To most of these guys, once they move downtown, it’s just like any big city, but they need to experience it first.
Take Mark Buehrle. When he was traded to the Jays in 2012 ,he was livid. One reason was because the Marlins reportedly had promised he would not be moved. The destination, though, was just as big of an issue. Buehrle and former teammate A.J. Pierzynski were among those with the most complaints about Toronto, dating back to their days with the White Sox, and Buehrle wanted nothing to do with the place.
Then he had no choice but to move here. Within a few months, he was singing the city’s praises. He became the player the Jays would often turn to when a free agent had concerns. If a guy like Buehrle could be won over, they could too. Toronto’s front office needs the support of those in the trenches.
Even that will be harder to get after the past several weeks. When Travis Shaw spoke out on social media about quarantine measures being taken by the Canadian federal government, players from across the league took notice. The longer Toronto went without finding a home, the more frequently people started asking what the heck was going on.
If there’s any upside to be found, it’s that the Jays’ lack of experience should prove beneficial this season. Toronto has one of the youngest rosters in the league and players not far removed from the minors shouldn’t have much difficulty transitioning to Sahlen Field in Buffalo. Veteran ballplayers, the ones used to their perks and amenities, won’t be as easy to please and it likely won’t take long before complaints from the Jays and visiting teams start circulating around the league.
All this follows an off-season when the Jays were left at the altar by multiple free agents. Until Ryu signed a four-year deal worth $80 million (U.S.), Toronto’s off-season was being defined by the guys they didn’t sign.
There are two things that would alleviate concerns of free agents: winning and money. If Toronto turns into a perennial contender, players will be lining up to chase a ring. It happened in 1992-93, to a lesser extent it happened in 2015-16, and it could happen again, but not for another year or two down the road.
In the meantime, the only thing Toronto can do is offer even more cash than they might have before. But after a year of fans not buying tickets, increased costs of keeping players on the road and expenses to upgrade Buffalo’s ballpark, ownership might not be too keen to write another big cheque this winter.
“When it comes to cost, the industry, the Blue Jays, MLB, the players, we’re all suffering massive losses,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said of this season. “(Buffalo) is an additional expense that we have to incur to conduct a major-league baseball season. It’s not the focus of Blue Jays ownership, it’s not the focus of me right now, getting us on a path to a championship is our focus … the Blue Jays are incurring, if not all, the majority of the expenses. We’re just moving forward with trying to conduct a major-league season.”