Return of the Grievous Angel: Jays Avoid Arbitration With Frasor, League, Bautista, Accardo

by hugo on Jan 21, 2009 7:00 AM EST in Toronto Blue Jays News

Hi all - hope everyone is doing well. It has been an interesting 4-day weekend here in Washington DC, to say the least. The city all but bursted at the seams, but it was great fun, so I've no complaints.

The Jays, who have yet to go to an arbitration hearing with a player while JP Ricciardi has been at the helm, reached agreement with 4 arbitration-eligible players over the past few days. All the deals cover the 2009 season. Here are the figures:

Jose Bautista: $2.4 million. I have to admit, this seems like an awful lot for a team that is too cash strapped to sign anyone. As insurance at third and a right handed bat off the bench with some power, Bautista fills a need, but I have a hard time believing the Jays couldn't get more for less, particularly in this market. Of course, as we saw with Reed Johnson last year, Jose hasn't made the team yet. Bautista didn't have much of a season last year, and got worse after joining the Jays (.214/.237/.411).

Jason Frasor: $1.45 million. Seems like the odd man out of the Jays bullpen to me, but not sure if the Jays will find a taker in this market and that price. Still, if the Jays decide to make a deal, Frasor could be a useful pot sweetener. Frasor did a nice job getting strikeouts last year and also stopping inherited runners from scoring, but overall, the numbers (42/32 K/BB ratio, 1.44 WHIP) weren't there.

Jeremy Accardo: $0.9 million plus incentives. Accardo barely pitched at all last season but did a great job as the fill-in closer in 2007. If he's healthy, he could be a big contributor in 2009. That said, the Jays have never seemed to be all that high on him.

Brandon League: $0.64 million. League, who was arbitration-eligible for the first time, was solid last season after a shaky start. He got a ton of groundballs and the Ks and Walks normalized as his control solidified with regular work. Fans will remember this is the second time the Jays are counting on League after a very good half-season - hopefully it works out better this time.

Deals have yet to be agreed upon between the Jays and two members of the '08 bullpen - southpaw Brian Tallet and starboardsider Shawn Camp. Like Frasor, I'd consider both potential trade bait, but someone would have to be interested first. Tallet is better than most of the lefties still out there.

Today's title from the great, great Gram Parsons song.

Tweet Comment 12 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I agree...

$2.4 for Bautista is too much in this market, I’m not sure Adam Dunn will be getting all that much more money this season. For $2 million less would you rather have Scott Campbell as a utility player?

Frasor might have some value in a trade but with the low leverage innings he is likely to see this season I’d rather use one of half a dozen of our prospects in his spot. Accardo and League’s contracts seem ok to me. Camp…..anything over the major league minimum is too much for him.

by Tom Dakers on Jan 21, 2009 11:40 AM EST reply actions

despite the radio silence

the Jays have said they are interested in adding a right-handed bat. If they do, my guess is that Bautista gets cut loose. Doing that, they could add a pretty big bat and it wouldn’t cost all that much. Though assuming the new bat can’t play third, Johnny Mac (presumably, playing SS with Marco moving to third) would become the righthanded half of the Rolen insurance platoon.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jan 21, 2009 12:01 PM EST up reply actions

But they negotiated the contract with Bautista, it wasn't an arbitrator ruling....

Isn’t that a guaranteed contract? Or can they release him and not have to pay him.

by Tom Dakers on Jan 21, 2009 12:11 PM EST up reply actions

1 year contracts to avoid arbitration are typically non-guaranteed

there wouldn’t be much incentive for the team to reach a deal avoiding arbitration if it turned a non-guaranteed contract into a guaranteed one. any money you saved by not going to arbitration would be offset by the increased risk of the player blowing out his knee in spring training.

We saw this with Sparky last year, remember? The Jays reached a deal with him to avoid arbitration but ended up cutting him loose to save money with Stew. They had to pay Reed something in termination pay (don’t remember exactly how much) but it wasn’t a lot.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jan 21, 2009 12:40 PM EST up reply actions

We paid Reed one month's salary

"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"

by Torgen on Jan 21, 2009 1:58 PM EST up reply actions

thanks

there you go

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jan 21, 2009 3:24 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah you are right,,,

shouldn’t comment until I’m awake in the morning……

by Tom Dakers on Jan 21, 2009 2:43 PM EST up reply actions

And I think you are repeating yourself...

Didn’t you use that lyric as a post title before? Gram Parson was great though….

by Tom Dakers on Jan 21, 2009 11:42 AM EST reply actions

have i?

that makes it return of return of the grievous angel

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jan 21, 2009 11:56 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah I checked....

you used it when you came back after your staph infection. I’ll admit I’m on an long country kick of late, have a Waylon Jennings CD in the player in the car. I guess I’m going to have search out something new and good or I’m going to feel even older than I am.

by Tom Dakers on Jan 21, 2009 12:04 PM EST up reply actions

haha, after 5 days

of eating through an IV and getting delotted several times a day, I can hardly be expected to remember what song I used to post when I returned, can I?

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jan 21, 2009 12:43 PM EST up reply actions

Ok I'll let you off this time....

I mostly remembered us talking about Gram Parson, then having to explain to who he was to a few people. Schools these days don’t teach anything useful.

by Tom Dakers on Jan 21, 2009 3:01 PM EST up reply actions