The "Going-Rate" - Jays on the hunt for Elite pitching

It has come to light in recent reports that the Jays brass  has been "put off" by the high asking-prices being bandied about by this season's crop of elite level "Closers" (http://www.torontosun.com/2011/11/13/jays-looking-to-deal-for-closer)


The Papelbon contract (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/11/phillies-to-sign-jonathan-papelbon-.html) brings a certain "previously until yesterday highest contract ever for a closer" type of putrid aftertaste to many Jays fans mouths, but where were all the eyes rolling when last off season Mariano Rivera took home a grandiose pay day from the Yankees (http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=5877705?) In hindsight, this transaction set the market for elite relievers we are seeing now, as evidenced by Papelbon and Madson's subsequent business dealings this offseason...

Rivera's negotiations coupled with those of higher-end middle-relief and late-inning pitchers like Benoit, Soriano and others of similiar calibre who were able to command 15-20 million dollars over 3-4 years, Soriano for substantially more, sealed the deal for what we are seeing this offseason...this contract set the "going-rate" for elite closers, and Papelbon and Madson have only rightly capitalized on that in their own contract discussions.

For Jays fans, the banter we are hearing out of the Jays camp signifies some pretty important developments, a little bit of foreshadowing by the ultimate Shadow Master himself, AA.  What we can now fully understand is the Jays aren't going to go out on a limb with a relief pitcher because AA understands the data won't back up such a decision - there is no way you are going to get a full four or five years out of a reliever.  Injuries and sub par seasons will occur, at random, cutting into the length of any longer term contract.  So AA is strategically attempting to minimize the risks associated with such deals by utilizing his depth of talents in the minor league ranks to kick up a top-tier late innings pitcher via trade, hopefully one that is cost-controlled.  At the same time, lovers of paradoxes, AA might very well consider splurging on Elite starting pitching, as seen in the Yu Darvish phenomena and also this (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/11/heavy-interest-in-cj-wilson.html.)

As it is the offseason and I am fully subject to wandering thoughts whilst slogging away working for The Man, I have to admit the thoughts I encountered after reading the Sun article made me think of how sweet it would be if we could steal a guy like Axford, Hanrahan or Bailey from an unsuspecting MLB team... but there is also just as great a chance that AA takes a flier on a previously-good slightly used arm, such as Danks, Nathan or someone similiar in composition (and cost.) 

Either way, it has been really fun to be a Jays fan the past few weeks (as always) and see our team linked to almost every name out there (http://www.drunkjaysfans.com/2011/11/news-ish-jays-linked-to-everybody-for.html.)  The other thing I have noticed is that AA is going to have to periodically come out in the media to kill off some of the more ridiculous rumors - but that is always entertaining for us Jays fans, right?