Just when I figured I was finished writing for today, I saw this Twit from Jon Heyman:
hearing whispers #bluejays may be big spenders this winter. already have great farm system, scouts, gm. primed to be player?
It seems to go against what Alex Anthopoulos has been saying, that he wasn't going to be a player in the free agent market.
Does that mean Heyman is wrong? I don't know, maybe not. I tend not to believe GM's when they say things like that. It isn't that I think Alex is a liar. It isn't lying if he knows the truth (ed. note: can we give this line a rest. JP's been gone for 2 years now). I just don't see the point in Alex telling reporters 'hey yeah, we are going to sign 5 free agents. We'll sign Pujols and Fielder and Wilson and 2 guys that you don't even know are going to be free agents yet'. He is too good a poker player for that. (Can you imagine Alex playing poker, he wouldn't even bother to deal the cards. 'Hey, I'll trade you this shiny blue chip for all those ugly chips you have, deal?').
Add in that he really can't say 'i'm going to sign Fielder', because that is tampering. Add in that there is no reason to get the fan base's hopes up, when, even if you very much want to sign a free agent, it might not happen. It is a negotiation.
So what do you think, is Jon Heyman right, are the Jays going to be 'big spenders' this off-season?
Personally, I don't think we go after Pujols. He'd have to prove his age too me before I'd offer him a lot of money. And Fielder? He isn't exactly the profile of the athletic type player that Alex seems to like. Darvish I can see us bidding on. I'm hoping we are smart enough not to be signing a free agent reliever to a large contract. Beyond that, I guess we could be big spenders by making trades for players that already have large contracts.