At What Price, Dickey? With Poll!!!

There isn't really much to say about parts listed in this potential deal. According to the media reports, it is:

R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, plus a minor leaguer going to Toronto for Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, John Buck, Cash (not Kevin but actual Cash) and minor leaguer. All pending on a contract extension for Dickey.

I like Dickey (and I don't care what anyone says) because of his life story and how he managed to turn around his moribund conventional pitching career into a 2012 Cy Young award. He is a unique knuckler who has command of the pitch and throws it hard.

What I don't like? It's the price. Holy CRAP is Dickey expensive!!! I, like many Jays fans, have heard endless stories about Noah and Travis and how they could have a pretty high ceiling in time. Not many catchers can hit like Travis in the minors nor are there many hard throwers with good command. I wanted them to play here in Toronto. I still do.

I am loathe to give up two A- prospects for a 38 year old knuckleball pitcher. If things go wrong then this could be a disaster, but if things go well then we Jays fans could see playoff baseball for the first time since Joe Carter hit his home run. One thing we have seen since Alex took over as GM of this team is that this is what he does: high risk and high reward with the caveat that he doesn't do things without thinking about the possible consequences.

This isn't the deal I would have wanted done. I would have rather traded one of, but not both of TDA and Noah. However, that's just my opinion and if the Jays make a serious playoff run in 2013 then I will be more than happy to eat my words as in this case I want be wrong than right.

In life there are no guarantees and there is always a risk in every move you make. One thing I will not do is fault AA for trying and going for it. If he fails then I won't be the one who yells "TRAVIS!" or "NOAH!!!" at him because he makes a risky move as he did the math to put it together. This might make me sound like a raging hypocrite because I've yelled about Gord Ash and the high risk moves he's made (or might have made), but the difference is that AA made this high risk move based on his plan and his idea of what it takes to build a serious World Series Contender while the hapless Ash moves were made strictly for the short term and the fatuous idea the Jays might be "contenders."

AA's done his job (and has he!) to remake the Toronto Blue Jays into a contending team. Now it's up to the old new manager and the players to make it happen. Let's go Blue Jays.