That pop of the pilot burner you heard this week came out of Oakland when Athletics general manager Billy Beane sent three players off to Colorado for talented outfielder Matt Holliday.
The winter hot stove has been lit and the process begins for all 30 teams to prepare for the 2009 season.
The free agent market should be a doozy. The two New York teams are both opening new stadiums next April and both missed the playoffs. That can only mean one thing: spending sprees for two teams with very deep pockets. That will have an upward effect on salaries at a time when the rest of the free world is unsure when the stock markets are going to bottom out, despite the whimpering protestations from the commissioner.
Of course, that will have a direct effect on what the Toronto Blue Jays do as they try to fill massive holes in their starting rotation, and get some bats to prop up their underachieving offence. The falling Canadian dollar certainly doesn`t make the job of luring free agents any easier.
Whatever moves the Jays are currently plotting hinge on what A.J. Burnett does after he opted out of his contract with Toronto. In an off-season where a dearth of quality arms are going to get gobs of money, Burnett, C.C. Sabathia, Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets and Ryan Dempster get to stand around like a wallflower at a high school dance and wait for the best looking girls to come by and ask them to dance.
And with a limited amount of payroll left to lure in a quality arm, the Jays can only dream of bidding for the services of these studs. That is, unless they do some creative accounting and backload some deals, something they have done in the past but that also paints the next GM into a corner five or so years down the road. That will leave them to pan for gold among the second-tier starters.
This will be the most important off-season for Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, both in terms of his own place in the baseball world and for his team. Several moves need to be made to be considered a contender, but they can be made. Here are the four areas that must be addressed for the Jays to have any shot at staying in the hunt for October.
TWO STARTING PITCHERS
With Burnett likely gone, Shaun Marcum out until 2010 and Dustin McGowan’s return to form still up in the air, baseball`s best rotation is suddenly thinner than the Olsen twins. Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch are givens, with David Purcey and Scott Richmond the only others on the 40-man roster to make starts in 2008. Paul Byrd, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, Livan Hernandez, Oliver Perez, or even taking a flyer on Pedro Martinez, would certainly fill the holes; none of these names are lightning-in-a-bottle-types that haven’t worked in the past. It would nice to think that a young arm will come out of the minor-league system, but that only works for pretenders, not contenders.
BACK-UP CATCHER
By picking up the option on Rod Barajas’ contract, that virtually shoved Gregg Zaun out the door. With blue-chip prospect J.P. Arencibia likely a year away, a solid veteran back-up, preferably a left-handed hitting one, is a must. Javier Valentin, Paul Bako or Adam Melhuse would fit that bill, but they bring no offence to the equation. Maybe a one-year, incentive-laden deal to Jason Varitek would be a good stop-gap, especially if Barajas gets injured.
EVERYDAY SHORTSTOP
Nothing against Marco Scutaro or John McDonald, but this team has been devoid of an everyday shortstop since Ricciardi took over the team seven years ago this week. In my mind, the one they should be targeting is Orlando Cabrera. He’s a proven winner (four playoff appearances in the past five years) and can hit at the top of the order. The cheaper alternative is Rafael Furcal, but I`d be wary of his health after a wonky back limited him to just 36 game.
FULL-TIME DH
Despite having prospects Adam Lind and Travis Snider, the Jays should get Jason Giambi to be the everyday DH. He has always hit well at Rogers Centre, he can spell Lyle Overbay at first from time to time, and is the perfect left-handed slugging bat to sit amongst Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and, if healthy, Scott Rolen. The fall-back would be Raul Ibanez, who the Jays have coveted in the past, but the fact he’s a "young" 36 and coming off a 110-RBI season means he’ll priced out of their league. A wild card in this might be switch-hitting Milton Bradley, who hit 22 home runs and drove in 77 runs in just 414 at-bats with Texas. Cito Gaston’s steady hand might be a perfect elixir for the somewhat volatile Bradley.
IN PRAISE OF THE DOCTOR
I realize that going 22-3 with a ERA of 2.54 are Cy Young numbers, but when you put Roy Halladay’s entire pitching stats next to Cliff Lee’s, Halladay was the better pitcher. Halladay won his 20 games with less run support and a better WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched), and he made 16 of his 33 starts against the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees, winning 10 of those starts with five complete games.
