There's a saying about the month of March: it comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Of course this is in regard to the change of seasons; Winter to Spring. Now for me, Winter begins when the baseball season ends, and I have no greater way to justify that point than with the MLB's Winter Meetings always there to kick off December. And this year's installment was anything but like March, in fact, to quote another saying, this year's meetings went out with a bang.
Now that's not to say teams, well, maybe not plural, hadn't been making noise. The Marlins broke the bank and lived up to their new home's city motto: "Where athletes take their talents", and signed Heath Bell (3-year, $27 million), Jose Reyes (6-year, $106 million), and Mark Buerhle (4-year, $58 million). But the big action wasn't until day 4, and no, it wasn't the Rule 5 draft. Albert Pujols became the player with the 2nd largest contract in MLB history inking a 10-year, $256 million deal with the Angels. Not quite as big as the one A-Rod signed at the same age of 31 and with the same number, 3, of MVPs under his belt just a few years ago. However the Halos weren't done there. Nearly an hour later they announced the signing of possibly this year's best free agent pitcher, C.J. Wilson, to a 5-year, $77.5 million contract. When the dust settled two things were apparent: The landscape of baseball had changed and the Astros' pitching staff just couldn't catch a break.
But where were the Blue Jays in all this? Did they not come into these meetings with cash to burn and big name dreams? Or was that just Toronto fans being impatient and needing to be impressed once again? Truth be told, the Jays came into the week with some serious issues. They had no guarantees at 2nd base; the supposed "8th and 9th inning guys" from last year's bullpen were up for arbitration; and the back end of the rotation, as it always seems to be, was up in the air. Four days later two of these issues were taken care of and yet there are still complaints! Am I the only one who proscribes to the Meat Loaf way of life? When did two out of three become bad again?
Toronto's first move was to trade highly touted pitching prospect Nestor Molina to Chicago for closer Sergio Santos, he of the 97 mph fastball and nastyyy (with three Y's) slider. At first glance I wasn't overly impressed with this move, I was a big Molina backer and a closer (and save stat) hater, but when you really get into it, if Santos can stay somewhere in between his first and second half last season, the Jays don't lose this trade. Santos is 28. He is currently signed to a 3-year, $8 million deal with affordable team options till 2017. With Bell and Jonathan Papelbon signing for roughly $10 million a season this Winter, it's incredible how cheap Santos really is. Now, yes, you can point to Molina developing into a stud, which might happen. But it had already been discussed that Molina's future might just be in the bullpen anyway and with other prospects Deck McGuire, Aaron Sanchez, Asher Wojciechowski, and Drew Hutchison all on their way, not to mention current MLBers only just prospects Joel Carreno, Henderson Alvarez, and Kyle Drabek; Toronto was going to have to make a few difficult decisions in the near future. Then, on Wednesday night, Kelly Johnson accepted arbitration. A great sign for this upcoming season, and maybe just enough of a stopgap until Adeiny Hechavarria is ready to play big league middle infield.
But of course this wasn't enough. Where was Prince Fielder? Why wasn't this the year the Jays started spending some cash. The answer, quite simply, and just as frustrating as it was when it was our parents' reason, is just because. Because Toronto doesn't know how many of those prospects will turn into stars. Because Fielder would want too many years on his contract. Because it's not time yet! A proper rebuild takes time and you have to stick to the course to have it done right. That's why other Toronto teams toil in mediocrity. The Jays have one of the best minor league systems in baseball. They have their core MLB players tied up for several years to come. The window they've created is a wide one and if it's done right it could just keep getting wider.
The Tampa Bay Rays are a perfect example of a team being successful through drafting. Lose Crawford? Okay, call Jennings up. Lose Garza? Will Matt Moore suffice? Tampa appears to have the ability to turn over their team every five or so years and that's the kind of steamroller affect Toronto envisions. Except that when one of the Jays prospects becomes a star, Toronto might actually have the money to pay him. And that's the difference between what the Rays do and what the Jays can do. When Toronto locked up Jose Bautista for 5 years at only $65 million or when they got Ricky Romero for the same length at $30 million they had seen the production and the skill for at least a season. They had seen Bautista hit 54 home runs and Romero win 14 games. The contracts were risks and are now steals, but not nearly as risky as what Tampa has done. They signed Evan Longoria to a 6-year, $17 million deal after about a month of MLB play, and it's what they've just done with Moore after only five appearances (two starts). Sure, the Longo contract looks great now, but it was a massive risk at the time, one the Rays have to take to keep up. People complain that the Jays don't spend the kind money to win, Tampa has to gamble and beat the house to succeed.
As we sit now, with the 2012 season four months away, Toronto is not a playoff team, they are merely a good team, young and exciting. But what fans have to understand is young and exciting turns into experienced and talented pretty quick if you are patient enough to wait. The Jays might have money to spend, but why spend it now to chance making the playoffs when in two years you could spend it to cement a championship run? It's not definitely going to happen, but in my opinion it's looking the most positive it has in years. Toronto will do anything it takes to win, but jeopardizing their bright future, well, they won't do that.
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