The Complications of Losing

Failing to win the right to negotiate a contract with Japanese pitching ace Yu Darvish has created a rather nasty three pronged problem for the Blue Jays and their owners, Rogers Communications.

1. The ballclub still needs a No. 2 or No. 3 starter, depending on how you slotted Darvish into the rotation. That could be a little more costly now that teams that own such players but might be willing to trade them now know the Jays are a little more desperate for an arm today.

2. To be transparent or not to be transparent? Let's say the Jays bid $51.6 million and were outbid by Texas by a relatively measly $100,000. They may want their fans to know that, to understand just how aggressive they were in the effort to land this player at a time when some (many?) wonder whether Rogers will pay for top-flight talent.

But let's say the Toronto bid was $20 million. Or even $30 million. Let's say the Jays were badly outbid and didn't really understand the market they were in. How to explain that to their fans if they choose to make their bid public?

Finally, there's a strategic component here, that Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos might not want to let other clubs know his team's bid so as to reveal too much about the way in which the club is doing business these days.

If anything, the rampant speculation of the past week and the expectations created by that speculation should make it abundantly clear to Rogers/The Jays that if they don't tell the world what their bid was, it will only lead to all kinds of rumours, some of which will not be flattering.

3. The failed bid for Darvish will certainly convince many Jays fans that the club has tens of millions of dollars to spend, and should now spend it on other talent rather than keep it for a rainy day. In fact, given that a lucrative contract would have been required to lock up the Japanese star, there was a lot more money made available here by Rogers than just the posting bid. Are we talking $70 million? $80 million? More?

Forget trying to tell those fans that spending that much on Darvish is a different kettle of fish entirely than spending $200 million or more on Prince Fielder. By being involved in the bidding, the Jays have opened their wallet, and fans won't want to see it closed again, particularly at a time when some will be wondering if the Jays will matter less to Rogers now that it and Bell co-own majority interest in the Leafs and Raptors.

All in all, what Anthopoulos had hoped would be a victory celebration has now turned into a complex public relations problem mixed with a vacant spot in the pitching rotation. All the goodwill built up by the GM and the team over the past two years is now at risk if he can't find a palatable way to explain this to the club's fan base while maintaining the sense this club is building a winner.

 

 

 

Comments

[Virgil]

I've read this article twice and Cox didn't rip Bozak once! Good going Damien.

[Olga]

The long and short of it is that the Blue Jays are not a better team right now then they were at the end of the season. Antholoupolos is a likeable GM who is good at acquiring assets at a good price. He has yet to prove that he can build a winning team. Wake me up when the Blue Jays (Maple Leafs, Raptors) are in a playoff spot at the end of the season. Until then, I'm not going to spend money to watch Rogers manage its finances.

[Andrew]

Bit of an overreaction, don't you think?

I'll agree if the Jays don't do anything before spring training there will be difficult questions to answer. But let's wait to see what the next moves are. The Jays have plenty of talent to ship via trade for an established arm, which I think is a better way to improve the club than a big free agency splash. Let's give AA the next two months (at the VERY least) before we talk about him losing the fanbase.

[John John]

Either way if AA lost the bidding my $1 or if he lost by $10,000,000 he miscalculated the market.

It just goes to show once again AA can't close the deal when it comes to get elite talent whether it be Latos or Darvish.

I'm tired of hearing all these reports saying that the Blue Jays finished second or third and just missed their guy by a hair.You think that shows AA in a better it light? it doesn't.

AA either got outfoxed by Daniels once again (first time he stole Napoli) or he totally misunderstood (or rogers was too cheap) the market and put in a low bid.

Neither is particularly flattering in my view.

[George E Warriner]

I personally think that the Jays weren't really interested in Darvish. If they had been they would have posted 52 million, the last high priced agent went for just over 51 million and with inflation you have to figure 52 million at least would have to be posted. I think Texas got him cheap. Or perhaps the bidding teams had collaborated and knew what each other was bidding.