• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

OT: The Toronto Blue Jays

LeafGm said:
When in the history of North American professional sports has a pending unrestricted free agent ever NOT said some variation of that? It's standard lip service to the market you're still currently playing in.
Click to expand...

I knew this was gonna be said as soon as i made my post. Good job. Donaldson could of said many things but to just claim it as "standard lip service" when you nor I have zero clue what happens behind closed doors doesnt signifiy hes just bull shitting us
 
I wouldnt necessarily call it lip service, it seemed genuine enough, but i also dont think for a second it means we are so much his top choice that he's going to bypass entering free agency for the first and likely only significant time for anything less than top dollar.

The only things that could or should concern JD into signing early are his age and the fact he is in an FA class with Machado, Harper, and Kershaw, and really until we see guys like Martinez get his deal, we wont really know if teams are scared to sign guys until they are 39-40.

Dollars should be easy enough for TOR/JD to figure out, 30M, but the difference between 3-4 years, which i assume is the Jays comfort zone, and 6-7 which is i imagine where JD wants to be is what is going to make him test the market.
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
I wouldnt necessarily call it lip service, it seemed genuine enough, but i also dont think for a second it means we are so much his top choice that he's going to bypass entering free agency for the first and likely only significant time for anything less than top dollar.

The only things that could or should concern JD into signing early are his age and the fact he is in an FA class with Machado, Harper, and Kershaw, and really until we see guys like Martinez get his deal, we wont really know if teams are scared to sign guys until they are 39-40.

Dollars should be easy enough for TOR/JD to figure out, 30M, but the difference between 3-4 years, which i assume is the Jays comfort zone, and 6-7 which is i imagine where JD wants to be is what is going to make him test the market.
Click to expand...

The funny part is that he's arguably the best player available in the class - he's basically been the 2nd best player in baseball behind Trout for the last 4-5 years. But, he's also going to be one of the older guys available. As I said, he very well could end up in that awkward case where the big players with money will give the crazy deals to Harper/Machado/Kershaw, and the players like McCutchen, Pollock, or Jones might be willing to sign for less just to secure a deal and not be left in the cold, so the guys like Blackmon and Donaldson, who have been good enough recently to demand a deal with the big guys, but who certainly don't command the same respect (or age) that they have, may be left wondering.

I mean, everyone can probably project a 5/150 deal for JD. The real story is whether he would have the leverage to push that higher - can he get someone to lock him in for life with a 7/200 deal, or can he push for the 5/175 deal getting the AAV up higher? Or does the market fall on him, and he can't even get the 5th year, having to "settle" for a 3/105 or 4/120. You're going to have a lot of teams coming through their rebuilds like Philly, Atlanta, maybe a San Diego too, who are eyeing the market and seeing if they can get a premium player for a non-premium price. After a dud offseason this year (outside of the Marlins+Ohtani), next year is definitely shaping up to be crazy to watch.
 
LeafGm said:
When in the history of North American professional sports has a pending unrestricted free agent ever NOT said some variation of that? It's standard lip service to the market you're still currently playing in.
Click to expand...

Kovalchuk actually said it about Atlanta.
 
rated said:
I knew this was gonna be said as soon as i made my post. Good job. Donaldson could of said many things but to just claim it as "standard lip service" when you nor I have zero clue what happens behind closed doors doesnt signifiy hes just bull shitting us
Click to expand...
To be clear, like you, I have no idea whether it is actually lip service or not in Donaldson's case. The point is that since every single professional athlete in Donaldson's place makes some variation of that statement, it's a waste of time to try and read anything into it.
 
LeafGm said:
To be clear, like you, I have no idea whether it is actually lip service or not in Donaldson's case. The point is that since every single professional athlete in Donaldson's place makes some variation of that statement, it's a waste of time to try and read anything into it.
Click to expand...

For what its worth, Donaldson approached management on his own and told them he wants to stay long-term. Generally, players don't take it that far, if they're just providing lip-service.

Josh Donaldson would be 'tickled pink' to stay with Toronto Blue Jays long-term — down season be damned
 
FYI, if anyone wants to hear Atkins not answer questions about whether the Jays should rebuild, he's the guest at the pitch talks event in a couple weeks: http://www.homestandsports.com/upcoming-shows/

Bob Kendrick of the Negro Leagues Museum is also a fascinating speaker the same day too. He was at one of the events before, and you could listen to him for 2 hours talk about great players from the past.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top