The Blue Jays agreed to terms with four players on Thursday night, leaving Marco Scutaro and Alex Rios as the only Jays scheduled to head to arbitration. Reportedly the team is close to agreeing to a contract with Scutaro, which would leave only Rios and I'd be surprised if the Jays didn't come to an agreement with him, as well.
The four Jays who agreed to contracts Thursday were Jason Frasor, Brian Tallet, Gustavo Chacin and Scott Downs. Frasor received a raise of $300,000 and will make $1,125,000 next year. Chacin agreed to a one year deal at $725,000 and Tallet will make $640,000 next year. All of those are pretty standard contracts and while Chacin's place on next year's team isn't certain, Frasor will certainly be part of the bullpen and I expect to Tallet to serve as the second lefty.
The most notable contract was the one the Jays reached with Scott Downs which is a 3-year deal worth $10 million. Downs will get $2.25 million this year, $3.75 million in 2009 and $4 million in 2010. What do you think of this deal Bauxites? Did JP sign Downs to a multi-year deal earlier than he needed to or was it worth this price to lock up a good left-handed set-up man for the next three years? Is Downs a good bet to be worth this money for the duration of the contract?
EDIT: Marco Scutaro also signed - a 2 year, $2.65 million deal.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080117221033571