Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Roy Halladay signs extension

This morning's buzz turned out to be true: in a 1:00 press conference today, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that Roy Halladay has signed a 3 year, $40 million dollar contract extension, locking him up as a Jay until 2010.

Now, A.J. Burnett's wife gets free limo rides, and Troy Glaus's wife gets an operating budget for her ranch as part of their spouses' contracts --

What perks will Mrs. Halladay be receiving? Speculate away!

Oh yeah, and let's talk about what this means to the future of the team and stuff like that, too. I suppose that's also important.

Posted by Named For Hank on Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:00 PM EST.

Roy Halladay signs extension | 67 comments | Create New Account

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Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:12 PM EST (#142657) #

Mrs. Halladay to receive the gift of a championship leader. And unlimited Roy bobbleheads.

binnister - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:15 PM EST (#142658) #

Wow! Is it just me, or does that contract extention look like a real bargin for the Jays?

GregH - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:16 PM EST (#142659) #

I thought the following to be a very cool part of the new deal: "As part of his extension, Halladay will donate $100,000 to the Jays Care Foundation in each year of the new contract." (from the Jays website)

Jays Care sponsors the Jays Mosquito Division of Baseball Ontario, the Division that includes Rep and House League teams for 10 and 11 year olds all over Ontario. My older boy was in it last year and my younger boy (whom I am coaching in Rep) is in it this year.

Maybe some of Doc's money (sort of) comes to my kids!

Spicol - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:19 PM EST (#142660) #

Great deal. Great poll.

Mylegacy - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:25 PM EST (#142661) #

The 10 best things about Roy's extention:

10 See 1
09 See 1
08 See 1
07 See 1
06 See 1
05 See 1
04 See 1
03 See 1
02 See 1
01 He WON'T be pitchin' for the Spankies!! George is a loser, George is a loser!

Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:28 PM EST (#142662) #

Considering Rafael Furcal was able to pull $40-million for 2006-2008, gettting Halladay for $40-million for 2008-2010 looks good.

eeleye - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:30 PM EST (#142663) #

the reason why this is a great signing, especially at this time, is this: it now makes AJ Burnett WAY more comfortable being here. He now has way less pressure on him, going into this season, knowing he wont be holding up this franchise for 5 years, but that Halladay will. So much pressure will be taken off AJ that I think it helps him so much for him to hear about this signing this season. GREAT! And also, see the somewhat home town discount as perhaps a balancing of the slight over payment we did for AJ. Now, it about 165 million dollars for 5 years of pitching from Halladay, Burnett, and Ryan.

Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:35 PM EST (#142665) #

Maybe it will also keep AJ from using his out clause if he's doing well here.

Maybe the example of a guy who's positive about this team and willing to fully commit to it will rub off on AJ.

Or maybe *shudder* Roy secured an out clause for himself.

VBF - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:43 PM EST (#142667) #

Well Mrs. Halladay from what I've heard is about as low-maintenace as they come unlike a certain Baltimorian and another Equestrian rider. She regularily donates time to help out at Jays Care.

What can I say? Excellent signing! Knowing who Roy Halladay is, he's too loyal to jump on a bus to Yankeetown, so this wasn't a huge surprise.

Now to lock-up my buddy Wells and we'll be set for quite a while.

zeppelinkm - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:43 PM EST (#142668) #

That's a bargain if I ever saw one.

This reconfirms my love for Halladay even further.

By the way, your attraction to Roy Halladay in no way affects your sexual orientation.

(stolen from the jack bauer jokes, I just thought it was too good to deny its use!)

It seems like Halladay actually plays baseball because that's what he grew up loving to do. Need more guys like him in the bigs.

eeleye - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:44 PM EST (#142670) #

When do we get to hear the specs of the extension?

That's it. I'm officially buying my first ever Blue Jays jersey, and its going to be Halladay.

Cristian - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 01:54 PM EST (#142671) #

That's exactly what I thought when I heard this. I was originally going to go with a Ricciardi jersey. Instead of numbers on the back, it would have GM in big letters. Unfortunately I couldn't customize a jersey with big letters on the back.

Pistol - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 02:35 PM EST (#142674) #

There's only about 10 true aces in baseball and it's extremely tough to get your hands on one. When you do get one you don't let them get away. Nice job.

SK in NJ - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 02:46 PM EST (#142677) #

Props to JP and Halladay. Roy certainly could have waited until 2007 and tested free agency, but he obviously likes the direction the team is headed in, and wants to remain here. The Jays were more than willing to give him fair value. A win-win for everyone involved.

In an era of the greedy baseball player and players jumping from team to team, it's a pleasure knowing that Roy could be one of the rare players who we can see from the launching pad all the way til the end in one franchise.

Let's hope good health spreads around the Jays clubhouse for the next five+ years.

VBF - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 02:54 PM EST (#142679) #

Don't forget Romero!

[drool]

VBF - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 03:08 PM EST (#142681) #

Doc's on 590 with Swirsky.

How does Swirsky spend the first 5 minutes of the interview? "Forget baseball, Doc, how's your NCAA Fantasy Pool".

braden - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 03:08 PM EST (#142682) #

As per TSN, Roy will receive $10M in 2008, $14.25M in 2009 and $15.75M in 2010.

So 2008 will be a drop from 2007. I wonder if this is to create some more flexibility in order to re-sign someone like Vernon.....

Newton - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 03:24 PM EST (#142683) #

Doc, AJ, and Ryan should never be permitted to travel in the same moving vehicle.

jjdynomite - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:01 PM EST (#142688) #

It's pretty crazy that with the dollar amounts involved this is considered a fair deal. I'm not criticizing it at all; that's what the market will bear for an A1 pitcher. When Mike Hampton gets 13.5 for a 5-3 record and Schilling gets 14.5 for 8-8 at age 39....

I will just let my Dad know when he complains about his cable bill that at least there are now 40 million more reasons to keep subscribing to Sportsnet for the next 5 years.

Now, if only JP's trigger finger wasn't so quick with Carp :-)

jjdynomite - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:12 PM EST (#142689) #

Addendum: I know JP didn't trade Carp, he just let him walk, but I still don't think the financial reasons were enough to let him go and wait for him to heal up. He was hardly making -- or in line to make -- Delgado paper.

sweat - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:24 PM EST (#142690) #

Should the Jays have found a way to keep Sirotka aswell?

Jonny German - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:26 PM EST (#142691) #

Someday we really oughta create a "Popular Myths" static page... Carpenter wasn't just a work-in-progress a la Halladay in 2001, he was coming off major shoulder surgery. He didn't just need to put all the tools together (which he had never done before), there was a lot of doubt about whether the tools were still intact.

timpinder - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:43 PM EST (#142692) #

This is great news, and in my opinion this signing is at a bargain price. The Jays are going to be strong for several years with Halladay and Burnett locked up, and McGowan, Romero and Purcey on the way.

As for Vernon Wells, thanks for the memories, it was nice to know you. Unless there's a big budget increase or the Jays trade Ryan, Glaus, Burnett or Halladay to dump salary, I don't see how J.P. can afford to keep Wells. Wells is going to demand over $10 million a year. Maybe my numbers are wrong, but I just don't see it.

If it was a matter of extending either Wells or Halladay, it was a no-brainer. Good job J.P.

mathesond - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:45 PM EST (#142693) #

Doc, AJ, and Ryan should never be permitted to travel in the same moving vehicle.

Can they travel in the same stationary vehicle?

Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:52 PM EST (#142694) #

Any way you put it, Carpenter has proven his doubters and nay-sayers wrong.

You could blame the Jays' medical staff for not giving management good enough advice on Carpenter's ability to recuperate or blame management for not listening to the medical staff or blame management for not believing Chris had any potential. Or just blame dumb luck and the baseball gods for shining on Chris to put him in a position to succeed in Missouri.

The popular myth I always see is that every player's future success can be scientifically determined by any astute baseball mind with intelligence. Baloney. For all the prospect lists and player value rankings, it comes down to unquantifiable factors that make a player successful or not. There are free agent busts and lop-sided trades because nothing is certain in this game. No number of statistics or scouts will change that.

Chris Carpenter beat plenty of odds to get where he is, no matter how much or little he was valued in the past. You want stupid moves by the Jays, look at trading for Sirotka.

Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:55 PM EST (#142695) #

Should Doc, AJ, and Ryan be permitted to stand on the same pitching mound? With Kevin Mench at bat?

jjdynomite - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:58 PM EST (#142696) #

Sirotka was/is 4 years older than Carp at the time of injury, was more expensive, and was not groomed through the Jays system. As such there was less of a vested interest in seeing him through.

All I'm saying is, now that the Jays are firmly into their mid-level spending ways they will see things through with their homegrown players a bit more, like they have done with Doc, even their injured ones (see: Quiroz, Guillermo).

VBF - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 04:58 PM EST (#142697) #

As for Vernon Wells, thanks for the memories, it was nice to know you. Unless there's a big budget increase or the Jays trade Ryan, Glaus, Burnett or Halladay to dump salary, I don't see how J.P. can afford to keep Wells.

You guys do realize that he has two years left on his contract, right? His current contract will expire at the end of 2007. Who knows what will be happening in 2007? Now there's 15 million that will be shed off this year's payroll which will open up four roles, two or three of which can be replaced from within the organization. This is still pretty irrelevant though because Rogers has yet to announce what the payroll structure will be like from 2007 and onwards. If revenue goes sky high with a playoff appearance, you can guarantee that Wells will have a nice contract thrown at him. Whether he chooses to go elsewhere is an entirely different discussion, but there's a good chance he will have an offer made to him.

After the offseason of 2006, I don't see any areas on the team that should need to be filled from an outside source, and I'm sure that Rogers will see the value of having someone like Vernon to increase payroll enough to cover his salary in the next three year plan.

greenfrog - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 05:06 PM EST (#142698) #

I think the dollar amount is fair. If the average annual salary seems relatively low for a pitcher of Roy's calibre, I think it reflects the injury risk and length of the contract.

The real challenge for JP is going to be surrounding him with a strong supporting cast (positional players especially) in 2008-10.

Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 05:07 PM EST (#142699) #

I can't see Mr. Rogers resigning Vernon until the offseason of 2007. I mean, he's got to leave some action for next year or else he'll bore us all to tears.

I'm sure this won't stop some people from challenging old man Ed to do even more next year, but we won't see numbers and names flying around again like this --- perhaps ever.

eeleye - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 05:14 PM EST (#142701) #

Who knows what will happen in two years when Vernon resigns? Maybe he'll have two amazing or poor years, making him earn anywhere from 8 to 13 million dollars a year? Also, plesae lets not go down the what if path of Carpenter, Delgado, Michael Young, etc etc etc. But it does worry me that from 2008 to 2010, about 33 million dollars per year will be comanded by 3 pitchers. Will we have enough, 40 mil, to fill up the rest of the team? Once again, I guess it depends on how well we do the next two years, and with people coming and going, it shows why the next two years is both our best chance and most important for long term success.

eeleye - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 05:28 PM EST (#142702) #

I also liked this at the end of the TSN article:

"Also helping the Jays cause is the instant friendship he has developed with Burnett. The two have become workout buddies and are seemingly inseparable around the clubhouse.

That bond prompted some teammates to make up T-shirts with Burnett's mug shot and the words, "Where's A.J.?" for Halladay."

THey will be fishing buddies too.

jjdynomite - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 05:30 PM EST (#142703) #

The Yankees are spending $35 million in 2006 on two pitchers aged 37 and 42. Heh heh.

I'll take my chances with 33 million for three pitchers who will all be between 33-35 by 2010.

But for sure, if the Jays don't load up on a $10 million outfielder prior to 2008, Vernon or otherwise, the roster will look pretty lopsided.

Named For Hank - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 05:34 PM EST (#142704) #

That bond prompted some teammates to make up T-shirts with Burnett's mug shot and the words, "Where's A.J.?" for Halladay.

That is so priceless that I want to cry.

VBF - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:09 PM EST (#142706) #

JP's on 590 right now.

Ron - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:15 PM EST (#142707) #

- I hate to go all Debbie Downer on you folks but I give this extension the thumbs down.
Doc has yet to stay healthy for a full season after he signed the big 4 year extension. Yes I understand last years injury was a fluke, but the bottom line is that he missed the full 2nd half last season. Doc�s prior deal had 2 years left. Doc has stated numerous times he wants to stay in Toronto and likes the direction of the club. There�s no harm in seeing how this upcoming season pans out for him. As you can tell, I also gave the thumbs down to the JP extension when he had 2 years left on his deal. What�s scary is how much money he will make in his last 2 seasons (14.25 mil and 15.75 mil). I have yet to see a study on what constitutes a starting pitchers �prime� years but I would venture to guess if you�re looking at a 5 year window, age 32 and 33 aren�t part of it (My guess are ages 26-30). I have a feeling this contract extension could come back to haunt the Jays, but I
hope I�m dead wrong.

- I also noticed Godfrey at the press conference said Doc was the premier pitcher in the AL. I would disagree with him. I believe Johan Santana is the ace of the AL. Over the next 5 seasons, I believe Santana will outperform Doc.

- I�m curious to see what kind of deal Zito lands now after this season. He�ll probably get a salary between AJ�s and Doc�s. My guess right now is a 5yr/62.5 mil contract.

garth - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:37 PM EST (#142710) #

Give me Doc before Santana any day of the week. This guy is a role model in both work ethic and pitching skills to all the young pitchers coming up. How many truly great players are great individuals as well - you could probably count them on one hand. Compare him to bonds/tejada/a-rod/Manny etc; Doc screams class over these guys.

By the time 2009/10 arrive Doc's salary is going to look like a steal. This is the best move of the winter/spring. Life long Jay - Like Delgado should have been.

Glevin - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:40 PM EST (#142712) #

"I also noticed Godfrey at the press conference said Doc was the premier pitcher in the AL. I would disagree with him. I believe Johan Santana is the ace of the AL."

Few would disagree with you, but Halladay is still relatively young and by any measure one of the few best pitchers in baseball. All pitchers are risky, but this is a great contract. The only worry is the amount of money going to be spent on three pitchers over the next five years.(Which is more a problem of IMO questionable signings of Burnett and Ryan) By my best estimate...
3 pitchers/3 pitchers and Glaus
2006-27.7 million/40 million
2007-33.8 million/44.5 million
2008-32 million/44.75 million
2009-36.25 million/47.5 million
2010-37.75 million

I love the Halladay contract, but the other contracts take up a huge amount of salary space.

Flex - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:43 PM EST (#142713) #

Great news. Great deal.

There's your banner picture, by the way.

Cristian - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:49 PM EST (#142715) #

Yes I understand last years injury was a fluke, but the bottom line is that he missed the full 2nd half last season.

No. The bottom line is that last year's injury was a fluke. If anything, Roy's arm should be even healthier for the time he took off last year.

I have yet to see a study on what constitutes a starting pitchers �prime� years but I would venture to guess if you�re looking at a 5 year window, age 32 and 33 aren�t part of it (My guess are ages 26-30).

You'd be wrong. A pitcher's peak occurs later than a hitter's peak.

I also noticed Godfrey at the press conference said Doc was the premier pitcher in the AL. I would disagree with him. I believe Johan Santana is the ace of the AL.

This is arguable, but as Santana cannot be signed away from Minnesota, this argument is irrelevant. Even if you are right, I'm going to excuse Paul Godfrey for putting a marketing spin on the extension.

Greg - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:54 PM EST (#142716) #

The folks over at Primer seem pretty down on this deal.

Do they under-estimate Hallday due to supposed fragility? Or are they just a bunch of Negative Ninnies?

Anders - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 06:56 PM EST (#142717) #

Just to clear up the Carpenter thing, as far as my understanding goes, the Jays wanted to resign Carpenter, and would have kept him on the 40. The Cardinals just offered him a bunch more money and perhaps a slightly better scenario re: pitching again, and he went with that.

Also, the extension is great. Baseball inflation is about 10% a year. Halladay, during the time that he pitched, was the best pitcher in the AL last year. Santana is obviously fantastic, and he is 21 months younger than Halladay, but it's not like you'd go wrong with either one.

Gerry - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 07:08 PM EST (#142718) #

Back in the nineties 5 year contracts for pitchers went out of fashion due to the high breakdown rate for pitchers. Teams were paying out millions of dollars to pitchers who were on the DL. This limitation held reasonably well until recently but there are still a lot of teams that won't give a 5 year contract to a pitcher. Most people don't have a problem with the dollars, or with Doc, it is just that giving out 5 year contracts to pitchers is high risk behaviour. High risk means just that, the deal could be great or it could blow up big time.

eeleye - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 07:12 PM EST (#142720) #

Everyone look at Glevin's post just a bit up. First, Glevin, we don't have Glaus through 2009, we only have him for 3 more years, through 2008. Second, how ARE we to make up a whole team when 45 million is allocated to those 4 players, and then we will only have 30 million left over??? Our young talent better be serviceable, and also I think we'll have Overbay for kinda cheap until 2008.

Jacko - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 07:26 PM EST (#142721) #

I think this is incorrect.

Coming off major shoulder surgery, the Jays offered Carpenter a minor league deal in 2003. He wanted a major league deal, but the Jays did not want to use a roster spot on him. So he became a free agent and sought out a team who would offer him a major league contract (the Cardinals).

I don't think it really came down to money. As far as I can tell, the Cards paid Carpenter the major league minimum for both 2003 and 2004. Maybe he just felt more comfortable doing his rehab with a major league club? Kudos to St. Louis for rolling the dice and winning big.

Carpenter required two surgeries in order to pitch pain free again, and almost walked away from baseball before having the second procedure. He beat incredibly long odds to come back, and I don't think anyone should fault the Jays for cutting their losses.

Mylegacy - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 07:42 PM EST (#142722) #

Todays press release should have read:

"JP Ricciardi, accompanied by AJ Burnett and BJ Ryan, announced today that Harry Leroy Halladay (aka Roy Halladay) has agreed to change his name to HL Halladay and in exchange the Jays agreed to extend his present contract for 3 years and $40 million."

PS: JP, wearing only his BVD's, said he and AJ were gonna meet with BJ at HL's place in their PJ's for a sleep over. When asked if their would be any pictures he replied, "FO." LOL.

Geoff - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 07:59 PM EST (#142723) #

I presume that before handing out all these millions, the organization has a wise medical staff that claims to have better knowledge and certainty about which pitchers have sound health, and can even analyze a pitcher's throwing habits to see which ones carry great risk. Some management would never listen to that, but I believe this group does.

Of course they may just be fooling themselves to see things so scientifically when a Kevin Mench liner could throw any amount of analysis out the window.

Some guys are professionals like David Wells. Others are more like Roy Halladay. Even if they put up the same pitching numbers, you don't need to be a management genius to see which one should walk away with a five-year deal or not.

And aside from health, mechanics and habits, you'd only want to give five-year deals to guys who want to be here and help the organization. That means not the Roger Clemenses who will ask to leave and be overjoyed to join the Yankees.

If the Jays are getting all that in their five-year deals, they might be more well-considered in their planning than past five-year deals handed out.

Waveburner - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 08:12 PM EST (#142725) #

The Carpenter situation sucks, as having two ace pitchers of Doc and Carp's quality is a dream for any team. But it's not really anyone's fault. Carp had very serious injury issues that nearly ended his career. The Jays wanted to hold on to Carpenter, but weren't willing to gamble major league money on a broken arm while in the midst of slashing payroll throughout the roster. It just didn't make sense, and I think Carp left for two main reasons: slightly more money, and the chance for a fresh start. Not that he necesarily didn't like Toronto, but he didn't have a lot of success here and I'm sure a fresh start in a new city would be appealing to many people in Chris's precarious injury-clouded future. The Sirotka trade was far worse, total lack of basic GM competence on the part of Ash. The Prokopec and Arnold/Griffin deals have been equally painful in hindsight, but were not inherently poor trades at the time. Imagine how much better are pitching situation would look if even one of Prokopec or Arnold turned out? Even in a bullpen capacity would have been something. What happened with Prokopec anyways? Injuries, or did he just suck?

The Halladay signing is awesome. He's what brought me back to watching baseball again like I did in the early/mid 90's (the strike killed my baseball enthusiasm for quite a while). The only Jay who comes close to Halladay for me is Robbie Alomar. I think the best is yet to come for the Doc. He's got the work ethic to dominate into his early 40's, much like Clemens and the Big Unit.

Arms Longfellow - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 08:13 PM EST (#142726) #

I don't get it when players negotiate things in their contract like free limo rides and perks for their wives. Wouldn't it just be easier to get an extra $100,000 on their contract or something?

Dave Till - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 08:22 PM EST (#142728) #

Good things and bad things about this extension:

First, the good things:
- He's the best pitcher on the planet.
- He works hard and sets a good example.
- He wants to pitch in Toronto.
- He's entering his prime, and he's not been overworked.
- His salary is quite reasonable for somebody who is the best pitcher on the planet.

Now, the bad things:
- Errm... I can't think of any.

smcs - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 08:40 PM EST (#142730) #

Now, the bad things:

- Errm... I can't think of any.

How about there will be a day he will be retired. Or that he might leave after 2010. Or that he didn't choose to play for the love of the game and accept enough money to live on.

I could go on that there is a downside, but I love this contract and all of the upside points are correct.

Waveburner - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 09:05 PM EST (#142733) #

"I don't get it when players negotiate things in their contract like free limo rides and perks for their wives. Wouldn't it just be easier to get an extra $100,000 on their contract or something?"

Taxes. At least I think that's the reason.

Named For Hank - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 11:39 PM EST (#142739) #

There's your banner picture, by the way.

Oh, hell yes -- we won't have to change it until 2010.

Magpie - Thursday, March 16 2006 @ 11:43 PM EST (#142741) #

Carpenter was arbitration-eligible and earning $3.4 million when the Jays cut him loose, which may have been a factor as well. He would have spent most of 2003 on the 60 Day DL, which doesn't count against the 40 man roster. He was hoping to make it back in mid-2003, but broke down again and missed the entire season.

And here's something everyone forgets - the Cardinals declined their $2 million option on Carpenter at the end of the 2003 season, making him a free agent again. They then scooped him off the scrap heap a month later for $300 K. The two biggest pay cheques in Carpenter's career, even now, came courtesy of Gord Ash in 2001-2002.

Glevin - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 12:28 AM EST (#142747) #

"Everyone look at Glevin's post just a bit up. First, Glevin, we don't have Glaus through 2009, we only have him for 3 more years, through 2008."

Unless I am wrong, Glaus has a 11.25 player option for 2009. It seems likely he will pick it up.

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005_01_05_mlbcontracts_archive.html

Rand - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 01:37 AM EST (#142749) #

For someone that may end up in the HOF when his career is over it's truly twisted that Halladay also will go down as the pitcher with the single worst season in MLB history.

Only 3 pitchers have had seasons in which they pitched 40+ innings with an ERA above 10.00.
Halladay's 2000 year was the worst of them all.

Not many pitchers can claim to be both the absolute best in MLB at any given season and the absolute worst as well.

Oleg - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 06:05 AM EST (#142755) #

"Do they under-estimate Hallday due to supposed fragility? Or are they just a bunch of Negative Ninnies?"

You haven't considered the possibility that there's some fanboydom going on here. It's a good, but not great deal. As they were pointing out on primer, he's got two years to go on his current contract. A lot can happen in two years.

Named For Hank - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 07:18 AM EST (#142756) #

So it's an intelligent gamble to risk losing one of the best pitchers in baseball just to see what might happen in the next two years? Am I getting the argument right?

Paul D - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 07:43 AM EST (#142757) #

Taxes. At least I think that's the reason.

If you get a benefit from your employer, you pay taxes on it. I'm sure that the sports agencies employee some pretty smart accountants, but I'm not sure how getting the limo deal written into you contract would save you taxes.

Pistol - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 08:28 AM EST (#142758) #

"Unless I am wrong, Glaus has a 11.25 player option for 2009."

The Jays gave that to Glaus as part of getting him to waive his no trade clause.

Oleg - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 01:12 PM EST (#142774) #

"So it's an intelligent gamble to risk losing one of the best pitchers in baseball just to see what might happen in the next two years? Am I getting the argument right?"

No.

One, you make it seem as if two years in the life of a pitcher is a trivial amount of time. It's most definately not.

Two, I said it was a good signing.

Three, there is a value to Halladay/risk to the Jays locking him up this early. Even if he hurts himself over the next two years, he's still going to get paid through 2010. That value/risk has to be taken into account when considering the overall value of the contract. It's simplistic to simply compare it to probable contracts in 2008 - 2010 of FA pitchers. The context of their negotiation is completely different. So, just because Halladay might be making less than, say, Santana or Beckett in that time doesn't mean it's a good contract.

Imagine Halladay hurts himself in 2007. I imagine I'd see the comments on here like "You'd think J.P. would have learned with Hinske about locking guys up before he absolutely needed to."

J.P.'s simply started to take a lot of gambles. I'm not sure it's the right thing to do or not. Maybe it's necessary since, IMHO, his drafts have pretty much sucked. But this team could be pretty good with their high priced players for the next five years. On the other hand, it's very within the realm of possibility that Burnett and Halladay get hurt and Ryan follows typical reliever patters and loses effectivness. That 2009 team wouldn't be pretty.

Geoff - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 01:37 PM EST (#142779) #

Isn't Roy guaranteed only $5-million more (roughly) than Burnett for the next 5 years? That comparison has me fuddled. I understand Roy's value is diminished in that he wasn't a free agent yet, but if you're willing to risk that money on A.J., you'd be pretty dumb not to make the same risk (+$5 million) on Roy. (of course some will call both signings short-sighted)

And who's to say that Mr. Rogers isn't going to be like George and fix future money problems by spending more money?

I'm also curious who you'd cite as players J.P. should have taken in drafts if he had better sense. [not that it can't be done, I'd just like to read arguments for what should have been done]

Ryan Day - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 01:44 PM EST (#142780) #

If Halladay hurts himself in 2007, I think most people would say "Jeez, I didn't see that coming. The guy's been a rock-solid horse, and even with all the innings he's pitched he never seemed overworked."

His 2005 injury was a total fluke. 2004 is more concerning, but I'm willing to consider that a one-time thing as well, given how strongly he bounced back in 2005.

Sometimes players get hurt. Sometimes players fall off a cliff unexpectedly. Sometimes players run off two or three straight Cy-calibre seasons and you thank god you don't have to pay open market prices to keep them. I know which of those options I'm betting on in Doc's case.

Named For Hank - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 02:24 PM EST (#142790) #

Sorry, Oleg, I was trying to understand why folks at Primer are down on the deal -- I got the impression that you understood it, so I was asking you.

VBF - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 02:31 PM EST (#142791) #

his drafts have pretty much sucked.

I really don't think his drafts have sucked. I think they've done exactly what they projected. Hill and Adams aren't going to be stars, but they were able to move through the system rather quickly and be contributing players. They also allowed a major deal to be done to bring a big bat to Toronto.

The risk you run by playing the waiting game is that if Doc is healthy, he's guaranteed to be a Cy Young candidate. You run the chance of having to fork out alot more next offseason. Giving 5 years to Hinske isn't really the same thing; Halladay's had continued success the last 3 of 4 years (2004 really wasn't any fault of Doc's).

Gitz - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 04:32 PM EST (#142809) #

Anyone catch the sub-headline from Richard Griffin's article in The Star? (Note: Griffin does not write headlines, so back off, Griffin bashers.)

"Halladay chooses comfort over cash"

I dunno. Seems $40 million has room for comfort and cash.

eeleye - Friday, March 17 2006 @ 05:36 PM EST (#142818) #

On bluejays.com they have mid-way down the page the conference announcing Halladay's extension. It's worth watching...at the end, he said how he'd love to live in Toronto forever and how he would want to finish his career here...."but that's five years away...and hopefully we'll have a couple of World Series rings to influence my decision..." He he he.

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