What would JP ask for?  A shortstop?  A catcher?  A younger starting pitcher?  All of the above.

I heard Theo Epstein talking today about the Sox re-signing Schilling because it's impossible to acquire a pitcher.  The free agent pool is very thin in pitching.  I would think Burnett would get a lot of interest.

I'm still not getting why people think AJ would opt out.

Sure, AJ can be the most dominating pitcher in MLB when: He is healthy, when he isn't a wuss, is throwing well, hitting his spots, blah blah blah, but to date, he hasn't had one of those seasons which is going to garner him a raise above the 12 million he is going to make.  So if AJ has another typical 20-25 start season, is there a team in MLB who is going to touch him with that sort of 15/18 million a season type deal?  Long term?  Not a chance.

Those stars haven't decided to align yet.

Do you trade AJ though?  Depends on what you get back, but it better be good, and you're basically deciding to mail in the season too.  I know that wasn't part of JP's '5 year plan' (on year what now?).  Who knows though, this team could make many smarter moves before trying to trade AJ though.

If the jays plan on contending then they should at least look into extending AJ and see what it would take for him to not opt out.  They love to backload contracts so perhaps giving him a couple years at 17 or 18 million added on + some incentives would do it. I have no idea what he'd be looking at on the free agent market, 5/75?  more?

I'm sorry but that just a horrible idea. In the current state of the market (remember, Meche and Lilly are getting similar money), AJ is probably worth around what he's making. But overpaying a high risk pitcher, when there will be plenty of decent replacements available makes no sense at all. IMO, if AJ opts just take the draft picks and move on.

As for what Burnett is worth on the open market, I doubt he's worth a "grade A" prospect (which I assume is a Travis Snider caliber prospect). If I'm a team there's no way I make that trade, especially when I can add a little extra and get Santana (assuming that he's available). Think of it this way, Blue Jays fans would not be willing to trade Travis Snider for one year of Mark Mulder or Rafael Furcal.

Ricciardi says Blue Jays not actively shopping starter A.J. Burnett

Tue Nov 6 20:20:07 CST 2007

Shi Davidi, THE CANADIAN PRES

I'd seriously consider trading what is certainly 1 year of Burnett for 12 million for Tejada for 2 years/26 million - perhaps the O's would make a payment to equalise the salaries as well. Tejada does have considerable upside, is very durable, and still young enough that he should be in his prime. I would expect a sharp year from him if he got a change of scenery. Perhaps that's all moot though, since it seems doubtful that the O's would want one year of Burnett...ehh, who knows what the O's want to do.

Burnett will opt out. Even if he has 10 starts next year, he's still worth more than 2 years/24 million. I doubt the Jays will want to/be able to re-sign him after '08 - JP has been quite critical of AJ over the last two years.

I'm still not getting why people think AJ would opt out.

Caramon, you're underrating AJ here. If Zito gets well in excess of 18 million/year, I think AJ does too, but only for three or so years - unless he makes 35 starts in '08, in which case he might get four or five years.

Unlike this offseason, there are alot of very good to stud starters available after next season.  A cursory look shows the following:

Johan Santana, CC Sabathia, Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, Jon Garland, Ben Sheets, Derek Lowe, Aaron Cook, Oliver Perez, and maybe Pedro Martinez.

I'd bet Santana, Sabathia, Peavy, Penny, Sheets and maybe Perez are all extended long before they hit free agency - and not necessarily by their current clubs (I'm looking at you, Johan).

Overbay and Burnett to Seattle for Adrian Beltre and Adam Jones.

The only way even a fool like Bavasi bites on a trade like that is if Sexson is included, with no strings, i.e., contract relief, attached.

The Blue Jays will listen to offers for right-hander A.J. Burnett and third baseman Troy Glaus, but they're reluctant to make any move that would weaken their club next season.

I'm still not getting why people think A.J will opt out

If he has a career year then he would be crazy not to. He has two years remaining at 12 million per. He could get a 5 year 60 million contract from someone else.

Even if he has a year like 2007  he could still get a 4-5 year deal at 10 million per. Someone will pay him that much.

I can't see Posada with the Jays. He wants a 4-5 year deal, likely in the neighbourhood of $12M-$14M per year. While he's certainly the best catcher on the market right now, that's an expensive contract for someone who is in the decline stage of their career, especially with young prospects likely only a year or two away from a starting position. If it was '06, absolutely. Now, I don't see the value being there against the cost/duration of the contract.

I see Zaun, TBA vetern/Fasano and Thigpen behind the plate this year, with Diaz on the 40 man to finish it off. In '09, barring issues, you'll likely see Diaz/Thigpen.

36 year old catchers on long term deals scare me.

Maybe a 2 year with a club option for the 3rd (2 million 3rd year buyout or something fair).

Yes, IF AJ has a career year, he can opt out.  However, if he has one of his "typical" ones, he wont opt out.  The BEST he could hope for, is another year or 2 tacked on at 12 million, so, 4/48.

Zito has a far, far better track record than AJ could think of having.  AJ hasn't shown he is better than a .500 pitcher in his career, Zito on the other hand has a lot more hardware to justify getting that contract.

Posada does make some sense.

I think that while we'd all love to see the Yankees lose Posada and Rivera, I just can't see it happening. You look at the back of their baseball cards and you only see one team listed. That says at least a little something about their aversion to change, though I grant that the Yankees have historically flashed enough green at the two of them to render moot any serious consideration for change.

Further to the above, I think that the Steinbrenner lads will be especially willing to pay a premium to keep a couple of Yankee lifers in pinstripes. They want to be seen as competent and in control, just like dad, especially in light of the ARod debacle (which, admittedly, seems to have been out of their hands). To, on their watch, lose still valuable commodities that link to them to their World Series successes would be an ignominious start to their reign.

Wildrose, the fact that Glaus and Burnett can opt out after 2008 does make them short-term assets, but it doesn't follow from that that they should be moved.

What would you trade them for? Prospects? If so, what is your plan and your timetable for contention?

The team is set up to attempt to contend now. I hope you aren't suggesting a permanent treadmill strategy - keep dealing off good players for the "future" as soon as they become expensive or can leave.

John, I can't imagine Chacin and Litsch getting you Tejada. I suppose there's no harm in asking.

I say keep Glaus and Burnett (barring the proverbial "knock your socks off" offer), and if they leave after 2008, they leave. Take the draft choices and the saved dollars and see what's available through free agency or trade at that time. I strongly doubt anybody's going to give up a top notch major league ready player for a one year rental. Otherwise, it's just a salary dump so rogers can save money. Whoopee.

The team is set up to attempt to contend now. I hope you aren't suggesting a permanent treadmill strategy - keep dealing off good players for the "future" as soon as they become expensive or can leave

It's not as simple as you make it. There's probably an 80-90% chance Glaus and Burnett will both opt out after 2008. The team needs to decide to;

A.) Keep them , try to contend and then take the draft choices in 2009.

[re: Tejada] The question is if he starting on the downwards slope or was this an injury anomaly?

Strictly speaking, most every non-pitcher past 28 should theoretically be heading down the slope. That said, it's funny how rose-coloured glasses preclude this same amount of (appropriate) scrutiny from being applied to players on the home side.

Overbay, Glaus and Johnson are all a year or less younger than Tejada, but card carrying members of Optimists R Us all assert, with great confidence, that it is only a return to good health that stands in the way of a return to their former glory. The very odd player improves in his 30s (Molitor, Zaun). Some players retain their value into their 30s (Alomar). Most players, however, head downhill in their 30s with a handful retaining enough of their value (Winfield, McGriff) to stay useful. Most others (Bell, Moseby, Barfield) just entirely fall apart due to a combination of injury and/or diminished ability.

While Overbay and Johnson are good bets to bounce back from disastrous 2007 seasons, will they bounce back far enough to be useful? Will Glaus ever again be a 500 AB player? While there's no reason to take a purely pessimistic view, any optimism on all three fronts has to be tempered. Any gameplan which counts on 2006 redux from these three is entirely too naive for my tastes.

Returning to Tejada, it's tough to get a consistent take on his defense. If he is, in fact, an average or better defender, then his bat, being swung by a shortstop, is still good enough to mean that he can offer value, even if 2007 represents his new level. Not many shortstops can put up a 296/357/442 line.

I think we have to keep AJ until the end of 08 at the least. There is no combination of moves involving removing him that I can see being as productive as just keeping him. We really have a chance in 08 and to lose his one healthy year would make my brain hurt.  The only move that I even marginally like is a trade for Tejada, but I can't see the Orioles doing that anyway.

I'm not too concerned with losing AJ after 08. I've got that funny feeling I get now and then - for some reason - I've got a really good feeling about Purcey. He's doing quite well in the AFL and I BELIEVE he's turning the corner with his control. I think he's the "08 Minor League Surprise." However, if I'm right about Purcey, it would be great to have Roy, AJ, McG, Purcey and Janssen or whomever till 2012! How sweet it is!

I might trade Glaus because he seems to be permanently hobbled by something or another.  However, I cannot see trading Burnett as some have suggested.  He still can be a dominant if inconsistent pitcher.

There appear to be few steady Eddies on this team with only Hill, Rios and Halladay giving me any sense of reliability.  The fact is that this team is (and I guess most teams are to a lesser extent) a whole series of gambles.  The return you will get for almost any of the Jays is much less than what they are worth to the Jays if they have one of their better years.  If they all do have slightly above career average years I think this is a contending team.  This is not likely but is possible and I think therefore you have to go with Burnett and the rest and just cross your fingers.

Besides, even giving up a league average starter these days is a bad move with pitching so hard to come by.  The best part of the team last year was the pitching.  You have to expect a step back from a Marcum or a McGowan or whomever.  You need as much depth as you can get.

Finally, there will be the chance to dump AJ at the trade deadline (with his permission of course).  I think that is a better time to judge whether he is likely to bail and where the team is at.

The only way I think you can remove Burnett and still compete in 2008 is by making very significant follow up moves to take advantage of a somewhat deep free agent outfield class.

You gain $11 or $12M by moving Burnett (assuming you take no salary back) and hopefully at least one good young player who can be ready to contribute either right away or by 2009.  You also move one of your outfield or DH assets for another resource, perhaps on the pitching side or left half of the infield.  And finally you sign up a veteran outfielder to fill the void of the asset you traded, perhaps making Stairs your DH on most days.

This would require a very active off-season where a lot of things were made to go your way.  The issue is your most tradeable outfielder is Alex Rios and he's also the guy you should probably most want to keep, what with him being one of the best two-way rightfielders in baseball.  You'd be selling very low on Wells and Reed Johnson probably has very little market...if you couldn't move him to leverage his career 2006 season, it's unlikely you'd move him for anything worthwhile right now.

Maybe we can keep AJ and still have money left over to persue a decent SS.  This brings me to my currency exchange rate point.

Over the past few days I have been wondering how much of a competitive advantage Ted (and therefore JP) may gain from the increase in the Cdn $ versus the Greenback.  In James Munroe's article titled "Blue Jays hit a currency home run", it appears that for every cent the Cdn $ gains against the the U.S$, the team gets a $720,000 benefit.  I have to assume that this number takes into account any currency heding the bean counters have made.  I found it humourous that Godfrey feels even a loonie worth $2 U.S. would not tempt them to bid on Arod.

Doing a little number crunching of my own, I found that so far this year the Cdn $ has increased against the US $ by 26.3% while a lesser 8% since the Jays played their last game of 2007.  This equates to a $5.7M befefit to ownership since October 1st and a $19M windfall YTD!  Seems to me that they need to hedge some of this gain now (although I can see $1.20 exchange if China does as expected and takes their peg off the US $).  I say that they should spend $3-$5 million now to improve the team.

Here is the link: http://www.680news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20071107_151329_5204

The team needs to decide to;

A.) Keep them , try to contend and then take the draft choices in 2009.

Brad Lidge is in fact a Philly. He and Eric Bruntlett were traded with Michael Bourne, Geoff Geary and Mike Costanzo going back to Houston. IMO Terrible move by Ed Wade.

-Rotoworld

Great post, I could not agree more.... there is no reason to expect different results in 2008 with this same team is there? The JP 2008 party line seems to be that all good things from 2007 will repeat (i.e. young pitchers emerging, Hill improving), while none of the bad will happen (injuries and/or inconsistency from Ryan, Glaus, Wells, Overbay et al.).

AJ is an absolutely perfect candidate to trade in this very weak pitching market. In particular, a team like the Cardinals, with a chance to sign him long-term, might give an impressive bounty.

John - I would like to know how you arrive at your Blue Jays revenue numbers.

How do you get $100 million in Canadian revenue (based on public information)? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I would like to know the breakdown.

To this you have to add the $US revenues. This would be the national TV and radio amounts, merchandising, whatever they get now from MLBAM. Maybe I'm forgetting something else here.

Saying the average team has $200 million in revenues is meaningless in the context of the Blue Jays. You have to do the specifics for each team.

Ditto, talking about the market size of Canada isn't relevant unless it can be translated into revenues.

Thanks for your Reply John but I have to agree with Frank that there are some pretty braod assumptions you made there.  Even still, your $1M estimate of gain per Cdn penny increase is close enough to the $720k estimate in the article I quoted.  So, I think we can assume that the actual number is somewhere in this ballpark.  I have to agree that Ted is looking to line the pockets of the Corp.  Also, have to agree that it is very frustrating why the team seemed willing to go past $100M last November but not so this time around - YES VERY FRUSTRATING!  This is especially aggrevating when it now seems we don't need to overspend on pitching, making it possible to concentrate on either one of our biggest needs - a power hitting SS or C.

I should have added in my last posting that I am 100% certain we should move Glaus.  There are two reasons:

1) His type of foot injury is the type that could very well be a cronic one (kind of like Forsberg - yes I know its a different part of the foot)

2) The Jays HAVE TO get faster.  They cannot have Glaus and Thomas in the same lineup (not to mention Overbay and Stairs).  If there is anyway we can get Figgins to play 3rd (he was available last year and if the Angles sign Arod that would make it even more plausible) then JP needs to explore that.  They also have to once again run more - they are WAY too one-dimensional.

From Rotoworld it appears as though the Twins are trying to find a good young hitter and are dangling Matt Garza.  They've reportedly shown interest in Chase Headley in SD and Young and Upton in TB.  This may indicate that the Twins are fairly confident in being able to extend Santana.

I wonder if Lind/Johnson would get the discussion started for Garza?  Lind would be the good young bat and Johnson could help out there CF situation (though not likely on his own).  Adding Garza to our stable of young pitchers would be a coup.

A coup indeed! It's a bit shocking he's even available, though the Twins did have problems with his attitude early in '07. I'm not sure Johnson/Lind would be of that much interest to them - maybe last year, but right now the Twins would probably be looking for Alex Rios.

Trading Rios sounds disastrous - he's young, affordable, a very good hitter, and an excellent defender. On the other hand, his numbers against righties: 283/334/468. There are not many situations where trading Rios puts us ahead, but you do have to give talent to get it in return. Would an outfield of Wells/Lind/Johnson/Stairs be suitable until Snider is ready? What if it meant having a rotation of Halladay, Burnett, McGowan, Marcum, Garza/Lincecum?

Ehh, it's always worth being aware of your options.

It's funny how you've lost all credibility in my eyes with that statement.

Since you didn't specify I will have to assume that you had an issue with both parts of my post.  I don't understand how you can say getting a player in Figgins and his measley 41 SB's and .330 average could be seen as an non credible alternative.  Maybe you looked over the fact that  he had 155 Sb's over the past 3 years and he can play 3B as well as OF.  As for my point about the Jays being too slow and suggesting that they should not proceed with both Thomas and Glaus in the same lineup, well I guess I don't like watching station to station ball as much as you may (not to mention all those DP's they ground into).  I guess you also don't mind watching many of our opponents use their speedsters to swipe bags almost at will without having much means to do the same (dont' get me started on Zaun's arm!)

Sorry but the entertainment value of station to station ball is just not appealing to me.  And yes, more omportantly I do think they would have a better chance to compete by having a more balanced approach, and that means moving Glaus for Figgins.  I think you may be caught up a bit too much in the names on the back of the shirts rather than the reality of what they can actually do for the team.

Good points ANational, but I don't think your analysis really factors in the intangibles that speed brings such as avoiding hitting into ralley killing DP's or extending innings by going first to third while allowing the hitter take 2nd.  Granted, it would be hard to quantify but I don't think you can label a team "fast" soley by looking at how many SB's they have. 

For me the bottom line is that in this specific case, we are talking about having two of the slower runners in the game in Thomas and Glaus hitting back to back.  I think the bigger issue for the Jays is that they do have some speed (Wells, Hill, Rios, MacDonald, Thigpen, and Johnson) with a manager unwilling to use it, although every spring he says he will.  Figgins would signal in a new era in style for the Jays and I think his best attribute would be very contagious.  In a post season interview last month, Vernon himself said that the reins were too tight on the runners this year.  As a side note, doesn;t anyone else find the Blue Jays style a bit boring?

Melondough,

It's likely to get worse next year too, since against righties we're probably going to see Thomas-Glaus-Stairs go 4-5-6, and if they Jays decide to put speed at the top of the order and break up the right-handed hitters, then Rios-Wells-Overbay(L)-Thomas-Glaus-Stairs(L) is possible.  That's one SLOW middle of the order!  But if Glaus goes back to hitting 35+ homers a year, which I expect he will, at least having two OBP guys in front of him should help produce runs, even if it's less exciting than watching speedsters on the bases.

wouldn't it look almost as attractive if the Jays called the Angels and offered Troy Glaus (prob. less injured on natural grass) for Brandon Wood alone?

I agree,  except I can't imagine the Angles moving him now that he is ready to play everyday.  Wood had an off year last year so they can try it, though I perceive they see him (as far as the power goes) as an Adam Dunn clone within two years.  I still say it would be better to move Glaus for a player with more speed.

I read yesterday on RealGM Baseball an interesting comment, " With Todd Helton enjoying playoff success this season, Halladay now has the title of best player to have never played in the postseason."  Here is link to the entire post - quite a good summary of the team's strengths and needs.  Also found it interesting that the Jays had "one of the finest Pythagorean records for any team who didn’t qualify the playoffs."

http://www.realgmbaseball.com/src_teamarticle/399/20071022/the_state_of_the_franchise_toronto_blue_jays/

Blue Jays shut down Wells ROBERT MacLEOD Print Edition 21/09/07 Page S3 Vernon Wells suggested last week that his ailing shoulder could require him to end his 2007 season sooner than later.Turns out he was right.The Toronto Blue Jays said yesterday the 28-year-old all-star and Gold Glove centre fielder will miss the rest of the season and have surgery next week to repair a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder and ''assess'' a cyst that has grown in the shoulder. There is a chance the cyst will also be removed.

And then Mylegacy posted here and here that the cysts were not removed. I'm guessing he read that on Scout.com or something, because a quick google search and a globe and mail one revealed nothing. Either way, at least the torn labrum ought to be repaired, even if the cysts are not gone.

I may be the source of Wells' shoulder woes story. I wrote on this site that shortly after he had the surgery that Wells "shoulder" surgery had gone OK BUT there was a second problem which I believed was "cysts" and they couldn't remove these "cysts" because they were too close to something or other. At the time I tried to re-find that article and I couldn't.

However, I've now found it:

Blue Jays | Wells goes under the knife
Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:39:40 -0700

Jordan Bastian, of BlueJays.MLB.com, reports Toronto Blue Jays OF Vernon Wells (shoulder) had his left shoulder operated on Tuesday, Sept. 25, by Dr. James Andrews. Andrews was able to repair Wells' torn labrum but could not remove the cyst that had developed due to its close proximity to a nerve in the shoulder. Wells should be able to swing a bat again in three months time, and he should be fully recuperated by spring training.

http://www.kffl.com/player/5569/MLB

Sorry I couldn't find the story when I first reported it back in September.

Jon Heyman at cnnsi believes the Yankees will go hard after Johan Santana - likely dangling a package that includes Hughes or Chamberline.  Pat Gillick opines that it is a sure thing that Johan will be moved this offseason.

It's tough to keep pace when you don't have the blue chippers that the Yanks and Red Sox have in their system, but I think we should inquire about Erik Bedard.  We could offer a package from hitters Adam Lind and Yoherman Chavez and pitchers Shawn Marcum, Jesse Litsch, Casey Janssen, Ricky Romero and David Purcey.  Bedard is a free agent next year (unless he's a Super Two) and the Orioles have indicated they'd listen to offers.  In addition, he shares the more norse spelling of E-R-I-K with my seven month old son.  What would it take to land him?  Could we do it without decimating our system?  Clearly, we'd want to sign him long term (to replace AJ after his opt-out).  How about Litsch, Marcum and Lind?  This is the season to dream about next year's team and one with a rotation of AJ, Bedard, Doc and Dustin makes me drool.

As best I can tell, Bedard has two more years before free agency. Cots has him at 3 years 171 days after 2006. And "super two's" are an arbitration category, nothing to do with free agency

The Super Two reference was because I noted at Cot's that Bedard has been Arb eligible for the past two years.  Thus if he's not free agent eligible for two more years, then he must be a Super Two (four years of Arb eligibility).  If he's not a Super Two, then this is his third and final kick at Arbitration.  That was poorly worded, I hope the gist is across.

Minor League Update is nearing the bottom of the page, so I thought I'd post an update here.

David Purcey was excellent tonight again in AFL action.  5 IP, 1H, 0ER, 1BB, 8K

For the fall season, he is 22 IP, 13H, 9BB, 25K, 1.23 ERA.

Sergio Santos was 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and Snider had one double in four trips to the plate.

Purcey's getting me goose-bumpy.

This guy is a stud...if the light's clicked on and he's now a stud with CONTROL - WOW!

We'll have 4 ACE type pitchers; Roy, AJ, McG and Purcey, AND he's a lefty to boot! I really think Purcey is going to be the suprise that by year's end puts us over the top. By years end Jay's fans will be building a shrine to JP!

Purcey's getting me goose-bumpy.

I agree so it was a good thing then that JP moved Zack Jackson and not Pursey in the Overbay deal.  I found it interesting reading the post from two years ago, just after Overbay was aquired - http://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20051207190006431

Congrats to Dustin Pedroia and Ryan Braun (who won by only 2 points over Tulowitzki), your 2007 Rookies of the Year.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7438664

Also, add Dayn Perry to the list of people who believes the Jays must aquire Tejada, and the O's must trade him to us.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7431662

Ricky Romero and salary relief for Tejada? Sign me up.

Maybe I'm wrong, but this doesn't strike me as realistic from the O's standpoint. Even a Blue Jay fanboy trade proposal would include more. You know, like we'll throw in Jordan deJong and John-Ford Griffin.

Maybe I'm wrong, but this doesn't strike me as realistic from the O's standpoint.

I entirely concur. Dayn Perry is usually a much more sensible chap than that. The same organization that reckons that Baez and Walker deserve $10M a year between them can't be too fussed about making it a priority to unload Tejada and his $13M for salary relief alone. If they move him, it will be to get something useful, not bric-a-brac (the usual ingredient, usually served up in quantity, in fanboy trade recipes).

I mentioned this in another thread, but the Tejada/Young divide is a hard one to fathom. These days, Tejada is being spoken of in a very negative light (his defense is shot, his offense is in the crapper). Michael Young, however, remains universally beloved with nary a criticism levelled his way. The two of them are the same age and had the same OPS+ last year, that in a Tejada down year and a typical Young year. Why are they seemingly subjected to different levels of scrutiny, particularly when the latter is making more money?

I think, JP thinks, had half the team not needed four surgeries each in 07 that they would have contended.

I think, JP thinks, that in 08 - God willin' an' the river don't rise - we're going to be a contender. I go along with JP on this one. This IS his team. He REALLY THINKS that it can win - so do I. Tejada would be nice - BUT JMac gives our ground ball pitchers out after out after out. JP, and I both think that: Stairs/ Johnson will be an improvement in LF, that Wells post surgery will be better this year, that Rios will grow to that extra level, that Glaus will - at least - be a bit healthier, that Hill will climb the next mountain in his career path, that Overbay post surgery will be ol' Mr. Doubles again, that Zaun with two hands instead of one being broken will be an improvement, that Frank Thomas KNOWING he is healthy and KNOWING he's going to staat playing in April instead of July will revert to being a force to be reckoned with. EVERYONE of these EXPECTATIONS is not unreasonable. If EVEN HALF of them come to pass this is a contending team.

By the way, did I mention we've a few guys that pitch as well?

Count me in as somebody who would love to see Tejada here.  He'd likely only be the Jays' SS for a single season in 2008.  If Glaus has a healthy season this year he probably won't pick up his player option for 2009, opting instead to become a free agent.  Tejada could then shift over to 3B for 2009.  The Jays would have a hole as SS in 2009 (I'm referring to McDonald as a "hole").  But with Lind ready to go in LF in 2009, Wells locked up through 2011 in CF, and Snider possibly ready to start 2009 in RF, Rios could become very valuable trade-bait to bring in a SS, if he's not locked up this off-season. 

Tejada would just give the Jays some insurance, not just for 2009, but also for 2008 if Glaus misses time to injury again.  Tejada could shift over for a few games, or even a few weeks or months, with McDonald filling in at SS.  And $13 million per season is not unreasonable.

(For the record, I love Rios and am not advocating that he be traded, I just have a feeling that, with Wells' enormous contract locking him in as the Jays' CF for many years and with Lind and Snider on the way, J.P. may decide to trade Rios next year instead of spend the money on him.  As a young 5-tool player who could be peddled as a CF, he would net a very good return)

If Glaus has a healthy season this year he probably won't pick up his player option for 2009, opting instead to become a free agent.

Wow, if Glaus, Burnett, Downs and Johnson leave after next year, 2009 would be the draft of the century - those could be seven compensatory picks in the first fifty.