I'll put my reason for the lone vote for Overbay:

1) Fiscally responsable move, he isn't going to be making much this season.

2) Move which we had to give up the least amount of assets IMO (Hudson is a very valuable piece we gave up for Glaus, and so is 50+ million to each of the pitchers).

3) He addressed probably our single biggest need in the off season giving us a solid bad and upgrading our defense.

4) Is the 3rd best hitter on the team besides Glaus and VW (and the argument can be made he is a better hitter than VW).

That is why I like the Overbay move.

a solid bad

In a good way.

*bat* my mistake.

I also voted for Overbay

I'm surprised he's getting so little support here

There seemed to be much more controversy regarding the price we paid for Glaus than Overbay

Suprised extending Ricciardi's contract wasn't a choice for consideration.

I have a lot of sympathy for the two lone votes for the Overbay aquistion, but felt the Glaus deal still looms larger.

Also suprised that Ryan is getting so heavily supported. I guess not having a bona fide closer for so many years may be weighing that vote.

In the end though, for me its the trades for hitting that must be considered the most. The BlueJay pitching was not the problem so much as hitting in 04.

I voted BJ Ryan because he is a good bet to be a premier player at his position for a few years. Overbay and Glaus will be good, but not one of the top handful major league players at their position. AJ Burnett may pay off, but that is still a gamble.

I would argue the cost effectiveness of the Overbay trade. How is giving up a young cheap pitcher cost effective? Just saying so for the sake of argument.

sound reasoning for Overbay, but I guess it goes to show the kind of player he is, one whose impact can often be understated, not to mention the affinity fans have for the younger players coming up in the system who went the other way... also, the other acquisitions are bigger boom / bust guys, while with Lyle you generally know what you will be getting, so he may not be as sexy a choice (although his wife might disagree).

Well, I voted for Glaus but I like them all. But to really get a look at the big picture, compare these options to the candidates for what might have been the 2004 Best Blue Jay Offseason Move?

Hillenbrand
Koskie
Schoeneweis
Gaudin

Absolutely no comparison whatsoever.

I voted Overbay, even though I was against the move at the time.

I liked the Ryan signing, but that has the potential to be a MAJOR DISASTER if something goes wrong (arm injury, anyone?) I'm not too high on Burnett, to be honest. The Glaus trade doesn't improve the Jays IMO even though I like Troy Glaus.

The Overbay trade was the best. JP traded excess parts for a solid hitter that is not significantly risky and is under the team's control for several years. I didn't like the trade at the time, but I'm allowed to change my opinion so shush.

I'm not sold that any of the 4 deals are really solid YES! type deals. No steals. That said I voted AJ as the best deal as with the starting pitcher deals that came after it (Loaiza and now Millwood etc.) the 5/$55 seems like only a little bit of an overspend.

King Ryan, without sounding too mean, you must be one heck of a pessimist. You don't like any of the deals? With the Jays having increased payroll, they had to spend it somewhere, and Ryan/Burnett were the best available. They didn't give up much for Overbay, and Glaus is a great power threat. I understand being a little wishy washy about one or two of them...but not liking all four? Seems a little grumpy.

As was pointed out in today's thread, a widely held assumption is that the Jays are if not the most improved, at least among the most improved teams in the bigs.

Texas has the option in the last year of the Millwood deal. AJ has an opt out clause after the third season of his deal. If he pitches well he can avail himself to the market, if he flames out the Jays are on the hook.

Though I am not criticising Ricciardi for submitting to such terms, there is no way I can say the signing taken as whole is the best of the lot.

You don't like any of the deals?

What? I thought I just said I liked the Ryan deal. Also I like the Overbay deal even though I didn't at the time. As far as I'm concerned, Miguel Batista and Dave Bush are solid bets to be just as effective as AJ Burnett, and the Glaus trade doesn't improve the overall team, in my opinion.

I find that Fans tend to be excited about any and all changes that their GM makes.

"Texas has the option in the last year of the Millwood deal."

Not quite, according to Gammons. If Millwood pitches enough innings in the first years of the deal, the "option" automatically vests. So even if Millwood pitches poorly, it can still turn into a $60 million deal.

Millwood will be 35 when that fifth year hits. Here's what the average performance of his 10-most comparables did at 35...

4-5, 80 IP, 118 ERA+ (carried by Jim Bunning's 302 innings with an ERA+ of 149)

And the same for Burnett's 10-most comparables at 33...

4-4, 63 IP, 95 ERA+

In a word - yuck!