Well well well, so much for waiting for deadlines– and for Jeff Passan’s notion of Dickey’s crazy leverage– as Kenny Ken Ken tells us that the deal is done!
Source: Dickey in agreement with #BlueJays on two-year, $25 million extension that he had requested from #Mets, pending physical.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2012
#Mets-#BlueJays trade will be official as soon as Dickey passes physical. Contract will extend through ’15, almost until his 41st birthday.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2012
And thus, AA’s Quest For Pitchers is complete. Fantastic stuff.
Richard Griffin actually blogged as much an hour ago, over at the Toronto Star.
The details keep rolling in…
Well, that was quick. @rgriffinstar says R.A. Dickey agreed to extension. Dickey wanted out of New York and in to a championship-level team.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2012
Dickey just landed in FLA to undergo his physical with the Jays. Some of his 2-year, $25m extension with TOR will be a signing bonus for ’13
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 17, 2012
Slight correction: Dickey’s signing bonus from the Jays will apply in 2012 — immediately — not 2013.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 17, 2012
Adam Rubin of ESPN New York finds an “AL official” who says that Alex Anthopoulos is “out of his mind” for doing this deal– which… might even be right, but at least the Jays have improved so much already this off-season that they’re not putting all their eggs in Dickey’s basket. We’re through the looking glass here people: after years of being beaten over the head with the opposite, for the 2013 Jays, everything will have to break wrong for them to not contend.
How about them apples?
The cost in prospects, of course, is undeniably huge, and could come back to haunt Alex Anthopoulos, but nobody knows the guys they gave up better than the Jays do, and for all the talk about Dickey being at his peak value, it’s possible d’Arnaud and Syndergaard are at theirs too. And even if not, the timing aspect is huge.
Syndergaard was on path for, at the earliest, an Opening Day rotation spot in 2015– the last year of Dickey’s extension. Behind the plate, as I wrote this morning, while we tend to get hung up on prospects’ ceilings, if there are enough guys in the Jays organization who think d’Arnaud won’t quite hit his, the difference between him and Arencibia certainly gets a bit smaller– and maybe the club thinks there’s enough to bank on in the notion that catchers’ bats generally develop slower, meaning we may still see more to come out of JPA’s, and we may be considerably farther from the best of d’Arnaud.
It’s taken a long while for me to come around to this point regarding this deal, and I think it’s understandable that some yet haven’t, but the more that it was out there and being talked about– and please, let’s let this be the end of the “if you hear it, it’s not true” horseshit that may often be valid, but provides too convenient a cover for both the club and for reporters unable to extract more than name, rank, and serial number from their local sources– the more it became clearer that this is a deal that truly makes sense for the Jays in a lot of way, despite the insanely puking high cost.
Shi Davidi hits on an important point:
A reason price in prospects for Dickey was so high was the value in his affordability. With way FA market going, a good contract is an asset
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) December 17, 2012
Lots of people are left wondering today why the club wouldn’t have just saved the prospects and gone out and paid for one of the market’s big free agents– or, even, someone much more middle-of-the-road than Dickey has been for the last three seasons (and especially in 2012). But not only is that probably not tenable, even for the Jays’ newly-generous owners, it glosses over the fact that Dickey’s extension gives the Jays much more bang for their buck, meaning that for the next three seasons they’ll have more payroll flexibility with which to do the less that is necessary to fill their needs.
It also makes Dickey easier to potentially shop, if at some point down the road that becomes an option; it doesn’t lock him into a rotation spot four or five years out, the way the Tigers have done with Anibal Sanchez; and, in a way, it makes Mark Buehrle’s deal feel a little more palatable– the Jays will be paying Dickey and Buehrle, combined, about $30-million in 2014… which is a lot, but feels far more appropriate than when you look closer and see that Buehrle is getting two thirds of that.
And the fact of the matter is, as I’ve said before, this kind of pitching talent– Cy Young calibre talent– just doesn’t become available to the Blue Jays very often, nor does its availability coincide with downward trends taking place in Boston and New York, a Rays team in the ebb of their constant shuffling, with James Shields on the way out, the surprising Orioles even more surprisingly complacent, and following what had already been a franchise-transforming winter in which the club added Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Melky Cabrera, Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis without giving up any of their core of Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion, and Brandon Morrow.
They’re setup to win now, to make fantastic runs for the next several years, and– especially with a tonne of great pieces left on the farm, a high pick, and an aggressive approach to acquiring high-impact talent in both the draft and internationally– they have plenty of time to draft and develop the core of fantastic clubs on down the line. And in the near team, some of their guys with big question marks who two months looked like they’d be the keys to the Jays’ 2013 season– Ricky Romero, Colby Rasmus, JP Arencibia– are now way down the list of guys who need to contribute for this thing to work. Big production out of them is just gravy.
There’s also this from a Mets beat reporter:
Farewell to R.A. Dickey. If there’s been a more captivating person to cover in sports these past three years, I’d love to meet him/her.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) December 17, 2012
A lot of fans, unable to shake the mindset– built largely by the Jays since Alex Anthopoulos succeeded JP Ricciardi– that in-a-vacuum value is paramount, have yet to fully appreciate what they have here, or what it means for the next three years of Blue Jays baseball. The as-yet-unnamed prospect that’s going to the Mets– “legit” according to Keith Law’s hit this afternoon on a Winnipeg radio station, not a “throw-in”– may even make it worse in this sense. And it really, really doesn’t matter. PLAYOFFS!!!!1!
I get a lot of enjoyment out of reading the comments. Even the troll comments make me feel better about my life.
Dickey podcast coming???
Ya, I mean, I’m definitely excited. But I’m also a bit nervous and thinking “for giving up D’arnaud and Syndergaard, couldn’t we have gotten Price / Lee / someone younger and a bit more of a guaranteed medium-long term stud?” I know Stoeten already addressed that and said if it could have happened, AA would have made it happen, or tried his damndest, and I get that, but it is a lot to give up for a 37 year old novelty picher. A REALLY GREAT NOVELTY PITCHER WHO CAN BE AN ACE, let me just get that out of the way, I acknowledge that and AM happy with the Jays outlook. I’m not hating on this at all. It’s just the previous AA moves were so shrewd, that my expectations were maybe unrealistically high that he would get a bit more of a clear win in the deal with the Mets than he got. If Dickey can be even 75% of the guy he was with the Mets, I’m happy though.
Ok just one more trade. A trade that will not just see the BJ’s win the 2013 WS, but will see them win it in 4 straight. AA, you know what I want – make it happen
JPA for Weiters?
THATS IT YES!! YES you see everyone knows AA – DO IT, DO IT NOW!
Why stop there? Thole for Posey.
I’m torn a bit…one one hand, I’m glad that Rogers has stepped up and opened up the vault to give this team the tools that can help get to the ultimate goal. But I’m also a bit bummed that this was at the cost of pretty much gutting the farm of top prospects. I realize that this was why AA was vacuuming up on draft picks for the past 3 seasons – primarily to stock the shelves to make these kinds of moves. My main hope is that this team can manage to stay together for a few years to give guys like Osuma, etc a chance to develop thru the minors, and not get rushed into the bigs ahead of schedule..
But now that that’s said…I’ll pull up my big-boy Underroos, take a deep breath to get STOKED FOR NEXT YEAR!
Roger’s opened the vault? What?
I thought you folks were the leading experts?
Roger’s hasn’t spent a cent.
Payroll has increased by 40M in 2013.
MLB TV contracts give Rogers another 25M a year starting in ’13.
Fish gave Roger’s 4.5M of Bucks salary. So far we haven’t heard that the Jays now have to give it to the Mets since they got Buck.
That’s 29.9M Roger’s got for free. This leaves a difference of 11.5M increase in spending in 2013.
But clearly these new Jays will bring out more fans to the pleasure Dome.
Those fans who buy game day tickets, aparrel and $12 beers and $8 hotdogs are going to put more than 11.5M in Roger’s bank account. Even if Jays have to give Mets the 4.5M from the Fish the increas is only 16M and clearly all the new fans will still provide Rogers with over 16M in 2013.
Thus, friends, be aware, Roger’s hasn’t spent a cent.
Oh, and by the way, the Dickey deal was done long ago. You’re only hearing about it now, you know, signing a Cy Young award winner days before Christmas.
Many many suckers will now rush out and buy tickets as Christmas Gifts.
Your problem is that you can never be happy. We have a contending team for the Series for the first time in decades and all you can do is be cynical. You probably don’t contribute much to others enjoyment in your own life and so you come here because you have been cast out. Perhaps the holiday season will be a good time for you to do some soul searching.
lol
+1 for mentioning soul searching on DJF
MLB new TV contract does not take effect until 2014, not 2013
starting in 14 but nice try.
Pease do some fucking research before spewing gargle out your Windows 8 piece of shit device. TV revenue comes in 2014, but good try retard.
We should send all of our pitchers to climb mount kilimanjaro instead of spring training. Apparently everyone who does wins a cy young.
Bring all the sherpas complimentary Jays gear
Nope! After last seasons injury parade I want them all stored in a padded box until spring thank you very much.
Just talking to a guy in my shop, saw he had a jays hat on. Told him I was reading up on the Jays trade. He said he saw on TSn Roger Clemens was traded to the Yankeees.. He then said he went to a game this summer and the Jays beat the Rays by a few touch downs. Now he states that the Jays win in the dome because they always sell out and Fans love the team. I had to just stop talking to him.
I already suggested that the Jays offer Roger Clemens a 1 yr contract pitchin out of the pen.
Roger can still throw, but not a full game.
Signing Clemens will help sell out the pleasure because despite all the new signing, and despite the hockey lock out, the Jays still haven’t even sold out one game yet.
Um opening day? Canada Day?
not sure what what you are smoking
WOW, Jays sold out 2 whole games now?
That’s pretty impressive. Jays sure are a hot ticket, eh?
Look friends, AA just wanted a 5th starter because it’s not about winning, it’s about selling tickets and AA expected Jays to be selling out games with the Fish guys. It didn’t happen. Plus I laughed in his face for him thinkin he didn’t need another pitcher.
Because the Jays weren’t sellin tickets yet he grabbed Dickey.
If the Jays had taken my expert advice and signed Josh Hamilton the Pleasure Dome would be sold out already for the season. And since the season doesn’t start until April, the Jays would have all your cash already, 4 to 9 months before the games are even played.
Plus the Jays would have a chance to win on the field not just at the box office.
You seriously think the Jays should sign Clemens? LOL
You wanna sell out the Dome?
Sign Roger Clemens.
One of the amusing fallouts of this trade is that while JPA is still a Blue Jay, it’s very possible that Thole gets the majority of starts by the end of the season.
On top of being Dickey’s personal catcher, the Jays may very well get the most value out of their catchers by platooning them.
I don’t think they would platoon them to start the season, but after a couple of months I wouldn’t be surprised if Gibbons/AA realize that JPA is best served as a 50 game backup playing primarily against LHP.
Suck it like it’s your dream job Farrell
Gibby has no say in anything. Gibby was hired as AA’s yes man and to sit on the bench.
Gibby is AA’s built in fall guy when Jays dont perform. AA is working in the pen runnin that and callin in the plays to Gibby from a head set in ’13. The Media has really convinced AA that he’s a jack of all ninja.
JPA is a top 5 catcher in the ALE. Probably top 3. The AL has weak catcher and Joe Mauer is so overpaid he’ll be stuck in Minni forever, so he doesn’t even count when he comes to catchers because he’s not tradeable, other than to the Yanks maybe.
Napoli is only a part time catcher so JP is better. Cleveland has an young catcher whom I like. Other than that, the top catchers are in the NL in Cinci and San Fran.
No other full time catcher in the AL has the power of JP and all of Cuba knows it.
yup..uh huh..still listening.
………………..dumb
Back to Vegas for d’Arnaud.
Ha! Yeah I never thought of that.
Ryan Dempster will make $1.5M more over his 2-year deal than Dickey.
Headline should have been: Dickey gives BJ’s at a discount in extension.
Let’s compare the AL east position by position:
C: Arencibia Salty Wieters Molina Cervelli Best: O’s Worst: Yanks
1B: EE Gomez Davis Loney Texeira Best: Jays Worst: Sux
2B: Izturis/EB Rat Roberts Zobrist Cano Best: Yanks Worst:O’s
SS: Reyes Drew Hardy Escobar Jeter Best: Jays Worst: Sux
3B: Lawrie Middle Machado Longo Youk Best: Rays Worst: Yank
LF: Melky Gomes Reimold Jennings Gardner Best: Jays Worst: Sux
CF: Rasmus Ellsbury Jones Fuld Grandy Best: O’s Worst: Rays
RF: Bautista Victorino Markakis Joyce Ichiro Best: Jays Worst: Sux
DH: Lind Papi Betemit ?? Dickerson Best: Sux Worst: Jays
SP: Dickey Lester Hammel Price CC Best: Rays Worst: O’s
SP: Morrow Bucholz Chen Hellick Kuroda Best: Jays Worst: Sux
SP: JJ Dempster Tillman Moore Pineda Best: Jays Worst: O’s
SP: Buehrle Doubront Gonzalez Cobb Pettite Best: Jays Worst: Sux
Cl: Janssen Bailey Johnson Rodney Rivera Best: Yanks Worst: Sux
SP: Romero Lackey Matutz Nieman Nova Best: Jays Worst: Sux
I think the Jays are the best positioned to win the division. Their roster is the deepest in the division. Comment what do you guys think?
2012 SF Giants
Good exercise! Re the DH’s, yes, even a question mark is still better than Lind. Sad, isn’t it? On CF, I’m not sure I agree with you … if Ellsbury returns to form, that’s a terrific player.
“everything will have to break wrong for them to not contend”
“and for all the talk about Dickey being at his peak value, it’s possible d’Arnaud and Syndergaard are at theirs too”
exactly
Dickey is an excellent pitcher with a successful track record for three years running. He is affordable and a good team guy. We lost two premium prospects but we are no longer a team spending 75-80 million per year to compete in the AL East. And, we still have a good farm system, great pick in June and can get some international talent each year to supplement the farm. It was a good deal for both teams because of the timing each were at on the compete clock. I know one thing and that is IF AA and Paul didn’t nothing this offseason, I think TO baseball takes a major step back because the fans were tired of the rebuild with a rich owner and a top 5 NA sports market hungry for a winner, any winner. That and the fact the AL East looks like it could be had and bang!! AA strikes.
Has it been released exactly what parts this deal includes? Is there a date/time set for an AA presser if not?
Random prospect for Johnny Mac?
+1000
Jays are good to go as is.
With a properly managed platoon at DH,1B and 2B with Izturis, Bonifacio, Lind, Davis and Encarnacion they are there. Get Oliver back too.
my hypothesis: “Ok Blue Jays” is really Stoeten in disguise, as he’s getting paid per every 100 comments per article. Regulars lining up to berate the trolls = CHA CHING
We’ve entered the weird conspiracy-theory portion of DJF and its operations early today it seems.
WOW this place has gone complete ape shit…what happensd did someone get traded? I still can’t believe AA got Dickey extended so cheaply.
Why is Dickey cheap?
Dickey didn’t win anything for Jays or in AL. Dickey isn’t winning 20 in ALE. MLB is at peak Dickey. It’s all down slope for here. He’ll be makin 12M when he’s 41. Dickey should not even have been extended until after the ’13 season. The extending Dickey was a Jays demand not Mets. Jays should’ve taken an additional pitcher with Dickey and dumped Dickey off at the airport after the 13 season. Jays could’ve got him for oone year and a 1 st rounddraft pick for 5M. And kept the other pitcher who should’ve been included in this deal.
If TO is going to have a pro baseball team should’ve the Jays also have a pro GM?
Dickey is going to get hit good in the ALE. All this nonsense about need a special catcher to catch him is, well, nonsense. By the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand and reaches the catchers mitt, there is only 55-58 feet. Dickey throws 80mph. The ball can’t have that much movement in that short distance at that speed. The catchers mitt is at least 10 inches wide. JP could’ve caught for Dickey and Jays should’ve taken another pitcher instead of a C rated soft hitting catcher and the other unnamed spect. Now when Dickey’s pitchin the J’s have take a qualified hitter out of the batting line up. Any advantage Dickey provided the Jays is removed.
Friends, this is the ALE, not the girls hitting NL where pitchers hit and are easy outs.
………more dumb………………
My near-namesake is a twit.
Christmas Wish List
1. Stoeten bans you for stupidity
2. You give yourself a lobotomy whilst eating Chinese food with chop sticks and come back here with something worthwile reading
3. Die
Hi Troil, bye Troll, enjoy the Red Sox
What’s the joke with Stoeten’s posts that include “playoffs!!!!” with one of the exclaimation marks always turned into a 1?
Just curious…
Because when you are typing an exclamation point you are holding down the shift key, and sometimes you let go of the shift key before the “1″ key resulting in a 1 getting added at the end!!!!!!!!!!1111
Four may have been overkill, but you get my point.
Suck it Farrell
yeah! Suck it Farrell!
Romero is now the number five guy in our rotation. If he’s closer to the 2011 Romero than the 2012 one… holy shit. This team is fucking dangerous.
I think AA and Paul started peering at each other knowing that if it gets worse, we HAVE to do something. Then came . I think Paul says, “AA, nothing went fucking right this year. I have the keys to the vault. Let’s build a powerhouse team and kick the living fuck out of Boston if nothing else”. AA replies, “Paul, I see the value in that.” And then there was Miami, and it was good. Then there was NY and it was good. And I don’t think it’s over quite yet, it’s going to be even better.