Blue Jays: Beeston on Price, McCown on payroll

Former Blue Jays president Paul Beeston joined Prime Time Sports on the Fan590 this evening with Bob McCown, and as you might expect, the road led back to David Price. It’s a topic that has been beaten to death, revived and then beaten further, but Beeston’s opinion on the matter is a fresh voice. Maybe a more realistic one?

Like anything Blue Jays, though, even this isn’t clear. When I’d heard the audio live, it sounded like Beeston said he “wouldn’t have” broken the rule for Price. Judging by the Twitter reaction, however, a good chunk of people heard Beeston say he “would have”. It’s beautifully bizarre in a way, and gives us a Blue Jays version of 2015’s viral hit “The Dress”.

Perhaps this is part of Beeston’s brilliant exit tour, as he’ll drift into the mist leaving crazed Blue Jays fans to dissect three seconds of audio for generations to come. “Would…Wouldn…”

In other news, the concreteness of which you can debate amongst yourselves, Bob McCown has revealed the Toronto Blue Jays payroll for 2016. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before, of course. This time around, McCown is projecting that the final payroll number will be $145 million. “Confirmed”, he adds.

Given that we’re through the heart of the offseason it’s a little easier to accept reports on the Blue Jays payroll as being accurate, but still, it’s a number we often don’t know in full until the July 31st trade deadline.

If $145 million is the number, then as we’ve expected, the Blue Jays are finished with their big shopping and will continue to address depth positions with cost-effective signings and minor league additions.

So have your say! What did Beeston really say? Are you buying that payroll, and if so, does it really change your opinion from this morning?

— UPDATE: Beeston confirmed with PTS producer Matt Marchese that he said “wouldn’t”. We can now rest easy as a nation.