Blue Jays- Why do I feel like I’ve seen this before?

Newer Management maybe looking to make first big splash

The Blue Jays are not known for spending sprees on the free agent market. The few times that she has it has come back to bite them in the rear end. Roger Clemens was one example and he was godlike during his time in Toronto as he raked in two Cy Young awards. The contract proved to be too much for the team to handle and he was traded before the contract ran out.

Prior to the 2006 season, the J.P. Ricciardi era opened their wallets and signed high profile free agents B.J. Ryan and A.J. Burnett. This worked on some levels and missed on others. Both players helped the team to above .500 records in a few seasons but then spent a ton of time on the DL. This is a possible issue with picking up players on the free agent market and on these players it was a risk, to begin with. They both had issues staying healthy and continued to have that issue as Blue Jays. This was a disaster that ate up tons of payroll and did not work out. Burnett played well with the Yankees after opting out of his contract but had his ups and downs. Ryan never really bounced back from his injuries and was basically never heard from again. The question is was it worth it?

Looking at this year’s free agent market you will see many similar players. Of course, there are the flashy big names like Yu Darvish, J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer, Jake Arrieta, and Masahiro Tanaka but do any of those names really fit with what the Jays have built? Those top pitchers anyone would kill to have but Darvish struggled this season and so has Tanaka. Both of them have also battled some serious injuries and one would wonder how much they are worth because of that fact. If the Jays were able to sign one of these high profile free agents it would be a wonderful thing but at what cost?