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

Face of the franchise

The Blue Jays have been around since 1977 and have had plenty of players become the face of their generation. Whether this is George Bell, Jesse Barfield, Dave Stieb, Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, Shawn Green, Pat Hentgen, Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay, Edwin Encarnacion, or Jose Bautista each generation has their guy. Many of these Blue Jays went on to other franchises for the peaks of their careers rather than staying in a Blue Jay uniform. Roberto Alomar went on to have some of his best seasons with the Orioles and the Indians. He even flirted with .400 for the majority of one season while being paired with Cal Ripken up the middle. Roberto Alomar was a two time World Series Champion and deserved a heck of a payday. He did have to leave Toronto to get that payday, however. This was a trend over the years as Jays fans watched Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay play in the playoffs with their new teams at the turn of the millennium.

The Blue Jays new management has a chance to lock up the players that form the current faces of the franchise in Marcus Stroman and Josh Donaldson. The big question is are they ready to commit long-term to those players. Marcus Stroman should be a slam dunk as he is a young driven player. He wants the same thing as the Blue Jays organization and that is to win! Stroman is an exciting player that is still under team control but locking him up as the teams ace would send a message to the fan base.

Josh Donaldson is a more complicated question, however. The Bringer of Rain is still an MVP caliber player but as he is now 31 years old. The argument is not so much about money but the length of the contract. The Jays organization and Donaldson have both expressed the fact that they wish to stay together and make the Blue Jays great again but at what costs. Are the Blue Jays ready to commit to the Donaldson and hope he is still bringing the rain at the age of 36-38?

I think that the Blue Jays have missed out on enough production from players like Donaldson over the years. They have failed to sign talents like him long term and have watched those players crush it with their new teams. Donaldson is a grinder and will find a way to help his team. This is the kind of player you want leading your team one way or the other. Find a way to win and find a way to hold onto Josh Donaldson. Give him a Bobby Bonilla contract if you have to just get it done!

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?