All Hands on deck, it's time to get the bail buckets out - the ship is sinking
Way back in 2006, then Blue Jays 3B Shea Hillenbrand scrawled out the the fighting words that the «ship was sinking» and challenged Manager John Gibbons to a fight.
Hillenbrand would consequently be DFA'd, never to be seen again in Toronto's clubhouse.
And I will note that Hillenbrand was never necessarily a great «team» guy, and this was one a few recounted incidents throughout his career, so this story is not about Hillenbrand, or the defense of his comments. This story is about the reality of where this ship is headed today.
The last 24 hours or so has been a stark reminder of last off-season when the Jays failed in their pursuit to sign what would turn out to be the first $700M contract issued in Major League Baseball, as Shohei Ohtani and his management team masterfully utilized a perceptibly desperate Blue Jays brain trust effectively leveraging towards a historic union with the LA Dodgers.
This time it was an ill-fated pursuit of this years $765M free agent kewpie doll in the form of 26-year-old Juan Soto, who will stay in New York but shift 9.5 miles southeast to Citi Field by way of right field in Yankee Stadium.
And by using the term «ill-fated», Steve Cohen, the Mets Owner who has more money than God, was clear that he was going to out-bid every other suitor for the prized phenom, and let's be serious, his money talks, loudly.
Still, the Jays fan base held on to hope that for some reason, they, backed by Rogers Media and their billions of dollars could somehow compete with the big boys, one off-season removed from having their hand slammed on the flaming hot stove.
The question is why? Why, when your two top assets have 1 year remaining on their entry level contracts and are already clearly starting to punch their own tickets out of town (especially when you consider what they may be worth on the open market after Soto's new deal)?
You know what they say, «rising tides lift all boats».
Why, when the franchise wildly underperformed last year illuminating no less than a fist full of holes that need to be plugged this off-season?
Why, when management is desperate to retain their jobs and fill a freshly renovated ballpark that came at cost of what it would run you to re-sign your best player and arguably the only major draw at that same stadium?
Following this afternoon's announcement that their former hometown Closer Jordan Romano will be officially departing the 416 to join the Philadelphia Phillies, after being unceremoniously non-tendered due to his untenable expected 2025 contract value of $7.75M (he is rumoured to be signing for the same amount with the Philly by the way), I think the time has come to finally sound the alarm.
Abandon ship, man the lifeboats!
The ship is sinking!
Or to quote the immortal words of Randolph Duke as uttered to his corrupt brother in the Christmas classic, Trading Places, «Sell Mortimer, Sell!!!».
Delusion, (or as my teenage kids like to say these days, delulu), is dangerous to the soul. As much as we would like to believe in this team and the possibility that every spring training brings to all 30 MLB teams as the calendar flips to March, the writing is on the clubhouse wall, boldly emblazoned for all to see.
Failing a miraculous turn of events, and an unparalleled commitment to spend what is needed, including adopting a tolerance, nay, I dare say a desire, to palate the luxury tax, there is no turning back on the need to re-build, now.
One need only to look to the top of the division to see the Baltimore Orioles knocking on the door of perennial promise with a farm system that remains stacked with goodies to fill their line-up with and others to assist with filling any holes by way of trade.
Or the Boston Red Sox, who took a couple steps back to take what appears to be many steps forward with 4 top MLB prospects near ready to push them back to AL East prominence, each with many years of affordable controllability.
The Blue Jays have one strength right now, assets, at a time when there are teams clamoring to fill their roster with the right pieces. A moment where value, if executed properly, can supercharge the system and accelerate the timeline back to competitive and sustainable baseball.
Who knows, maybe you hit on the next $700M player, because the closest one you have is already as good as gone.
All we need now is the right Captain at the helm to sail this ship safely into the future.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 9 | 221 ANSWERS All Hands on deck, it's time to get the bail buckets out - the ship is sinking If you were the Blue Jays, is it time to sell? | ||
| Sell Mortimer, Sell! | 67 | 30.3 % |
| Stay the Course | 154 | 69.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
