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OT: The Toronto Blue Jays

ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick spoke with Johnson's agent, Matt Sosnick, who told him that he's received calls from more than half the teams in Major League Baseball expressing preliminary interest in the free-agent right-hander. Here's more from Crasnick:

"Johnson, 29, suffered through a disappointing and injury-plagued season in Toronto, posting a 2-8 record with a 6.20 ERA in 16 starts. He shut it down in late August with a strained right forearm. But he's only looking for a one-year deal to rebuild his value, and multiple teams in need of starting pitching could find him intriguing as a potential turnaround story.

'Everyone needs pitching, and Josh has the most upside of anybody on the market,' said Sosnick, who also represents free agent Ricky Nolasco and pitcher Randy Messenger, who is currently deciding whether to accept a multiyear offer to remain with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan or return to the big leagues to pursue a starting job.

'You're going to see the market for starting pitching drastically change this offseason,' Sosnick said. 'There are very few teams that don't need a middle-of-the-rotation or better starter, and there's almost no starting pitching available through free agency. I think people are going to be blown away by the market for starting pitching.'

The general consensus is that the Blue Jays will not give Johnson a $14.1 million qualifying offer by Monday's deadline. If that's the case, he'll hit the open market without the burden of having draft pick compensation attached to him."
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Shitty thing is that he will be good again. With that said, I have no hard feelings when it comes to Johnson.

I have no idea what the budget is going to be, but it's seems like it will be high. I would go 1-year @ 6 million for him at the most.
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
if there is a Q and A....can you ask him what the **** his deal is with his hate for free agency and assets that only cost $?
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I would love to know that as well.

I would also like to know the answers to a few other things going on in the organization that I find troubling but its not the venue to be asking about that.

Very cool that he is coming to your class. Should be interesting to hear his views.
 
people are so hung up on free agency. how has it worked out for the yankees? 1 world series since they just said **** it and spent to oblivion. be calculated.

or else you end up giving 4 years and $14mn a year to a 32 year old who posts this: 246 .341 .423 .763

as opposed to, y'know, not being roped into a guy like cabrera and paying half the money and half the term.

free agency is insane. it's a bad way to built your staff. it's a bad way to build a team.

aa has rightfully used discretion there. and not only has he found some good value (for instance, oliver), but he has avoided the sort of mistakes that would set this team back significantly if those signings were to go awry.

we already barked up that tree. it's just a bad idea.
 
and i'll tell you exactly why this team isn't a big flashy ufa spender... because of beeston, who built the jays' near-dynasty on the back of drafting, player development, smart trades and only using the ufa market to supplement hte core with vets on short-term deals.
 
mbow30 said:
people are so hung up on free agency. how has it worked out for the yankees? 1 world series since they just said **** it and spent to oblivion. be calculated.

or else you end up giving 4 years and $14mn a year to a 32 year old who posts this: 246 .341 .423 .763

as opposed to, y'know, not being roped into a guy like cabrera for practically half the money.

free agency is insane. it's a bad way to supplement your staff. it's a bad way to build a team.

aa has rightfully used discretion there. and not only has he found some good value (for instance, oliver), but he has avoided the sort of mistakes that would set this team back significantly if those signings were to go awry.

we already barked up that tree. it's just a bad idea.
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You can only trade an asset once though, once you do and the system is depleted you can't go the trade route.

A guy like Anibal wouldve been a good sign.

Not all free agency contracts are terrible.

Or this season maybe explore a 1-2 year deal with a Colon....he seems antsy to do it with almost anyone.

When i hear Conger/Ianetta asa trade option when there are 4 catchers on the market, that irritates me.
 
conger is a guy who could be a great add.

he's only 24, he has never gotten a shot to just run with it in the majors, he has proven that he can bring a league avg bat to the table (which is ok at the position) and there should be room for growth -- his minor league numbers are pretty stellar.

career AAA line: .298 .371 .470 .841

meanwhile, on the ufa market you have mccann who is probably going to cost a fortune and in the past two years has had some lingering injury issues and, in 2012, an awful season at the dish, ruiz who is old has had injury problems and is coming off of a bad year, and salatalamacchia who 2011 and 2012 obp by a full 50 points this year.

there is no slam dunk there and a whole bunch of opportunities to really **** yourelf.
 
Another factor is that players would rather go elsewhere than Canada.

We haven't signed a big name free agent since Clemens - and that was only possible cause he was coming off a down year or two. I guess you could count a 39 year old Frank Thomas.

I don't consider AJ Burnett a big name FA.
 
Ryan and Burnett were both huge free agent acquisitions and considered arguably the best available in their class.

Now, if you were to say that the Jays haven't acquired a bonafide, unquestioned top ten all-time at their position, Hall of Famer, in the midst of their prime years since Clemens then I would agree.
 
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