We've been telling you the same thing in reverse for some time now. I'd like to introduce you to my friend, his name is Mr. Kettle.

For KC Connection - (or other Jays fans)

Do you think Toronto has any shot at keeping Josh Johnson after this season? They took on a lot of money in that deal with Miami, and if Johnson pitches to his potential, he could get near-Greinke money in FA.

Also, Toronto's rotation should be sick. Ricky Romero is a very talented guy who was viewed as a borderline staff ace entering last season... and he's now the No. 5 starter (or at least he is once Morrow gets back).

This suggests to me that you didn't watch a lot of Brandon Morrow last year. He was just as good as either of those two (or really, pretty much everybody in baseball) when he was actually on the field in 2012.

Orioles literally went back down to 4th or 5th place, especially with the refusal to upgrade or spend money, just thinking their team will get better by in house progression is absolutely stupid due to their division

They're certainly capable of extending Johnson, Rogers has the money to make it happen (and after this series of moves, I believe that Anthopoulos can actually get them to spend it). I would even expect them to look into that before the season begins to see what his price is (or if he'd even be willing to do anything right now). After this move for Dickey, I don't think the Jays will have nearly the same urgency to do it, though.

I think this trade is fantastic, BTW. It legitimately creates one of the best rotations in the game (imagine if Romero bounces back to his 2011 form), makes the Jays one of the best teams in baseball over the next few seasons, and gives the Jays a realistic shot at the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.

Yanks- Stayed the same so far
Rays- Worse- Shields and Upton gone.
BlueJays- A lot better
Redsox- Signing old washed up players doesn't make them better.

What I found interesting was how the public perception of this deal was so different than the Shields one. On the face of them, they were really quite similar deals. I get that the Jays were closer to contention to the Royals before they made it, but the Royals play in a far easier division. The Royals really only need a few things to go right (and perhaps a few things to go wrong with the Tigers) to get contend for that.

Lolz, enjoy the cellar next season.

You're kidding, right? The Rays got a lot better by jettisoning Shields and bringing in Myers.

You are right about the Red Sox though - they're idiots. They cleared out all those bad contracts last year in order to sign new bad contracts this year.

I think it's mainly the difference between consensus minor league player of the year and a guy who is merely top 15.

It's weird, because I also think the secondary piece the Blue Jays gave up are better, though Snydergaard is farther from the majors than Odorizzi.

Mike Montgomery is still a buzzy name around baseball, but he's just as lost now as Jeremy Jeffries. Too many people remember the guy who was a top 20 player just a few years ago.

Snydergaard is the best of the second level guys included in either deal. Guess he balances out with the quantity surrendered by KC.

Why wouldn't they have a shot at keeping Johnson? The Rogers ownership group is the richest in baseball. They can spend money if they want, they just really haven't done that a lot.

Short term they are worse. Long term, they should be even better than if they had kept Shields. It wouldn't be shocking to see Tampa to take a step back in 2013 but take a bigger step forward in 2014.


The difference is the contracts they've given out are short term ones. The Drew contract could be a really nice one for this season. The only contract I'd say WTF to is the Gomes one, but even that isn't long term. They are essentially contracts for short term solutions to be competitive and not stink outright.

It's more of a "Will They" question than anything else.

The contracts of Buehrle and Reyes are not very friendly. Was wondering if that ownership group will go ahead and add a pitcher who probably will command 18-20 million/per on the open market.

I would figure that they would considering it looks they're built for the next few seasons and just gave up a shit load of prospects in between the Dickey and Miami trades.

If they're going to do it, I'd think they'll do something in the next few months rather than wait until next offseason (when he could presumably cost near what Greinke did if he has a good season). The Jays would likely be reluctant to give that type of huge contract out. The Jays extended Bautista in February a few years ago, not letting him even have the chance to become a FA and get a massive contract.

An interesting name that's set to be a FA next season, though, is Roy Halladay. If they can't extend JJ, perhaps they try to bring Doc back instead?