beeston’s policy of capping contract length at five years has long been a bone of contention among fans – not to mention the agents of elite players who usually get that sort of term. Shapiro’s outlook on the matter is unclear, and will determine whether the blue jays make a legitimate play for price or not.
The rotation is the prime concern, with marcus stroman the only starter sure to be in the 2016 rotation. Mark buehrle, who may retire, is also eligible for free agency, r.a. Dickey has a $12 million club option while drew hutchison, bumped from the rotation in september and left off the playoff roster, is eligible for arbitration.
One or both of aaron sanchez and roberto osuna could be stretched out, but they’re not guaranteed to transition seamlessly into the rotation. Even if they do, they’d leave gaping holes in the bullpen, with no internal answers to replace them.
Other free agents of note include catcher dioner navarro and relievers mark lowe and the retiring latroy hawkins, meaning a lot of the connective tissue around vital organs bautista, encarnacion, josh donaldson, troy tulowitzki, russell martin and stroman must be re-signed or replaced.
that’s a lot of deft-touch work for a roster that will need to build off all accomplished in 2015, one already with $59 million committed to four players. Picking up dickey’s option pushes the total to $71 million, although the blue jays could also pull an adam lind on him, exercising the option and then dealing the player.
The payroll this year pushed toward $140 million, and if it remains in the same range, that doesn’t leave a lot of money sitting around, especially with donaldson’s salary due to shoot up into the $12 million range through arbitration.
Ben revere, brett cecil, michael saunders and justin smoak are also eligible for arbitration, and beyond outfielder dalton pompey, there are no on-the-cusp minor-leaguers ready to make the jump and provide cheap help, although there are hopes hard-throwing right-hander connor greene comes quick.
but, again, all that flows from how shapiro sees things, and whether or not anthopoulos returns. He’s got the support of his players.
