Ruttig's Rants is off this week, here is our column on the Blue Jays' lack of spending at the trade deadline from July 31, 2014.
It was no secret during the 2013 Major League Baseball offseason that the Toronto Blue Jays ownership were on a mission to make a splash to drum up excitement over the team's playoff chances in the AL East after two decades of missing the postseason behind the big spending New Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Bringing in Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes from the Miami Marlins and National League Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets, the Blue Jays committed serious payroll for the chance to compete for a division title as well as a Wild Card spot in the hopes of restoring what used to be extremely high attendances at the Rogers Centre/SkyDome and of course increased television interest across Canada when the Jays were at their 90's peak.
That didn't happen in 2013 as the Blue Jays season was probably their most disappointing of the years the team has failed to make the playoffs since back to back World Series runs before the 1994 strike. Despite having Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, and Carlos Delgado all star for the franchise at various points the Blue Jays could never put together a full 162 game season due to management, talent, bad luck and at some points a refusal to spend money to compete in a world dominated by high payrolls with no MLB salary cap. So when the Jays decided to finally reward their long suffering fans in Toronto and across the country and didn't come close to making the postseason, it hurt even more despite the goodwill and hype that Rogers created by finally investing in the team.
With little expectations of contending for a postseason appearance in 2014 following the disaster of last season, the Blue Jays have seen a group of "no name" talents mesh with the teams prior investments survive unfortunate injury luck and a weak pitching staff to enter the days leading up to the trade deadline with a spot in the playoffs, but after investing large portions of money in 2013 the Rogers investing in talent to make the Jays a contender has magically went away at the worst possible time. New York is searching for whatever they can get to help Derek Jeter make the playoffs in his final season, Oakland is acting like the Yankees usually act at this time of year after becoming famous for not spending and have already picked up the most sought after pitcher on the market to bolster the rotation, and the likes of the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels already spent big during 2014 MLB Free Agency to push for a potential World Series run. Meanwhile the Blue Jays have made a small deal to add a depth infielder, but with Buehrle struggling in the rotation with no wins since the beginning of June the team could use one more starting pitcher or a reliever to match their loaded lineup with a respectable pitching staff that can get the wins required in August and September to hold onto their lead for the AL Wild Card spot and potentially chase the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East title.
For Rogers the move to dump some money into the Blue Jays front office to make a pennant chase seems to be a no brainer. Every Jays game is shown on their long list of cable channels, all 162 of them having far more value to advertisers and the Sportsnet executives if they are getting ratings that reflect a team that is trying to become the first Canadian franchise to make the MLB Playoffs since 1993. Competing with only the NFL Preseason as well as the TSN-exclusive CFL during August, wouldn't a big move on July 31 draw the viewers that Rogers wants to lure from TSN and onto Sportsnet all summer?
The television market also ignores the fact that the Jays typically struggle to sell tickets like all baseball franchises when they are out of the playoff race late in the season, something people who have watched a fall game during the past 20 years of Blue Jays baseball can tell you as there are a lot of empty blue seats at Rogers Centre when Toronto fans have given up hope. Holding their lead for the second Wild Card spot, that shouldn't be a problem as there should be hope of the playoffs in Toronto all season barring a losing streak at this point, but trying to avoid a one game playoff on the road the goal should be a potential division title and not to invest the hopes of the postseason on a one game series on the road should they finish second in the AL East and go the Wild Card route.
It should be said that Rogers spending has kept a talented nucleus around long enough in addition to the 2013 acquisitions who are producing much more this season, but the Jays ownerships lack of want to support their investment at a crucial period in franchise history is a shame. If only because of the fact that they poured money into the franchise at will just slightly over 12 months ago, which makes everything surrounding the Jays ability to make moves in the coming days to potentially secure a postseason result that means everything to Canadian baseball fans a reality.
In baseball, spending money at times is as important as anything that can happen on the field. After all, the Boston Red Sox memorable first World Series wins only came once the team decided to enter an all-out bidding war with the New York Yankees. Teams succeed with what they have, but in a sport with 162 games payroll is going to show when depth is needed and especially in pitching, the Jays current weak spot. Manager John Gibbons has surprisingly did his best to manage the staff and on their current streak has found a promising young arm in Marcus Stroman as their new ace, but if a player is on the market who can bolster their pitching it is clear in the minds of many that the Jays need to do whatever is possible to make that move.
If the Jays front office do find a deal to bring in a proven talent at the deadline it is also Rogers job to invest in their franchise, and invest in the fans that they profit on with their round the clock promotion and coverage of the Jays. Selling the country on the concept of "Canada's Team" it is time for Rogers to make an investment in the dreams of the Canadian sports fan. Something that once put the Jays franchise on the map ownership can do once again by investing in a baseball team Canada can believe in.
