Ah, the holidays. Sleigh bells jingling, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and…Blue Jays baseball? Something’s not right here.
But for any sports fan in this city it has been virtually impossible to ignore the Blue Jays over the last few weeks. The flurry of December and January deals pulled off by Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi have made big news in a time when baseball is usually the farthest thing from the sports consciousness of Torontonians.
However, the acquisitions have been met with a high amount of criticism. Some did not like paying B.J. Ryan $1.1 million per career save, or shelling out $55 million for A.J. Burnett, a pitcher with a 49-50 career record.
Many disagreed with trading popular second basemen Orlando Hudson for an injury-plagued third basemen in Troy Glaus. Others simply do not know who Lyle Overbay is.
But guess what, people-it all doesn’t matter.
What matters is that J.P. Ricciardi is putting the Blue Jays on the radar screen of a city that has nothing but hockey on its mind this time of year (my sincere apologies to all you Raptors fans out there). Keep in mind that we’re in January, over a month away from the start of spring training, and over three months away from opening day. How well these deals pan out is simply not the main priority at this time.
The main priority is getting fans talking baseball in the middle of the offseason-a formula that has worked well for successful sports franchises for years. And the proof that the Jays have got the hype machine moving at top speed is impossible to miss.
The December 6 signing of A.J. Burnett quickly became front-page news. But more importantly, it relegated the coverage of the previous night’s Leaf game versus the Los Angeles Kings to the third or fourth page in most Toronto newspapers. Even more exciting for Jays management is that season ticket sales are rumoured to be up around 15 per cent.
The Jays haven’t made such a wintertime splash since the December 1996 signing of Roger Clemens; however, that signing ended in a debacle when Clemens-after winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards-skipped town as a free agent.
This coming season, it will be crucial for the Jays and their general manager to prove that the hype generated by a busy offseason will live up to its billing. But right now, the bottom line is not if Ricciardi was right or wrong, but that I’m writing an article about baseball in January, and you’re taking the time to read it.
