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ryan008 · 12-03-2009, 03:43 PM

Blue Jays 2009 Offseason a Very Busy One

March 27th, 2010

2010 Spring Training is right around the corner and new Blue Jays GM Ryan Stewart had a very busy offseason, his first as the General manager of the Jays.

The offseason started off with Rogers Communications Inc. announcing that the teams buget for the 2010 season would be $95,000,000, which is up nearly $3 million from the season before. GM Ryan Stewart immediately invested that money in the teams scouting buget which was $1,250,000 and was one of the lowest in the league. The new buget for scouting has been increased to $4.5 million and rivals teams like the Yankees ($5 million) the Dodgers ($4.75 million) and the Angels ($4.5 million). GM Ryan Stewart "We aren't going to be able to just go out and add a bunch of expensive free agents we need to be able to bring talent up through the system on our own and develop our own players. We are going to dramatically increase our Amature Scouting for the First Year Player Draft and the International Scouting Depatments"

Blue Jays Salary Arbitration Cases and Free Agents

The Jays had a number of players eligiable for salary arbitration at the conclusion of the 2009 season. The biggest names were RF Jason Bay, SP Brad Penny and SP Ben Sheets. All 3 players are considered Type A Free Agents and will bring the Jays a pair of compensation draft picks in the 2010 First Year Player Draft should they sign elsewhere. GM Ryan Stewart was in negotiation with all 3 players but there demands were just outside of their bugetary constraints. Bay was rumoured to be looking for a contract in the area of 7 years and $141,000,000, Penny a 4 year $74,000,000 and Sheets a 5 year $65,000,000 extension.

All three would garner significant interest and would end up siging contracts with other clubs during the offseason.

RF Jason Bay - 6 years $128,900,000 with the Yankees
SP Ben Sheets - 5 year $49,000,000 with the Boston Red Sox
SP Brad Penny - 4 year $63,000,000 with the Mariners

When the dust settled the Jays would end up with the 18th (Mariners), 21st (From Boston) and the 28th (From New York) selections as well as the 14th, 15th and 16th selections in the Supplemental 1st Round of the 2010 First Year Player Draft.

GM Ryan Stewart did announce one signing before the Salary Arbitration hearings as SS Marco Scutaro would sign a 2 year $3.3 million contract extension. The 34 yearold Venezuelan hit .266 with 0 HR and 19 RBI in 2009 but battled injuries that limited him to just 79 games. He will earn $1,650,000/year over the life of the contract.

The rest of the Jays Arbitration cases went as follows:

MR Shaun Camp - $675,000
MR Jason Frasor - $3,176,000
SP Shaun Marcum - $6,000,000
SP Dustin McGowan - $5,500,000
MR Jason Hammel - $600,000
MR Brandon League - $600,000
SS Russ Adams - $600,000

Management & Personnel Moves

The Jays were also very busy with their off the field personnel moves as GM Ryan Stewart brought in new people at nearly every level. The changes started with the big club as the manager Cito Gaston and hitting coach Gene Tenace both announced their retirement and the Jays had to search for a new manager and hitting coach in the offseason.

GM Ryan Stewart settled on Mike Welsh a 39 yearold with 7 years of baseball experience from Saskatoon, Sasketchewan to be the teams new manager. He works very well with rookies and young players and is likely going to be looked to, to develop a lot of the Jays younger players. The team also hired Gianni Schenkevelt,a 54 yearold native of the Netherlands to be the teams new hitting coach. He also is highly regarded when it comes to working with young players and has over 15 years of baseball experience.

Player Trades

The Jays would make a pair of offseason transactions in 2009/10 as GM Ryan Stewart continued to reshape his team. The Jays first deal came during the Winter Meetings as they were approached about the availiability of RF Jose Bautista by the Oakland Athletics. The Blue Jays would end up sending Bautista and a pair of minor leaguers in SP Dirk Hayhurst and MR Ryan Koch to the A's for 24 yearold SP Gio Gonzalez.

29 yearold Bautista had an above average season as the 4th outfielder for the Jays in 2009 hitting just .222 but did manage to hit 17 HR and drive in 81 RBI. He was making just over $2,000,000 and was going to be arbitration eligiable after the 2010 season.

SP Dirk Hayhurst a 28 yearold lefty was 4-7 with a 6.93 ERA for AA New Hampshire in 2009. MR Ryan Koch, the brother of former Jay CL Billy Koch was 1-0 with a 1.8- ERA in67 games for Low Class A Lansing in 2009.

SP Gio Gonzalez is a 24 yearold lefty with a fastball in the 90-92 MPH range, he split time between AAA Sacremento and the A's in 2009 posting a record of 10-9 with a 5.40 ERA walking 62 and striking out 143. He scouts as a back end of the rotation starter and will get a shot at being the teams #4 starter coming out of traiing camp.

GM Ryan Stewart's second move of the offseason was to make a deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sending 1B Lyle Overbay and SP David Purcey to the Angels in exchange for SP Jared Weaver.

The Angels, Indians, Red Sox and Mariners all expressed interest when 1B Lyle Overbay was placed ont he block as the 32 yearold left had a very strong season in 2010 hitting .344 with 27 HR and driving in 85 RBI. He was in the last year of his contract and was making $7,000,000 a season. The Jays also send SP David Purcey, a 27 yearold former first round selection of the Jays who just could not seem to get it together and live up to his potential. Purcey was 4-6 with a 7.45 ERA with 31 BB and 42 K's for the Jays in 2009.

Moving to the Jays is 27 yearold SP Jared Weaver. Weaver was the Angels #4 starter in 2009 and posted a record of 12-5 with a 3.32 ERA walking 33 and striking out 118. He is making $5,113,000 and is arbitration eligiable at the conclusion of the 2010 season. He will be invited to Spring Training and is the early favorite to be the teams #2 starter behind SP Roy Halladay.

Jays add Trio via Free Agency

GM Ryan Stewat didn't have the money to go out and in any big name free agents but he did add some players to fill out the roster heading into Spring Training.

First to sign was SS Khalil Greene who signed a 1 year $800,000 contract and will be the teams utility infielder for the 2010 season. The 30 yearold hit .237 with 18 HR and 50 RBI for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009.

The Jays next targets were a pair of outfielders as they inked RF Xavier Nady to a 1 year $2,700,000 contract. The 31 yearold hit .256 with 12 HR and 63 RBI for the Yankees in 2009.

Finally the Jays signed CF Rocco Baldelli to a 1 year $1,700,000 contract. The former Ray hit .276 with 10 HR and 37 RBI for the Red Sox in 2009. Both Nady and Baldelli will get a regular shot in the starting lineup as they will platoon in right field, a position vacated when Jason Bay signed with the Yankees.

12-03-2009, 03:43 PM	#16
ryan008 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: St. Catharines, Ontario Posts: 2,334	Blue Jays 2009 Offseason a Very Busy One March 27th, 2010 2010 Spring Training is right around the corner and new Blue Jays GM Ryan Stewart had a very busy offseason, his first as the General manager of the Jays. The offseason started off with Rogers Communications Inc. announcing that the teams buget for the 2010 season would be $95,000,000, which is up nearly $3 million from the season before. GM Ryan Stewart immediately invested that money in the teams scouting buget which was $1,250,000 and was one of the lowest in the league. The new buget for scouting has been increased to $4.5 million and rivals teams like the Yankees ($5 million) the Dodgers ($4.75 million) and the Angels ($4.5 million). GM Ryan Stewart "We aren't going to be able to just go out and add a bunch of expensive free agents we need to be able to bring talent up through the system on our own and develop our own players. We are going to dramatically increase our Amature Scouting for the First Year Player Draft and the International Scouting Depatments" Blue Jays Salary Arbitration Cases and Free Agents The Jays had a number of players eligiable for salary arbitration at the conclusion of the 2009 season. The biggest names were RF Jason Bay, SP Brad Penny and SP Ben Sheets. All 3 players are considered Type A Free Agents and will bring the Jays a pair of compensation draft picks in the 2010 First Year Player Draft should they sign elsewhere. GM Ryan Stewart was in negotiation with all 3 players but there demands were just outside of their bugetary constraints. Bay was rumoured to be looking for a contract in the area of 7 years and $141,000,000, Penny a 4 year $74,000,000 and Sheets a 5 year $65,000,000 extension. All three would garner significant interest and would end up siging contracts with other clubs during the offseason. RF Jason Bay - 6 years $128,900,000 with the Yankees SP Ben Sheets - 5 year $49,000,000 with the Boston Red Sox SP Brad Penny - 4 year $63,000,000 with the Mariners When the dust settled the Jays would end up with the 18th (Mariners), 21st (From Boston) and the 28th (From New York) selections as well as the 14th, 15th and 16th selections in the Supplemental 1st Round of the 2010 First Year Player Draft. GM Ryan Stewart did announce one signing before the Salary Arbitration hearings as SS Marco Scutaro would sign a 2 year $3.3 million contract extension. The 34 yearold Venezuelan hit .266 with 0 HR and 19 RBI in 2009 but battled injuries that limited him to just 79 games. He will earn $1,650,000/year over the life of the contract. The rest of the Jays Arbitration cases went as follows: MR Shaun Camp - $675,000 MR Jason Frasor - $3,176,000 SP Shaun Marcum - $6,000,000 SP Dustin McGowan - $5,500,000 MR Jason Hammel - $600,000 MR Brandon League - $600,000 SS Russ Adams - $600,000 Management & Personnel Moves The Jays were also very busy with their off the field personnel moves as GM Ryan Stewart brought in new people at nearly every level. The changes started with the big club as the manager Cito Gaston and hitting coach Gene Tenace both announced their retirement and the Jays had to search for a new manager and hitting coach in the offseason. GM Ryan Stewart settled on Mike Welsh a 39 yearold with 7 years of baseball experience from Saskatoon, Sasketchewan to be the teams new manager. He works very well with rookies and young players and is likely going to be looked to, to develop a lot of the Jays younger players. The team also hired Gianni Schenkevelt,a 54 yearold native of the Netherlands to be the teams new hitting coach. He also is highly regarded when it comes to working with young players and has over 15 years of baseball experience. Player Trades The Jays would make a pair of offseason transactions in 2009/10 as GM Ryan Stewart continued to reshape his team. The Jays first deal came during the Winter Meetings as they were approached about the availiability of RF Jose Bautista by the Oakland Athletics. The Blue Jays would end up sending Bautista and a pair of minor leaguers in SP Dirk Hayhurst and MR Ryan Koch to the A's for 24 yearold SP Gio Gonzalez. 29 yearold Bautista had an above average season as the 4th outfielder for the Jays in 2009 hitting just .222 but did manage to hit 17 HR and drive in 81 RBI. He was making just over $2,000,000 and was going to be arbitration eligiable after the 2010 season. SP Dirk Hayhurst a 28 yearold lefty was 4-7 with a 6.93 ERA for AA New Hampshire in 2009. MR Ryan Koch, the brother of former Jay CL Billy Koch was 1-0 with a 1.8- ERA in67 games for Low Class A Lansing in 2009. SP Gio Gonzalez is a 24 yearold lefty with a fastball in the 90-92 MPH range, he split time between AAA Sacremento and the A's in 2009 posting a record of 10-9 with a 5.40 ERA walking 62 and striking out 143. He scouts as a back end of the rotation starter and will get a shot at being the teams #4 starter coming out of traiing camp. GM Ryan Stewart's second move of the offseason was to make a deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sending 1B Lyle Overbay and SP David Purcey to the Angels in exchange for SP Jared Weaver. The Angels, Indians, Red Sox and Mariners all expressed interest when 1B Lyle Overbay was placed ont he block as the 32 yearold left had a very strong season in 2010 hitting .344 with 27 HR and driving in 85 RBI. He was in the last year of his contract and was making $7,000,000 a season. The Jays also send SP David Purcey, a 27 yearold former first round selection of the Jays who just could not seem to get it together and live up to his potential. Purcey was 4-6 with a 7.45 ERA with 31 BB and 42 K's for the Jays in 2009. Moving to the Jays is 27 yearold SP Jared Weaver. Weaver was the Angels #4 starter in 2009 and posted a record of 12-5 with a 3.32 ERA walking 33 and striking out 118. He is making $5,113,000 and is arbitration eligiable at the conclusion of the 2010 season. He will be invited to Spring Training and is the early favorite to be the teams #2 starter behind SP Roy Halladay. Jays add Trio via Free Agency GM Ryan Stewat didn't have the money to go out and in any big name free agents but he did add some players to fill out the roster heading into Spring Training. First to sign was SS Khalil Greene who signed a 1 year $800,000 contract and will be the teams utility infielder for the 2010 season. The 30 yearold hit .237 with 18 HR and 50 RBI for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009. The Jays next targets were a pair of outfielders as they inked RF Xavier Nady to a 1 year $2,700,000 contract. The 31 yearold hit .256 with 12 HR and 63 RBI for the Yankees in 2009. Finally the Jays signed CF Rocco Baldelli to a 1 year $1,700,000 contract. The former Ray hit .276 with 10 HR and 37 RBI for the Red Sox in 2009. Both Nady and Baldelli will get a regular shot in the starting lineup as they will platoon in right field, a position vacated when Jason Bay signed with the Yankees.