March 16, 2006

Hallday signs 3- year extension: In the latest deal made by the Blue Jays, the organization extended Roy Halladays contract into the 2010 season by signing a 3-year $40 million extension.

posted by redsoxrgay to baseball at 03:30 PM - 17 comments

Yum. The only guy in baseball I'd trade this guy for is Johan Santana. He had a sub 1 WHIP last year and a 10-1 K/BB ratio. When healthy (and last year was a fluke) he is the best in the AL.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:33 PM on March 16, 2006

I think he's good- but they should have spent the money somewhere else. Hes still coming off an injury, and is already signed for a long time. What they really should have done was add another relief pitcher.

posted by redsoxrgay at 03:41 PM on March 16, 2006

Another relief pitcher? The days of Kerry Ligtenberg are long over. The Jays already have a deep and competent bullpen. Chulk, Frasor, Speier, and Walker last year combined for an ERA of 3.31 and a WHIP of 1.22. Chulk and Frasor are adequate setup men, Walker's great in long relief, and Speier is versatile either way. Those guys are the relative dregs: Marcum and League are the promising youngsters, and there's B.J. Ryan at the top. I'm not saying it's the best bullpen in baseball, but it's certainly not a weakness, and there isn't anybody out there you could easily add who would bring an immediate improvement. Aside: my Toronto Star Season Passes arrived in the mail today. Whoo-hoo!

posted by DrJohnEvans at 04:22 PM on March 16, 2006

yo weedy: he had a 6-1 k/bb (108/18), which is still excellent, but not as godly as 10-1. i guess the canadian dollar is strong these days. i like him a lot too, but he hasn't pitched more than 140 innings since 2002/2003. that's the only thing that concerns me about this extension. besides that, i like the blue jays hat and they were the first team i was on in little league. go birds! what is love? baby don't hurt me.. don't hurt me.. no more...

posted by ninjavshippo at 04:28 PM on March 16, 2006

Aside: my Toronto Star Season Passes arrived in the mail today. Whoo-hoo! Mine too! Once the city gets around to getting WiFi up near the Skydome, I have a feeling the 500 level will become my living room...

posted by loquax at 04:53 PM on March 16, 2006

I just looked up the Toronto Star season pass thing, holy cow -- that is an incredible deal. Kind of makes me wish I lived in a locale with a crappy team and/or poor attendance. And I think you Blue Jays fans will be getting more than your money's worth this year. Back on the FPP topic, I think the deal for Halladay is a good one. The free agent pitching market tends to be generally weak and results in premium prices for sub-premium pitchers. This locks him up for what should be his peak years (which he is liekly in the midst of now) but expires when he is 33 or so, resulting in a lower risk of them overpaying a pitcher on the extreme downside of his career (as may be an issue, say, with the Mets at the end of Pedro's current contract). You could also make the argument that he has been underpaid these past several years and the team paying a premium now to keep him locked up and out of free agency is an evening out of some of the years in which he was underpaid. Even with the injury risk, you have to figure that the potential upside if he performs at a peak level even in just two of the years is worth the contract (hey, the Astros paid Clemens over $20MM last year and I would say it was worth it for them) -- aces don't come cheap.

posted by holden at 05:31 PM on March 16, 2006

If he remains healthy this year, Roy Halladay will absolutely dominate the AL. He's a fantastic pitcher and doesn't take a backseat to Santana or anyone. With an improved cast around him, anything less than 20 wins and a 2.50 or better ERA will be disappointing.

posted by dyams at 05:36 PM on March 16, 2006

Remember when everyone said that Roy Halladay wouldn't amount to anything? Gosh, now look at him. I'd rate him as one of the top 3 pitchers in ALL of baseball right now. He's incredible. I just hope that he doesn't have another injury-plagued season...

posted by chemwizBsquared at 05:51 PM on March 16, 2006

What they really should have done was add another relief pitcher. Hit the deep-freeze before the offseason? The thought of a healthy Halladay torturing Red Sox bats for years to come bothers me deeply. In my gonads.

posted by yerfatma at 06:04 PM on March 16, 2006

How nice for us Sox fans that he's staying in the division. Nice, like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:56 PM on March 16, 2006

Take heart that Johnny Damon has shoulder tendonitis, TBH. This is actually an excellent deal for the Blue Jays.

posted by jerseygirl at 09:03 PM on March 16, 2006

What they really should have done was add another relief pitcher. I'm not that well versed in how the whole business of baseball works, but how exactly does committing money to a contract from 2008 to 2010 effect the financial viability of signing a reliever this year? I agree with the Red Sox faithful above. The Blue Jays didn't make as many "great" signings this off-season as the media -- and many Jays fans -- would have you believe, but this one is rock solid. Yes, Halladay has had some tough luck injury wise, but I like the chances of his being a productive pitcher for the next five years, and the Jays definitely did not overpay for this extension.

posted by BullpenPro at 10:00 PM on March 16, 2006

Considering they way OVERPAID for the likes of Burnett, this is a great move. I'm sure there are people out there that think Burnett is going to be a star, but I don't think he was worth dollar one. Not with his history. This coming from a guy who watched the Cubs put their franchise in a guy named Wood, who has had roughly the same history as Burnett.

posted by sublime4390116 at 01:01 AM on March 17, 2006

I telling you, those Burnett and Ryan contracts will look cheap a year or so from now. And besides, they had to overpay. It was the fifth year and the extra $10mil to get them over the border.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:54 AM on March 17, 2006

I telling you, those Burnett and Ryan contracts will look cheap a year or so from now. In regards to their performance or next year's market? In all honestly, I'm not buying either, but I'd still like the clarification. I have no idea why.

posted by yerfatma at 08:04 AM on March 17, 2006

Next year's and 2007's market. While I think that Burnett's is the more ludacrous contract, Ryan's is pretty much what you'll see for a guy who's been as dominant as he has for the past two years. Both guys are under 30. Both have tremendous stuff. Burnett has better stuff than either Chan Ho Park or Darren Dreifort (the two contracts oft compared to his), Ryan is as dominant as any reliver in the AL. It could blow up in JP's face, sure, but I don't believe there were any better options available. And someone next year is going to get a contract that will make these look downright rational. Put it this way - Do you think that Beltran's contract is better, or worse than Burnett's? How about Pedro's? (He's what, 38 in that 4th year? Burnett is 34 in his fifth) And those were signed the year previous.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:14 AM on March 17, 2006

Count me as another delighted Jay fan with a big stupid grin on my face...

posted by the red terror at 10:32 AM on March 17, 2006

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