Sep 25, 2014
Naylor: Assessing money matters for the Blue Jays
As Major League Baseball's regular season winds down, there's considerable focus here on what the Toronto Blue Jays spent (or didn't spend), and what they'll be willing to commit going into 2015. But as TSN's Dave Naylor writes, focusing on payroll actually obstructs the flaws in how this team has been built.
By Dave Naylor
As Major League Baseball's regular season winds down, there's considerable focus here on what the Toronto Blue Jays spent (or didn't spend) on players heading into this season, what they apparently wouldn't spend in-season and what they'll be willing to commit going into 2015.
And they're all reasonable questions since ownership was working under a self-imposed salary cap, otherwise known as a budget.
The issue may be more that the Blue Jays were unwilling to budge from that amount in the face of such obvious needs as starting pitching and second base help.
There are a lot of major league teams that spent similarly or significantly less than the Blue Jays and put together better lineups.
The relationship between spending in baseball and success is much less straight-forward than, "if you spend it, it will come." 'It' of course being the post-season.
This season, the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox had the second, third and fourth-highest opening day payrolls in baseball, at $202, $180, and $162 million respectively. And as of today, those teams sit 14, 21, and 26 games respectively out of first place within their divisions. In the case of the Red Sox and Phillies, both teams will finish in last place this season.
That's $544 million spent on players to finish a combined 61 games out of first place.
Which isn't to suggest that spending in baseball doesn't affect overall performance. Of the six division leaders in baseball right now, only the Cardinals and Orioles are in first place without outspending all of their division rivals based on opening day payrolls.
But among the four wild card teams in place now - Kansas City, Oakland, Pittsburgh and San Francisco rank 19th, 25th, 27th and seventh. That tells you that baseball's intent to make the post-season accessible to teams that couldn't spend their way to the top of a division is working.
It's just not working for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays shouldn't necessarily to be prepared to spend more going into next season. It's just that pointing to payroll as the reason why this team has missed the post-season for more than two decades is shortsighted and misses the bigger issue with this team, which is the ability identify and develop major league talent and sign players to contracts that provide the best return on investment.
The Blue Jays opened this season with a payroll $21 million more than the St. Louis Cardinals, $25 million more than the Orioles, $40 million more than Kansas City, $49 million more than Oakland and $64 million more than Pittburgh. All of those teams are currently in a playoff position.
The Washington Nationals - with the best record in the National League and a 16-game lead in the NL East, have done so with a payroll just over $2 million more than the Blue Jays.
The bottom line is this: focusing on payroll in fact obstructs the flaws in how this team has been built. So if you're a fan fed up with the Blue Jays' mediocrity, what this team is willing to spend should be well down your list of concerns.