Friday, July 22, 2016

Getting Rogered


*The following was posted in the comments section of a prior post. It created a great deal of dialogue so It has been suggested that I create a new post so it can properly be rebutted. I've added a few pictures and a paragraph at the end but the rest of it remains as it was.

I've been following the Jays for 25 years passionately, positively, happily.
Been around the Stoeten blog and now here for maybe a combined 6 years.
In that time I know I have most often been an extremely positive fan.
I'm going to say my peace and then let it lay here.
Because you are good/positive people you will refute it and I'm glad you will.
I will not offer any rebuttals. Bottom line is I love this community and I don't want my displeasure with the management of it to affect anyone else.
So I'll get it out, get it off the chest and then leave.
This ownership is a disgrace.
The Jays don't win because of their ownership, they win despite it.
Mostly due to an innovative GM who no longer is employed here.
An ideal owner is a passionate fan who wants a winner and to make a few bucks. See Mike Illitch, Mark Cuban ... etc..
Rogers is a large soul sucking, publicly traded, bottom line watching, find a large Return on Investment company.
They had arguably the best General Manager in baseball. A man who despite having the disadvantages of trying to lure ANYONE to Canada to play on concrete, to play baseball, still managed to put a playoff team together.
Our first in 23 years.

So we low ball him with a one year deal.
He walks.
Good for him.
There's an argument over the "price" paid on one of our the best moves in 2016 from the new guy. That's funny stuff.
Get a Cy young star pitcher and hours later tear the guy who pulled it off a new asshole.
Quality stuff.
You can argue about prospect capital but have a look at our return for one of the greatest pitchers in the game -- Roy Halladay.
All those can't miss guys are plying their trade in the minors, or are backups at best.
Prospects, even the most high end are volatile, so for me the trade was extremely defendable but Shapiro still lost his mind.
So new guy comes in and has his new ideas. Fair enough.
He's the new President.
But he hires a GM who has to come and clear every move with him.
A GM with no experience.
A GM who's a close buddy.
Yeah that doesn't reek of a corporation puppet. (sarcasm font)
There are reasons that these jobs are distinctly separate within teams.
New guy swings an axe through ballpark passes, Gibby's rolling contract, grass and anything that doesn't create revenue.
Hey, we have a monopoly here, lets take advantage of it.

"I am smiling Barry, just take the damn picture"
Lets move on to Smoak.
In a vacuum I guess it's fine. Resign the 39th best first basemen in baseball for 2 years.
A position that you could get any number of Triple-A guys to do better or at worst, put up the same 0.0 WAR for the league minimum of $507,500. But let's throw 4 and half mill at him for the next 2. Lock up a roster spot for 2 years.
The one position that is the easiest to replace and should put up the most offensive production.
The one position where a couple of aging offensive stars can hide who are in their walk years.
If we were a team with an owner that wasn't a publicly traded, that isn't constantly looking for a larger ROI then I could believe that he was signed to be what he is. A bench guy with some pop.
But to me this looks like a move to fill a spot they know that will have no competition come November.
Rogers investors don't give a fuck about a flapping flag hanging in a concrete mausoleum.
They want their shares to make them money.
So they hire an Ivy leaguer and say "find the sweet spot".
That place where you can keep just enough fan interest to get the stadium partially filled, a decent viewership without spending too much of our profits.
Nothing that Rogers or Shapiro has done is a smoking gun. Not the Smoak deal, not the horrible TV deal for the team, not the disguising of revenue, not the low-balling of Alex, not the addition of a business first president, not the purchase of the park for 25 mill, not the axing of the grass project, not the axing of Gibby's security, not the breaking off of contract talks with two of the best hitters in the game and certainly not Smoaks 8 million.
But together, to me, a fan who's been through the rhetoric it all signals that the Jays need to win despite their management, they won't win because of it.
As I said above this is all my opinion, I'm only stating it because of the challenge of MK.
I honestly don't wish to come across negatively but I don't believe in this ownership or management so I'm stating my beliefs.
I hope all of you are right and I am wrong.
I'll gladly eat shit if I am wrong like I did on Happ.
Mine may be an unpopular opinion but from seeing what kind of interest, viewership and attendance that this team has generated while management still claims they are financially handcuffed? I felt compelled to share my views. Take these words for what they are worth as I will be the first to admit I am not skilled enough to negotiate through the corporate numbers and jargon that Rogers makes available. So do your worst in the comments below. I have thick skin. And again, love the Jays, love the fans, and really enjoy this community.
Here's a picture of me taking on Rogers:

It's a metaphor.
But that actually happened.

In the End,
I like You,
Just want Bush Party number Two.