LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — The exorbitant price of doing business in professional baseball notwithstanding, J.P. Ricciardi is prepared to try to arm himself for success.
With the annual spending frenzy known as the winter meetings slated to begin today, the Toronto Blue Jays' general manager is hoping he can find some wiggle room in the club's thinning budget to accommodate two starting pitchers.
Getting free-agent left-hander Ted Lilly, who won a career-best 15 games with the Jays last season, to agree to a new contract is at the top of Ricciardi's wish list.
Ricciardi's pursuit of Gil Meche, a right-hander who won 11 games last season with the Seattle Mariners, is also heavily into the courting stage.
Related Articles
Internet Links
Related Information
- Boston Red Sox
- New York Yankees
- Toronto Blue Jays
- A.J. Burnett
- Gustavo Chacin
- Royce Clayton
- Royce Clayton
- Troy Glaus
- Roy Halladay
- Ted Lilly
- Gil Meche
- Lyle Overbay
- Mark Redman
- B.J. Ryan
- Jeff Suppan
- Frank Thomas
- Frank Thomas
- Vernon Wells
- Gregg Zaun
Ricciardi has been spreading the word that he believes it's possible both Lilly and Meche will be in a Toronto uniform next season.
"We've had very positive discussions and J.P. has just let us know that he's going to be very competitive," Larry O'Brien, Lilly's agent, said yesterday in a telephone interview. "And he kind of has a feel where the market's going to be and he said that he wants Ted back. And Ted knows what he's got with Toronto. He likes their club and he likes their chances.
"I know Toronto has been having beyond preliminary discussions with Gil Meche. J.P. has indicated to me that he thought he could feasibly have Teddy and Meche back in the fold there."
O'Brien said he will be hopping a plane and arriving in Florida this evening. He said he does not expect to have a face-to-face, let's-talk-turkey meeting with Ricciardi until tomorrow.
There are also several other clubs on Lilly's radar list, according to O'Brien, including the Chicago Cubs, who have reportedly offered the 30-year-old a four-year deal.
The financial terms of the Cubs' offer are not known, but O'Brien believes that any offer to Lilly should at least be comparable with the four-year, $37.5-million (all figures U.S.) contract that Jerrod Washburn signed last season with the Mariners.
O'Brien said that besides the Jays and the Cubs, other clubs he has been in contact with regarding Lilly include the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Mariners.
Although Toronto's 2007 operating budget has yet to be revealed, it is believed the club will have between $90-million and $95-million to spend on player salaries.
Ricciardi has already spent some of that on designated hitter Frank Thomas, who got a two-year deal worth $18.2-million.
When you factor in the $3.5-million that catcher Gregg Zaun will get next season in his new deal along with the $1.5-million earmarked for new shortstop Royce Clayton, it is believed that Ricciardi has a little more than $12-million left in the salary reserves.
With player salaries spiralling upward, Blue Jays president and chief executive officer Paul Godfrey was asked if it was financially realistic for the Jays to hope to land both Lilly and Meche.
"If you were writing a storybook ending I guess you could say that," he said. "But we know realistically the competition that's out there makes any play on any player uncertain.
"When no one seems to have a true bottom line to their bids, we're seeing something [booming player salaries] that we haven't seen since the year 2000. It is alarming when you establish a budget and you want to stick with it."
With two seasons behind him in Toronto, it might be natural to assume that the Blue Jays have the inside track to sign Lilly if a bidding war for his services breaks out.
"I'm not going to necessarily put Toronto above or below New York or above or below Chicago at this point," O'Brien said.
19
