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Yesterday will go down as the day the phrase 'next year' officially entered the dialogue surrounding the 2008 Toronto Blue Jays.
Think about that.
Manager Cito Gaston chose blunt language to describe his team's minuscule chances of advancing to the postseason, then added: "I think you have a good ball club here, I really do. Maybe come up with a couple more players and this is going to be a good contending ball club next year."
Couple that statement with general manager J.P. Ricciardi saying: "Our expectations are this team is not as bad as it has played and hopefully will play a little better. Now does that mean we're going to be a playoff team? No, the chances are probably not good that way, but that doesn't mean we can't hold out hope we'll play better," and, well, it's pretty hard not to put two and two together and get 2009.
Still, it's tough to talk too much about next year. Tickets need to be sold. TV games need to be watched.
Not only has the All-Star Game yet to be played, but the first really substantial A.J. Burnett trade rumour hasn't even found its legs and the fact is that it will be the trade of Burnett that officially signals the start of the 2009 season.
How much longer can it take for that to happen? The man who negotiated A.J. Burnett's opt-out clause stressed last night that people who have already decided that his client will exercise the clause have jumped ahead of themselves. But agent Darek Braunecker also acknowledged that with Rich Harden now off the trade market, nobody available has the stuff to compare to Burnett.
His cell phone is charged. And handy.
"I think stuff is what wins in the postseason," Braunecker said. "The names we hear out there right now, I just don't think they match A.J.'s stuff."
Burnett will start tonight's second game of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles, on the heels of trades of consecutive days that sent C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers and Harden, a native of Victoria, to the Chicago Cubs.
If agendas are already being set for 2009 it seems appropriate, then, to revisit the whole issue of Burnett's opt-out clause, which was requested at the 11th hour by Burnett's representatives, Braunecker and Mark Rodgers, during negotiations on a five-year, $55-million (all currency U.S.) contract signed in the winter of 2005.
The clause means that Burnett can, if he desires, wipe out the last two years of his contract, which pay him $12-million a season, and choose free agency at the end of this 2008 season.
"The fact is, A.J. has never said publicly that he wants to opt out and I can tell you he's never indicated it to me, either," Braunecker said. "We wanted that provision for a few reasons. First, A.J. was going to be moving to a new country — hey, there are people who don't want to move from one state to another state, let alone outside the country. He loved the city when he visited it. Still does. Second, he wanted something in case there were personnel changes, on the field and off the field, something that dealt with the competitiveness of the team.
"Look, you can never say it's not about money. But A.J. was going to be paid what he was going to be paid wherever he went. He was looking at a combination of place and people and liked Toronto."
The Blue Jays' enviable depth in starting pitching is not what it once was. Casey Janssen is still recovering from surgery, Shaun Marcum won't start until after the all-star break because of right elbow soreness and now Dustin McGowan will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging examination today on his sore right shoulder.
If the season's a write-off, you have to wonder about the logic of risking any further damage to Marcum's arm and what does that leave the Blue Jays with? Jesse Litsch as a No. 2 starter?
"What I said was we would be silly to not make a move that would make us better for 2009, going forward, as well as this year," Ricciardi said after last night's win, denying his pregame comments meant the year was over.
But club sources say even if McGowan's hurt, the team was still leaning last night to moving Burnett if the price is right. It's over, all right. However you want to say it.
