[superdude211]

The New York Daily News reports that the Toronto Blue Jays have signed reliever B.J. Ryan to a five-year, $47 million contract.

Ryan, 29, had 36 saves in 41 attempts for the Baltimore Orioles last season and was courting as many as five other teams as a free agent.

In his first full season closing games for Baltimore, the left-hander went 1-4 with a 2.43 ERA, striking out 100 in 70 1-3 innings. He has appeared in at least 61 games since 2001.

Ryan, who will turn 30 on Dec. 28, made his first all-star team and was the best thing about a Baltimore bullpen that contributed to the club's 74-88 record and fourth-place finish in the AL East.

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?id=144507


EDIT:

The Blue Jays are now expected to move Miguel Batista in a package for an outfield bat.

http://bluejays.scout.com/2/471137.html?refid=400

EDIT:

Since then it is believe the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays each made an offer to the free agent outfielder (Brian Giles). Both of the clubs also offered a three-year contract, in the neighborhood of $30 milllion

http://bluejays.scout.com/2/470906.html\

Free Agent Market Starting to heat up, there was a report that put it as a possibility that the Jays sign all three of Giles,Burnett and Ryan

 

[X-Factor]

Wow, this is a very key pickup for the Jays. A great southpaw to come out of the pen.

 

[AirJordan™]

Thats great news for the Jays. This will probably help lure A.J. Burnett and Brian Giles to the Toronto Blue Jays. We still have a lot of money to spend. What will happen to Miguel Batista now? I hope the Blue Jays will make it to the postseason.

 

[NeoSamurai]

Thats great news for the Jays. This will probably help lure A.J. Burnett and Brian Giles to the Toronto Blue Jays. We still have a lot of money to spend. What will happen to Miguel Batista now? I hope the Blue Jays will make it to the postseason.

with regards to Batista, I wouldnt say that he'd be pegged back into the starting rotation because of the depth we have already....as it stands right now, Halladay, Lilly, Chacin, and Towers are all shoe ins and I'd expect a guy like McGown or some other young starter to fill in the 5th spot....

I'd probably put Batista down as either a 7th or 8th inning guy along with Frasor or Schoeleweis (?), depending on the situation to setup for Ryan...

definitely a solid pickup for the Jays, as it brings a solid arm to the pen that has closer stuff... and every playoff calibre team needs a solid pen to win, whether in the regular or post season....my only hope is that Ryan wasnt just a flash in the pan ala John Rocker or Billy Koch *crosses fingers*....

 

[shookem]

This could be huge, if like Neo said, Ryan wasn't a one year wonder.
let's hope he aint.

 

[Mr_B]

good pickup but they over paid him a bit as for AJ whats the hype about? hes a .500 level pitcher why throw 30mil his way?record wise hes no better than josh towers who makes way less

 

[X-Factor]

good pickup but they over paid him a bit as for AJ whats the hype about? hes a .500 level pitcher why throw 30mil his way?record wise hes no better than josh towers who makes way less

He is young, and has great stuff. And, you can't judge a pitcher on his record, especially not a starter. Barry Zito had an ERA under 4, and he was 14-13 last year. Your record just depends on the type of team you're on.

 

[shookem]

the whole thing about signing AJ depends on what you think they Jays can expect from their other starters.
Lily: can be great but is he a legit #2 starter, no he's more of a three, if not a good #4
Chacin: Awesome rookie year, but I think we can expect some kind of sophmore jinx, a good fourth starter worst case, great third best case
Towers: Was last year his breakthrough year? Let's hope so, if indeed he can come in a win 13-14 games, he is as good as Chacin to be a solid third starter. Then again if anyone, he may explode into a really great starter, lots of inning and a great ERA last year.
Bush/McGowan: Lots of potential, but like the Josh Towers of yester year, they'll probably need a couple more seasons of spot starting and sharing a fifth starter's role.

So when you look at it this way you've got three guy capable of having great season and anyone could be a second starter, good season by all three, basically mean that AJ wouldn't be needed. But you can hardly bank on all these guys having good seasons, and Lily may go (or gasp Roy!) could go down for a long period of time. Anyone of those things means that another solid, legit second starter is in fact, badly needed.
I think we sign AJ (but try not to over pay like they did with BJ) and I think it shows in the record more then signing another outfielder, which would be nice, but we've got a little more depth there. I think that Wells, Koskie and Rios will all have better season at the plate (not that anything was wrong with Rios, but I really think highly of this guy and think he will be a good 20-30 HR guy).
we'll see.

 

[Mr_B]

He is young, and has great stuff. And, you can't judge a pitcher on his record, especially not a starter. Barry Zito had an ERA under 4, and he was 14-13 last year. Your record just depends on the type of team you're on.

thats true AJ a good pitcher but he ain't worth 30-50mil in my eyes if there were any other star pitchers out there on the market his price tag would be way down

 

[aizn]

wow, BJ Ryan gets about 9 mil a year? thats crazy for a reliever

 

[onecooljew]

JP would be named mayor of Toronto if he now went out and got Giles and AJ.

 

[X-Factor]

JP would be named mayor of Toronto if he now went out and got Giles and AJ.

No possible way he will pick up 3 of the top free agents in the same offseason.

 

[hobojoe]

wow, BJ Ryan gets about 9 mil a year? thats crazy for a reliever

He's now the highest paid closer in the league. More than Rivera, more than Gagne, more than K-Rod, more than anyone.

 

[NeoSamurai]

He's now the highest paid closer in the league. More than Rivera, more than Gagne, more than K-Rod, more than anyone.

yea hes getting a whole lot of dough...

however, looking at the past 3 years, hes had great stuff as a reliever and last season taking the closer responsibilities...

hopefully, hes the next great Jays closer in the mould of Tom Henke and Duane Ward and not a one and done type of closer ala Billy Koch

 

[superdude211]

No possible way he will pick up 3 of the top free agents in the same offseason.

The source did not rule out the fact that the Blue Jays can sign all three free agents they are after (Burnett, Ryan and Giles).

http://bluejays.scout.com/2/470906.html

 

[shookem]

yea hes getting a whole lot of dough...

however, looking at the past 3 years, hes had great stuff as a reliever and last season taking the closer responsibilities...

hopefully, hes the next great Jays closer in the mould of Tom Henke and Duane Ward and not a one and done type of closer ala Billy Koch

yeah, expect the Jays didn't pay anywhere near that much for either of those guys.

 

[aizn]

i say we trade for a quality number 2 pitcher and a big bat to help out wells.

 

[ChristopherJ]

Great signing IMO. Is Batista still under contract with the Jays?

 

[shookem]

Great signing IMO. Is Batista still under contract with the Jays?

yeap, they're probably going to try to trade him.