Toronto Blue Jays sign southpaw pitcher B.J. Ryan

[K_Winslow80]

Toronto Blue Jays sign southpaw pitcher B.J. RyanBy BILL MADDENDAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERThe Toronto Blue Jays, with a payroll surplus of $25-30 million for next year, have made a bold statement that they intend to be big players in the AL East by signing lefty free agent reliever B.J. Ryan to a five-year $47 million contract, the Daily News has learned.The 6-6, 260-pound 29-year-old Ryan had 36 saves in 41 attempts for the Orioles this past season and had been pursued by the Indians, Tigers and Red Sox, with both the Mets and Phillies viewing him as a fallback in the event they couldn?t sign Billy Wagner.Early on, the Yankees talked to Ryan?s representive about the prospect of him being a set-up man for Mariano Rivera and were willing to pay him closer money ($8-9 million per year) to do it. However, Ryan told them he was only interested in closing and the Yankees would never have offered him more than three years.With the signing of the hard-throwing Ryan, the Blue Jays appear poised to now deal their previous closer, Miguel Batista. They have reportedly had discussions with the Texas Rangers about an exchange of Batista for outfielder Kevin Mench. The Blue Jays were also pursuing righty free agent starter A.J. Burnett and were said to have also offered him a five-year deal. It was unclear if the Ryan signing would now preclude them from continuing their efforts to land Burnett.

 

[Rex Grossman 8]

5 years $47 million for that guy.No thanks........

 

[AdropOFvenom]

Good player, horribly overpaid. Now the mets are going to have to offer like 4/44 to get Wagner.

 

[JHair]

I thought he would produce more in Baltimore, and as an Orioles fan I'm not REALLY gonna miss him too much, but yeah he isn't terrible that is a good acquisition.

 

[ortiz34]

Nice player to sign, but overpaid. Now they have to get AJ and they have a strong pitching team. They should get rid of Koskie to make room for Hillenbrand, Hinske and Hill. I hear that Hinske is on the move though.Hey TOhasBO, are you a fellow Torontonian?

 

[AdropOFvenom]

Dont waste your money on Burnett.Career Record 49-50ERA 3.73K to BB Ratio is barely 2:1Only reached 25 starts in 3 of 7 major league seasons.Purely Mediocre.Terrific stuff, but doesnt know how to use it and its not gonna change.Is that worth 10 million a year plus to you? It isnt to me.

 

[Brooksie5]

I would love for the Twins to pick up Burnett. Don't know where he'd fit in the rotation though, which looks like this right now:Johan Santana (Best pitcher in baseball hands down)Brad Radke (Great contol also, but this may be his last yearCarlos Silva (Best control in the game. Only 9 walks all of last year...he had 9 wins)Francisco Liriano (WILL win AL Rookie of the Year, WILL break Nolan Ryan's single season srikeout record some time in his career, WILL win multiple Cy Youngs)Scott Baker (Another VERY promising pitcher)We already had to kick Kyle Lohse out (FINALLY), and we're not re-signing Joe Mays (Thank me). We don't need Burnett, but it would definetly help us out.

 

[AdropOFvenom]

Homer.

Especially on Liriano.

Hes good, but multiple cy youngs and nolan ryans strikeout record? LMAO.

 

[Brooksie5]

You've obviously never seen him play ball before. He is good enough to do those things.

 

[Rex Grossman 8]

Overpaid.

 

[AdropOFvenom]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ramsfan39 @ Nov 26 2005, 09:21 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>You've obviously never seen him play ball before. He is good enough to do those things.</div> I've seen him play, like i said. He is good, but your talking about him getting 380+ strikeouts in a season (which would mean he would have to average 12 strikeouts a start). You are talking about multiple cy youngs, you are talking about AL Rookie of the year. While he is a very good prospect, you are setting the bar way to high for him.

 

[Brooksie5]

I don't nessicarily expect him to do all that. I just think he's very capable of accomplishing them.

 

[ortiz34]

It's now official. This guy is so overpaid, it's not funny.Anyways, the Jays need to add another bat that can deliver late...no, Gregg Zaun doesn't count. This guy might be a clutch player, but he's not a franchis player. Paul Konerko is out there....

 

[DevinHester23]

Liriano is the 2nd coming of the great Johan Santana.

 

[Rex Grossman 8]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RandyMoss18 @ Nov 29 2005, 08:31 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Liriano is the 2nd coming of the great Johan Santana.</div> The" great" Johan Santana

 

[Brooksie5]

Are you saying Johan Santana (who SHOULD'VE won Cy Young this season) isn't great?

 

[Rex Grossman 8]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ramsfan39 @ Nov 29 2005, 03:53 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Are you saying Johan Santana (who SHOULD'VE won Cy Young this season) isn't great?</div> Santana didn't deserve it.

 

[Brooksie5]

Your a pretty funny guy. Santana led the AL in about every single pitching category except wins. He led the ML in alot of them too. BUt naw....he's not great.

 

[JHair]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ramsfan39 @ Nov 29 2005, 08:49 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Santana led the AL in about every single pitching category except wins.</div> not that Santana didn't deserve it but...Wins are all that matter when it comes to statistics.

 

[AdropOFvenom]

I dont agree with that, A pitcher who gives up 7 runs can still get a win if his team scores 10. I think ERA is the best stat to judge a pitcher by, and another important one is his K to BB ratio.

 

[JHair]

I guess your right about that. What I think though is that a reliever's best stat is the Win.

 

[Brooksie5]

There are a lot of stats that mean more than wins. If wins are all that matters, why would would people think Clemens was soo good this year.

 

[Brooksie5]

Wins are the only stat that matter for a team, but for a pitcher, there are stats more important than that.