The Toronto side of the Halladay Situation

By Paul Bruno

When you look at the financial limits that the Blue Jays are operating with, you have to scratch your head a bit.

We note that the three largest metropolitan markets in the Majors are each home to two teams in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

After that, Toronto is actually the largest metropolitan center that is home to a single team. Yet the Jays’ payroll is in the bottom half of the Majors at around $80M.

Yeah, I know that the Jays’ revenues are in Canadian dollars which, this morning, are worth 10 per cent less than the US greenback.

That is not enough of an explanation to defend the lack of spending to build a team in Toronto.

Two years ago, the late Ted Rogers, head of Rogers Communications Inc, who own the team and the home park (Rogers Centre), boldly stated that his vision was to own a sports conglomerate and raise the profile of the Jays to something akin to the Yankees’ YES Network or the Red Sox on NESN, a high-profile objective, to be sure.

We applauded that initiative and still would like to believe that the Jays’ brass is capable of reaching that goal. Sure, the downturn in the economy has hit hard, but there are many smaller market teams that have been hit harder than the Jays.

Toronto has another thing going for them. They are Canada’s only entry in the Majors. That works in their favor with larger TV numbers, too. That ties into advertising revenues and is a big win for the club.

Trading Roy Halladay is the big story locally and the backlash of dealing the face of the franchise could be deadly for the future of the team. As it is, they are drawing near the bottom of the majors in terms of league attendance. The message that will be delivered by dealing Halladay is one that will be perceived as surrendering hope for a competitive future.

The Jays’ franchise is only 15 years removed from their back to back championships, when they spent more money than any team in baseball. There was no talk of economic disadvantage then. It was about fielding a team that would draw crowds to fill their home park and WIN.

The Jays’ brass should turn back the clock and be more aggressive in building a winner as opposed to throwing up their collective hands and crying poor.

Failure to do so doesn’t add up to much of a future for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tags: roy halladay, toronto blue jays