Jays won’t be big spenders in free agency

By Paul Bruno

Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is now on record with the opinion that the Blue Jays will not be chasing top end free agents this off-season. The corollary to such a statement should be preparing to trade Roy Halladay in the off-season.

Halladay should be the most sought after player during the current GM meetings in Chicago and we have to hope that the groundwork for a deal involving Toronto’s ace is being laid down here. They also can look forward to heightened interest at the Winter Meetings, later in the off-season to get this important deal done.

The message is that it’s time to get on with a retooling of the Jays.

The odd part of the Jays’ immediate plans is that the true direction can’t come for another year. That’s because they have agreed to allow Cito Gaston to manage the club for the 2010 season.

This lame duck scenario does not make any sense in light of these most recent statements by the GM.The club would have been better off to clear out the current coaching staff as a first step in mapping a new direction for the ballclub.

If they can’t get the Halladay deal done, free agents would be out of their minds to come here and be party to a repeat of last season.

It is now clear that the club will not be a big spender, and despite lip service, which is trying to tell us that the club will make changes through trades, the Jays appear ready to spin their wheels through another frustrating season.

Their fan base eroded last year and upper management needs to react to that fact.

The current scenario is not a good first step in that reaction.

Hopefully, they have a more palatable plan that will soon become apparent.