Jays Going Down the Old Man River

By Steven Pukin

After an offseason where casual Blue Jays fans were disappointed (see: really pissed off and giving up on the Blue Jays for good) that GM Alex Anthopoulos did not drop a boatload of money on big name free agents like the Angels, Rangers, or even the notoriously spendthrift Marlins. Many were left wondering why the Fielders and Darvishs of the world were not suiting up for the Jays this spring. During the winter meetings, Anthopoulos talked about "payroll parameters" and "boundaries" that he had to work within to put together a competitive club. These choice phrases seem to reinforce the perception that the team's owners, Rogers Communications were just cheap bastards and would never end up spending any money ever.



As the offseason continued, a curious trend started to develop, the Jays start bringing in more and more seasoned veterans, particularly in the bullpen with the likes of 41 year old Darren Oliver and 37 year old Francisco Cordero. The latter which has been losing speed on his fastball, and projects to move from being a full time closer to a setup man for Sergio Santos. Both signed in the $4 million range, proving that Rogers was willing to at least some money on free agents, but only if they were aging veterans.

Enter Omar Vizquel, who is turning 45 years young this year, signed a minor league contract with the Jays. As we get close to the first Spring Training games of the season, he is rumoured to be the favourite to crack the 25 man roster on opening day as the Jays new utility infielder. Vizquel was not the only position player that the Jays were linked to this offseason. In February, Manny Ramirez was choosing between the Jays, Orioles, and his final resting spot- Oakland A's. The Jays had even sent scouts to watch Manny bat. Most recently, Jayson Stark of ESPN reported that the Jays would consider adding someone like Magglio Ordonez (age 38) and Vladimir Guerrero (age 37) on a minor league contract. It is a wonder that we never went after pitcher Jamie Moyer too (age 49), or did we?

Some would say that the bullpen moves were done to strengthen a bullpen that blew 28 saves last year with the combination platter of Frank Francisco and tattooed home run happy Goliath, Jon Rauch. Also, that the Vizquel signing and a pick up another of veteran bat on a minor league deal would be a low risk, cost effective way of improving the team and adding much needed "veteran presence" to a team that it is still slowly building a contender. Could it be more than that?

Target Demographics

The Jays' owner, Rogers Communications, with gargantuan footholds in all forms of media in Canada is very aware of exploiting target demographics. Early in Alex Anthopolous's tenure as GM, the Jays press office constantly was pushing that the Jays were going through a "youth movement". The focus of the franchise since this time has been to find young, controllable players on which they could draft and develop or trade for. Deals were made to get young players like Yunel Escobar, Kyle Drabek, Brandon Morrow, Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus, and most recently, Sergio Santos. The hope was the in the crucial 18-24 demographic, that young people would have players that they could relate to, and get them into games.

Furthermore, they tried to appeal to the younger crowd by getting on Facebook and other social media, finally changing Toonie Tuesday to Tweeting Tuesdays. This in spite of not having free wi-fi at the Rogers Centre, but they are apparently working on that.

Out with the Old?

During the JP Riccardi era, Anthopolous's predecessor, the Jays frequently held 'Flashback Fridays', which brought in players from Blue Jays past every Friday for signings and guest appearances at games, and had the Jays play games in retro powder blue jerseys. This culiminated in a celebration of the '92-'93 Back to Back World Series wins in 2009, with a reunion of many of the old players for a weekend series. Riccardi also had a hand in signing older free agents, for example throwing $18 Million at a 38 year old Frank Thomas and bringing back old skipper Cito Gaston out of retirement. Moves all aimed at appealing to older fans.

After Riccardi's ouster, Flashback Fridays became Fan Fridays, and the parade of old players, as well as the powder blue jerseys were soon to go after that. Cito Gaston decided to retire at the end of 2010, and it seemed like the Jays and their owners had forgot about the older crowd.

Like the Blue Jays, the Orioles are getting desperate to appeal to an older audience.

The Boomers Loom


With an aging population in Canada, with many Baby Boomers approaching retirement, it seems that Rogers could not completely ignore the demographic. So despite all the talk of a "youth movement" and of looking forward, the Jays and their owners abandoned the edgy Black and White uniforms and Blue Jay made of knives Logo in late 2011. Around the same time that Canadian politicians were debating the fate of the pensions of older Canadians, the Blue Jays announced that the new Jays logo would be retro (of course with some new edge to it), going back to the Jays roots. Coincidence?

Perhaps, the boundaries Alex was talking about was not necessarily about just money but also of age. Rogers could be looking at a way to tap both the youth market, and the Boomers. The young upstarts like Lawrie for teens and those in their twenties, and Vizquels for those who can relate to the challenges of aging. Every middle age man must be thinking, "I mean if a 45 year old can still play baseball for Toronto, that's damn well inspiring! A 41 year old pitcher can still make $4 Millon too, wow, he's just like me. Get me 10 season ticket packages, and Rogers Bundle for the entire family!". There's something the whole family can enjoy.

During the state of the franchise event, the Jays even suggested the possibility of bringing in real grass to the dome, so as to appeal more to older players for whom astroturf is hard on their knees. This might have been a factor in the aging Carlos Beltran (only a mere 34 years old) not heading north. Perhaps, this is why Roy Oswalt said no to the Jays before they even asked. Getting grass seems to be important, so that they can attract (old) free agents.

Everyone knows that since Rogers holds the purse strings, and that they will only do corporation-y things like get players only for their appeal to certain demographics, and of course to be a cheap as humanly possible otherwise (if they weren't run by unfeeling robots bent on assimilating earth). These pickups have nothing to do with say, a GM making level headed moves to strengthen his club in the interim, while younger players develop. That's just crazy, right?

If you are wondering who Steven is. He is the producer of "Sunday Afternoon Baseball with Paul and Dave" and moonlights as a film director and songwriter. He also writes a rarely updated travel blog called "Bound to Distance". If you pay him money to travel somewhere, he'll probably write more blogs. Just saying...