If The Blue Jays Don’t Re-Sign David Price, Here’s the Reason Why
If the Blue Jays don’t re-sign David Price, here’s the reason why
David Cone. Roy Halladay. David Price.
The Toronto Blue Jays finally have their ace. After surrendering arguably the organization’s top prospect, Daniel Norris, amongst a package of lefties, Alex Anthopolous finally acquired the long anticipated successor to Roy Halladay.
David Price
David Price has been a boon to an already fearsome Blue Jays roster, helping the team become the odds-on favourite to win the World Series. The Jays have baseball’s most potent offense, being touted by ESPN as “that beer-league team up north”, in reference to the Blue Jays 1 through 4 batters being able to hit home runs seemingly at will, similar to ringers in a beer-league baseball game.
The acquisition of the 2012 AL Cy Young award winner solidifies a rotation that has been spectacular in post all-star break play. The Blue Jays have ostensibly assembled a roster that can deliver the franchise its first playoff berth (and maybe championship) since 1993.
90’s Glory Days
Speaking of the ‘90s, many are drawing comparisons between the 2015 Blue Jays and the championship winning rosters of yore. In similar fashion to the 1992 team, who acquired ace David Cone before their playoff push, 2015’s version acquired David Price. It’s almost as if the ‘90s are happening all over again: Sheryl Crow is on tour, the Blue Jays are good again, and the Canadian dollar is marching steadily towards 70 cents.
I repeat, the Canadian dollar is marching steadily towards 70 cents.
Falling Loonie To Hurt Blue Jays Next Year
When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Russell Martin on November 18, 2014, the Canadian dollar was at 88.5 cents. It’s since dropped down to 76 cents. By the time the Jays will be looking to re-sign David Price, we could realistically be looking at a 70 cent dollar. After the 2014 campaign, President Paul Beeston promised the Blue Jays payroll would climb higher. 2014’s payroll was around $136 million, with 2015’s being $125 million. However, Mr. Beeston didn’t lie when he said the Blue Jays payroll was going up. The Blue Jays, who pay wages in USD but collect revenues in CAD, were paying more for players in Canadian dollars.
The belle of the ball during last year’s free agency, Max Scherzer, signed with the Washington Nationals for $210 million over 7 years. Given David Price’s pedigree heading into this year’s free agency, he’s expected to sign a similar pact. With a 70 cent dollar, the value of that contract in Canadian dollars would be $300 million, which works out to roughly $43 million per annum. That figure is almost 5 times as much as Rogers CEO Guy Laurence made in 2014.
If the Canadian dollar was at parity, the Blue Jays would be able to sign David Price for about $90 million cheaper (if he got the same contract as Max Scherzer).
“We can blame weak oil prices, the nervous Bank of Canada, and sluggish Growth in China, which are all impacting Blue Jays fans, as a falling Canadian dollar makes it more unlikely the Jays will resign David Price.” Says Rahim Madhavji, President of Knightsbridgefx.com
The benefit of having David Price in a Blue Jays uniform has been overwhelmingly positive. The cost to acquire him however, was high, in the form of the organizations top prospect. The cost to keep him will be higher still, and continue to rise as the Canadian dollar continues its precipitous drop.
The Blue Jays continue to win games and sell tickets. In his 3 starts thusfar, David Price has come as advertised, dominating opposing batters. If Mr.Price is not back in the blue and white next year, it will not be because he performed poorly, or because the organization lost interest in him. It will be because he’s too expensive, and a large part of that will be due to the weak Canadian dollar.
Photocredit: The Canadian Press / CTV News / Fred Thornhill Aug 3 2015