Toronto Blue Jays' Salary Dump Strategy Questionable

With the recent player movement from Blue Jays Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager J.P. Ricciardi, it seems as though the club is going in the wrong direction in terms of competing in the American League East. 

Trading Scott Rolen to Cincinnati and waiving Alex Rios is an obvious salary dumping strategy, leaving fans to believe that Ricciardi could be on his way out at the end of the season and president Paul Beeston may bring in his own General Manager who will be given a clean slate with free agent salary to work with. 

It is clear that the plan that Ricciardi had hoped to accomplish has not worked out.  Toronto currently sits 20 games back of first place in the division, and they have struggled to even compete for the wild card since Ricciardi took over in 2001.

The solution that Beeston and owner Rogers Communications may have come up with is reflected with the dismissal of Rolen and Rios.  The model that the Tampa Bay Rays carried to the World Series last season may be the best bet to compete in the toughest division in baseball.  Blow up your current roster, build through the draft, and add low-priced veteran talent.

With the high payrolls of Boston and New York, it is impossible to outspend the AL East powerhouses, but rather invest money into scouting and draft picks and eventually field a team that can play meaningful baseball in September.  Avoiding injury and hoping for division rivals to stumble are also necessary for success, which makes this model a longshot.

With a current nucleus of young talent, this may not be too far of a stretch.  Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, and Travis Snider are all great position players to build around.  A club record five rookie pitchers have made their major league debut for the Blue Jays this season.  Ricky Romero, Marc Rzepczynski, Brad Mills, Scott Richmond and Brett Cecil are a blessing of young arms which most teams can only hope to acquire.  Along with the anticipated return of Jesse Litsch and Shaun Marcum next season, the abundance of pitching gives the Blue Jays an overwhelming luxury.

It is difficult to see what direction the Toronto Blue Jays are going in, but for a normally baseball savvy city, it is a difficult to sell a salary dumping franchise that hasn't made the postseason since its World Series title in 1993.