Toronto Blue Jays: Sign the prospects to extensions now

With the Toronto Blue Jays possessing some of the youngest prospects in baseball, it may be a wise move to lock them up early.

The Toronto Blue Jays had a rough year in 2019, limping to a 67-95 record and seeing a drastic drop in attendance for the third straight year.

The reason for this record can be attributed to a few different factors, but one of the key factors is that the team is going through a rebuild. The Blue Jays are starting to rely on their farm-raised talent and young prospects to try and build a contending team for the future.

This isn’t a well-kept secret, and multiple teams throughout the league have utilized this process to build World Series caliber teams *cough* Astros *cough*.

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The two biggest prospects the Toronto Blue Jays have on their squad are Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, both infielders who had productive years in their first taste of the big leagues given their age and the supporting cast around them.

Follow these two with other talented prospects like Cavan Biggio, Rowdy Tellez, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and the Toronto Blue Jays may have a playoff-contending team in the not so distant future.

When a team like the Toronto Blue Jays possesses star prospects like Bichette and Guerrero Jr., I am a firm believer in trying to extend the player to a long term deal in the early stages of their career rather than go through pre-arbitration and arbitration.

For one, the pre-arb and arbitration process are just a gut punch to players looking to get what they feel they deserve. For the first three years, the organization pays the player basically whatever they want, which you can guess is near the league minimum.

Then the arbitration years get worse. If the player and the organization cannot come to terms on a financial value for that year, the player and the organization go head to head in a boardroom surrounded by fancy suits and lawyers, all pleading why they deserve their way and not the others.

The player has to sit and listen to the organization he plays for telling him why he shouldn’t earn as much as he is asking for. Many players have been outspoken about how this process is not a joyous occasion to sit through.

Another reason I believe in extending prospects early in their careers is the motivation of guaranteed money. When you offer a player like Bichette or Guerrero Jr. significant money upfront instead of them making major league minimums and arbitration money over the next 7 years, you are putting the organization’s faith and trust on the player, something that can only be used as fuel and motivation.

There is no pressure on the player to try and ‘over-perform’ in order to improve their stock when they go fighting for more money in arbitration, the contract is already there for them. They just need to focus on baseball and the game itself, rather than their contract status.

A good example can be found with the Atlanta Braves. They were able to sign both young prospects Ronald Acuna Jr., and Ozzie Albies to long term contracts that buy out the arbitration years and gives them the guaranteed money long term.

Considering Acuna Jr. is one of the best young players in baseball, this is a win for both the player and the team. The native of Venezuela now has an 8-year contract and guaranteed $100 million dollars, as well as the relief of not having to go through arbitration proceedings.

The Atlanta Braves also win because if Acuna Jr., keeps playing the way he is (and all signs are pointing to this), he may have been paid more through arbitration and then could have cost more money once he reached his free-agent years.

This is obviously hypothetical in nature, but considering players are starting to spurn long term contracts so close to free agency (Kris Bryant and Mookie Betts to name two), a long term contract early in the career of the player may prompt the player to avoid free agency (ex: Mike Trout).

If the Toronto Blue Jays want to keep their young core together for the long term, it may be in their best interest to play with some of the salary relief they have these upcoming years and commit to the young talent.