Wow. 5 years, 47 million. BJ Ryan is a Blue Jay now, as Toronto is doing everything in their power to become a real player in the AL east hunt next season. They are also pursuing free agent pitcher AJ Burnett, who has pretty much been written off as a possibility in Detroit.
The Toronto Blue Jays, with a payroll surplus of $25-30 million for next year, have made a bold statement that they intend to be big players in the AL East by signing lefty free agent reliever B.J. Ryan to a five-year $47 million contract, the Daily News has learned.
The 6-6, 260-pound 29-year-old Ryan had 36 saves in 41 attempts for the Orioles this past season and had been pursued by the Indians, Tigers and Red Sox, with both the Mets and Phillies viewing him as a fallback in the event they couldn't sign Billy Wagner.
Well, Kyle Farnsworth is still a possibility. The Tigers are running out of big(ger) name bullpen free agents, as Bobby Howry recently signed with the Cubs and the Mets pretty much are leading the Billy Wagner chase. Perhaps Fernando Rodney will be a closer next season?