Shortly before A.J. Burnett's drawn-out departure from the Toronto Blue Jays finally became set in stone, Matt Clement spoke about his determination to pitch behind ace Roy Halladay in 2009.
The contrast between the New York Yankees breaking the bank to lure an electric starter in the prime of his career and the Blue Jays scraping some pennies together to bring in a former all-star trying to rebuild his career, exposed just how much wider the gap in the American League East became yesterday. Burnett's departure has been expected since he opted out of the remaining $24 million and two years left on his contract with the Blue Jays, the only question being where he ended up.
That was answered yesterday, when the office for Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker, confirmed that the right-hander has agreed to a five-year deal with the Yankees, reportedly worth $82.5 million US.
That's way more cake than the Blue Jays can handle these days, an outcome the team came to terms with months ago.
"I think once he decided to opt out we were never under the impression that he was going to come back to us,'' Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told The Canadian Press. "We had one shot, when Paul Beeston and I went down to see him (in October). If he wanted to be a Blue Jay that day we could have signed him.
"But then the market really turned for us and we were probably not in a position financially to be as involved as the contract it sounds like he's going to get.''
So the Blue Jays will now try to slay the AL East beasts with a plastic knife, hoping their kids progress quickly, several players overachieve and they hit on some inexpensive, roll-of-the-dice signings.
Clement falls into the latter category, although the former all-star fully expects to make a contribution and is certain he'll again become the pitcher he used to be.
"I wouldn't be signing a contract with someone if I didn't think I could,'' Clement said on a conference call after his minor-league contract with the team was finalized.
Clement will try to help shore up a starting rotation that was already drastically diluted by injuries to Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan. Only ace Roy Halladay, plus Jesse Litsch and David Purcey, return from a rotation that was the team's strength last season, and new payroll restrictions give Ricciardi little choice but to scour the discount racks for help.
