There are a lot of people who make their living in baseball who don’t like how their product has evolved. After a club executive explains his team’s rationale for making a move, making a sound argument based on value, I’ve sometimes asked: Do you like to watch your game, as a fan?
The waves of relievers? All the strikeouts, with the parade of hitters to and from the dugouts? The extended respites between moments of action? The record-setting number of teams that are simply non-competitive?
And often, the answer has been: “No, I hate it.”
We should view the Toronto Blue Jays‘ signing of left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu through this prism, rather than through an algorithm designed to measure per-dollar acquisition efficiency. By the 21st century standards of how signings are assessed, an $80 million investment over four years was probably a mistake, and more likely than not, the Blue Jays’ baseball operations department will regret what is regarded as a high-risk deal.