Insert Bad Pun Here

Well, Jays fans didn’t get the Yu-letide blessing they wanted.  The natural reaction, of course, is to kick and scream and shout all sorts of obscenities at Rogers for being cheapskates, but it’s worth taking a step back to gain some perspective.

The first thing to remember is that losing out on Darvish does not make the Jays any better or worse than they were before he was posted.  We can debate the merits of whether the risk is worth the money.  We won’t know the wisdom of the ace-level investment until after we see how he transitions.  However, regardless of how this works out for Texas, ere’s something to chew on:

Signing Darvish for the price he’ll cost would only make sense if you believe the core talent is on the cusp of contention.

Signing free agents to “make a splash” and try to jumpstart the fanbase almost never works.  There might be a short-term attendance boost, but more often than not the team splashing around ends up drowning.  Consider that for a moment: the only way losing out on Darvish ends up looking like a mistake is if the current crop of young, cost-controlled talent ends up performing at a high enough level that Darvish’s arm would have made a difference.  That means the team would need to be at least within four or five games of a postseason birth on, what people are quick to point out, is a low payroll.  In other words, the only way the Jays would be in a better place with Darvish than without is if the organization is already in a really good place.

It’s an interesting conundrum:  disappointment only makes rational sense when mixed with optimism.