Early-bird special: the Blue Jays may have paid a premium for talent at the league meetings, but they clearly got better—unlike most other teams

When the Blue Jays took center stage at the winter meetings to announce the A.J. Burnett signing, there was no holding back the financial terms. Although most clubs prefer to be discreet when it's time to talk dollar amounts, the Blue Jays sounded quite proud to tell the world they would be paying Burnett $55 million for five years of service.

Hey, they may not be able to beat the Yankees or Red Sox, but they sure can spend like them. Forget that Burnett has a lifetime record of 49-50 and has had his share of arm problems. Pay no attention to the fact he lost his last six decisions of 2005 and was banished from the Marlins a week before the season ended for ripping his manager. The Jays were thrilled to land Burnett one week after they gave closer B.J. Ryan a five-year deal worth $47 million, even though Ryan has been a full-time closer for only one season. With general manager J.P. Ricciardi doing the recruiting, perhaps Johnny Damon should start going by his initials--J.D. Damon--to enhance his chances of getting a seven-year deal.

But the craziest part of the Jays' spending spree is this: Signing Burnett and Ryan was a solid business decision--at least in the short term. The Jays went into the offseason with money to throw around and realized they would have to overspend before someone would take it. With so many uncertainties dogging the Red Sox and Yankees, the time was right for the Jays to pounce.

Though the wisdom of spending $102 million on two mostly unproven pitchers will be questioned for years, at least the Jays--who also traded for first baseman Lyle Overbay--left Dallas with a club that clearly is better than when they arrived. Few others could make the same claim.

Dodgers, maybe. They hired a solid manager, Grady Little, and swooped in to sign shortstop Rafael Furcal, one of the top free agents available. But the Dodgers lost out on Brian Giles, who stayed with the Padres, and still have plenty of holes to fill before they can be considered a serious contender.

Cubs, slightly. They lost out on Furcal but quick]y turned to the South Florida garage sale to find a leadoff hitter in Juan Pierre. If the Cubs somehow could pry disgruntled Miguel Tejada from the Orioles, the talk of a Second City World Series would become loud--and legitimate.

Mets, sort of. Signing Jose Valentin and giving 47-year-old Julio Franco a two-year deal won't be the moves that New Yorkers will be talking about next fall, but both veterans will help in the clubhouse. The Mets already had done their heavy lifting by trading for Carlos Delgado and signing Billy Wagner.

Braves, indeed. Before news that Furcal was leaving Atlanta had spread through the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, general manager John Schuerholz already had located his new shortstop. He not only landed a four-time All-Star in Edgar Renteria, Schuerholz also convinced the Red Sox to kick in what was reported to be $11 million of the $29 million Renteria is due over the next three years. Not long after the trade was announced, word came from Colombia that Renteria, a proud player who was embarrassed by his 2005 performance, has been working with a personal trainer. Renteria cost the Braves a top prospect, third baseman Andy Marte, but Chipper Jones still has a few more years and the Braves never seem to be hurt by losing prospects.

And that's about it. The Padres were happy to hang onto Giles and closer Trevor Hoffman, but keeping two of their best players--while picking up Mike Cameron and Vinny Castilla but losing Mark Loretta--amounts to a wash.

If there weren't many clear winners at the meetings, neither were there obvious losers. The Nationals could end up with the most regrettable more after sending Brad Wilkerson, a backup outfielder and a pitching prospect to the Rangers for second baseman Alfonso Soriano. Soriano hit only .224 away from hitter-friendly Ameriquest Park last year, is in line to make $10 million in arbitration and has said he wants no part of the outfield, which is where the Nats want him to play.

The Red Sox went to the meetings without a G.M. but had no trouble finding a second baseman, Loretta, and proving they indeed had given up on Renteria. The Sox began the week still looking for a first baseman, hoping to re-sign Damon and listening to offers for Manny Ramirez.

In other words, like most teams, they left the winter meetings still needing to make plenty of improvements.

BLOG ALERT

'What are the Sox thinking???? Who is going to play shortstop now? They already had holes to fill before this; now they just created another one. Pleeeeease let me be the GM.

--JediKnight2727 isn't a fan of the Edgar Renteria trade, but the closest he'll get to succeeding Theo Epstein is at sportingnews.com. Free membership gives you the right (and responsibility) to offer suggestions year round to your favorite teams-and to people such as JediKnight2727.

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