Why Major League Baseball needs Albert Pujols to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays!

Bud Selig has a major conundrum. Alex Rios and his skipper aside, there is a major problem with Major League Baseball and let me tell you it ain't going away anytime soon. Attendance overall is trending down, and markets such as Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Oakland are struggling as always. Is it the buzz? Is it the economy? Who is to say, but there's no denying that sports fans these days have much more choice in spending their hard earned dollar, and we know fans are fickle. But one situation that has to be of grave concern is the plight of the Toronto Blue Jays. Once the mighty city from the great white north, the Jays used to set attendance records game after game, year after year. Not so this year, where there are only about 4,000 season ticket holders and attendance is averaging a record low 10,500 per game. According to Paul Beeston, President of club, they need to be about 25,000 per game to make this thing work. So, this means that big ol Rogers Communications has been losing money for a few years now.

But the situation with the Jays differs from every other ball club. Toronto is the 3rd largest market behind New York and Los Angeles, that most of you already know. But what sets the Jays apart is that they are also Canada's team. An entire nation of 36 million people back one team, it's out team, the lone team that represents the great white north. When the Montreal Expos left town, Toronto became the only game in town...or ehhh hemm...the country.

Losing the Toronto franchise might create a ripple effect around the country, an effect that Bud Selig dare not fathom. A fan base of an entire country losing interest in baseball? Probable? Mmmmm....Possible? Most definitely. Baseball is the only sport without a salary cap, and thus only the spenders become winners, especially in a division with NY Yankees (payroll up in the 200 million range) and the Bosox (payroll not far from the Yanks). I'm not counting out Tampa Bay, but they're not setting record attendance either, and they HAVE a winning team.

The Jays need some help. Winning will solve much of the issue, but there has to be more, there has to be excitement, a splash, and the only one that can create that splash is Albert Pujols. Possibly the best player in the game at the moment, and most definitely the most electric hitter in the game, the infusion of Pujols would jump start this team, the city and the country. Now I know what some people are saying right now. TO get Pujols, one would need to make him the highest paid player in the league (Didn't small market Minnesota just pay an arm and leg to keep Mauer?), or at least the top 3. And to pay a player who has already reached his peak and most likely would decline as the years go back would be foolish...or so the argument goes.

But here's the argument for signing Pujols. Winning ball games in the future will not help the Jays, and at this rate, Selig might lose Canada's team, and hence an entire country worth of baseball fans. They need to win now, and they need to win with a splash. The fans need a reason to fork over money for tickets, a $10 beer and an $8 dollar hot dog (which actually are tasty by the way). Look currently the Jays are about 15,000 fans per game below what they need to break even, that's a long ways off. Even fighting for second in the AL East will not help the cause right now, why? Because the fans expect the Jays to lose, and there isn't one polarizing figure on the team (think Mats Sundin, Chris Bosh and Douggggyyy Gilmour). The fans need an electrifying star in the mold of Albert Pujols, cause mofo I ain't takin Alex Rodriguez for any money!.

So, Mr. Bud Selig, I suggest you start talking to Paul Beeston to figure out how you're going to get this done, else, we'll make oracles out of Alex Rios and a team backed by an entire country. Do we really want to see how that ripple effect may aversely affect MLB? I didn't think so!

GO Get PUJOLS!!

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Blog – 2 years, 0 months ago by Megatron to Baseball. 4896 views, 5 comments.

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dukesrocks 8 months, 1 week ago

@ Dino_Blogger... Do you just post garbage without checking your facts? TV ratings for both WS involving the Jays were not the worst in MLB history, do some research idiot. And do you honestly think David Stern is really concerned about the Raptors. The Raptors, Leafs and Jays are owned by two of the richest corporations in NA. Do some reasearch and check out Rogers Communications and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. Lastly to even compare the Expos to the Jays shows really how stupid you are. The Jays are one of the richest teams in the MLB and I'm not talkig about their owners wealth, I'm talking bout the money they generate for their owners through TV, Radio, Publication, Sponsorship and Advertising, revenue that Forbes never takes into consideration when valuing the Jays. Lastly Dino, there are millons of people who care about baseball in Canada all you have to do is look at the Jays TV ratings to get a handle how popular the Jays are across the country.

dukesrocks 8 months, 1 week ago

If the Jays are the only game in town, sorry I mean the country, would that not make them the biggest market in the MLB. And to clairify, the attendence may be low because they are not winning but their TV ratings are the best in the MLB. The totals for 2011, the Jays average over 500K per household, I don't see any MLB team even come close to that total. I see the Texas Rangers average under 200K per household and have a TV deal worth 150 million per year. Don't get me started on how much money Rogers makes off the Jays outside of baseball through their cable customers. Lets just say we are talking millios of dollars unrelated to baseball. Paul Beeston has to say we need fans to come to the games, that's just smart business. Fact is the Jays make Rogers so much money, there would be no way in hell Rogers would ever concider selling them. Most of this garbage about the Jays and Raptors come from Americans who know nothing about Toronto.

Rodney_Dean 2 years, 0 months ago

You have to have the draw of a superstar like Pujols to bring the crowds in, especially after losing Halliday. Toronto is basically an American city anyway, so I don't think moving them is the answer.

Megatron 2 years, 0 months ago

Hey Dino, nice comment, and your points are valid as always. But you know, the objective of every major sports league is not to keep the status quo, but for growth. Hence NFL's experiment in London, Mexico City and Toronto. Although NFL is a bad example because they are the only league boasting of growing fan base and ratings. Baseball has been around the longest of any sport, and hence they've basically reached their peak and reach, they can now only turn to foreign soil for growth. They're even talking about playing the Japanese champion for a "real world series" which is actually a great idea. I think losing their only team in Canada may jeopardize those growth plans. At the current pace, they will only lose interest and fan base. The thought of having Pujols in Toronto would definitely pique my interest as a baseball fan let me tell ya!

Dino_Blogger 2 years, 0 months ago

I think you are over estimating how much Baseball cares about being in Canada. I don't think it matters that much. The Expos move to Washington would have happened sooner they just could not find a buyer or location to put them. In the NBA David Stern was the commissioner on duty if you will when Raptors and Grizzlies came and he lost one franchise. The Raptors survival is more important to him. Hence his kind of guide B.C to Toronto and vice versa behind the scenes. While the NHL is totally dependent on Canada. In terms of the NFL the idea of coming to Toronto is nothing they are rushing to do because their is no money it for them in terms of T.V. But the point is even though they won 2 World Series which speaking of ratings were 2 of the worst all time in U.S at the time. Baseball would prefer no team moved but they would not lose sleep over baseball being out of Canada.

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albert pujols, major league baseball, toronto blue jays, bud selif, paul beeston

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