Jays offer Lilly a hefty four-year deal

[SLAM]

Three hours after Vicente Padilla signed a three-year, $34 million (all figures U.S.) contract, the Blue Jays extended their first formal offer to free-agent Ted Lilly: a four-year contract that sources say was valued between $40 million-$44 million. "All I can tell you is that we had a good discussion with Larry O'Brien (Lilly's agent) and that we agreed we would likely talk again before we leave here (on Thursday)," said Blue Jays genersal manager J.P. Ricciardi.O'Brien has said he would take a smaller annual average value on Lilly's contract in order to get a four-year deal. But he also said that he planned on talking Tuesday with the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants and that he'd also like to get the San Diego Padres involved in the bidding for Lilly.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/baseball

[Halladay_is_God]

disgusting, I really want to kill JP if Lilly does sign for that much

[catman]

Lilly will need some incentive to return to the Jays. Maybe this amount of cash will provide such an incentive. Who knows?

[Roy31]

10 Million a year for Lilly give me a freaking break!

[McKain]

This market is ridiculous and I love it.

[Halladay_is_God]

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=187230&hubname=

The Toronto Blue Jays have fallen behind the Chicago Cubs in the race to sign Ted Lilly, although the left-hander's agent says he planned to meet with J.P. Ricciardi again Tuesday.

The Cubs had improved on their initial offer to Lilly, which was believed to be around US$40 million over four years, Larry O'Brien told a throng of reporters in the lobby of the Disney Dolphin Hotel, changing the scenario for the Blue Jays.

[catman]

This is getting ridiculous. Ted Lilly is, at best, a #2 starter and is going to get $10M/year? No wonder some teams have decided to stay out of the FA market.
This said, Lilly could be a good pick up for whomever signs him. He was not happy in Toronto last season and would likely need a better offer to return there. Chicago has made some noise this off-season, signing Soriano and DeRosa, along with their new manager. Can they compete for the NL Central?
The Jays have a very fine team on the field. If they can pick up another pitcher or 2 (depending on whether Lilly stays or goes) and they stay healthy, they could be one of the contenders in the AL East.

[Halladay_is_God]

I only heard this but the Cubs increased the price to 44 million over 4 years.

[BoSox34]

And its official... Hendry has gone retarded...

[Halladay_is_God]

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=187383&hubname=

Jays out of running to re-sign Lilly

Canadian Press

12/6/2006 3:33:16 PM

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (CP) - The Toronto Blue Jays are out of the running to re-sign free agent Ted Lilly.

Larry O'Brien, the agent for the left-hander, delivered the news to the Blue Jays in a morning meeting Wednesday, and that his choices were down to the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.

''At the end of the day, Ted decided he wanted a change of scenery,'' O'Brien said in an interview. ''The decision had nothing to do with length of contract or money. The offers are all about the same.''

The loss of Lilly means the Blue Jays will have to turn their focus to signing free agent Gil Meche, who is also being pursued by the Cubs.

The Blue Jays had reached a take-it-or-leave-it point with Lilly, hoping to settle things so they can move on to other players. They were also looking at Matt Stairs of Fredericton to be their fourth outfielder plus another infielder.

[SLAM]

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=187383&hubname=

Jays out of running to re-sign Lilly

he just signed with the cubs. 40 Million for 4 years.