In Boston, Peter Abraham notes for organizations like the Red Sox, the role of President of Baseball Operations "makes all significant decisions and the general manager is essentially an assistant with a lofty title but little power." Given those realities, the Red Sox could "dispense" with the GM title and "use other staffers" to take on administrative duties done by Mike Hazen, who left to become D-backs Exec VP & GM. But that task "grew more complicated" when Red Sox VP/Amateur & Int'l Scouting Amiel Sawdaye, who was seen as a "strong candidate for promotion," instead joined Hazen in Arizona as Senior VP & Assistant GM (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/25).
MARKET FORCES: SPORTSNET.ca's Shi Davidi noted the Blue Jays expect to see "some type of increase" from the roughly $150M in payroll they finished at in '16 after leading the AL in attendance. The recent changeover of Rogers Communications CEO from Guy Laurence to Joe Natale is also "believed to be a positive." The market for DH Edwin Encarnacion is "expected to be very hot," while RF Jose Bautista is "likely to be a prime target for teams" once Encarnacion signs. If the Blue Jays are going to "win the bidding, the payroll has to be sustainable for the duration of any potential contract to keep the team viable" (SPORTSNET.ca, 10/24).
SHOW ME THE MONEY: In DC, Jorge Castillo notes the Nationals' Opening Day payroll in '16 was $145.18M, which was a drop from the $162.01M on the books in '15. A return to the '15 payroll is possible, though "splurging much beyond that is unlikely." As the roster currently stands, the Nationals have $97.55M in contracts for '17, "excluding players with club options, pre-arbitration players and arbitration players" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/25).
