The New York Daily News is reporting that the Blue Jays have signed B.J. Ryan to a 5 year, $47 million deal.
Wow. I'm stunned. Way more money and years than I would have guessed for Ryan. He's a very good reliever, but I don't see how this deal makes a lot of sense.
From the trickle-down standpoint, this could impact the Rangers, since it could jump-start the Batista-Mench trade talks that were supposedly kicking around earlier this winter.
As I've said before, I'd be down with a Mench for Batista and either Rios or League deal. That could allow Batista to go into the rotation, leaving the Rangers needing just one starting pitcher to fill out the 2006 rotation, although it would also necessitate going and getting at least one more outfielder.