Spend it Like You Stole it Alex!!!

 You're a bit surprised that today's new are not about the winter meetings? Hey, so am I, but this is huge.
Mr. Bob Elliott reported in the Toronto Sun today, that the scouting world has been made aware of the intentions for the Jays to spend $16 million during next year's draft!! Sure, this more than covers the bonuses that will be given to the 8 or 9 draft picks the Jays will have in the first 3 rounds, so where's the remainder going? To obtain International talent, that's where. The Jays are finally realizing that there's a reason teams like to be heavily involved in the International market.

The Jays will be drafting in the 11th spot in 2010. If everyone remembers the 2009 draft class, SP Tyler Matzek fell to this exact spot because he was deemed too hard to sign and too expensive. The Rockies put up the cash for a player that was deemed by some to be the top high school pick and arguably the second best arm after Stephen Strasburg, with a $3,900,000 bonus. The Jays may be hoping for something similar to occur in 2010, when they get the 11th overall pick.

For argument's sake, let's say that they do pay $4,200,000 (due to inflation...lol) for that 11th pick.
 11th pick bonus (16,000,000 - 4,200,000 = 13,800,000)

For now, they also hold the 29th overall pick, which cost the Yankees $2,200,000 for Slade Heathcott (big time over slot).We'll call it 2,300,000 for the Jays in 2010.

29th pick (13,800,000 - 2,300,000 = 11,200,000)

The Jays also have 2 sandwich picks that should cost approximately 900,000 to 1,500,000 depending on the talent that falls to them. Let's average this out to 1,200,000 per pick for a 2,4000,000 total.

2 x Sandwich picks (11,200,000 - 2,400,000 = 8,800,000)

That leaves the Jays with $8,800,000 to spend on the remaining 4-5 picks they'll have in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. They have 4 picks in those rounds right now, 5 once Barajas signs elsewhere.
For argument's sake, let's say these average out in cost to $750,000.

5 x 2nd and 3rd round picks 5 x $750,000 = $3,500,000 (8,800,000 - 3,500,000 = 5,300,000)

I'm not exactly sure how much the remaining rounds will cost the Jays, but with the approximate money remaining of between $3,000,000 to $5,300,000, chances are that this figure of $16,000,000 isn't that far fetched in part due to the Jays having so many high-end picks. It will still allow the Jays to pickup 2 or 3 high-end International FA, which could have a big impact on the minors system overall.

Alex is going to put his money where his mouth is in 2010, in his scouting department. If he can reap the rewards in that area for the Jays, AND land some nice prospects for Doc and others, this could be the turning point fans have been looking for. Whatever the case, it's an excellent first step to refurbishing the Jays.