The Toronto Blue Jays say payroll will not be an issue in 2007 if it means getting the missing piece to a championship puzzle.
Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey tells the Globe and Mail he's confident team owner Ted Rogers would approve any payroll expenditure for the right player.
"Let's just say that I would have no problem saying to Ted, 'Here it is, July 10, the all-star break - whatever - the team is in contention for the AL East or the wild-card spot and we need to get this missing piece," he tells the newspaper.
"If J.P. (Ricciardi) and myself made a case to Ted about that. well, let's just say I think he'd give it serious consideration."
The Globe quotes sources who say the Blue Jays payroll will be at or near $92-million US this season.
Godfrey adds that the club has already sold 851,000 tickets for the upcoming season, which is a 20-percent increase from a year ago at this time, and he hopes the team will top the one-million mark by the end of this month.
"That's something that hasn't been done since the golden days of the franchise," Godfrey tells the Globe.