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Within the space of a few recent emails in the wake of the surprising Zack Greinke trade to the Brewers, I have been accused of labelling Alex Anthopoulos both a genius and an idiot depending on reader interpretation, while I myself have been called just one of those two.

Let me make it perfectly clear, the answer (for both) lies somewhere inbetween. I am told that I promoted the trade of Greinke to the Jays and suggested it was a distinct possibility when in the wake of the six-player deal between the Brewers and Royals, the strong implication from Greinke was that the Jays were never in the mix. First examine the “no-trade-to-Toronto” clause. I have been around the game long enough that when someone says that a team was on his no-trade list, that can be changed in a heartbeat if that ends up being where he wants to go. But Greinke thought the Brewers were closer to winning which makes sense in the shallow waters of the NL Central. The fact is the Jays had called the Royals prior to the winter meetings and asked about the Cy guy and were told approximately what it would cost in terms of players and prospects. Anthopoulos considered it too much, but still had an eye on the Royals. He treated it like any other team, looking for his opening, any chance the Royals would come down off the “Drabek, Snider and two prospects” stance. To paraphrase re the Greinke trade from Monty Python's “parrot” skit. “It's not dead, it's just sleeping.” It never happened and Melvin's call to Royals GM Dayton Moore ended the suspense. Anthopoulos is always aware when young controllable talent is there. The 27-year-old Greinke is talented and signed for two more years. But the price was not right.

One of the apparently objectionable words that I used in a column after the trade was that A.A. was “schooled” by Brewers GM Doug Melvin. That was taken in some quarters as a huge insult towards the Jays GM. Certainly, as a 34-year-old personnel boss, three months into his second season Anthopoulos acknowledges he does not know it all when it comes to his job. On this occasion, he learned something from Melvin about the art of the deal, about persistence, about building and not being satisfied when your goal is to win and win now. Anthopoulos would admit that he has a lot to learn, but he has said as long as he does not repeat the same mistake twice then he is learning. . . or being schooled. His history is of learning. A.A. learned something when trying to deal Roy Halladay and discovering his options were one, the Phillies. He learned something at the trade deadline in July when he couldn't move any of his relievers though he tried. He learned something from the way the Jeremy Accardo episode turned out, wherein he promised his disgruntled reliever in the off-season things would be different that he would have a chance to earn a job in the bullpen and in the end it was more of the same. He learns something every day. Hey, sports is about dealing with human beings and a constanly changing landscape. If your idea of good journalism is being the first to tweet a rumour then that's good. We're into opinion and analysis here. I learned a long time ago that the best way not to fall out of a tree is to never go out on a limb. Even I can admit we're all still learning. On to the mailbag.

Q: I read your article about the Jay's pursuit of Zack Greinke and about how Jay's GM A.A. is a genius by acquiring Brett Lawrie and taking the Brewers out of the Greinke equation. It would have been a good article had you not been dead wrong. As I'm sure you've learned by now, the Shaun Marcum acquisition was a primary factory in Greinke waiving his no-trade clause in a deal with Milwaukee. Looks like A.A. isn't such a "genius" after all. You owe a big apology to all the Jays fans for lack of good observation.
Best regards,
NWilding

A: Good start. The Brewers have clearly decided to go for it in 2011 in the very winnable NL Central. So the follow-up effect of the Marcum trade with the Jays on Milwaukee — rather than ending their search, rather than filling their needs, satisfying their desire for a top-of-the-rotation starter, instead of ending all those things, the Marcum trade led to the next dramatic Brewers move, the acquisition of Greinke. The Brewers used four more of their minor-league inventory of top prospects to pry the Cy guy away from the Royals. In those two key trades for starting pitchers, the Brewers dealt four of their top nine and five of their top 21 prospects according to Baseball America's 2010 rankings. The follow-up trade after Marcum with the Royals came out of the blue off a Melvin phone call. It was initiated and consummated quickly all within the first few days after Greinke changed agents and it became known that he really, really wanted out -- and not only that he wanted to go to a contender. Royals trade talks with the Brewers had been dormant, just as they were with the Jays after GM Alex Anthopoulos's only call prior to the winter meetings. However a second call from Brewers GM Doug Melvin to his Royals counterpart Dayton Moore, got the ball rolling again. So why not the Jays? It wasn't the no-trade it was the nolo contendo. All no-trade clauses can be worked out as happened with Milwaukee. But the Jays' public strategy has been to downplay their ability to contend in 2011 and just let it flow instead of making promises to fans that they end up not being able to keep. Players can read (uh, most of them). The Jays stance: if contending in 2011 happens, it happens and, make no mistake, they are potentially talented enough to contend for a wild-card led by their young starting pitching and with two other teams the Yankees and Rays struggling in the offseason, it might happen. But there are no promises. However that was not the type of up-front attitude to attract Greinke. That and the fact that the Jays are in tough in the AL East with the Red Sox and Yankees. As for the column in question that suggested A.A. had a solid strategy of eliminating the Brewers from the Greinke hunt, nobody is more prepared going into trade talks than Anthopoulos. He knows what other teams need before any discussion. He knows what they have to offer and he knows what third teams can become involved if he brings them in. But there is the human factor to consider in all of sports and the only thing that is predictable is the unpredictable. Lawrie was a player of interest to the Royals as well as the Jays. Anthopoulos took him off the table as a potential chip. Even the best chess players lose occasionally. The unexpected is what makes baseball's off-season the greatest and most discussed in pro sports.