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General manager Alex Anthopoulos denied that he grabbed Francisco to set up a bigger trade. Immediately after the deal was announced, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser tweeted: “I hear [starter] Gio Gonzalez is the Blue Jays’ focus, as I’d also heard last week. They have too many outfielders after today’s trade.”

No question that the Jays are awash in outfielders. Anthopoulos insisted his current plan is to keep five, with Francisco and Rajai Davis serving as backups to Jose Bautista in right, Colby Rasmus in centre and either Travis Snider or Eric Thames, who are expected to compete for the left-field spot in spring training.

“We think it’ll work fine,” Anthopoulos said in a conference call with reporters.

At the same time, he acknowledged that the outfield surplus gives him flexibility if a trade opportunity arises. He said he hopes to add “at least one more player” this off-season, and continues to look for a starter, bullpen help and “that big bat.”

“We’re still trying to actively get players in trades. We’re still trying to sign some free agents and exploring some things,” he said with typical ambiguity.

torontoaces04 wrote:Polo, enough with the threads already. Every article about the Jays doesn't require it's on thread. Half of the threads could have easily gone in Jays off-season.

You've made the board a mess. LOL!

Randle McMurphy wrote:Manny?

Kurtz wrote:AA says he wants 5 OF, but Baustista, Rasmus, Thames, Snider, Franciso, Raji make 6...because surely they're not sending Snider or Thames back down. So yeah, something has to give here.

augustine wrote:

Kurtz wrote:AA says he wants 5 OF, but Baustista, Rasmus, Thames, Snider, Franciso, Raji make 6...because surely they're not sending Snider or Thames back down. So yeah, something has to give here.

I think he said they are sending the loser of Snider/Thames back to AAA in order to get at bats.