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Sportsnet article on the Jays offseason moves (or lack there of)

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2011/12/23/jays_deals_t49/

A bad month of PR now finds Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos in the awkward position of not only having to defend his moves, but the principles behind them.

But when Anthopoulos and the Jays kept their lips sealed -- at least officially -- at that point they had not only lost a pitcher, but the trust of a rather vocal and large percentage of their fans as well.

Overnight, fans went from wondering whether the team would spend big bucks, to demanding they do.

"Cormack, step into my office!"

"Why?"

"Cause you're fudging fired!"

I prefer silence over making stupid deals. I was terrified that fan pressure after the Yu episode would force AA to do something stupid, like sell the farm for Gonzalez. So far he hasn't, and I hope the analytical part of him prevails during this challenging period.

The fans are seemingly turning on AA and Rogers even more quickly than they did under JP.

Don't see why fans would turn against AA. He's just working within his guidelines. Personally, I'm not even mad at him for not commenting on the Yu Darvish bid. Obviously some people are, but to me it really doesn't make any difference. We didn't get him.

I'm sure no one wanted the Jays to make a lop-sided trade just to appease the fan base. It would've just been nice to have ownership show that they're committed to winning. We heard all this "when the time is right" bs for years, which we were all hoping would be 2012.

Then all of a sudden in September, our commentators start mentioning that they don't think the Jays should spend this off-season. And then we get Beeston giving us more bs that payroll will rise when ticket revenue increases.

I have no problem rebuilding. Was just a little disheartening to be strung along and then have the story change, when we arguably have the best hitter in the game.

Randle McMurphy wrote:The fans are seemingly turning on AA and Rogers even more quickly than they did under JP.

AA has/is handling this situation very very poorly. You may not have liked JP, but at least he came out and talked about issues. AA is now letting the wound fester by giving the appearance of doing nothing at all by his media cone of silence.

The truth is that the average fan and media doesn't care at all about our AA and A ball teams being really good. That's great for the AA and A ball fans that pay for their seats in the A ball town.

MLB fans want the MLB team to do well and we're clearly mediocre and other teams are improving. He has gotten a completely free pass for 2 years while delivering no MLB results and there's no MLB results on the table and no MLB results promised either. It's a very difficult position for him and he's brought it on himself.

i dont think the fans are overly turning on AA. hes still done a great job. now people turning on Rogers, and AA's deadfast support for them (which, i mean, what else is he supposed to do/say) on the other hand....

AA's whole "deny everything and discuss nothing" routine is getting very annoying. I'm surprised he even acknowledges the existence of the Jays.

I'm sure AA has nightmares about the Rios-Lincecum debacle. Lets face it, that move, had it happened, would've turned the fortunes of this franchise around. JP's loudmouth probably screwed this team over on several other occasions as well.

I don't see how you can blame AA for anything that has happened this off season. Darvish bidding was rogers doing, not AA. Pujols signed for an outrageous contract, I dont blame AA there either, Fieder wants a long term deal and theres question marks surrounding his long term health, don't blame AA.Gio Gonzalez for 4 prospects? No thanks.

Our weaknesses last year were bullpen, 1 starting pitcher and perhaps another bat. Still 3 months left to upgrade them, no reason to be frustrated.

BigLeagueChew wrote: Our weaknesses last year were bullpen, 1 starting pitcher and perhaps another bat. Still 3 months left to upgrade them, no reason to be frustrated.

So we just have to upgrade our relief pitching, starting pitching and batting? Good to know. So what upgrades have we made beside a getting Santos compared to the players that departed?

Is Santos much better than Fransisco that he's going to improve our record?

baulderdash77 wrote:

BigLeagueChew wrote: Our weaknesses last year were bullpen, 1 starting pitcher and perhaps another bat. Still 3 months left to upgrade them, no reason to be frustrated.

So we just have to upgrade our relief pitching, starting pitching and batting? Good to know. So what upgrades have we made beside a getting Santos compared to the players that departed?

Is Santos much better than Fransisco that he's going to improve our record?

I never said we had to upgrade our whole team, not sure why you made it sound like that.
Santos should make the difference of 4 or 5 wins, and his contract until 2014 is much better than Francisco's.Replace Cecil's record to .500 instead of 4 wins 11 losses thats 4 to 7 wins. Morrow and Romero slightly better, thats a few more wins there as well.

I trust what AA is doing, he hasn't done anything wrong that I think is his fault but if you disagree that's alright. Still 3 months until traning camp, lots of moves can still be made.

Lateral Quicks wrote:I prefer silence over making stupid deals.

Yup, but I'd prefer good deals and good signings over either silence or stupid deals. I think most fans would.

Sometimes the best deals, are the ones you don't make.

Thus far, we've dealt a prospect for a (potential) top-level Closer. If we finish the off-season with a few more trades, hopefully we'll be in a position to compete in the next few years.

Now, do I think that signing Prince Fielder is the best move this team could make? Absolutely! Do I think that either AA or Beeston have the stones to make it happen? HELLLLLLL NO.

Lateral Quicks wrote:I prefer silence over making stupid deals.

Agreed. I will always remember reading (forgot where) that AA felt the Lincecum/Rios deal could have happened (in some capacity) had the rumor not been leaked. Once the rumor came out, Sabean was getting killed in the media and that may have influenced his decision to not make the deal. If you look at AA's deals, none of them leaked prior to happening. Not a single one. Even the Halladay trade had about 20 different versions before the real one finally surfaced. If silence not only helps AA make good trades but also avoids leaks that could influence the outcome of certain deals, then I am all for silence. I don't need to know every player the Jays have inquired about. Judge AA on his actions, not his words. We already had a GM with no filter before (JP) and we already had a GM who made moves designed to appease the fanbase (Ash). That wasn't any more reassuring than having someone who remains quiet and stays on course.

The reason JP made more free agent signings, in addition to having more money, is that he practically bent over for the player. No-trade clauses, opt-outs, vesting options, player options, etc, etc. AA has done the opposite; every contract he has signed has been team friendly. AA is far less likely to attract the top free agents based on his team friendly concept, but in the end that is the only one the Jays will be able to maintain the flexibility that Rogers wants.

AA is the best thing to happen to this franchise since 1993. Throwing him under the bus for doing what Rogers wants him to do (trying to win on a Tampa Bay Rays budget) is foolish.

Mattd97 wrote:i dont think the fans are overly turning on AA. hes still done a great job. now people turning on Rogers, and AA's deadfast support for them (which, i mean, what else is he supposed to do/say) on the other hand....

I think this is correct. What I don't understand is why Beeston is silent. As team president, shouldn't he be addressing the overall picture, the finances in particular. As team president he isn't going to be asked the specific player personnel questions, but he can clarify the financial questions, re: spending. That's what concerns me. It's not AA's silence. It's Beeston's silence. What has Rogers told him lately that has made Beeston disappear from public view?

Soooooo... What will the narrative be when the Jays sign no big name free agents? I hope they go hard after Fielder and make it happen, but history shows they likely won't.

When you look at the FAs or trades the Jays lost out on and the price that was paid by the winning team, you have to acknowledge that the price was steep - maybe too steep. The prospects for Gio Gonzalez was ridiculous. The price for Latos was very high, not sure how it compared to the haul that the Jays got for Halladay, but it would mean we would have to top the Reds offer.

Pujols getting that insane contract, no way the Jays (and us fans) want to lock him in for 10 years at 25MM+ per.

The only issue I have with this off-season is the PR around the Darvish sweepstakes. Not that they didn`t win, but rather that they didn`t go out and temper expectations, and basically mislead by omission the fans into this excitement.

Overall, apart from the Francisco for Napoli move, AA has done exceedingly well. It would have been nice to pick up a big bat to complement Bautista (let`s face it - Lind isn`t going to cut it), but the off-season is still not over and there is time for a move.

if pujols is 31 than i have a 12 inch dong