RealGM

Whenever a general manager is hired, a figurative collar is attached to his neck and a length of rope is strung out behind him.

Eventually, the slack in that rope gets used up — by losses and bad contracts and missed deals and the simple passage of time. Then the collar begins to tighten.

For the first time in his nearly 2 ½ years as GM of the Blue Jays, Alex Anthopoulos has begun to feel the tugging.

Anthopoulos arrived with an unusual amount of rope to spare, some of it due to the ill-tempered flame-out of his predecessor and most of it to do with a sharp contrast in personal style from one man to the next. Anthopoulos was unusually humble and affable and local and has always treated his tenure as an opportunity for group discussion, rather than a series of thunderbolts from above.

He also has shown himself remarkably clever. A GM is not judged in the main by the performance of his franchise. He’s judged by the quality of his deals, most especially if he is perceived to have gotten one over on his contemporaries. That’s a ‘win’ for a GM.

Seen in close-up, unloading Vernon Wells and his titanically ill-advised long-term contract meant very little to the average fan. He wasn’t being paid with their money. But it set the template for Anthopoulos as a negotiator capable of getting other GMs to happily accept his refuse. Fans ate that right up.

Guided by the experienced political hand of Paul Beeston, Anthopoulos sold fans on the idea of a measured rise. Unlike his predecessor, he managed to convince them that radical change — even if it worked in the short term — was a bad idea. He turned patience, always one of the vices of sports, into his club’s primary virtue.

The expectation grew that Anthopoulos could think his way to playoff baseball. There are practical limits to that sort of team building. Anthopoulos has begun butting up against them this off-season.

If things begin going sideways — and they certainly haven’t yet — we will trace the first moments of unease to the winter meetings in Dallas. That was where he first referred to the ominous spectre of “payroll parameters,” subsequently amended to payroll “boundaries.” Whatever that actually means, it translates in the booster’s ear to, ‘We don’t have a whole lot of money to spend.’

UssjTrunks wrote:How can anyone fault AA? He's been arguably the best GM in baseball during his tenure here. He would love it if could splurge on a big name FA but he simply can't do that. Any blame for another fourth place finish should fall squarely on Rogers.

Myth111 wrote:You posted that he refused to go after Lackey and Bay. I don't think anyone would criticize him for that. Were there other players I missed?

Michael Bradley wrote:The only mistake AA has made, and it is debatable whether he even had a choice in the matter, was trading Roy Halladay. I find it hard to believe that someone who places as much emphasis on value as AA does did not realize that keeping Halladay for a year and trying to appease him was a much better option than what eventually happened (trading him for 50 cents on the dollar for lottery tickets). If it was one more year of Halladay + a chance to re-sign him + 2 picks if he didn't versus trading him for Drabek, D'Arnaud, and Taylor/Wallace/Gose......,to me that is a no brainer. Unless the Jays got back Mike Stanton type talent, don't trade him. Halladay was unlike any player in pro sports, he was loyal.

But other than that, nothing AA has done 1) warrants criticism, or 2) has mislead the fanbase. It wasn't his fault that Joe Blowhard on Twitter said the Jays won the Darvish bid and somehow got thousands of Jays fans believing it (despite how ridiculous it was). AA has stuck with his plan. Either you believe in it or you don't, but he has stuck with it.

If anyone is testing the fans' patience, it is ownership. The way they have acted since 2009 shows me an ownership group that couldn't care less about the team on the field.

UssjTrunks wrote:How can anyone fault AA? He's been arguably the best GM in baseball during his tenure here. He would love it if could splurge on a big name FA but he simply can't do that.

UssjTrunks wrote:How can anyone fault AA? He's been arguably the best GM in baseball during his tenure here. He would love it if could splurge on a big name FA but he simply can't do that. Any blame for another fourth place finish should fall squarely on Rogers.

Homer Jay wrote:

Michael Bradley wrote:The only mistake AA has made, and it is debatable whether he even had a choice in the matter, was trading Roy Halladay. I find it hard to believe that someone who places as much emphasis on value as AA does did not realize that keeping Halladay for a year and trying to appease him was a much better option than what eventually happened (trading him for 50 cents on the dollar for lottery tickets). If it was one more year of Halladay + a chance to re-sign him + 2 picks if he didn't versus trading him for Drabek, D'Arnaud, and Taylor/Wallace/Gose......,to me that is a no brainer. Unless the Jays got back Mike Stanton type talent, don't trade him. Halladay was unlike any player in pro sports, he was loyal.

But other than that, nothing AA has done 1) warrants criticism, or 2) has mislead the fanbase. It wasn't his fault that Joe Blowhard on Twitter said the Jays won the Darvish bid and somehow got thousands of Jays fans believing it (despite how ridiculous it was). AA has stuck with his plan. Either you believe in it or you don't, but he has stuck with it.

If anyone is testing the fans' patience, it is ownership. The way they have acted since 2009 shows me an ownership group that couldn't care less about the team on the field.

Nah Halladay staying was not an option. The B.J. Ryan situation irreplacably broke the relationship between the team and Halladay. Roy took Ryan's side, the organization took Cito's. Kind of crappy it went down like that, or that even the players would back a crappy player showing up his manager, just because he is really popular.

flatjacket1 wrote:

Myth111 wrote:You posted that he refused to go after Lackey and Bay. I don't think anyone would criticize him for that. Were there other players I missed?

Well that seems to be 2/2. Both were considered to be premium players at the time. Lackey was 17th in the league in MVP voting just prior in 2007 and Jason Bay was in the MVP voting top 23 3 times, and most notably finished 7th the year that Paul Beeston wanted to go after him. He was a 5.1 WAR player.

Find me an article where Rogers restricted AA from going after a FA? Exactly. There are none.

Myth111 wrote:

flatjacket1 wrote:

Myth111 wrote:You posted that he refused to go after Lackey and Bay. I don't think anyone would criticize him for that. Were there other players I missed?

Well that seems to be 2/2. Both were considered to be premium players at the time. Lackey was 17th in the league in MVP voting just prior in 2007 and Jason Bay was in the MVP voting top 23 3 times, and most notably finished 7th the year that Paul Beeston wanted to go after him. He was a 5.1 WAR player.

Find me an article where Rogers restricted AA from going after a FA? Exactly. There are none.

Isn't this what makes him good though? He does not go by the consensus and decides for himself who is good. I do not want Fielder and maybe AA sees what I see in him. A fat guy who may lose it quicker than other players.
You really think AA does not have a budget from Rogers and can do whatever he wants? That is worse then people thinking Rogers is making a fortune off the Jays and just refusing to spend it.

I personally believe the Jays are not this profit-generator and therefore the team has a budget they must follow or they will lose a lot of money.

phillipmike wrote:Halladay stated that he wouldnt re-sign with the Jays after his contract expired in 2010. He wanted a chance at the playoffs and the WS.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4677979

So we either traded him to Philly or else he would walk after his deal and he likely signs in Philly and gain two picks.

So it is Drabek, D'Arnaud and Gose vs. the 27th pick and likely the 33rd pick (1st in the compensation round) in the 2010 draft.

AA did an excellent job landing a top 20 prospect in Drabek and two top 50 in D'Arnaud and Gose. Both Gose and D'Arnaud are expected to rise. Not bad for a player you could only trade to ONE team. JP couldnt get Drabek at the deadline and AA was able to.

augustine wrote:On the fan590 the other day, AA mentioned that spending increases will begin once, among other things, TV viewership rises.