RealGM

A significant amount of Alex Anthopoulos' time over the past couple of weeks has been dedicated to a fact-finding mission. The new Blue Jays general manager has been reaching out to each of Toronto's players and coaches by phone.

By his estimation, Anthopoulos has made more than 30 calls -- with each conversation lasting at least a half hour. That is more than 15 hours spent discussing the direction the young GM wants to take the Blue Jays and, perhaps more importantly, gaining feedback in the process.

"I thought it was great," Anthopoulos said in a phone interview on Wednesday night. "I thought the players thought so as well. I had some players tell me, 'Wow, I've never done this before. I wish I could've done this years ago.' That felt really good."

It was also a way for Anthopoulos to try to get to the bottom of the late-season drama that consumed headlines in Toronto. With only a few games left on the schedule, reports leaked about a discontented clubhouse, stemming from issues that a group of players had with manager Cito Gaston.