Anthopoulos rumoured to have 5 year contract extension?

[Lockdown]

he is the golden boy GM of baseball, easily the best GM this city has seen in the last couple decades, and has this city in a frenzy over this jays' squad.

Maybe we should save the word frenzy for when attendance consistently passes 50% capacity.

[Parataxis]

Great that they wanna keep him around.... but i dont see why u'd give a GM a 5 year extension when he hasent really taken then next step yet, Like Ricciardi,

Because you need continuity and stability. You need a GM who is secure in his position, and can make long term moves. Baseball is not basketball (hell, it's not even hockey) where you can turn a team around quickly. Drafting is a half-decade exercise, more or less. Trading, especially non-blockbuster trades, is all about making deals that may help now, but will also put you in a better position for years to come.

The first two years proved that he knows his way around an organization. Now that we know there's a fit here, he needs to have the security to make the big moves, even if the big moves are for players years away from competing. This allows him to think long-term.

[Brinbe]

Should be fifty.

[Strav]

has the man even made one terrible transaction yet? AA's slash line is ELITE right now. his WAR will be well into the 20's when the team is chasing a pennant next year and for the foreseeable future afterward. he is the golden boy GM of baseball, easily the best GM this city has seen in the last couple decades, and has this city in a frenzy over this jays' squad. we are being spoiled by his managerial wizardry and there is no reason not to give him an extension based on what he's done so far - which is build a contender in professional sports most unforgiving division. obviously they are not there yet, but this is the closest any toronto team has been to truly contending since the leafs in the early 00s. AA knows what the **** is up...guy is a baseball lifer and makes other GM's his bitch on a monthly basis.

you're forgetting the Francisco trade - he went one step too far with that one after getting rid of Wells. But yeah, that's the only misstep. Lock him up.

[Skin Blues]

Did we really need Napoli? Really? We had no room at C or 1B, and Edwin is/was just about as good a hitter, at half the cost. Getting a reliever as good as Francisco wasn't a bad choice (also saved some cash; about the amount they used to sign Norris), and provides a comp pick in 2012. It was clear that nobody including Rangers were very interested in Napoli, so it's not like he had trade value. The man was traded twice in the span of a couple days for what amounts to little more than a bag of used baseballs. The Jays clearly got the better bag of balls, though. It was an even trade so I guess it seems pretty bad when juxtaposed to all the other highway robbery that AA has been a part of.

[Michael Bradley]

has the man even made one terrible transaction yet? AA's slash line is ELITE right now.

Napoli/Francisco. They could have easily started the season with Napoli at DH, EE at 3B, and Rivera on the bench, plus Napoli was exactly the type of buy low hitter that AA usually pounces on. Now Napoli has 20 home runs, a .980 OPS, and absolutely no platoon split for the Rangers (he is hitting RHP just as good as LHP). Oh well.

Other than that, yes, AA has been absolutely amazing. Not only is he winning trades, he is getting impact talent at very difficult positions to fill. In addition to building up a top 3 farm system after inheriting a bottom 3 farm system (although trading Halladay and Marcum certainly helps restock a system).

There is no smoke and mirrors here. No one is judging his words over his actions. The man is one of the best in the game already. There should be no reason not to lock him up.

[Strav]

Did we really need Napoli? Really? We had no room at C or 1B, and Edwin is/was just about as good a hitter, at half the cost. Getting a reliever as good as Francisco wasn't a bad choice (also saved some cash; about the amount they used to sign Norris), and provides a comp pick in 2012. It was clear that nobody including Rangers were very interested in Napoli, so it's not like he had trade value. The man was traded twice in the span of a couple days for what amounts to little more than a bag of used baseballs. The Jays clearly got the better bag of balls, though. It was an even trade so I guess it seems pretty bad when juxtaposed to all the other highway robbery that AA has been a part of.

I don't know if there was a lack of interest - I personally don't see how that might have been possible. He exchanged teams (3) in almost a matter of a day. He would have been perfect at DH and catching occasionally. He could have also split time with Lind at 1B too. He's Mr. consistent and doing it again this year. Subtract Francisco flubs in the closer role this year, add Napoli's bat, and I think you're looking at potentially a near + double digit win total from where we are now.

[Skin Blues]

If you think a minor upgrade at DH is worth double digit wins, I don't know what to say to you. Hell, adding Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder would only have added about 6 wins so far this season.

If anybody else wanted Napoli they all had the chance because the Angels wanted to get rid of him, and I'm sure AA looked around before dumping him to the Rangers, too. He's having a career year, but a $6M career part-timer whose best position is DH is just not very desirable. As much as people rag on Edwin, he's having a good year at the plate and is capable of filling in at 3B. Napoli would have clogged up the DH spot and not been useful other than spelling Adam Lind (which Edwin was able to do, anyway). Arencibia and Molina have been more than adequate behind the plate.

[number15]

Because you need continuity and stability. You need a GM who is secure in his position, and can make long term moves. Baseball is not basketball (hell, it's not even hockey) where you can turn a team around quickly. Drafting is a half-decade exercise, more or less. Trading, especially non-blockbuster trades, is all about making deals that may help now, but will also put you in a better position for years to come.

The first two years proved that he knows his way around an organization. Now that we know there's a fit here, he needs to have the security to make the big moves, even if the big moves are for players years away from competing. This allows him to think long-term.

Thank you..... this is the best argument to what i posted

(continuity and stability)

I agree, Baseball is different from other sports because when u draft a player he might not even sniff the majors for another 5-6 years. So to have a short term GM, he might be more into the win fast mode or may never be able to see his results if he makes something long term..... i believe Ricciardi had that issue in his last season. He was desperate, and i dont think we want AA in that situation.

very good reply....

[Strav]

If you think a minor upgrade at DH is worth double digit wins, I don't know what to say to you. Hell, adding Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder would only have added about 6 wins so far this season.

If anybody else wanted Napoli they all had the chance because the Angels wanted to get rid of him, and I'm sure AA looked around before dumping him to the Rangers, too. He's having a career year, but a $6M career part-timer whose best position is DH is just not very desirable. As much as people rag on Edwin, he's having a good year at the plate and is capable of filling in at 3B. Napoli would have clogged up the DH spot and not been useful other than spelling Adam Lind (which Edwin was able to do, anyway). Arencibia and Molina have been more than adequate behind the plate.

you're forgetting I mentioned not having Francisco in the bullpen - there's 4 automatic BS' and whatever else he did as a set up guy to screw games up.

[Kurtz]

If you think a minor upgrade at DH is worth double digit wins, I don't know what to say to you. Hell, adding Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder would only have added about 6 wins so far this season.

If anybody else wanted Napoli they all had the chance because the Angels wanted to get rid of him, and I'm sure AA looked around before dumping him to the Rangers, too. He's having a career year, but a $6M career part-timer whose best position is DH is just not very desirable. As much as people rag on Edwin, he's having a good year at the plate and is capable of filling in at 3B. Napoli would have clogged up the DH spot and not been useful other than spelling Adam Lind (which Edwin was able to do, anyway). Arencibia and Molina have been more than adequate behind the plate.

Yes, him clogging up our DH spot with a .980 OPS would have been just terrible. I'm glad that our DH is now unclogged so it can be occupied by the likes of Teahen.

[Parataxis]

If you think a minor upgrade at DH is worth double digit wins, I don't know what to say to you. Hell, adding Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder would only have added about 6 wins so far this season.

If anybody else wanted Napoli they all had the chance because the Angels wanted to get rid of him, and I'm sure AA looked around before dumping him to the Rangers, too. He's having a career year, but a $6M career part-timer whose best position is DH is just not very desirable. As much as people rag on Edwin, he's having a good year at the plate and is capable of filling in at 3B. Napoli would have clogged up the DH spot and not been useful other than spelling Adam Lind (which Edwin was able to do, anyway). Arencibia and Molina have been more than adequate behind the plate.

you're forgetting I mentioned not having Francisco in the bullpen - there's 4 automatic BS' and whatever else he did as a set up guy to screw games up.

So having Rauch blow saves would mean more wins than Frank blowing them?

[Raps in 4]

Give the man a lifetime contract.

[Shimso]

Give the man a lifetime contract.

This. And if he gets fed up of baseball, let him be mayor/premier/prime minister (whichever of the 3 he wants).

[LBJSeizedMyID]

In hindsight the trade was a terrible idea, but the Jays had a need for a closer so not sure why everyone keeps yapping about it. Yes it ended up being a bust, let's move on.

As for an AA extension, he had a plan, executed it and at the same time saved Rogers a lot of money this year. That alone warrants an extension.

[Strav]

If you think a minor upgrade at DH is worth double digit wins, I don't know what to say to you. Hell, adding Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder would only have added about 6 wins so far this season.

If anybody else wanted Napoli they all had the chance because the Angels wanted to get rid of him, and I'm sure AA looked around before dumping him to the Rangers, too. He's having a career year, but a $6M career part-timer whose best position is DH is just not very desirable. As much as people rag on Edwin, he's having a good year at the plate and is capable of filling in at 3B. Napoli would have clogged up the DH spot and not been useful other than spelling Adam Lind (which Edwin was able to do, anyway). Arencibia and Molina have been more than adequate behind the plate.

you're forgetting I mentioned not having Francisco in the bullpen - there's 4 automatic BS' and whatever else he did as a set up guy to screw games up.

So having Rauch blow saves would mean more wins than Frank blowing them?

wasn't talking about Rauch, but since you brought it up, Rauch didn't blow a save until Francisco came off the DL. His strongest part of the season was all of April and May. So blame that one on Francisco as well.

[Skin Blues]

If you think a minor upgrade at DH is worth double digit wins, I don't know what to say to you. Hell, adding Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder would only have added about 6 wins so far this season.

If anybody else wanted Napoli they all had the chance because the Angels wanted to get rid of him, and I'm sure AA looked around before dumping him to the Rangers, too. He's having a career year, but a $6M career part-timer whose best position is DH is just not very desirable. As much as people rag on Edwin, he's having a good year at the plate and is capable of filling in at 3B. Napoli would have clogged up the DH spot and not been useful other than spelling Adam Lind (which Edwin was able to do, anyway). Arencibia and Molina have been more than adequate behind the plate.

Yes, him clogging up our DH spot with a .980 OPS would have been just terrible. I'm glad that our DH is now unclogged so it can be occupied by the likes of Teahen.

980 OPS as a part time player in a career year; a 200 point spike over his previous season. And Teahen is not our DH, he's a bench scrap that is completely unrelated to this argument. You also seem to think that the $3M difference in salary (plus $1M in cash that we got) is negligible, which it clearly is not. Think of how much $4M gets you at the draft. Napoli is also due for another big arbitration raise in 2012 (~$8M), whereas Francisco is a FA and will bring a comp pick. Hmm, we get $4M cash and a comp pick. Reminds me of this year's draft when we got Daniel Norris for a later pick and for half of that money. But yeah... having Napoli for 2011 was crucial.

[Parataxis]

you're forgetting I mentioned not having Francisco in the bullpen - there's 4 automatic BS' and whatever else he did as a set up guy to screw games up.

So having Rauch blow saves would mean more wins than Frank blowing them?

wasn't talking about Rauch, but since you brought it up, Rauch didn't blow a save until Francisco came off the DL. His strongest part of the season was all of April and May. So blame that one on Francisco as well.

I know you weren't specifically talking about him, but the point stands - if not Frank, who would be closing for us that would do a better job? It's not like AA made a choice between Frank and Rivera - somebody has to close for us, and Frank was probably one of the least bad options available.

[Reignman]

The best GM in pro-sports period. This guy got me back into baseball last year, it's like watching a great bank job movie, the man is pulling heist after heist.

We need to roll the dice this offseason and grab one of the big bats (Pujols/Fielder) and then throw our bank of prospects at the Mariners for Felix. Whatever it takes.

Now you have a scary team in the AL East even with the Bosox and the Yanks.