One day after the Toronto Blue Jays held their State of the Franchise event, general manager Alex Anthopoulos joined Cybulski and Company on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto to talk about the off-season.
Anthopoulos acknowledged that the fans are excited about the team, citing the increased turnout at the State of the Franchise which more than tripled since last year.
However, it hasn't been a perfect off-season for the Jays. Despite many reports that they were in the market for a number two starter in the rotation as well as another bat, Toronto has failed to make the kind of move that would grab headlines around the league.
"I always say, it's one thing that you want those things, it's not a guarantee you're going to add them," said Anthopoulos.
"Until you're a World Series champion, I think every team in the game would like to add a front of the rotation starter. Every team in the game would like to add a big middle of the order bat."
Anthopoulos thought he was clear after the season ended when he said that the club wasn't going to be big players in free agency in terms of long-term and big money deals.
"What happens is a lot of times GMs will say one thing and do something else," explained the Jays GM. "I think when I said we probably aren't going to be big players in free agency and we're going to go after trades, my sense is that a lot of people said 'Yeah sure, you're just trying to sandbag and throw us off the trail.'"
"My style is I'm either going to tell the truth or I'm not going to say anything at all, but I'm not going to try to mislead or lie because I just think, in the long run, that is just going to end up hurting you and your trust with the fan base."
Anthopoulos also admitted that he did a poor job communicating his intentions in regards to the relationship between the fans supporting the team and the payroll increasing.
http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=386579
