Shi Davidi: Anthopoulos in buy mode

[polo007]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2012/0 ... _buy_mode/

TORONTO – Already written off in some parts because of their injury-ravaged starting staff, the Toronto Blue Jays not only have no intention of selling ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, but also are actively pursuing help to better position themselves for post-season contention.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos adamantly made that point in an interview with sportsnet.ca Tuesday, with his team 40-40 heading into the season’s midway point, 2.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card spot despite losing three-fifths of its rotation.

"My calls have been all based on adding," he said from Dunedin, Fla. "Everyone knows we’re trying to get better."

The Blue Jays’ plans in the wake of the devastating four-game stretch in which Brandon Morrow, Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek all suffered long-term injuries have been widely speculated upon, with some expectation they would flip trade chips like Darren Oliver and perhaps Edwin Encarnacion with an eye toward 2013.

But a candid Anthopoulos, whose public pronouncements are made very deliberately, threw a wrench into prevailing industry wisdom, pointing out, "we’re three back in the loss column – it wouldn’t make any sense for someone to view us as a seller, and no one has."

"Every dialogue I’m trying to have now, it’s all about trying to improve the 2012 product, that isn’t going to change," he said. "I’m active in having talks, that doesn’t mean anything is going to get done, but definitely all the trade dialogue I’m handling right now is all about making the 2012 team better."

The prime reasons for that are the solidification of a core that Anthopoulos believes in, particularly from a position player standpoint, and an offence worth not quitting on, one that has carried the club through its recent pitching woes and kept the team afloat.

[spykelee]

[RapsFanInVA]

I think I said earlier I didn't believe AA would be a seller unless someone knocked his socks off with a deal for EE. Personally I think we'll go through the deadline with the guys we have, being neither buyers nor sellers.

[Lateral Quicks]

AA is probably looking for a starting pitcher that can help this year and beyond. Those are notoriously hard to find, but AA has some serious chips to work with if he's willing to pay the price.