The Alex Anthoplous Appreciation Thread (1 Viewer)

[Cliff Clavin]

Probably the best GM in baseball.

Got rid of Alex Rios and his ridiculous contract (must have dirt on someone in Chicago)

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Signs Alex Gonzalez then later trades him for Yunel Escobar and then signs Escobar to a dirt cheap 4/$20 deal.

-One of the best SS in the game on great deal. Not a hint of being a bad guy in the locker room (thanks Chipper!)

Trades League and Chavez for Morrow

-Solid power arm in Morrow for a scrub and League (who is just above being a scrub)

Gets rid of Vernon Wells' and the worst contract in the MLB for Rivera and what ended up being Fransisco.

-Unreal. I guess the saying is true, there's a sucker born every minute.

Signs the best hitter in the game to a deal that is about half of what it should be

-Great foresight. If he doesn't sign him in the off-season, he'd be on the Yankees next summer.

Trades Halladay for what ends up being Gose, D'Arnaud and Drabek

-3 great prospects for a guy that every knew was on the market and wanted out.

And of course, gets Colby Rasmus for a lefty specialist (Repz), a middle of the pack pitching prospect (Stewart), a useless outfielder (Patterson) and a pair of older relievers (Frasor and Dotel).

-Pure theft.

Almost forgot about picking up Brett Lawrie for Marcum

-Marcum is solid so this trade wasn't quite so one-sided. But Lawrie is going to be a stud.

Plenty of other deals that lead to the Jays having a ####load of compensatory picks for the next couple years.



Jays in 2012 and 2013

 

[Greco]

And he's a Greek.

 

[PoliSciGuy]

When will the Jays hit the post-season? 2019?

 

[Eephus]

Best team in Canada

 

[Cliff Clavin]

When will the Jays hit the post-season? 2019?

70% chance it happens next year.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Gets rid of Aaron Hill's rotting corpse for Kelly Johnson.

 

[Northern Voice]

Gets rid of Aaron Hill's rotting corpse for Kelly Johnson.

Another genius trade, if on a smaller scale.Jays would have been terrified Hill would accept arbitration (after they tore his $10 million dollar option to shreds the second the season ended), if they don't offer it, no offseason compensation for his loss.Johnson will be offered arbitration and will likely decline, Jays will receive type b at worst or type a at best compensation, or if he accepted/re-signed with Jays, he's much better than post concussion Aaron Hill.John MacDonald likely re-signs in Toronto for next season either way.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Gets rid of Aaron Hill's rotting corpse for Kelly Johnson.

Another genius trade, if on a smaller scale.Jays would have been terrified Hill would accept arbitration (after they tore his $10 million dollar option to shreds the second the season ended), if they don't offer it, no offseason compensation for his loss.Johnson will be offered arbitration and will likely decline, Jays will receive type b at worst or type a at best compensation, or if he accepted/re-signed with Jays, he's much better than post concussion Aaron Hill.John MacDonald likely re-signs in Toronto for next season either way.

Johnson is on the cusp of becoming a Type A. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/08/elias-rankings-update-1.htmlDynamite trade. AA is a stud.

 

[ctdub]

Gave up Napoli for Frank Francisco.

 

[guru_007]

Agreed I'd be willing to go so far as say he's top 5 gm in all sports.

 

[Northern Voice]

Gave up Napoli for Frank Francisco.

His worst trade to date (though the Jays never wanted Napoli, they had to take him to unload Wells), but a team that's not contending this year is better to develop Lind at 1st and Arencibia at C.

 

[Eephus]

Gave up Napoli for Frank Francisco.

His worst trade to date (though the Jays never wanted Napoli, they had to take him to unload Wells), but a team that's not contending this year is better to develop Lind at 1st and Arencibia at C.

I'm not sure develop is the right word in this context

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Gave up Napoli for Frank Francisco.

His worst trade to date (though the Jays never wanted Napoli, they had to take him to unload Wells), but a team that's not contending this year is better to develop Lind at 1st and Arencibia at C.

I'm not sure develop is the right word in this context

Lind needed playing time at 1st to develop his fielding skills and Arencibia is the future at C (until D'Arnaud is ready) so there wasn't a spot for Napoli to be a full time player. While Napoli has certainly outperformed Fransico (shocking that he is killing the ball in Texas!), he just didn't fit in with the Jays plans. Fransico should end up type B and netting the Jays a pick.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

And he's a Greek.

Once you go Greek, your team is less weak.

 

[Eephus]

Gave up Napoli for Frank Francisco.

His worst trade to date (though the Jays never wanted Napoli, they had to take him to unload Wells), but a team that's not contending this year is better to develop Lind at 1st and Arencibia at C.

I'm not sure develop is the right word in this context

Lind needed playing time at 1st to develop his fielding skills and Arencibia is the future at C (until D'Arnaud is ready) so there wasn't a spot for Napoli to be a full time player. While Napoli has certainly outperformed Fransico (shocking that he is killing the ball in Texas!), he just didn't fit in with the Jays plans. Fransico should end up type B and netting the Jays a pick.

Develop implies some improvement. Lind is 27 now and hasn't done much for two years. A .307 OBP and 7.8% XBH rate isn't going to get it done. I don't see much of Arencibia so I don't know how he is defensively (and Napoli isn't exactly Jim Sundberg). I think there's hope for him but the problem with hitting a HR in your first AB is that there's only one way to go from there.

I suppose it was worth it to give Lind another chance and see whether he's in the long-term picture. If AA is half as smart as you think he is, he'll have his answer and will move accordingly this offseason.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Gave up Napoli for Frank Francisco.

His worst trade to date (though the Jays never wanted Napoli, they had to take him to unload Wells), but a team that's not contending this year is better to develop Lind at 1st and Arencibia at C.

I'm not sure develop is the right word in this context

Lind needed playing time at 1st to develop his fielding skills and Arencibia is the future at C (until D'Arnaud is ready) so there wasn't a spot for Napoli to be a full time player. While Napoli has certainly outperformed Fransico (shocking that he is killing the ball in Texas!), he just didn't fit in with the Jays plans. Fransico should end up type B and netting the Jays a pick.

Develop implies some improvement. Lind is 27 now and hasn't done much for two years. A .307 OBP and 7.8% XBH rate isn't going to get it done. I don't see much of Arencibia so I don't know how he is defensively (and Napoli isn't exactly Jim Sundberg). I think there's hope for him but the problem with hitting a HR in your first AB is that there's only one way to go from there.

I suppose it was worth it to give Lind another chance and see whether he's in the long-term picture. If AA is half as smart as you think he is, he'll have his answer and will move accordingly this offseason.

Lind has made dramatic improvements this year at 1st base; his first season playing the position. As a hitter, I agree with you. They know what they have in him for better/worse. I'd love to see him moved in the off-season and the Jays go after Fielder/Pujols.Arencibia is a below average defensive catcher but he is still in his first season so there is room to improve.

 

[RnR]

Lind has made dramatic improvements this year at 1st base; his first season playing the position. As a hitter, I agree with you. They know what they have in him for better/worse. I'd love to see him moved in the off-season and the Jays go after Fielder/Pujols.

Does he really prohibit them from pursuing Fielder/Pujols? Couldn't they just slide him back into a full-time DH role?

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Lind has made dramatic improvements this year at 1st base; his first season playing the position. As a hitter, I agree with you. They know what they have in him for better/worse. I'd love to see him moved in the off-season and the Jays go after Fielder/Pujols.

Does he really prohibit them from pursuing Fielder/Pujols? Couldn't they just slide him back into a full-time DH role?

It doesn't prohibit them but Lind or Encarnacion would have to be moved.They definitely could move Lind to DH but they have Encarnacion as a DH who is cheaper (not a big factor) and provides the same, if not better production than Lind. He can also play both corners of the infield if needed, just not very well (hence the E5 nickname). Encarnacion was jerked around for the first half of the season and struggled but once they got rid of Rivera and he got regular ABs, he's been fantastic. Since he became a regular on June 24th, .302/.380/.540/.920.

 

[Eephus]

Lind has made dramatic improvements this year at 1st base; his first season playing the position. As a hitter, I agree with you. They know what they have in him for better/worse. I'd love to see him moved in the off-season and the Jays go after Fielder/Pujols.

Does he really prohibit them from pursuing Fielder/Pujols? Couldn't they just slide him back into a full-time DH role?

It doesn't prohibit them but Lind or Encarnacion would have to be moved.They definitely could move Lind to DH but they have Encarnacion as a DH who is cheaper (not a big factor) and provides the same, if not better production than Lind. He can also play both corners of the infield if needed, just not very well (hence the E5 nickname). Encarnacion was jerked around for the first half of the season and struggled but once they got rid of Rivera and he got regular ABs, he's been fantastic. Since he became a regular on June 24th, .302/.380/.540/.920.

Toronto holds a $3.5M club option on Encarnacion for 2012. As you said, he's been a solid producer for them this year but the team isn't lacking for guys on the right side of the defensive spectrum. He also has a pretty long track record of being Edwin Encarnacion. My guess is they let him walk.They're stuck paying for two more years (plus buyouts) for Lind's 2009 season. That deal isn't AA's finest move but I suppose it made sense at the time. It's not huge money unless he stinks. In that case, you're tying up $10M on Lind and Teahen which is a good chunk of their total payroll.Anthopoulos has done a nice job in accumulating some cheap talent. I think the jury is still out on how well he'll be able to build on that. It looks like there's some talent in the minors but Blue Jays fans know better than most that sometimes that approach doesn't go exactly as planned.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Lind has made dramatic improvements this year at 1st base; his first season playing the position. As a hitter, I agree with you. They know what they have in him for better/worse. I'd love to see him moved in the off-season and the Jays go after Fielder/Pujols.

Does he really prohibit them from pursuing Fielder/Pujols? Couldn't they just slide him back into a full-time DH role?

It doesn't prohibit them but Lind or Encarnacion would have to be moved.They definitely could move Lind to DH but they have Encarnacion as a DH who is cheaper (not a big factor) and provides the same, if not better production than Lind. He can also play both corners of the infield if needed, just not very well (hence the E5 nickname). Encarnacion was jerked around for the first half of the season and struggled but once they got rid of Rivera and he got regular ABs, he's been fantastic. Since he became a regular on June 24th, .302/.380/.540/.920.

Toronto holds a $3.5M club option on Encarnacion for 2012. As you said, he's been a solid producer for them this year but the team isn't lacking for guys on the right side of the defensive spectrum. He also has a pretty long track record of being Edwin Encarnacion. My guess is they let him walk.They're stuck paying for two more years (plus buyouts) for Lind's 2009 season. That deal isn't AA's finest move but I suppose it made sense at the time. It's not huge money unless he stinks. In that case, you're tying up $10M on Lind and Teahen which is a good chunk of their total payroll.

Anthopoulos has done a nice job in accumulating some cheap talent. I think the jury is still out on how well he'll be able to build on that. It looks like there's some talent in the minors but Blue Jays fans know better than most that sometimes that approach doesn't go exactly as planned.

It all pretty much depends on if they land Pujols/Fielder. If they whiff on both of those guys, then Lind/E5 will be in the same spots. Edwin's long track record of 'being Edwin' has been about equal to Lind outside of Lind's 2009 season. I really have a tough time seeing them letting him walk. $3.5M is a steal for a DH of Edwin's caliber. Looking at the other DH's in the AL, Edwin ranks about 5th and costs a lot less than those around him. The only reason to decline the option is to get the compensation pick.

AA has shown that he is able to dump bad contracts quite easily (see: Rios and Wells) so getting rid of Lind shouldn't be too difficult if he decides that is what he wants.

As for the bolded, $10M might isn't a big deal in the coming years for the Jays payroll. Rogers has very deep pockets and has consistently said that the money will be spent once they are legitimate contenders.