Former Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos and current Jays president Mark Shapiro have turned out to be a great team, even if they only worked together briefly and never really worked together at all on player acquisitions.
Anthopoulos decided to leave the Jays before last winter when he determined that he preferred not to work with the new president Shapiro, but Anthopoulos left a stacked squad for the new regime. Shapiro and new GM Ross Atkins made some more excellent moves to round out a Jays team that currently threatens to sweep through the American League side of the MLB bracket.
While the Jays didn’t play to their potential during a regular season that went down to game No. 162 before they secured a wild card berth, they outlasted the Orioles in that Wild Card Game and swept the AL-West winning Rangers to advance to the ALCS, where they look like a major threat no matter who they play. (Side note, my preseason pick was Jays vs. Giants in the World Series).
Between Anthopoulos and the new duo, there are so many positive trades and signings that contributed to this powerful Jays team that it’s easy to fill out a list of 10. While it’s hard to know how they would have actually worked together, it’s also pretty clear from all these moves that, separately, they made many great decisions.
Anthopoulos left on the table with the Jays a five-year deal believed to be worth close to $10 million, and later took a job as an executive with the Dodgers that surely pays significantly less, a clear indication how much he wanted to get away. (Shapiro is said to have originally offered him a one-year deal before team-owning Rogers bumped it to five, and word is Anthopoulos also felt Shapiro wasn’t a supporter due to comments the incoming president made about his many trades of top prospects).
In any case, the Jays’ list is quite impressive (the litany only includes moves since 2015 and doesn’t count the original trades and deals to acquire and keep stars Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista, as well as other older fine moves. Ex-GM J.P. Ricciardi brought both to Toronto, and Anthopoulos re-signed both to multi-year, team-friendly deals).
Josh Donaldson from the A’s for Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin and Franklin Barreto. (Anthopoulos move) This one looks like such a bargain that A’s legendary GM Billy Beane joked in this space that Barreto, a talented minor-league infielder, “needs to win two MVPs.” While Donaldson won’t win his second straight MVP this year — though he had a very comparable season to his MVP 2015 campaign — he’s a big part of the heart of the Jays, and is a force both offensively and defensively. Lawrie’s career has never taken off the way it was supposed to, Graveman looks solid, Nolin has gone backward and Barreto is still a ways off.
Russell Martin for $82 million, five years. (Anthopoulos) Martin got off to a slow start offensively (and only finished batting .231) his second season in Toronto, but he hit 20 home runs, is superb defensively, is the backbone of the team, and very likely a calming influence in a clubhouse with big personalities. It’s no coincidence he’s made the playoffs multiple times with four different teams. He’s a great athlete adept at pitch-calling and pitch-framing. “The best,” one AL scout calls him.
J.A. Happ for $36 million, three years. (Shapiro-Atkins move) The new regime brought back Happ, who originally came to the Jays in an eight-player deal engineered by Anthopoulos (Joe Musgrove may be the best of the six young players who went to the Astros in that deal) before the deadline in 2012 and remained a Jay for two-and-a-half years until Anthopoulos traded him to the Mariners for outfielder Michael Saunders in the winter of 2014-15. The new regime brought him back after the lefty Happ had a brilliant finish in Pittsburgh on a contract that was seen as a bit of a reach at the time, but now looks like a major bargain after going 20-4 and becoming a Cy Young candidate.
Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins from the Rockies for Jose Reyes, Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco. (Anthopoulos) There was some skepticism about the money outlay for Tulowitzki, who’s had some past hip issues, not to mention the loss of top prospect Hoffman. But Tulowitzki, energized by the trade, has been productive with the bat (though not quite up to Rockies numbers; 24 homers, 79 RBI this year) and also excellent in the field.
Marco Estrada for Adam Lind (Anthopoulos), and Estrada re-signed for $26 million, two years (Atkins-Shapiro move). Estrada-for-Lind was a steal, and the early move to keep Estrada last winter was a wise one, too. He took the game into the ninth inning in the 10-1 Game 1 victory in the ALDS even though his fastball average was a lowly 87.4 mph.
(Photo by Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire)
Devon Travis from the Tigers for Anthony Gose. (Anthopoulos) Travis made the jump from Double-A and has proven to be an excellent major-league hitter, though he’s had a few injuries and isn’t a polished defender (“he makes some big plays, but if you watch him every day, defensively he’s a work in progress”). Still, he’s a productive starter (he hit .300 this year); Gose is basically a spare part.
Jason Grilli from the Braves for pitching prospect Sean Ratcliffe. (Shapiro-Atkins) Grilli was struggling in Atlanta, and this was mostly a (small) salary dump on the part of the Braves, who didn’t mind giving Grilli a last chance at a ring. Grilli has taken over the role that was supposed to have been filled by Drew Storen, and until a late blip or two, has been absolutely brilliant, with a .189 overall batting average against.
Joaquin Benoit from the Jays for Storen. (Shapiro-Atkins) This was a change-of-scenery trade that worked well for the Jays. Benoit was excellent (a 0.38 ERA; yes, one earned run!), though he is out after injuring his calf either in a melee or running in from the pen (the team says it as the latter). Anyway, he was very good, and helped the Jays get in.
Francisco Liriano and prospects Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez from the Pirates for pitcher Drew Hutchison. (Shapiro-Atkins.) The ex-Indians execs teamed up with another ex-Indians exec, Pirates GM Neal Huntington, for this deadline deal that seems like mostly a salary dump by the Bucs. And while Liriano was having trouble with command in Pittsburgh, he’s been very good with the Jays, especially lately, and especially after moving late to the pen. “Never seen him better,” one A.L. scout says. “The changeup looked unhittable.” Unfortunately, he had to be replaced in the ALDS after suffering a concussion on a batted ball.
Joe Biagini, Rule 5 from the Giants. (Shapiro-Atkins.) The righty has done a solid job since making the Jays roster. A Jays person said they had a feeling he’d be good since they got him from the Giants, a team that knows pitching like few others.
*****
Notes on an LCS scorecard …
Anthopoulos was said to be extremely high on the Diamondbacks’ list of potential GM candidates, understandably so, though as was reported here, Anthopoulos has told the D-Backs he intends to stay with the Dodgers. There are those who believe their interest is strong enough that they may keep trying though there’s currently no indication he’ll change his mind.
Ex-Dodgers GM Ned Colletti could get a decent look with the D-Backs. He did much better in L.A than some recall. He brought in Justin Turner for a song, pushed for Corey Seager in the draft (Michael Wacha, who went soon after to the Cardinals, was the other strong possibility) and got the team to the playoffs in a majority of his nine very difficult seasons working for Frank McCourt, who could never come back to baseball in a million years.
Respected Royals assistant GM J.J. Piccolo (who’s been there for their two World Series appearances) is said to be on the D-Backs list, sources say. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first suggested Piccolo as a possibility.
Not only are the Dodgers set up beautifully for the future due to their stash of big prospects, but also the reduced commitments from an MLB-high $800 million to a much more manageable $311 million, with some more to go (both Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier come off the books after next year, to the tune of $41 million total).
The Dodgers’ offer in a proposed trade to bring back Zack Greinke when they suggested they’d pay about $25 million of his $34.4-million salary is a very decent offer, and maybe even strong. Keep in mind the Dodgers offered $31 million a year when Greinke was a free agent, but more than half the year where he’ll be youngest was already gone. L.A.’s winter offer was only for five years and not six, and most importantly, his performance had gone from Cy Young-worthy to merely above-average. D-Backs ownership apparently couldn’t take the idea of sending money to the richest team in the league (and a main rival), though sometimes it’s wisest to cut one’s losses.
One rival exec on Nats star Daniel Murphy: “He was Babe Ruth last year, and is Wade Boggs this year.”
For all they did right, the Jays very likely regret not making a better offer this spring than two guaranteed years (plus two option years) for Encarnacion. He should easily get four years now.
(Photo by Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire)
Not sure where it started that the Jays might not give a qualifying offer (assuming there are qualifying offers) to Jose Bautista. But I’d heard late in the season that they absolutely intended to.
One NL exec on the Yoenis Cespedes’ chances to use his opt out: “100 percent.” The only way he wouldn’t become a free agent, the exec opined, is if he gives the Mets an early opportunity to beat the $47.5 million over two years that remains. That person estimated Cespedes should beat that by double, guessing $90 million for our years.
The expectation is that the Mets will pick up Jay Bruce’s $13 million option rather than buy him out for $1 million, though it’s not set in stone. “It could go a long way toward saying what their chances are to bring back Cespedes,” one rival exec said.
Another exec said he believes all three star free-agent closers (Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon) will set the contract record for relievers, breaking Jonathan Papelbon’s $50 million, four-year mark, set with Philly. Chapman and Jansen are almost sure things, while Melancon is a good possibility, the exec said.
No one still seems to know what happened to Papelbon. Wasn’t he supposed to sign with somebody?
Max Scherzer has never thrown on three-days rest, so it seems unlikely the Nats would push him to start Game 4; that said, a loss in Game 3 could force their hand.
Ex-Nats star Ian Desmond would seem like a potential fit to return. Danny Espinosa was very good defensively, but against a good pitcher, he seems like an out waiting to happen. However, Nats people say they believe rookie wunderkind Trea Turner could be an excellent shortstop, so perhaps they could consider moving him there, as well.
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