Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps just don’t enjoy the magical sport of baseball), you’ve probably seen the internet and news abuzz with talks of the Toronto Blue Jays and the recent changes in lineups, both on and off the diamond.
For the past few seasons, the motto for the Canadian baseball team seemed to have been “planning for the future”, and kind of keeping the present details fuzzy. Whenever one would try to talk about the team, there was always a mention of “minor league prospects” and “setting up a better team for next year”. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the wait may finally be over.
With Rogers letting loose some extra cash, we see this year’s payroll increasing from 79 million to a formidable 120 million. The diamonds that we caught completely justified the high price-tag– in a gigantic trade with the Marlins, the team scored a couple of all-stars, including two desperately needed starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, one of the highest-ranked shortstops currently in baseball, Emilio Bonifacio and catcher John Buck (welcome back, bud!).
This trade saw us shipping off three of our top prospects, as well as several familiar names: Yunel Escobar, Jeff Mathis, Henderson Alvarez, and Adeiny Hechavarria. However, none of these players were fundamental in the composition of our team, and have easily replaced niches for the coming season. The only possible downsides for the trade shows that few players have potential for DL-worthy injuries (but such things are commonplace for the Jays). Critics are unanimous in decreeing the trade a huge win for the Blue Jays.
But hold onto your hats folks. It doesn’t end there.
Free agent Melky Cabrera, former all-star outfielder for the Giants, also found himself in the Jays lineup this past month. After having testing positive for the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Cabrera received a fifty-game suspension. General Manager, Alex Anthopoulos, heard opportunity knocking and signed the outfielder for a two-year contract worth 16 million dollars. The gamble in doing so is minimized for the Jays–officials will be keeping a close eye on Cabrera for further substance abuse, which only promotes healthy habits for the all-star seeking a second chance. The only real risk is what his performance will be like this year, but the confidence with the new star-studded lineup might give him the perfect environment to succeed.
For once, online fans of the Jays can no longer be seen arguing and complaining about the management and operations of the team. Anyone still doubting the capabilities of Anthopoulos must be struggling to find complaints with solid moves like these… and he wasn’t even done yet.
After previous manager John Farrell “requested” (fairly adamantly) to give up his final contracted year with the Blue Jays to work in Boston with the Red Sox, the team did not exactly have the highest of spirits. It became Anthopoulos’ job to find a strong manager that could knit all of the new players together, to create a true contender of a team. There were several potential choices — previous Jays managers, or even perhaps a young rising star. Anthopoulos decided to place his faith in former manager John Gibbons, who had been fired four years ago before legendary manager Cito Gaston took the reigns (again). With a 305-305 win-loss coaching record (third best in Blue Jays history) Gibbons seems like yet another smart choice on the part of Anthopoulos. While some may say that the general manager may be thinking too personally on the matter but in truth this may have made his design even more sound. Anthopoulos is familiar with Gibbons, he knows how he acts, his strengths and weaknesses, and what to expect, whereas choosing a young manager could be playing too risky to coach the new, high-rolling roster.
It seems that, from nearly every perspective of the situation, the Jays are setting themselves up for success in the coming season. With the great management, strong players, perseverance, and some luck, Toronto just might find themselves in playoff position this year… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It isn’t spring just yet.
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