The Toronto Blue Jays/MLB Thread.

[Apollo]

Well apparently AA rejected an offer to stay on as GM.
And apparently it wasn't financially motivated.. I could see this as just two guys butting heads?

Pretty shocking though.

Now I'm wondering what Shapiro does with Gibbons .. I hope Gibby stays on though.

AA wasn't going to be allowed to have final say on the team. That's what its about.

[The Great One]

Not terribly shocked. Same thing happened in Boston. I'm not terribly concerned but the optics are bad and if the offseason goes poorly all the mouth breathers will be up in arms.

+1

[Bendit]

Not terribly shocked. Same thing happened in Boston. I'm not terribly concerned but the optics are bad and if the offseason goes poorly all the mouth breathers will be up in arms.

True...but they pooped the season unlike over here. The writing was on the wall with Cherington which is why Dombrowski was brought in. I will concede that in some ways it was similar here at through the first 3-4 mos. but then with the moves the team caught fire....but the hire (and promises to Shapiro) were already made. Timing.

[Cody73]

Guys, Shapiro likes to have prospects. A LOT. In fact, he'll take prospects that are MLB ready and trade em for more prospects.

[raptors999]

Guys, Shapiro likes to have prospects. A LOT. In fact, he'll take prospects that are MLB ready and trade em for more prospects.

That's why the Indians have been dominating baseball for years. Always one step away.

Not an AA fan, happy he's gone

[Mack North]

Guys, Shapiro likes to have prospects. A LOT. In fact, take prospects that are MLB ready and trade em for more prospects.

If this fucking guy blows it up to re-build...

[raptors999]

If this fucking guy blows it up to re-build...

He can't everybody has no-trade clauses.

[Joey]

That's why the Indians have been dominating baseball for years. Always one step away.

Not an AA fan, happy he's gone

Under Shapiro they won 2 Division Titles and a Wildcard birth .. in 15 years. I wouldn't call that dominating. Unless you were being sarcastic.

[raptors999]

Under Shapiro they won 2 Division Titles and a Wildcard birth .. in 15 years. I wouldn't call that dominating. Unless you were being sarcastic.

They seems to have fire sales every couple years. A good year followed by complete re-build

[The Great One]

They seems to have fire sales every couple years. A good year followed by complete re-build

Basically like the Oakland A's?

[raptors999]

Basically like the Oakland A's?

Maybe it's money based which won't be a big issue in Toronto

[Joey]

Maybe it's money based which won't be a big issue in Toronto

... we hope not.

Any word on Shapiro having a 5 year Max for Players Contracts? Lol

[Joey]

This from the Star:

To say Anthopoulos rejected an extension is ridiculous. The new offer from ownership and incoming president Mark Shapiro would take away the final say on player personnel moves, handing them to the new guy who had discovered in his role as a business-only Indians president, that he missed his role as a trade/free-agent power broker like an alcoholic misses Jaeger bombs.

Source

[Nilanka]

Anthopoulous was named Executive of the Year today as well, lol.

What a gong show. Rogers couldn't have possibly handled this any worse.

[slaw]

True...but they pooped the season unlike over here. The writing was on the wall with Cherington which is why Dombrowski was brought in. I will concede that in some ways it was similar here at through the first 3-4 mos. but then with the moves the team caught fire....but the hire (and promises to Shapiro) were already made. Timing.

We really should have seen this coming. Shapiro is a young guy and he clearly wasn't coming to Toronto to focus on concessions, selling more jerseys and a grass field. In retrospect, that was ludicrous - he was always coming here cause he was told he would be in charge. Then, of course, the Jays exploded and AA is the exec of the year but Rogers already promised Shapiro he would have final say.

Shapiro didn't come to Toronto to fail but a couple of things concern me. First, the Indians' drafts in the Shapiro era have been gawdawful. Second, Shapiro's experience is operating a small market team that has no money. Third, say what you want about AA, but he restocked a broken farm system and then, just for good measure, emptied it out and restocked it again. He put a winner on the field in 6 years with a major league roster that was a mess 5 years ago. Shapiro had as many good years in a decade and a half in Cleveland as AA had in 6. And now there's such a fundamental difference with Shapiro he leaves? That's slightly disconcerting.