Alex Anthopoulos Departing

[pickoff22]

Shi Davidi ‏@ShiDavidi 1m1 minute ago

Sources: Alex Anthopoulos leaving #BlueJays after turning down extension: http://bit.ly/20ctrOt

[ColdPint]

Unreal.

[Markus2222]

What the hell?! Apparently not about money.

[Markus2222]

Finally good things coming for the franchise and then this?

[Trouba95]

WTF! Why AA and not Gibby?

[fatcowxlive]

Are you kidding me?????? Who's the best replacement out there now? If he's getting let go I wonder what the chances are that Gibbons will be let go too?

 

It has to come down to how big of a role Shapiro wants play maaaaaan

[ColdPint]

WTF!Why AA and not Gibby?

 

With this news I would imagine that Gibbons isn't far behind, whether by his choice or not.

 

Horrible news for the franchise in my opinion. He has obviously made his share of poor trades but he came here and immediately invested in the minor league system and scouts, which have paid dividends this trade deadline and allowed us to bring in the big names.

 

With all the great forward momentum that the Jays have after 22 years of futility I hope this does nothing to slow us down.

[ColdPint]

Are you kidding me?????? Who's the best replacement out there now? If he's getting let go I wonder what the chances are that Gibbons will be let go too?

 

It has to come down to how big of a role Shapiro wants play maaaaaan

 

Exactly, I think it has to come down to Shapiro wanting a say in player personnel and AA not getting the full autonomy he has earned, and deserves.

 

This sucks.

[fireballW]

WTH. AA was good and one of the hardest working GMS in the league. Say what you will about some moves from a few years ago, but the guy also was very willing to learn from mistakes and get better. I think he would have only kept improving. Just wow.... I am very disappointed. The only good thing is after the Jays run there should be interest from a lot of good candidates.

[Olerud363]

Are you kidding me?????? Who's the best replacement out there now? If he's getting let go I wonder what the chances are that Gibbons will be let go too?

 

It has to come down to how big of a role Shapiro wants play maaaaaan

 

I'm neutral on Gibby and AA. As I said in another thread I don't believe in being two clever. Almost everything should run with the simplest algorithm possible. See ball, hit ball.

 

Win 63 games - FIRE EVERYBODY

Win 93 games and play off series - Keep them

 

It's not too hard... is it??

[GD]

Oh well

[Trouba95]

This already has the makings of a let down season. Ugh. Why the f*** not extend him?

[intentional wok]

Are you kidding me?????? Who's the best replacement out there now? If he's getting let go I wonder what the chances are that Gibbons will be let go too?

 

It has to come down to how big of a role Shapiro wants play maaaaaan

 

Gibby will be out if 2016 is a disappointment.

 

I'm actually a little bit shocked that AA is out, but his own free agent performance this summer has probably earned him a lot of cred. I wonder where he goes now. I was kind of excited to see what else he could do with the existing squad going into 2016.

[pickoff22]

Even though I know there are other competent GMs, I still feel gutted. I don't know of other GMs who could of pulled off the Donaldson trade. AA had a knack for the unexpected. I imagine Bautista isn't going to be happy about this.

[ColdPint]

This already has the makings of a let down season. Ugh. Why the f*** not extend him?

 

I think it's likely the rejection came down to a player personnel power struggle with Shapiro wanting say, and not because of dollars and the length of contract.

[fireballW]

Exactly, I think it has to come down to Shapiro wanting a say in player personnel and AA not getting the full autonomy he has earned, and deserves.

 

This sucks.

People here love Shapiro. I would trust AA more than him. People also have this idea AA doesn't use analytics. Of course he does and he alluded to it many times. He has made some amazing deals, many more good than bad and now we are left to the unknown.

 

Maybe Shapiro said he didn't want Gibby back and AA left because of it?

[GD]

Thanks for your service. You were solid enough. On to the next one.

[labadee]

Say it ain't so.

[ColdPint]

How the hell could the Jays let this happen after the season we had? What other teams in any sport have the year we just had, after 22 years of futility, and let their GM....their architect.....walk?

[GreekFatAss]

Who is even available to replace him?

[fireballW]

Even though I know there are other competent GMs, I still feel gutted. I don't know of other GMs who could of pulled off the Donaldson trade. AA had a knack for the unexpected. I imagine Bautista isn't going to be happy about this.

 

Exactly. He wasn't perfect but he was as hard working as anyone, seemed to build good relationships around the league and was willing to learn and listen. He was also clearly very sharp.

[jaysblue]

I'm sure you'll have some protest outside the Rogers Centre today.

 

To be honest, I think this hurts Rogers more than anything from a PR perspective. I'm confident Mark Shapiro can do a great job and find a solid GM and manager. However, from a PR perspective with the Jays making the postseason for the first time in 22 years, the trade deadline AA pulled off and the buzz surrounding this team the final 2-3 months, this is crippling to some especially the casual fanbase. Not the greatest move from Rogers, especially how AA won over so many fans this past summer. I'm sure you'll have some fans who planned on buying flex packs or even season tickets default this winter. I think all will be forgotten however if the next GM comes in and make a big splash this offseason (similar to the Donaldson trade, Martin signing last offseason).

[fireballW]

With this news I would imagine that Gibbons isn't far behind, whether by his choice or not.

 

Horrible news for the franchise in my opinion. He has obviously made his share of poor trades but he came here and immediately invested in the minor league system and scouts, which have paid dividends this trade deadline and allowed us to bring in the big names.

 

With all the great forward momentum that the Jays have after 22 years of futility I hope this does nothing to slow us down.

 

People talk about Shapiro developing players. AA completely turned our minor leagues around twice in very short notice. Not only is he good at getting talent but also at pumping up prospects and getting them some name recognition.

[Jonzo]

It has to be about full atonomy. I guess Shapiro couldn't guarantee that.

[ColdPint]

If, and this is of course complete speculation, but if AA walked because Shapiro wants to be heavily involved in the construction of the team doesn't that severely deter any of the established big name GMs from wanting to come here now?

[fireballW]

I'm sure you'll have some protest outside the Rogers Centre today.

 

To be honest, I think this hurts Rogers more than anything from a PR perspective. I'm confident Mark Shapiro can do a great job and find a solid GM and manager. However, from a PR perspective with the Jays making the postseason for the first time in 22 years, the trade deadline AA pulled off and the buzz surrounding this team the final 2-3 months, this is crippling to some especially the casual fanbase. Not the greatest move from Rogers, especially how AA won over so many fans this past summer. I'm sure you'll have some fans who planned on buying flex packs or even season tickets default this winter. I think all will be forgotten however if the next GM comes in and make a big splash this offseason (similar to the Donaldson trade, Martin signing last offseason).

 

AA seemed really well respected around the league though. Part of why he could get those deals done. Was a breath of fresh air after half the GMs seemed to not want to deal with Ricciardi.

[Scion]

I'm not going to lose too much sleep over this news. AA had a great year, but his overall body of work was just ok. I just hope the new guy doesn't stand pat and evaluate the team for a year before making a move because the team requires immediate tweaking.

[Grant77]

Extremely disappointing. His drafting and development track record assured that we would always put out a good team. The future direction of the team is now very unclear and worrying after our best season in more than 20 years. I've never complained about Rogers spending, but they are one of the worst owners in baseball because of s*** like this.

[KingKat]

Well if AA wants to be a dummy about this then let him. He needs the Jays more than the Jays need him. Lacava and Tinnish are still around and will presumably get promotions.

[Governator]

Wow, no f***ing way. That's rather depressing.