Alex Anthopoulos Departing

[HERPDERP]

I'm ok with this. He chose to leave. He leaves behind a decent 2016 team if we shell out $ for pitching but 2017 is murkier. His record is marginal and mixed.

 

It tells me Shapiro will be very much in charge and I'm ok if we live and die with that. This decision makes me more excited for 2016.

 

As far as the reaction the sheep will be pissed if we don't do well and blame it on Shapiro and the loss of Ninja. If we do well, they will forget AA in a second.

 

Why are we going to blame him on the record? He came here with a s***** team and terrible farm system.

 

He gamed the system with those supplemental picks and was able to quickly turn around the minor league system.

 

He hasn't had an absolutely terrible trade other than the Napoli trade. The Marlins deal was a loss, but it wasn't devastating as we got use out of Buehrle and Reyes flipped for Tulo. And at least with Dickey we had a reliable +200 IP guy.

[z3r0s]

If they tear down the roster, imma be pissed. We need to take another kick at the can this year and not focus beyond that for now.

[ProfessionalAtBat]

What a great news. AA made some good deal but also some terrible one like Syndergaard .... I prefer someone like Shapiro who builds his team with the draft. Like Marc Bergevin is doing with the Habs.

 

Gibby is gone ! rejoice !

[Jonn]

#FireShapiro

[Governator]

They wouldn't tear down this roster, there is too much at stake and Rogers is enjoying sellouts. The only way that happens is if Rogers says ok the budget is $120MM. Go.

[HERPDERP]

I'm not sure if I want to commit for 20-game flex packs when they come available next month.

[Grant77]

If they tear down the roster, imma be pissed. We need to take another kick at the can this year and not focus beyond that for now.

 

Before AA rejected his demotion, I thought that we could have focused on both the present and the future. It's not that things can't improve, but it was a given that we would have a great draft in 2016 and would continue to build the farm system as the team competed. Now that's all up in the air.

[fatcowxlive]

Keith Law:

 

- Doesn't think Shapiro was hired to replace Anthopoulos, but thinks Rogers expected it.

- Notes that Cleveland is a strong process oriented organization, but has not been successful at all. He would have brought in someone from a more successful organization.

- Thinks that criticizing Anthopoulos' trade record is way off base and incorrect. All trades this year were huge successes.

- Doesn't expect further investment from ownership when it comes to big name pitchers.

- Confirms with industry sources that Shapiro was highly critical of AA's trades at the deadline.

- Anticipates a possible tear down of the existing roster and thinks that it would be a disastrous decision.

- Expects Gibbons to be fired, mentions Eric Wedge. (oh no!)

 

I don't think this is possible. I think Rogers saw so much revenue come in with a winning team compared to the half empty stadiums of the last 2 decades, no way they're going to let him tear down the roster and go through ANOTHER rebuilding phase. Maybe retooling, trading a couple of old bats or something, but no way he's going to trade away most of our stars

[aselvana]

I'm not sure if I want to commit for 20-game flex packs when they come available next month.

 

yea im gonna wait...a f***ing teardown. yikes

[Brenner]

Wow Shapiro is a fool if he wants to tear this down. He will become public enemy #1 and kill all the goodwill the team now has. They have to atleast try to go for it again next year or there will be a fan base riot.

 

After 20 years of fan apathy you finally bring them back and then throw it away? It will take 20 years to rebuild it again.

[North of 60]

Can AA collect EI?

[ComeTogether]

Makes for an interesting off season.

 

Too early to tell and judge. AA did a good job. Let's see who will replace him.

[Laika]

Tearing down the roster would be egregious.

 

An opinion that Toronto needs to make big changes to compete long-term is fine. That opinion could be reasonably held. But the roster as currently constructed should have more than enough talent to compete in 2016. They really need to keep the core together and go for it again in 2016, at least.

 

I'm not even sure what a "tear down" would look like. I guess you could trade Tulowitzki, Bautista, and/or Encarnacion for young talent... Tulo doesn't have immense value though.

[Jonn]

Some suit just took over at MLSE lol. Coming from Air Canada apparently so you know hes trash

[Dr. Dinger]

it was a given that we would have a great draft in 2016 and would continue to build the farm system as the team competed.

 

That's a pretty ludicrous statement, that's not a given at all.

[Grant77]

I don't think this is possible. I think Rogers saw so much revenue come in with a winning team compared to the half empty stadiums of the last 2 decades, no way they're going to let him tear down the roster and go through ANOTHER rebuilding phase. Maybe retooling, trading a couple of old bats or something, but no way he's going to trade away most of our stars

 

I didn't think what just happened was possible. They basically fired the most admired man in Toronto right now, the reason they had all of this success. Rogers has consistently f***ed up year after year, so you can't put anything past them, including giving a mandate to Shapiro to rebuild.

[Dr. Dinger]

Can AA collect EI?

 

No, he wasn't laid off.

[candymartinez]

How are the Cubs now after having a #1 farm?

 

I heard Lester shot a 2 under yesterday!

[Laika]

"tear-down" would likely just mean trading EE for young, controllable arms.

 

The Blue Jays don't have a terrible burden of long term contracts so really, Law's point about a tear down coming is rather silly and stupid.

[Grant77]

That's a pretty ludicrous statement, that's not a given at all.

 

It's about as likely with AA as it would be with any GM. The track record proves that.

[fatcowxlive]

I didn't think what just happened was possible. They basically fired the most admired man in Toronto right now, the reason they had all of this success. Rogers has consistently f***ed up year after year, so you can't put anything past them, including giving a mandate to Shapiro to rebuild.

 

Well he wasn't 'fired' but I know what you're saying . I hope you're wrong though, I hope Rogers told him not to f*** up the team and go into a rebuilding mode. AA in 5 years cleaned up JP Riccardi's mess, rebuilt the farm, and constructed a team that won the AL East and took it to Game 6 of the ALCS. If we do worse this year people will be after Shapiro's head. He's in a high pressure situation IMO

[KingKat]

Says that this is a bad look to fire a guy who did everything the org wanted him to do, especially since he build a top farm system and having home-grown prospects helping out the team now (Stroman, Osuna, etc) and using them as currency to improve the team.

 

Why would Law say that AA was fired? That's patently false.

[Yorkshire Blue Jay]

Have just requested a refund from my post season tickets - I was going to reinvest it all into Flexpacks or even season tickets for next year. But i`ll take my money back for now

 

I am waiting to see what happens in the coming weeks and months now before I need to make that decision.

 

I was delighted with the deadline moves and now apparently having a president that deems them worthy of a scolding. Norris and Hoffman were the only 2 names that I was even slightly concerned about but to see Tulo`s defensive upgrade over Reyes and Price pitching a 9-1 record to seal the division are now cherished memories that IMO were totally worth it and can never be taken away.

[fatcowxlive]

Why would Law say that AA was fired? That's patently false.

 

I probably mis-wrote it, I think he said something along the lines of he wasn't 'kept', not fired

[Krylian]

Surprised obviously

 

We may hear some stories now...

 

We'd better. If they're gonna f*** this up i want to smell that dirty laundry

[Laika]

It's about as likely with AA as it would be with any GM. The track record proves that.

 

The track record proves that they would have a great draft this year? lol.

 

The track record says that they would probably whiff on several high schoolers with high picks, fail to sign a very high pick, hit on one or two HS selections, and maybe hit on a college guy.

[Grant77]

Why would Law say that AA was fired? That's patently false.

 

I can't speak for others, but if my job were taken over by another person and I was offered a significant demotion, I would take it as being fired.

 

Don Mattingly wasn't fired by the Dodgers either, but most of us are smart enough to read between the lines.

[intrigid]

No, he wasn't laid off.

 

There are ways around it. AA will tell the government official that Shapiro changed the locks on his office doors. They don't really check into those things. $500 a week is $500 a week.

[Grant77]

The track record proves that they would have a great draft this year? lol.

 

The track record says that they would probably whiff on several high schoolers with high picks, fail to sign a very high pick, hit on one or two HS selections, and maybe hit on a college guy.

 

Yes, a draft is a failure because you miss on a couple of players. Are you going to criticize me if I say Jose Bautista will have a good season in 2016 as well? When you have a track record of being excellent at something, it's perfectly reasonable to expect continued success.

[Dr. Dinger]

It's about as likely with AA as it would be with any GM. The track record proves that.

 

Meh. He drafted Deck McGuire over Chris Sale and Yasmani Grandal. He was in the room when we drafted Chad Jenkins over Mike Trout. He failed to sign two 1st round picks in his tenure. He took DJ Davis over Michael Wacha and Corey Seager. He hit on Syndergaard, but then he squandered him. Other than that, it's pretty much Stroman and a mixed bag.