Alex Anthopoulos Departing

[Boxcar]

Riccardi? Most of the core players he had like Wells/Rios/Halladay were there from before him. He was good at constructing BPs but do you remember the teams we used to roll out there? His drafting was horrible too, Jenkins over Trout? Romero over Tulo? Russ Adams??? JP was trash

 

Yeah, above average ones for a pretty low payroll. He also would have traded Wells at the peak of his value had he been allowed. Godfrey's meddling was a big reason why JPR ultimately was unsuccessful IMO.

[2lowitzki]

If AA is gone, you think Gibby will be gone soon??

[BTS]

Riccardi? Most of the core players he had like Wells/Rios/Halladay were there from before him. He was good at constructing BPs but do you remember the teams we used to roll out there? His drafting was horrible too, Jenkins over Trout? Romero over Tulo? Russ Adams??? JP was trash

 

Ricciardi was a good GM. You were like 5 when he left.

[KingKat]

Wilner should keep his mouth shut. At some point, realize you are just a casual with the luckiest job in the world and stop acting like some knowledgeable analyst.

 

He pinned pretty hard for Butterfield as a Cito replacement back in the day. He roots for the internal candidates. He really should take a more reporterly attitude to these things. It's not like he has influence.

[Boxcar]

LaCava would be a convenience hire, but he seems solid and would have the loyalty of the staff. I love Francona as manager. Francona, LaCava and Shapiro means we come out ahead, definitely. And watch for Rogers to mitigate this PR disaster with some big name signings.

 

Hey, do any of you think Price's agent talked to Shapiro and said Gibby was awful, and I want to sign, but only if he's gone?

 

Why would you want Price back? No thanks. I'd much rather buy Heyward if we are willing to buy Price

[TheHurl]

Riccardi? Most of the core players he had like Wells/Rios/Halladay were there from before him. He was good at constructing BPs but do you remember the teams we used to roll out there? His drafting was horrible too, Jenkins over Trout? Romero over Tulo? Russ Adams??? JP was trash

 

Riccardi was stubborn and the worst person to give a mic to as you knew he'd say something stupid...but he did a good job at value hunting. He signed Wells to one great extension (and one horrible one, but that was long rumoured to be Godfrey against JP's wishes), and Halladay to two. He flipped an unhappy Glaus for Rolen. Flipped Rolen for Stewart and EE. He was good at making moves and keeping guys around for as long as they were valuable. Completely not a fan friendly GM though. The role he holds with the Mets now is the one that he should have always had.

[cusstown]

Ricciardi was a good GM. You were like 5 when he left.

 

You really love mediocrity eh? As long as it's sustainable mediocrity I guess.

[Grant77]

Almost every player on Clevelands's roster was either drafted or acquired as a prospect. What killed him was that Cleveland's payroll hasn't left the bottom-10 in 13 years, and often sat bottom-5. He was basically given Friedman's TB mandate.

 

If Rogers is going to have payroll in the bottom-5, he's probably not going to be very successful. But AA wouldn't have been able to function in that context either.

 

Swisher/Bourn hurt them a lot too. Had that 100+ million been invested in a couple of reasonably productive players, they probably make the playoffs this season.

[BTS]

You really love mediocrity eh? As long as it's sustainable mediocrity I guess.

 

Winning in a loaded AL East with no second wildcard and an uncompetitive payroll was a ridiculous task. Him and AA worked in two very different contexts.

[admin]

Riccardi? Most of the core players he had like Wells/Rios/Halladay were there from before him. He was good at constructing BPs but do you remember the teams we used to roll out there? His drafting was horrible too, Jenkins over Trout? Romero over Tulo? Russ Adams??? JP was trash

 

I was one of the few that always stuck up for JP. He wasn't great, but he wasnt' terrible. When I asked people why they hated him so much, they could never give a solid answer that I couldn't correct them on. Sure he didn't do any big moves, but he didn't make many bad moves either. And I compare him to AA. They both were given a longer leash and some payroll, and they both panicked, and spent it as fast as they could (AA with his terrible Marlins trade). He didn't draft high potential players, he drafted league ready players, that was his philosophy. He drafted Adams, Jenkins Romero, as they were supposed to be able to come up to the Majors very quickly. They weren't expected to be stars, but provide value. Obviously many of them failed. But there was a time, don't quote me on it, that the Jays had more talent coming out of our system than any other team. It wasn't the best system, but wasn't the worst. I think AA did a much better job but JP could have done a lot worse.

Bringing up Trout, drafted at #25, and blaming JP for not drafting him? Really?

[BTS]

Swisher/Bourn hurt them a lot too. Had that 100+ million been invested in a couple of reasonably productive players, they probably make the playoffs this season.

 

Hard to blame him for either though. Both fell off a cliff as soon as they signed.

[leaffie]

I am disappointed that AA has decided to leave. But things change and maybe it will be for the better. But all the cheerleading for Shapiro amazes me. Exactly what has this guy done in the ten years or so that he has been in charge. Mediocrity. Yes, his team is filled with home grown talent, but they have won the division once I believe. Not what I would call great success.

[fireballW]

Riccardi? Most of the core players he had like Wells/Rios/Halladay were there from before him. He was good at constructing BPs but do you remember the teams we used to roll out there? His drafting was horrible too, Jenkins over Trout? Romero over Tulo? Russ Adams??? JP was trash

 

Ricciardi made almost nothing happen the whole time he was here and a lot of the good moves were found out later to be mostly AAs doing. He also couldn't make any significant trades and signed Wells to his crippling contract.

[Yorkshire Blue Jay]

Hard to blame him for either though. Both fell off a cliff as soon as they signed.

 

But AA gets the blame for the Dickey and Marlins trades when RA hasn`t repeated his Mets success and Josh Johnson fell off the cliff

[BTS]

But AA gets the blame for the Dickey and Marlins trades when RA hasn`t repeated his Mets success and Josh Johnson fell of the cliff

 

Exactly.

[glory]

You really love mediocrity eh? As long as it's sustainable mediocrity I guess.

 

If AA had to deal with one wild card and two super teams in his division, then he would have been fired a long time ago. JP won 86 games in 2008 and finished a distant 4th in the East. Apples and oranges compared to today.

 

He couldn't draft for s*** but he was a good GM.

[GeorgiaPeach]

You think only 3 people dislike you?

 

He sleeps comfortably at night because he knows he's correct in that assumption.

 

For godsakes the mans saw it on the radio.

[cusstown]

Winning in a loaded AL East with no second wildcard and an uncompetitive payroll was a ridiculous task. Him and AA worked in two very different contexts.

 

He also signed BJ Ryan, drafted Russ Adams, Romero over Tulo, put Rios on waivers and lost him for nothing, and his drafting in general was pretty poor.

 

Oh and he also burned bridges with Frank Thomas and somehow Adam Dunn who never even played for him.

[fireballW]

Hard to blame him for either though. Both fell off a cliff as soon as they signed.

 

Funny you defend him. Even if you think it was anot a smart trade I the war arguments against the Jays trade is ridiculous. Most of what could have went wrong did go wrong. Even if just Johnson had turned out that trade wouldn't look half as bad. Let alone if Reyes didn't fall further into the toilet than anyone expected.

[BTS]

He also signed BJ Ryan, drafted Russ Adams, Romero over Tulo, put Rios on waivers and lost him for nothing, and his drafting in general was pretty poor.

 

The Ryan signing and his draft record were both awful, granted.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

I wake up and there is already 14 pages. I love this board.

 

Slacker!!! Lol

[TDotttt2005]

Why would anyone be scolded for making moves that invigorated the fanbase that moved our attendance to an elite level and the team to a game or 2 from the WS. Daniel Norris and Jeff Hoffman `could` be very good but likely will be no more than average starters but we were 2015 AL East Champions and IMO wouldn`t have been without those moves.

 

I can see the optics of it, from an incoming executive perspective. It was kind of the same worries we had in the back of our minds as fans before we won anything...why is he selling the farm? are we f***ed in the coming years? is he doing it to save his job?

[Grant77]

Hard to blame him for either though. Both fell off a cliff as soon as they signed.

 

Bourn basically stayed at his career hitting norms for the first 2 seasons, he just wasn't that good. In hindsight, the defensive metrics in 2012 were probably hugely inflated and they bought in, getting an average defender. He always got poor reads and had an average arm.

 

Swisher I agree with, he just completely lost it right away. It's too bad, I always liked him a lot.

[BTS]

Funny you defend him. Even if you think it was anot a smart trade I the war arguments against the Jays trade is ridiculous. Most of what could have went wrong did go wrong. Even if just Johnson had turned out that trade wouldn't look half as bad. Let alone if Reyes didn't fall further into the toilet than anyone expected.

 

I defended the Melky signing after the abysmal first year too. There's a huge, huge difference between signing players to free agent contracts and trading legit assets for players on free agent contracts. If Josh Johnson were signed to a 1/14 deal and fell apart I would have had zero problem with the decision. I would have also had zero problem with Buehrle being signed as a free agent.

[Mikeleelop]

Well to all you AA and Gibbons haters looks like you will get your wish. Enjoy - can't wait to see the first "will the new GM be back" thread

[reedjohnsonfan]

Riccardi was stubborn and the worst person to give a mic to as you knew he'd say something stupid...but he did a good job at value hunting. He signed Wells to one great extension (and one horrible one, but that was long rumoured to be Godfrey against JP's wishes), and Halladay to two. He flipped an unhappy Glaus for Rolen. Flipped Rolen for Stewart and EE. He was good at making moves and keeping guys around for as long as they were valuable. Completely not a fan friendly GM though. The role he holds with the Mets now is the one that he should have always had.

 

Exactly. Looking back he seemed like a pretty good GM overall but terrible for PR. That one time he said Adam Dunn doesn't enjoy playing baseball was hilarious but embarrassing for the franchise.

[Jonn]

BTS having a bad week.

[fireballW]

The Ryan signing and his draft record were both awful, granted.

 

For someone who seems to keep showing they believe that getting good homegrown talent and retaining them is the best way to find value, you sure do easily brush away JPs terrible drafting and ignore that AA built a bottom five farm system into a top 10 one twice in a short period of time.

[Dr Negative]

I know we all love the Donaldson trade but imo it is hard to argue that Shapiro's overall body of work isn't far superior to AA's.

[BTS]

BTS having a bad week.

 

I am?