glory

AA is terrible with depth. Always has been. Puts way too much pressure on his 25-man roster to stay healthy and effective. I'm not a fan of Sanchez, but he better be the #5 starter. Not because he will be good, but because Norris can start in AAA. If Norris is the fifth starter and Sanchez is the closer, then this team is screwed the moment a starter gets hurt.

If the Jays are below .500 in late-May, I'm willing to bet DeMarlo Hale will be managing from June-onwards. AA won't be fired mid-season. They'll wait until the end of the year, if anything.

I have a bad feeling about this. If Snider breaks out with the O's, that would suck. If he did it in Pittsburgh, then fine, but not in Baltimore!

Yeah, seriously. Papelbon is good, but way overpaid, and not worth giving up assets for a reliever. If he was a 3 win reliever, then sure, but he's not. Use the money on two relievers, and trade Navarro for a 3rd.

Nothing. Him not valuing Melky after his 2014 season was a good thing.

His use of catchers was also very telling. Traded practically every decent catcher in the system to give the keys to JPA, and then a year later signed a notoriously lazy and bad framer in Navarro while limiting a good framer like Kratz to AAA duty. Yet this off-season, he signed Martin because of defense and framing. Just seems like a complete 180 from his typical mindset. He also didn't seem to value Melky at all, and then traded a 1 WAR starter at peak value for a potential 2-3 WAR OF. It seemed like two years ago he went for all big names that could sell tickets, and this year it was WAR/value based acquisitions. I definitely like this AA better, but why did it take him so long?

It's strange though AA suddenly started making moves based on projected WAR. He was never like that before, and then suddenly we see Martin, Donaldson, Saunders, Travis, and some underrated waiver pick-ups. Either he has someone under him that would make a great GM or he's finally learning.

Yep. Barring a deep playoff run or World Series title, I think AA is done the moment a new president comes in. He went out with a blaze of glory though. Made some great moves when firing him after 2014 season was justifiable.

Platoon Kawasaki with either Tolleson or Izturis until Travis is ready.

Don't worry, once Eddie is done negotiating with Baltimore on April 5, then Alex will be free to make moves. Be patient.

One good thing may have come out of this. I never really thought the Jays had a real rival (20 years without the playoffs can do that), but maybe now the Jays/Orioles can spill their hatred for each other on the field. The fans already hate each other, and now the front offices hate each other.

Rogers has a huge task now to clean up this PR mess. Won't be easy.

Tampering charges would be doing us a favor. It would make Eddie look even worse, and that's a good thing.

Yeah, AA did a lot to repair his reputation this off-season. Donaldson, Martin, Saunders, Travis, etc, was a hell of an off-season. The issue, as stated before, is depth. He has never properly anticipated injuries in any season he has been GM. He puts far too much expectations on young players to begin a season, and if they get hurt or pitch below expectations, he blames injuries/bad luck. In reality, he should be putting no pressure on the young starters because he shouldn't be counting on them at all. This year it will be Sanchez, Pompey, and possibly Travis and Norris as well. Out of those four, the only one I'd be confident in starting the season in the Majors is Travis, and even he hasn't touched AAA yet. The depth in case of failure/injury, while better than previous seasons, is still not where it should be. Regardless, if AA's newfound appreciation of advanced stats is for real, then I don't mind him staying on. Maybe AA with a better team president would be more successful.

I agree except I think they would have let him shed payroll if he wanted to (ex. sell high on Rasmus). I think he could have made moves to lower payroll and see limited drop off, but I agree in general that he was handcuffed by ownership.

It was Blair, so take it whichever way you want, but I tend to believe it. AA made the Happ/Saunders trade on December 3. On December 7, Rosenthal tweets about the Jays interest in Duquette. What Major League transaction have the Jays made since December 7? None. Minor league deals and waiver claims. That's all. For a team that only has three guaranteed MLB relievers (Cecil, Loup, Estrada), a projected 0 WAR out of 2B (Goins/Izturis), and a #5 starter who has red flags all over the place. Not only has this Duquette nonsense hurt the Jays reputation, but it may have hurt AA's chances of trading Navarro and finding suitable solutions for the holes that still exist on the team. Now, it could all be a big coincidence, as AA proved last season he can go six months without making an MLB transaction if he wanted to, but trading Navarro when Dickey is publicly supporting Thole and Martin is coming in with a 5/82 contract is simply common sense, and hasn't been done yet. There's a real chance Navarro starts the year in Toronto, and that's not good. If it's because of Edward Rogers and his imbecile friend, then they can both EAD as far as I'm concerned. Wish his last name was something else so they could fire him.

Rogers has made me sympathize with Paul Beeston. That's a feat in itself.

Rosenthal is the standard, IMO. His sources are excellent and he doesn't try to peddle s*** like Heyman. Everyone else is hit or miss. Guys like Olney are terrible.

Not sure how reliable it is since it was from Blair, but apparently AA has/had deals lined up for Navarro but was told to hold off until the Duquette thing was settled. Considering the team hasn't done anything since the rumors first started, I tend to believe it.

Ruben Amaro. Vesting options, player options, and $10M buyouts for everyone!

Crain and Bedard on minor league deals. Where were the Jays? Canadians!

Never doubt the integrity of a man who calls himself Testicles.

Beeston is working without a contract (apparently). He likely knows he's on borrowed time and they are searching for his replacement. Nothing has really changed if the Jays pass on Duquette. With that said, please let Stephen Brunt be right!!! End this gong show now and let's add some wins for 2015.

Navarro for Duquette. That's the most Baltimore should get, especially if the Jays had to take back Mike Aviles for Farrell.

It probably has hurt Baltimore more, but doing nothing for two months waiting for Lloyd Christmas to broker a deal for an executive may have cost the Jays a win or two just by not adding talent when the opportunity was presumably there. Twenty two years without the playoffs and ownership freezes the roster to negotiate with an executive? That's disgusting.