As Alex Anthopoulos nears the end of his first hundred days on the job as Blue Jays GM, things have run a little smoother in the front office than Blue Jays fans are used to. He hasn’t called out Adam Dunn or sent anyone to the minor leagues for calling him a pimp. He has also made some significant moves that will shape the roster for years to come. The biggest of these moves was Anthopoulos’ signing of outfielder Jeremy Reed to a minor league contract. Anthopoulos also traded Roy Halladay.
Anthopoulos’ three way trade with the Phillies and Mariners was the biggest of the winter, and left the Jays with Kyle Drabek, Travis D’Arnaud and Brett Wallace (who was acquired for Michael Taylor, the third player Toronto received). While losing Roy may have been tough to swallow for Blue Jays fans, it replenished a farm system that was left barren by J.P. Riccardi. Drabek and Wallace are now Toronto’s #1 and #2 prospects according to Baseball America (which leaves me to wonder who J.P. has been drafting for the last three years). On top of Drabek and Wallace, Travis D’Arnaud gives us hope that we won’t have to reacquire Gregg Zaun next winter. Given that Roy was leaving after 2010 and he was closer to free agency than at the July trade deadline, I have to give Alex credit for making the best of a bad situation and landing some prospects with more upside than anyone else in the Blue Jays farm system.
Anthopoulos’ other significant moves this winter were to sign Alex Gonzalez, John Buck and trade for Seattle’s Brandon Morrow. John Buck and Brendan Morrow both filled holes (although the Jays definitely need more than one starting pitcher) and Anthopoulos was smart not to overspend when the Jays still seem a couple years away from contention. The Alex Gonzalez signing now gives Toronto two defensively skilled, light hitting shortstops which led me to wonder why the move was made. Last year’s offensive spike aside, Alex Gonzalez is a pretty comparable offensive player to John McDonald and everyone in Toronto would love to see Johnny Mac get a chance at a starting job. That being said, the Gonzalez signing is relatively low cost and shouldn’t hinder the Jays moving forward.
Anthopoulos’ first hundred days as GM involved all the moves made by a rebuilding of a team, while that may be depressing news for Jays fans, it appears as though at least we’ve found someone who is going about it the right way.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
One Team to Watch in 2010
One of the noisiest teams this off season has been the Seattle Mariners. Second year GM Jack Zduriencik has made several big deals that have lead many to suggest that Seattle is one of the teams to watch in 2010. Moneyballers have also been singing the praises of “Big Z”, calling him one of the best general managers in the game and many are picking Seattle as this year’s AL West favorites. Now there is NO ONE that wants to see Junior make it to the big dance in what is probably his last season more than I do, but I am a little more cautious about the 2010 Mariners.
Make no mistake about it, Jack Zduriencik is trying to build the Mariners around speed, pitching and defense, and this year’s major offseason acquisitions (Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee and Casey Kotchman) highlight this. Given that Safeco Field is bigger than Jay Leno’s chin (I’m with Coco) you can’t fault Z for building his team this way, but the fact is that even teams built on pitching and D need power threats, something that Seattle doesn’t appear to have. Last season’s two biggest power threats Russell Branyan and Adrian Beltre are gone, inheriting the middle of the line-up is Jose Lopez, Franklin Gutierrez and Milton Bradley - not exactly a murderer’s row. Gutierrez and Lopez are good hitters with power, but are they really number 3 or 4 hitters on a playoff team? We also need to remember that if someone sneezes in Bradley’s vicinity he may take it as a personal attack against him (or an act of racism) and become totally useless to the team. Even someone as likable as Ken Griffey may not be able to keep Mad Milton happy for 8 months. Assuming that Big Griff doesn’t put up his 1993 numbers, this leaves the M’s lacking a bona fide power threat in the middle of their order
The Mariners have other concerns as well. While Seattle’s pitching is appeared to be much improved with the addition of Cliff Lee, the Mariners will be without Jarred Washburn and Brendan Morrow, big contributors to last year’s staff. While Lee improves the staff, the loss of these two pitchers needs to be considered, which makes the staff only marginally better at best. Also troubling is last year’s run differential of -52 which suggests that the 85 wins the team accumulated are not entirely reflective of the team’s performance – the M’s may have enjoyed more than their fair share of lucky bounces. Catching is another major issue. Can anyone name a catcher on their 40 man roster?
Yes, the Angels are significantly worse than they were last year and Oakland is still at least a couple years away, but this Mariners team may not be as good as advertised. The 2007 M’s were a team built on pitching and defence on the cusp of a breakthrough. That off season they made the acquisitions necessary (Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva) to put them over the top. On top of their 100 loss season the next year, Seattle fans get to see Adam Jones rake in Baltimore as a reminder of their misplaced optimism. For Junior’s sake let’s hope that 2010 isn’t a little piece of history repeating.
Make no mistake about it, Jack Zduriencik is trying to build the Mariners around speed, pitching and defense, and this year’s major offseason acquisitions (Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee and Casey Kotchman) highlight this. Given that Safeco Field is bigger than Jay Leno’s chin (I’m with Coco) you can’t fault Z for building his team this way, but the fact is that even teams built on pitching and D need power threats, something that Seattle doesn’t appear to have. Last season’s two biggest power threats Russell Branyan and Adrian Beltre are gone, inheriting the middle of the line-up is Jose Lopez, Franklin Gutierrez and Milton Bradley - not exactly a murderer’s row. Gutierrez and Lopez are good hitters with power, but are they really number 3 or 4 hitters on a playoff team? We also need to remember that if someone sneezes in Bradley’s vicinity he may take it as a personal attack against him (or an act of racism) and become totally useless to the team. Even someone as likable as Ken Griffey may not be able to keep Mad Milton happy for 8 months. Assuming that Big Griff doesn’t put up his 1993 numbers, this leaves the M’s lacking a bona fide power threat in the middle of their order
The Mariners have other concerns as well. While Seattle’s pitching is appeared to be much improved with the addition of Cliff Lee, the Mariners will be without Jarred Washburn and Brendan Morrow, big contributors to last year’s staff. While Lee improves the staff, the loss of these two pitchers needs to be considered, which makes the staff only marginally better at best. Also troubling is last year’s run differential of -52 which suggests that the 85 wins the team accumulated are not entirely reflective of the team’s performance – the M’s may have enjoyed more than their fair share of lucky bounces. Catching is another major issue. Can anyone name a catcher on their 40 man roster?
Yes, the Angels are significantly worse than they were last year and Oakland is still at least a couple years away, but this Mariners team may not be as good as advertised. The 2007 M’s were a team built on pitching and defence on the cusp of a breakthrough. That off season they made the acquisitions necessary (Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva) to put them over the top. On top of their 100 loss season the next year, Seattle fans get to see Adam Jones rake in Baltimore as a reminder of their misplaced optimism. For Junior’s sake let’s hope that 2010 isn’t a little piece of history repeating.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)