Alex Anthopoulos is gone! Likely the only general manager in baseball history to ever be cheered by fans at an away game, he will be sorely missed in Toronto.
For the record...
When he took over as GM in Toronto in 2009, the Blue Jays had the 29th ranked farm system in baseball. After three years with AA at the helm they had the 1st ranked farm team system in baseball.
This was his tremendous contribution to the Blue Jays. The scouting system he put in place is, quite simply, the best. It allowed the Jays to load up with awesome minor league talent that allowed for the trades that got them to where they are today. Even in 2013, after his awesome trade with Miami, the Blue Jays were ranked first in Vegas as the odds on favourites to win the World Series. No one could have predicted Josh Johnson's and Ricky Romero's complete collapses as pitchers. It took two years to recover from this.
Today the Blue Jays have the best third baseman and best shortshop in baseball. Toluwisky and Donaldson make every pitcher better. Their line up is the most feared in baseball. Their 891 runs in one season is over 5 runs a game! Who would ever want to pitch to that kind of a line up! Vegas will make them the odd-on favourite to with the World Series again next year.
The future for this team is exceptionally bright, as AA has moved them from the life sentence which is mediocrity, to the first rank. He did it by following a methodical plan based on a great scouting and farm system that was then used to acquire the talent they need to succeed.
What happened? It has been suggested that he was told that he traded too much away in 2015 to save his job. But he just rejected a five-year deal, and in the circumstances, telling him he traded too much away was an obvious invitation to leave. If it was all about saving his job, he would have signed. It was about what it has always been about with this guy - baseball. Again, he will be sorely missed.
No comments:
Post a Comment