The Man Behind the Curtain Goes to Work

Occasionally it’s best not to know what’s going on behind the scenes. Unfortunately for the Toronto Blue Jays, over the course of this past season the disarray and inner workings of their organization were revealed for all to see. Now, Alex Anthopoulos has the dubious task of taking his place behind the curtain and starting the magical Oz machine once again.

Anthopoulos didn’t waste any time this week as it was a relitavely busy weekend  – first there was the “state of the franchise” conference call on Saturday, and lately it’s been the rumblings about the Jays wanting to trade Lyle Overbay to the D-Backs for Chris Snyder.

According to the Arizona Public, trade talks were well underway but were put to a halt when the Jays realized that Snyder’s back wasn’t all it was cracked up to be (sorry … I couldn’t help myself).


ADVERTISEMENT

It appears as though AA is making good on his word that he would be active in the trade market this off-season and the wheels are already set in motion because a move like this would benefit the team two-fold:

  1. Foreseeing any other major injuries from Snyder, the Blue Jays would have a full-time catcher up until the end of 2011. Hopefully by then, J.P. Arencebia will have made his triumphant debut and will be well on his way to becoming the future star catcher of this team.
  2.  

  3. Trading Overbay also sets in motion a search for a long-term first baseman. Although the move makes perfect sense, it sounds like AA does not want to move Adam Lind to first base no matter what. This must mean that he working on something else entirely that we don’t even know about to bring in a first baseman long-term. Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

Moving on to the other big deal that didn’t happen late last week … it appeared as though the Blue Jays all but missed the boat on the J.J. Hardy trade and that the Minnesota Twins cashed in on this blog’s most beloved mancrushes.

Little did we know, apparently Anthopoulos was working behind the scenes and the Blue Jays were one of the teams in the hunt according to Jeff Blair. Reports indicate that it would’ve taken Adam Lind or Travis Snider to land J.J. Hardy, and if that’s true then it’s no surprised the Jays balked at that proposed deal.

Maybe most surprising of all is that Russell Martin is another name being tossed around as a possible replacement behind the backstop for the Blue Jays. He could be an integral piece of a trade with the Dodgers which might ship Roy Halladay to Los Angeles for Martin and a couple of others. This is just a theoretical trade, but since this is just a sliver of information that’s been leaked out, who knows what AA could be cooking up.

Whether or not any trades come to fruition this week at the General Manager’s meetings, it’s refreshing to see a General Manager take a different approach at this ballclub. Although it’s uncertain how this team will finish in 2010 or  even 2011, I am confident that Alex Anthopoulos is putting together a winning team.

In the meantime, may he work his magic from behind the curtain and hopefully he won’t come back out unless he has something spectacular to show us.

Ian Hunter

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS to his kids for the next 20 years.

4 thoughts on “The Man Behind the Curtain Goes to Work

  • November 9, 2009 at 3:22 pm
    Permalink

    I don't buy for a second that it would have cost Lind or Snider to get Hardy. Given what the got for Hardy, which I evaluate as a nice 4th outfielder, I'm sure the Brewers would have jumped at the chance to get one of the Jays many talented pitching prospects.

  • November 9, 2009 at 4:21 pm
    Permalink

    Me either Peter – I don't know whether there was any truth to that statement or if it was just Blair speculating. The asking price is just way to high – I think even Snider for Hardy is asking too much.

    The Brewers are in desperate need for starting pitching and I'm surprised they didn't target the Blue Jays for a young starter instead of going for a center fielder from the Twins.

  • November 9, 2009 at 8:31 pm
    Permalink

    I guess if you can get Martin long term for Halladay it would be a great deal for us. Only because if Roy is leaving, and only he knows for sure, then you've got to get the most you can and that trade sounds pretty good. I know it's all speculation but that's all we have in the offseason so please keep reporting whatever you hear.

  • November 9, 2009 at 9:39 pm
    Permalink

    Martin would be under team control through 2012, which also gives Arencebia plenty of time to grow into his eventual role as starting catcher.

    Martin is bound to bounce back from his 2009 numbers, and so long as his OBP would be above .258, it would be a vast improvement over Rod Barajas. I'd take a little less power in Martin for a lot more consistency at the plate.

Comments are closed.