Free as a bird

The Toronto Blue Jays will not stand in the way if another team is interested in hiring one of its employees.

There is no need for rival clubs to formally seek permission for an interview, to work within a negotiating window, or face a request for compensation. Blue Jays employees are free to speak with whom they please, when they please, for as long as they please.

It’s company policy.

"If you have that philosophy, in the long run it will serve your organization well, you’ll continue to attract outstanding employees because they know they have the freedom, they have upwards mobility, they’re never going to be held down," says Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "Selfishly I don’t want any of our guys to leave, but at the same time I hope all of our employees have opportunities to better themselves, whether it’s responsibilities, financial, whatever it might be.

"If things go the way we hope they’re going to go, a lot of people will be leaving because people will be looking to hire our employees."

That already seems to be the case for assistant general manager Tony LaCava, who is reportedly among the candidates the Baltimore Orioles are considering for their GM vacancy.

As per another of his policies, Anthopoulos refused to discuss whether or not the Orioles have approached the Blue Jays about LaCava, but he was full of praise for his right-hand man and very blunt about how his possible departure could impact the front office.

"We can’t replace him," says Anthopoulos. "I’d love to sit here and tell you that we can, but it’s just too young a front office, too inexperienced, myself included, to replace what he brings because he’s the total package.

"If for whatever reason Tony wasn’t here, it would be a very, very massive loss that would sting incredibly well. … It’s not like you have a player, you’re going to lose him to free agency, you’ve got someone to step in. You don’t replace Tony LaCava. We wouldn’t have anybody to step into the role."

LaCava, who joined the Blue Jays on Oct. 15, 2002 as one of then-GM J.P. Ricciardi’s first hires, oversees the club’s farm system, its dealings in Latin America and is one of Anthopoulos’s most trusted talent evaluators.

More importantly, he was instrumental in conceiving and implementing the franchise’s philosophical reset following the dismissal of Ricciardi in 2009, helping Anthopoulos rebuild the organization with an emphasis on scouting and player development.

Worse than losing LaCava would be losing him to another American League East team.

"There’s no question," says Anthopoulos. "Just like losing a great player to a division rival, it hurts twice as much. Again, not that we’ve accomplished a whole lot, we’re not a playoff team, we’re not a World Series winner, but whatever good we have accomplished, if Tony wasn’t here we wouldn’t have done it, that I can guarantee you. Tony is the impetus and the catalyst for a lot of the things that we’re doing here."

Interest in LaCava from other clubs is nothing new.

In 2007 he interviewed for the Pittsburgh Pirates GM job that went to Neal Huntington. In 2008 he spoke to the Seattle Mariners about the opening that Jack Zduriencik eventually landed, and he’s been linked to other openings, too.

None of them have led to his departure as of yet, and it’s unclear how serious things will get between him and the Orioles. The situation in Baltimore is a tricky one, as the baseball operations department there isn’t always granted the freedom and resources needed to succeed.

But there are only 30 GM jobs in the majors, it’s not often they come open, and the window of opportunity for executives to make the jump can be a limited one, so every vacancy is an appealing one.

The Blue Jays will have to hope that either the Orioles look elsewhere, or that LaCava decides he’d rather stay put.

Anthopoulos and Co. will not otherwise get in the way.

"There is no such thing as tampering when it comes to our organization, no one has to be afraid of anything," says Anthopoulos. "We will never prevent anybody from going anywhere.

"We want people that feel this is the best opportunity for them."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.