Recipe for success

TORONTO - Sitting around with Blue Jays beat reporters during the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America's annual meeting Thursday afternoon, general manager Alex Anthopoulos was preparing to take questions when an unusual voice lobbed the first query.

"I want to find out what's going on," quipped team president Paul Beeston. "What's happening with the search for a closer?"

Anthopoulos grinned and was ready to change the subject when the gathered writers urged him to answer his boss's question. After all, the Blue Jays have been linked to just about every closer on the market so far this off-season, and for a large swathe of the fan base, their finding someone to pitch the ninth has become a pre-occupation.

"You really want me to answer his question?" Anthopoulos asked before getting an affirmative response. "We're looking at free agents and trades. We're legitimately looking at both options."

The reply was perhaps the GM's strongest on the matter since the off-season began, and provided some credence to the constant speculation about the team's hunt for a closer.

The latest scuttlebutt had the Blue Jays making a hard run at Heath Bell, who reportedly reached agreement on a US$27-million, three-year deal with the Miami Marlins, and they've also been connected to fellow free agents Francisco Cordero, Ryan Madson, and Matt Capps. On the trade front, they've been linked to Huston Street and Andrew Bailey, and Anthopoulos sounded like a man more interested in pulling off a deal than plucking someone off the open market. "Everyone knows who the free agents are, but there are some attractive players that are there in trade that might be more attractive than some of the free agents," he said. "I think we want to exhaust that avenue first before delving into free agency."

Upgrading the bullpen, in particular settling on a closer, is one of three areas of priority for the Blue Jays this off-season. They need to find a second baseman - right now they only have Mike McCoy and Luis Valbuena - and they'd also like to add a front of the rotation starter.

Bolstering the rotation may be the lowest priority as Anthopoulos feels that's the one area the team is best positioned to stock internally, although he added he'd be ready to pounce on any opportunity that arose.

Some of the club's younger pitching prospects could be used in relief, he added, although he doesn't seem ready to hand the reins to the ninth to any of the kids just yet.

"Trying to pinpoint if a prospect can be a closer, I just think there's another component to that," he explained, "you just don't know how someone is going to react."

One question to draw a reaction from Anthopoulos was a sarcastic query about where he and Dan Lozano, the agent for free agent slugger Albert Pujols, had lunch this week. Some blogosphere fiction suggested Lozano was in town to visit the Jays, which drew a smirk from Anthopoulos, who struggled to maintain his policy of not replying to rumours and speculation.

"I've read all kinds of reports and again, I'm not ceased to be amazed about some of the false things that come out," he said.

As for the recurring pipe dreams of fans pining for a splashy signing like a Pujols or Prince Fielder, Anthopoulos and Beeston both threw cold water on the subject again, with Beeston stating adamantly, "We're not going to buy a team. Not going to happen."

"You've got to show free agents, you've got to show players that you're committed and more importantly that you actually live on your commitment to win," he added. "We've got to show that."

For his part Anthopoulos said he felt the best time to try and make a risky move is prior to the trade deadline, when the "percentages of handicapping your ability to get to the playoffs and win are so much greater than the winter."

Still, the off-season represents an opportunity to boost his club's chances of being able to position itself for a strong in-season run, yet Anthopoulos remains adamant about not trying to shortcut the process.

"I don't think we're going to consciously do something we don't believe in, or grossly overpay unless we feel very confident that it's got a very good chance to put us in the World Series and have a chance to win," he said.

"The six, seven, eight year contracts, from a historical standpoint, very few work out. From our standpoint, the balance is, there are going to be deals to be made, certainly free agents, trades, things like that, I just don't think you'll see us do any large deals because I don't know of a time that a huge contract has been signed, seven, eight years, $100-plus-million, that anybody in the industry has turned around and said that's a great deal for the club. It's not about necessarily great deals for the club, but where someone hasn't said, that may not really work out for the club.

"That's ultimately what it comes down to."

For Blue Jays fans, champing at the bit with an extra wildcard to be added as soon as 2012, that's likely not what they want to hear.

Anthopoulos says the front office's focus on potential targets has narrowed in recent weeks, although nothing has yet to materialize with the winter meetings due to open Monday in Dallas, while Beeston feels that the Blue Jays should be a contender depending on what his GM does in the coming weeks.

"We're trying to fast forward this as fast as we can," said Beeston, "but on the basis of being a sustainably good team that could have a long-term run. We're not doing anything for a short-term fix."

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