Jays fans need to relax
BY PAUL HOPE - FAN FUEL BLOGGER
A lot of Blue Jays fans so far this offseason don't seem to be very happy with what general manager Alex Anthopoulos has done.
Some blame it on what they believe to be is penny pinching by the owner of the team Rogers Communications, others seem to think Anthopoulos is playing it too safe, and is unwilling to hand out the big contracts and trade the top prospects that it takes to acquire star players.
Have your say: Have an opinion on the news of the day? Better yet, want to join the Fan Fuel blog network? Visit the Fan Fuel page for more | What are the plans for Kyle Drabek?
I've even seen some comments where people believe that if they ever do get close to contending, they believe Rogers won't spend the money to re-sign or extend any of the key players to keep the team intact.
Personally, I think all these views are way off base. Especially if you look at what Rogers has done in the past. Rogers owned the team when the handing out of big contracts to A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan, Roy Halladay, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Frank Thomas, Jose Bautista, and Ricky Romero all occurred, as well as acquiring star players with large contracts such as Troy Glaus, and Scott Rolen.
They've also been able to sign many of their better players at the time to extensions in the past, which include the previously mentioned Halladay, Rios, Wells, Bautista, and Romero, as well as players like Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, and Yunel Escobar.
The contract B.J. Ryan signed, at the time, was the richest ever to be signed by a reliever. What Ricky Romero signed for, is tied for the richest ever signed by a pitcher with less than three years service time (excluding international signings). Vernon Wells signed what was, at that time, the sixth largest contract ever.
These are several examples of not only Rogers spending money, but handing out record-breaking contracts as well. This idea that Rogers will not spend, is totally manufactured by fans, and is not reality.
The Blue Jays are also spending more money on scouting and on signing draft picks than they ever have before. In the two years under Anthopoulos, they've spent roughly $22.6 million on draft pick bonuses, including a team record $11.6 million in 2010. In the last two years under J.P. Ricciardi, they spent roughly $9.25 million.
Anthopoulos is averaging approximately $11.3 million per draft class, Ricciardi in those last two years, spent an average of approximately $4.625 million. Toronto ranked ninth in 2011 in draft spending (keep in mind, 1st round pick Tyler Beede turned down $2.4 million to stay in school, had he signed it would've bumped them up to fourth) and third in 2010, less than $335,000 behind the top ranked Washington Nationals. This trend is likely going to continue as well, as Toronto currently has five first round picks in the 2012 draft.
Then when you factor in the international signings of Adeiny Hechavarria and Adonis Cardona who had the two largest signing bonuses in team history (and aren't included in the draft spending), as well as the bonuses given to Deck McGuire and Daniel Norris in the last two years, four of the largest six bonuses have been handed out by Anthopoulos.
Now as for the notion that Anthopoulos won't sign free agents, and isn't willing to part with prospects to make deals happen. Again, where did this come from? Just because he won't sign your favourite player, or trade for your flavour of the month, he doesn't do anything?
Anthopoulos has signed several free agents in his 27 months on the job, including players like Alex Gonzalez, Kevin Gregg, John Buck, Jose Molina, Jon Rauch, Corey Patterson, and Octavio Dotel, who have all helped acquire potential long term pieces for the future in either the form of draft picks, or current roster players Colby Rasmus and Yunel Escobar.
As well, since Anthopoulos took over, by my count he's traded away 17 prospects. Those prospects he traded, helped acquire current roster players Yunel Escobar, Jason Frasor, Sergio Santos, Jeff Mathis, Brandon Morrow, Rajai Davis, Mark Teahen, Ben Francisco, and Carlos Villanueva, as well as top prospect Anthony Gose. So much for not trading prospects.
The Jays entire roster in 2011, had an average age of 28.3, while in Ricciardi's last year, it was 29.9. The oldest player in my projected starting lineup for 2012, is Bautista at 31, with nobody else older than 29. They're an up and coming team, with a farm system that has gone from being ranked near the bottom, to being ranked almost right at the top. Yet for some reason, a lot of fans miss all this, and just focus on 2012, like it's the be all and end all and if they miss the playoffs, the rebuild is a failure.
They can't see the forest for the trees, and it's really disappointing, because 2012 I believe, could show us the first glimpses of great things to come in 2013 and beyond. Fans have to give Anthopoulos time, he is on the right track, and trying to get there a little faster, could derail the whole thing.
Related read:
More Jays: Should Toronto make a run on Garza?
Want to write for us? Email us at fanfuel@sportsnet.ca and follow us on twitter @SN_FanFuel
Fan Fuel is a blog with content supplied entirely by our passionate sports fans, plucked from our own Communities to write about the sports, teams and players that matter most to them.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the Fan Fuel bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of Sportsnet, its parent, affiliated companies or any employee thereof. Sportsnet is not responsible for the accuracy of any information supplied by the Fan Fuel bloggers. See Sportsnet terms of use.
