Monday Bantering: Anthopoulos Talks to the Media

by Tom Dakers on Jan 9, 2012 2:46 PM EST in Toronto Blue Jays News

Alex Anthopoulos talked to the media about signing Darren Oliver and the DFA of Mark Teahen. Here is some of what he said:

Oliver is a good pitcher, good leader and a good person. He expects Darren to be able to pitch well into his 40's like John Franco and Terry Mulholland did.
That he will try to make a deal with someone for Teahen but he figures it is more likely he'll just be released.
He doesn't expect to make any more moves before spring training but is always talking to other GM's about trades and you never know.
Alex would mind adding another arm to the pen.
He's figuring the bench is Davis, Mathis, Francisco and one of McCoy or Valbuena. Mathis and Davis are sure to get a spot. They will watch Valbuena at short and third during spring training to see if they feel he can handle the spots. McCoy has options left. Francisco, he feels, is a good addition because of being a RHB with the team having Rasmus and Snider or Thames in the outfield.
Alex said that Drew Hutchison might move up fast and that his fastball and slider improved a lot in 2011. He'll, likely, start 2012 in AA but that he is as excited about Drew as he about any of the arms in the minors.
He's happy with the starting rotation. He feels Brett Cecil improved as the season went on and that he should be good this year. And that Henderson Alvarez and Dustin McGowan can make a good back of the rotation.
He also said that he thinks an improved outfield defense will make the starters look better. He said that the outfield defense wasn't good in 2011, but having Rasmus and having Bautista out there everyday will improve things.
Asked about Tim Raines and Larry Walker shot at the Hall of Fame , he said he'd like to see both make it, saying Raines was the closest thing to an AL NL version of Ricky Henderson with power and speed. He also said that Barry Larkin should be in the Hall.

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Anthopolous says he doesn't expect to make a trade

Expect something within the week

by Aidin on Jan 9, 2012 2:55 PM EST reply actions

Huh?

saying Raines was the closest thing to an AL version of Ricky Henderson

Wasn’t Ricky Henderson the AL version of Ricky Henderson?

‎"Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit."
~ Joe Lewis

http://worldisart365.blogspot.com/

by Worldisart on Jan 9, 2012 3:01 PM EST reply actions

sure he/Tom meant NL.....pretty classy of AA to mention Larkin eh?!

"I didn't really say everything I said."-Yogi ism

by chewbalka on Jan 9, 2012 3:05 PM EST up reply actions

so...

trade of Hutchison before the season starts?

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 3:07 PM EST reply actions

Ha

Pump and dump?

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 3:09 PM EST up reply actions

If this is it I don't think anything over third place is possible :(

Hope I am wrong, but the starting rotation worrries me alot.

by mugisha2009 on Jan 9, 2012 3:39 PM EST up reply actions

you'd trust Hutchison

more than two of Cecil, McGowan and Drabek?

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 3:45 PM EST up reply actions

I think his was a misplaced reply.

And that he meant nothing to do with Hutch, just the rotation in general at the beginning of the year.

by Lutherie on Jan 9, 2012 3:54 PM EST up reply actions

Even if the question marks in there are decent

We could still have the 2nd best rotation in the division, depending on what Boston does

by Aidin on Jan 9, 2012 3:45 PM EST up reply actions

and we "could" have last year too

Past Romero there are just too many ????
1) Morrow strikes out a lot guys, but he had an era of close to 5. His career numbers are starting to resembllle AJ Burnett’s.
2) Cecil and Drabek were major dissapointments.
3) Don’t know how either Alvarez or McGowan will hold up over a full season.

Guess what bothers me the most is that AA kept saying the rotation needed to be upgraded, but so far this has not been addressed at all

by mugisha2009 on Jan 9, 2012 7:35 PM EST up reply actions

Did he say the rotation NEEDED to be upgraded?

Because from what I remember he said something along the lines of “we’re looking to upgrade at the front-end of the rotation but if the right deal doesn’t come along we’re fine with staying pat.” That’s a lot different than “we need to.” Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, I obviously haven’t read everything out there.

Also when you look at the price of starters via trade, and the (potential) 2012 free agent SP crop vs. this years offerings, I don’t think this is the year to go about upgrading. The only guy I really feel bad about missing out on was Latos… that was kind of disappointing.

by Aidin on Jan 9, 2012 8:24 PM EST up reply actions

If Morrow is Burnett for his age 28-32 seasons

Then count me in! Burnett was pretty good over that period, registering 5.1, 3.2, 2.6, and 5.1 fWAR despite injuries in the 2 down years. So I will agree with you, Morrow is looking more and more like a top of the rotation starter through his prime years.

by Playoffs!!!!1 on Jan 9, 2012 8:31 PM EST up reply actions

AJ is a career .500 pitcher

Sort of like to have a top of a rotation pitcher who can be more than a 12-12 or 15-14 kind of guy. I have no problem giving all these young guys a chance. if there is no improvement then the Jays will win no more then 80-84 games.

The only stat that I care about is how are rotation manages against the other big boys in the east . Last couple of seasons the Jays starters have looked brutal at fenway,tropicana, yankee stadium… We will not be a playoff team until we are more competitive in are own division.

by mugisha2009 on Jan 10, 2012 1:23 AM EST up reply actions

Wasn't Morrow the guy that one-hit the Rays?

and pitcher wins? Seriously? You do realize what forum you’re in, don’t you?

Hic sunt fortuna dracones
There is only 1 "n" in Hutchison

by JaysfanDL on Jan 10, 2012 9:04 AM EST up reply actions

Come on he’s a new guy, cut him some slack.

Follow me @Minor_Leaguer

by Minor Leaguer on Jan 10, 2012 11:07 AM EST up reply actions

pitcher wins

k thanks

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 10, 2012 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

bye

His 2011 wRC+ is 26

by Pikachu on Jan 10, 2012 2:19 PM EST up reply actions

Just a heads up

Pitcher wins are the least indicative stat of a pitcher’s effectiveness. It has next to nothing to do with his ability. Felix Hernandez has been a .500 pitcher his whole career except for his ridiculous season in 2009 when he was 19-5, but his team scored 640 runs that year. The next year they scored 513 and he went 13-12. Did he pitch that much worse that he lost 8 more games? Or did his team fail to score runs for him.

Wins is more a function of the team performance, and is too broad a stat to be indicative of pitching performance.

Can we start the Gose watch yet?

by honours6 on Jan 10, 2012 1:43 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

this is the appropiate response

thank you, others, take notes. =)

+1 is only good if you actually rec the post

by Bowling_Guy25 on Jan 10, 2012 2:54 PM EST up reply actions

hopefully "Pump & Dump can work with Cecil…

Also, Minor Leaguer, get your McCoy flight map ready. It seems he’ll be the “Flying Scotsman” yet again…

"Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking." (J.M Keynes)

by HESS2479 on Jan 9, 2012 3:44 PM EST up reply actions

please NO

I’m still sad Molina was traded. :(

Blogging about the Toronto Blue Jays at Bluebird Banter

by Woodman663 on Jan 9, 2012 3:54 PM EST up reply actions

Lol

With AA at the helm, I think you might want to detach yourself a bit from the prospects, because I’m sure most of them look like big fat trade chips to him if the right deal comes around.

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 4:02 PM EST up reply actions

if it's the right deal

I’ll live with it. But Sergio Santos was not the right deal and I’m sticking with that.

Blogging about the Toronto Blue Jays at Bluebird Banter

by Woodman663 on Jan 9, 2012 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

Only time will tell

But I think the Jays sold high

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 4:25 PM EST up reply actions

looked like a fair deal to me

trying to be as objective as possible

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:26 PM EST up reply actions

I have a mancrush on Hutch

so that would also make me sad

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:26 PM EST up reply actions

So wait.

He doesn’t expect a trade, but is going with only one of Snider or Thames? Seems as though another year in AAA will do nothing for either of their value. I guess for their progression maybe..

by Lutherie on Jan 9, 2012 3:52 PM EST reply actions

Maybe

He hopes Thames wins out of spring training, builds up value and is moved at the deadline? I would say vice versa is applicable as well but if Snider starts to perform he isn’t going anywhere

by Aidin on Jan 9, 2012 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

If Thames wins out of spring training and builds up value that would mean that he was playing very well… why would he move a guy with years and years of team control who won a spot on the main roster and was playing very well? That strikes me as an asset that you keep not get rid of.

by Parallex on Jan 9, 2012 4:37 PM EST up reply actions

If Thames wins out of spring training it doesn't automatically mean he's playing very well.

I don’t see why you would assume that… it just means he is playing better than Travis Snider. Depends on what you consider building value.

by Aidin on Jan 9, 2012 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

he'd have to be hitting a lot better than Snider

if he’s playing better than him though. unless Thames has made a quantum leap of him own with the glove

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

I don't know

He wasn’t hitting much better than Snider when they sent him down and kept Thames up. The difference was pretty small. If you’re talking about who they’d keep up it was pretty obvious defense didn’t factor into the equation last season.

by Aidin on Jan 9, 2012 4:58 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think that's true

when was Travis sent down? in March/April Travis had a wRC+ under 60, and only a 99 wRC+ in July

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 5:01 PM EST up reply actions

I think he meant

Thames was scuffling as bad as Snider was when Snider was sent down…he was struggling big time, turned it back around shortly after (he started incredibly hot, so his numbers were never putrid overall, but there was a terrible 3 weeks stretch or so)

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 5:02 PM EST up reply actions

oh right I remember that

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 5:10 PM EST up reply actions

No it doesn’t but if he wins the job out of spring training and builds up value then it means that he is. I don’t consider any value built just by making the team you have to actually perform in my mind in order for you to be an asset of appreciating value.

by Parallex on Jan 9, 2012 4:59 PM EST up reply actions

Doesn’t make much sense to have one of them sitting on the bench a good portion of the time…better for either’s development to be playing everyday in Las Vegas than twice a week in Toronto

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

I agree..

But my point was more to the fact that it won’t build any value for them. They are only going to build that by hitting at the major league level.

I wonder, if one of them plays all year (or most of) at AAA, and is out played/hit by Gose. What happens to their stock then.

by Lutherie on Jan 9, 2012 6:05 PM EST up reply actions

I don’t think it matters what Gose does for the relegated player’s value. If both Gose and the relegated player struggle, it’s not good for either; if both knock the cover off the ball it’s good for both

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 6:15 PM EST up reply actions

this is my question

what happens with these two guys

+1 is only good if you actually rec the post

by Bowling_Guy25 on Jan 9, 2012 4:33 PM EST up reply actions

someone needs to do a new roster post with this information

So i can visually see the amount of players and the scenarios
e.g hutch makes it out of spring who do we lose

Do we have room for that bench mentioned above and thames/snider/ee???

+1 is only good if you actually rec the post

by Bowling_Guy25 on Jan 9, 2012 4:35 PM EST up reply actions

Right now

Assuming you start Lind at 1B and EE at DH, and go with a 7 man pen…
You have 4 back-ups…one is Mathis
One infielder…Valbuena or McCoy (If Valbuena, McCoy optioned, if McCoy, bye bye Valbuena)
One back-up OF…Rajai Davis.
That leaves one spot, which it sounds like is Francisco’s to lose.

That means only one of Thames/Snider can make the team as the starting LF

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 4:39 PM EST up reply actions

and whats the pen?

+1 is only good if you actually rec the post

by Bowling_Guy25 on Jan 9, 2012 4:45 PM EST up reply actions

7 of

Santos, Janssen, Litsch, Oliver, Perez, Carreno, Frasor, Villanueva.

probably/hopefully Carreno is starting at AA or AAA.

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:46 PM EST up reply actions

(assuming everyone's healthy, anyway)

depth is Hoey, Carpenter, Farquhar, Magnuson, Uviedo

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:47 PM EST up reply actions

hmm thats a lot of depth

thanks all brain not working 100% today, nice to have it laid out for me

+1 is only good if you actually rec the post

by Bowling_Guy25 on Jan 9, 2012 4:49 PM EST up reply actions

Kimball is another depth I think

not sure how useful he actually is, but still

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:51 PM EST up reply actions

Washington got him back

Like 3 days after we claimed him, tried to sneak him through and they reclaimed him

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

oh no!!!

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

Don't forget Beck either

Hic sunt fortuna dracones
There is only 1 "n" in Hutchison

by JaysfanDL on Jan 9, 2012 4:56 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah he’s where it’s at.

by Rather Bengt on Jan 9, 2012 7:32 PM EST up reply actions

I'm just going to leave this here

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/09/06/canadian-loewen-heads-six-blue-jays-call-ups/

Hic sunt fortuna dracones
There is only 1 "n" in Hutchison

by JaysfanDL on Jan 10, 2012 9:06 AM EST up reply actions

Probably

Santos – Closer
Oliver – LH setup
Frasor – RH setup
Janssen – 7th inning
Litsch – middle relief
Villanueva – long relier
Perez – LOOGY

Hic sunt fortuna dracones
There is only 1 "n" in Hutchison

by JaysfanDL on Jan 9, 2012 4:47 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

I'd imagine Janssen's gotta be higher on the depth chart than Frasor

but whatever, both are good pitchers

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:49 PM EST up reply actions

I more got the impression that he wasn’t. I vaguely seem to recall someone in the org (Farrell or AA maybe?) saying that they think of him more as a 7th inning guy.

by Parallex on Jan 9, 2012 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

AA has given that impression

I think they’ll essentially be co-equals…in fact, I imagine Frasor, Janssen and Oliver will all cover the 7th and 8th interchangeably, depending on the need

by MjwW on Jan 9, 2012 4:53 PM EST up reply actions

that's fine

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

that's a good looking bullpen

by SuckaMD on Jan 9, 2012 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

yeah

I think it’s got an excellent shot to be top-5 in MLB

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 9, 2012 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

though we may have said that

about last year’s bullpen too

by SuckaMD on Jan 9, 2012 5:14 PM EST up reply actions

I think some did.

I think though, as much as I have read about the silly nature of pushing your best pitcher to the closer role and only using him in the ninth, that it does help psyche of the guys in the pen, knowing where they are pitching.

How much of a difference this creates on the field however, is debatable.

by Lutherie on Jan 9, 2012 6:08 PM EST up reply actions

Last Year's Bullpen

I remember it was supposed to be “veteran” so that the young starters would have something to lean on.

by Steve02 on Jan 10, 2012 9:35 AM EST up reply actions

I expected it to be better

but the bullpen this year is a lot more “proven” (ugh). Litsch and Janssen are much more sure things. we still have Frasor, Perez and Carreno. Villanueva hopefully will spend the whole year in the ’pen, and Oliver is a nice addition. Santos should be dominant, even more than FF was supposed to be

I tweet.

by benk on Jan 10, 2012 9:51 AM EST up reply actions