Alex Anthopoulos on Baseball Central

Steve Simmons in the Toronto Sun titled Blue Jays built to win in future, not now.

In it he said:

It has been learned that on holiday Monday morning, before the Jays slugging victory over the Los Angeles Angels, club president Paul Beeston and general manager Alex Anthopoulos met at length to exchange views, assess the club top to bottom, and try and figure a way out of the first quarter of a season that one front office person deemed "a f---ing disaster."

So, of course, Alex Anthopoulos was on Baseball Central saying no such meeting happened. Alex said that he got into Toronto after midnight, and hadn't seen his kids in days, so spent the morning playing with his kids and got to the ballpark right at game time.  You can listen to the interview here.

As always, Alex said that he and Paul speak every day. And, of course, he said that they haven't discussed firing John Gibbons. I'm not sure I believe that, I'd have to think the idea has been talked about, if not seriously, but at least mentioned.

Simmons talks about the possibility of firing Pete Walker, I didn't hear Alex mention that, but I'd have to guess the team has thought about that.

Simmons also included this little bit:

When he (Gibby) quietly benched Edwin Encarnacion for a game recently in Houston for not running out a ground ball, the reaction among some in the clubhouse was: "What did Edwin do?"

Asked about this, Alex said that he wasn't benched. That they were going to rest the regulars more this year, as they learned last year that it is tough on guys to play every day. We all hoped they wouldn't play guys until they get injured this year. How Simmons got from giving a guy a day off to benched is anyone's guess.

We were playing 20 game in 20 days, we want to get our position players some rest. Gibby told Edwin the night before.

I think most of us realize that guys are going to get the occasional day off.

Simmons knows who he is writing for, his audience wants this sort of thing. They want to hear about scandal and secret meetings and that guys are going to be fired.

On various players Alex said:

• Pete Walker and R.A. Dickey were working on his mechanics.
• On Aaron Loup "command" is the problem. "He's not hitting his spots".
• Jose Reyes will go on a rehab assignment by the weekend, maybe sooner.
• Jose Bautista is going to throw again today. The trainers feel that throwing will ease his shoulder problems.
• They are very excited about Jeff Hoffman's first start, Alex will be there. "If he performs well we might move him up fast."
• And Josh Donaldson is "Fiery". Comes to win every day. He also said that several of the other guys are "Fiery" they are just quieter about it.