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Cheese · 09-22-2011, 04:11 PM

AA says dont expect the Jays to go after big name UFAs in off season.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/201...i_anthopoulos/

Around the diamond, the Blue Jays are stocked with players “we’re prepared to commit to,” says Anthopoulos. Think Jose Bautista, Adam Lind, Yunel Escobar, Brett Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia, Colby Rasmus and Eric Thames.
On the mound – the area most glaringly in need of improvement – things are more fluid, although Anthopoulos sees a host of potential solutions in house, including the promising double-A foursome of Chad Jenkins, Deck McGuire, Drew Hutchison and Nestor Molina. “We think they will all factor in next year,” Anthopoulos says in an interview. “They could have pitched here in September. We think any four of those guys could have come up here and been OK. How well they would have done I don’t know, but we think they definitely could have done it.

That doesn’t mean the Blue Jays won’t be looking to add pitching over the off-season. There’s a feeling within some in the organization that the team needs to add at least one starter, and a run at Japanese star Yu Darvish, whose rights are expected to be posted for bidding, seems likely.
A couple of veteran relievers are probably on the shopping list, too.

The avenue in which Anthopoulos expects to be most active is the trade market, where he will try to leverage his growing stockpile of young talent into more core parts.
Fans pining for a splashy free agent addition or two – say Prince Fielder, C.J. Wilson or Heath Bell – may need to brace themselves for disappointment unless the price is really right.

The current plan is for shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, catcher Travis d’Arnaud and centre-fielder Anthony Gose to spend all of 2012 in the minors. Barring an immediate need at the big-league level, the earliest they will be considered for an everyday role is 2013.
Given all those factors, Blue Jays fans may be facing another season of patience, something that’s getting old with a playoff drought that dates back to 1993. But in his first two seasons as GM, Anthopoulos has continually maintained a discipline to his gameplan, unwilling to risk shortcuts that may hamper the grander vision.

09-22-2011, 04:11 PM	#1725
Cheese Franchise Player Join Date: Mar 2002 Exp:	AA says dont expect the Jays to go after big name UFAs in off season. http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/201...i_anthopoulos/ Around the diamond, the Blue Jays are stocked with players “we’re prepared to commit to,” says Anthopoulos. Think Jose Bautista, Adam Lind, Yunel Escobar, Brett Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia, Colby Rasmus and Eric Thames. On the mound – the area most glaringly in need of improvement – things are more fluid, although Anthopoulos sees a host of potential solutions in house, including the promising double-A foursome of Chad Jenkins, Deck McGuire, Drew Hutchison and Nestor Molina. “We think they will all factor in next year,” Anthopoulos says in an interview. “They could have pitched here in September. We think any four of those guys could have come up here and been OK. How well they would have done I don’t know, but we think they definitely could have done it. That doesn’t mean the Blue Jays won’t be looking to add pitching over the off-season. There’s a feeling within some in the organization that the team needs to add at least one starter, and a run at Japanese star Yu Darvish, whose rights are expected to be posted for bidding, seems likely. A couple of veteran relievers are probably on the shopping list, too. The avenue in which Anthopoulos expects to be most active is the trade market, where he will try to leverage his growing stockpile of young talent into more core parts. Fans pining for a splashy free agent addition or two – say Prince Fielder, C.J. Wilson or Heath Bell – may need to brace themselves for disappointment unless the price is really right. The current plan is for shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, catcher Travis d’Arnaud and centre-fielder Anthony Gose to spend all of 2012 in the minors. Barring an immediate need at the big-league level, the earliest they will be considered for an everyday role is 2013. Given all those factors, Blue Jays fans may be facing another season of patience, something that’s getting old with a playoff drought that dates back to 1993. But in his first two seasons as GM, Anthopoulos has continually maintained a discipline to his gameplan, unwilling to risk shortcuts that may hamper the grander vision. Last edited by Cheese; 09-22-2011 at 05:11 PM.