Will Jays look to add? Too early to say.
Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos met up with the team in Anaheim today to discuss a variety of issues with manager Cito Gaston. Anthopoulos also watched another tightly-contested game, though Toronto came up short in a 6-5 loss to the Angels.
Even with the loss, and this 3-5 road trip, the fact remains that the Blue Jays are within striking distance of the American League East leaders and are exceeding expectations. The offense has been powerful and the pitching staff has been solid for the most part.
So, the question is, in this year of building or rebuilding of whatever you want to deem it, what if the Blue Jays remain in contention as the season wears on? Anthopoulos has a long-term plan in mind, but could a strong showing up until the July 31 Trade Deadline suddenly turn Toronto into buyers?
For Anthopoulos, he could be presented with a situation where he is balancing being reactionary about what is happening now with being mindful of the long-term plan.
“You’re always balancing that,” Anthopoulos said. “I think that’s a great problem to have. We’re still sitting here pretty much at the end of May — two months into the season. Really, by the time we get to the Trade Deadline, that’s another two months away. We’re halfway to the trading deadline, so a lot can change over that time for the better or for the worse.
“If we’re in that position come late July, that means this team has been playing well start to finish, there’s been a consistency. I’m sure the offense will continue to be good and the rotation will continue to solidify itself. If that happens, you always try to evaluate how close are you relative to the other teams. You’re balancing the short term and the long term. That’d be a great problem to have and a great position to be in.”
Anthopoulos added that it is important to remain realistic.
“No matter who you are,” Anthopoulos said, “whether you’re a team that’s been there every single year or not, you’re always balancing the short term with the long term. You also have to be realistic, too, with your lot in life and your place in the standings and the construction of the team. We make the evaluation of where are we positioned, how are we placed, how realistic is it, whether we go out and get someone, what would the piece cost. Those are things we would all balance.”
So, time will tell…
~JB
Major League Bastian 
Although, I realize a number of fans are hopeful this years team continues to out perform and somehow get into a bit of a wild card race, I’m not one of them if it takes any focus or assets from the long term plan.
We’ve been to this movie before in 2006 when the team out performed, won 87 games and finished 2nd due to a collapse of the Sox late in the season..JP got all excited, over evaluated the team that he had, spent a ton of money, brought in Frank Thomas,etc. The team came down to earth in 2007, won 83 games and finished 3rd, which is where we’ve finished ever sense and our minor system went to hell in a basket as a result of lack of focus and investment.
The reality of he AL east is we have 3 teams in front of us this year and all 3 realize they’d better go for it. TB because Crawford and Pen won’t be back, NY because they realize their core is rapidly aging and Boston-just because…If our guys continue to out perform, we might catch one of the 3, but not 2 and unless we’re prepared to sacrifice future for present, we do not have the resources to compete with what at least 2 of them could add at trade deadline….The net result could be we still come in 4th place, lose assets doing it and have a 2007 repeat.. No thank you…..
Stay with the long term plan, the decision to sign Hecchevaria and the upcoming Venezuela pitcher is where I want to see the resources go. Draft well, sign them quickly and get another bunch of potential high ceiling prospects in our system over the next two years, giving AA assets to trade when the time is right and ensuring we can compete year after year.
And by the way, AA and the Beast are doing a phenomenal job,imo
Blah, blah, blah….you can read the same kind of bafflegab from Colangelo as well…
The Overbays and Trianos of the world will forever find a refuge in the complacent mediocrity of Toronto.
It is *way* too early to be thinking about any of this. Yes, the Jays are in contention for the wild card spot now, but let’s wait and see how they handle the big guns in the AL East before we start getting all excited. Their first real test is coming up at the beginning of June. 6 games against Tampa, 3 against the Yankees. If they can survive those nine games and still be within reach of the wild card spot, maybe then we can start dreaming. If we hope too soon, it’ll just mean we’ll be disappointed like last year.
Talk about a monster couple of games for JP Arencibia. In Wednesday’s marathon, he went 2 for 6, a 3 run home run and a walk off double knocking in 5 rbi’s. Tonight he went 4 for 4 with 3 doubles, a home run and drove in 2 more. Now that is some kind of hot……
Myself, I want to see them win it all, so I want to see them get to the playoffs when they have the horses to go all the way. That’s not going to happen this year. Plus, this is an “evaluation and development” year, when they are taking stock of what they have and the future shape of the team, so I don’t see them trading away any valuable pieces while the plan is still being made.
Realistically, I see them finishing 3rd or 4th again, and even if they do buy some help and get the Wild Card, they would have to play Tampa, so the chances of getting past the div playdowns would be slim. They should save their ammunition, and don’t shoot until they can see the whites of their eyes.
In the meantime, this is a fun team to watch for anybody that loves baseball, so let’s sit back and enjoy the ride.
IMHO, the biggest reason to wait a bit is pitching. I am more than pleased with what they have done this year, but the biggest issue so far has been with consistency, and that only comes with time and maturity. They certainly have the arms in the system to do the job, but in order to be consistently good, they are all going to need a couple of years of major league experience under their belts. Plus, Walton and Cito are already planning hard on how to get their starters through the regular season without shutting them down, never mind playoffs.
IMO, we should be looking to unload guys who are having career years at the trading deadline, like Bautista. I cannot imagine that anyone in their right mind would consider this team a contender for anything. Correct me if I am wrong, but we are playing .200 ball against the BoSox, the third best team in our division. Antho should be looking to move some of the older pieces in our lineup to acquire some high-end prospects at A or AA. I would love to see Bautista, Downs, Frasor, and some of the others moved out in trades for young talent. It is time for some of the excellent relief pitching that we have in the minor leagues to surface. In fact, I would go so far to say is that if Antho can find anyone crazy enough to take Well’s contract that we move him out, too! Let’s clear the decks, draft well, and make room for the kids.
Five Jays named to FSL North All-Star Team-By Tim Livingston / Dunedin Blue Jays
The Florida State League announced their rosters for the 2010 Florida State League All-Star Game in Viera on Saturday, June 12, with five Dunedin Blue Jays players being selected to make the team.
Starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez, catchers Travis d’Arnaud and Yan Gomes and infielder Tyler Pastornicky were all voted to the team by team managers, official scorers and beat writers.
Dunedin closer Matt Daly was added to the team as a substitution after Tampa pitcher Hector Noesi was promoted to Double-A.
Both Tampa and Dunedin ended up with five selections, with Brevard County, Clearwater and Lakeland each having four. Daytona had three selections. South Division leading Bradenton led all teams with seven selections overall.
The Dunedin Blue Jays were at the top of the FSL North Division after Friday night’s action at 31-18 overall, and it was due to the hard work of their all-stars.
Alvarez, 20, has gone 5-1 with a 2.42 ERA in nine starts this season, striking out 31 and only walking nine. The right-handed starter was named the #5 prospect in the Blue Jays system by Baseball America at the start of the season.
D’Arnaud, 20, hit his fifth home run of the season on Friday night and is hitting .309 this season with 22 RBIs. The catcher has a team best .543 slugging percentage. He was acquired in an offseason trade that sent Roy Halladay to Philadelphia in exchange for d’Arnaud, Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor.
Gomes, 22, is batting .286 on the season with 10 doubles and 14 RBIs. Also a catcher, Gomes is in his second season of professional baseball after being drafted in the 10th round of the 2009 draft out of Berry University.
Pastornicky, 20, is batting .263 and has split time between shortstop and second base this season. He has three home runs with 19 RBIs and has stolen a team-high 13 bases.
Daly, 23, has 14 saves in 15 opportunities with Dunedin this season, tops in the Florida State League. He has allowed a run in only three of his FSL-best 22 appearances this season.
congratulations to DOC on his perfect game, we all knew it was about time and heres to him hopefully pitching a couple more perfects in his career.
I miss him.