Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says the organization can afford to be more patient than last offseason, since his team's needs are less pressing than they were a year ago. Here's the latest on the Blue Jays, from MLB.com beat reporter Gregor Chisholm:
- Anthopoulos doesn’t know whether Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, Kevin Gregg and Miguel Olivo will accept arbitration, but he hopes to have the players back in Toronto for the 2011 season. Asked to predict the players’ decisions, Anthopoulos guessed they will decline the team’s offers.
- The club thought Adam Lind played respectably good defense at first base, but has yet to determine the 27-year-old’s position for 2011.
- The Blue Jays are open to acquiring a player with “baggage” under the right circumstances. "It depends, how significant is it? Would it affect other players?” Anthopoulos asked. “If it's the right player, and the right fit, the right talent, at the right price, then you have to be open to it."
- That's good news for fans hoping to see Manny Ramirez in Toronto. ESPN.com's Buster Olney can't envision any team guaranteeing Ramirez $5MM and expects the slugger to sign an incentive-laden deal.
Thats the only place I can really see Manny ending up
I would love to see Manny on the Jays and Hideki in the A’s.
that rhymed
Alex, allow me to help since you don’t like helping rumours along..Olivo, Downs and Gregg will not accept arbitration.. JFras will be in your 2011 bullpenAdam Lind needs to, wants to, and SHOULD be given a chance to play 1st Base.The interest in Manny will be low, you will be reluctant to hand over a multiple year deal to another 1b/dh especially with next years 1b/dh lot looking a lot better. In the end you will sign Manny just because he is the best 1 year option.
I wouldn’t be so sure that the interest in Manny is low.
hahaha, ya, AA really doesn’t give us much to chew on….and then all of a sudden BAM! sigh. It must be good for MLBTR traffic though because it keeps me coming back multiple times a day.
i dont think frasor accepts arb. if he gets signed with a team with a protected first or a team that signed another a list free agent, they are willing to give up the 2nd/3rd round pick for him. could be like what happened with burrnett, yankees signed cc and texaria and burnett, but burnett being the lowest rated the jays got ago a 3rd rounder from the yankees. teams like the angels, jays, yankees, tigers who will likely sign a higher rater first will sign frasor imo.
It’s about time for Adam Lind to demonstrate that he really does want to play a position at the major league level. First base is there for the taking but so far he’s done nothing to show that he really wants it. He should be playing winter ball somewhere and seems to have decided to take an extended honeymoon instead. I won’t be surprised if he’s traded before spring training.
At first I was all, “what’s this guy on about, Lind hasn’t been given enough time at first to determine that he’s incompetent, and therefore, should be given the nod at first if or until he plays himself off the field.” but then, I considered what you said about not going to winterball, and I think your totally on to something. After signing a good contract, he had a very poor year, then admitted to being unprepared due to his silver-slugger inflated ego, the LEAST he could do is show how serious he is about playing first in the majors without logging innings there since college.Maybe he’s putting in work at home, but I agree with you that he should be demonstrating quantifiably that he’s a capable fielder.
I was delighted with Lind’s new contract when that deal was announced, but over the course of this past year I have lost most of my enthusiasm for a guy who seems to have the same expressionless look on his face whether he strikes out or hits a home run. I happened to sit next to one of Lyle Overbay’s pals at a game this year. He said that Lyle’s ability to field his position is no fluke. He works at it all year round. Hill had an off year too but I never got the impression that he didn’t care and am looking for a big bounceback for him in 2011.
“for a guy who seems to have the same expressionless look on his face”
Are you kidding me? You have just fallen into one of the biggest fallacies in sports. Congrats. ‘I can tell that he doesn’t care – I mean just look at the expression on his face’. Give me a break.
If he cared, he’d be doing what he needs to do to grab the only position that he can possibly fill on this team, that being first base. Unfortunately, i believe that the guy is a floater and isn’t likely to be around when this team gets to the next level. I’d be very happy to be proved wrong on this one. He was a favourite.
He WAS a favorite because he had a monster year in 2009 and a terrible one in 2010, right? If he replicated his 2009 season in 2010, you’d still love him and wouldn’t be talking about the nonchalant look on his face. Again, it’s fine if you don’t think he cares but honestly, you have no idea whether that’s true or not.
No need to debate Lind’s attitude further. If he’s made of the right stuff, he will be at first base when the season begins and I hope that is the case. If not, he’ll be our DH unless AA has more confidence in someone else.
hmmm….remember that it was adam who said (fan 590 interview) he took it easy and did not put in the required effort during the off season…after his performance and his contract winterball would not have been a bad Idea…typical Toronto fan who is content with a flash in the pan with minimal effort…
“typical Toronto fan who is content with a flash in the pan with minimal effort… ”
I don’t know what’s worse – your insult of me or the fact that you think it took him minimal effort to post a .935 OPS. Where did I dispute Lind’s notion that he took it easy in the off-season? Nowhere. I just think it’s absurd to try to glean ANYTHING from the look on a player’s face at a ballgame.
…his/her point was that winterball would have been a good idea…you defended him…As a fan and season ticket holder I am not happy with his effort…maybe “effort” from lind after a brutal year is asking too much…we should be happy with third place in our division…enjoy your snapple
And enjoy cheering for pizza.
And enjoy cheering for pizza.
As a season ticket holder and fan who attended most home games and about 10 road games, and saw most of the rest on tv, I am comfortable to say (and believe I am in a position to say) that Lind didn’t do what was needed of him last year to justify his new contract. I want to see some fire in his belly and am afraid it’s just not there. Not going to winter ball is inexcusable. Anyone who thinks that he can learn to play first base by showing up at Dunedin in February doesn’t appreciate what it takes to play first base in the majors.
He’s getting married this offseason dingbat. Invitations went out in the middle of his terrible season.
You try telling your fiancee you have to wait another year to get married cuz u had a bad year at work.
you are right…while picking flower arrangements and table settings, who could possibly expect lind to put an effort (winterball) in after last year and his new contract. If he continues to perform as he did last year his fiancee may wonder if their millions will continue past this current contract.
you are right…while picking flower arrangements and table settings, who could possibly expect lind to put an effort (winterball) in after last year and his new contract. If he continues to perform as he did last year his fiancee may wonder if their millions will continue past this current contract.
it takes guts to admit that your offseason prep wasnt good enough. i give lind credit for being mature enough to come out with something like that.
when guys struggle their attitude always comes into question, point is: struggles are struggles and usually beating yourself up does not help at all ie: aaron hill. on the radio dwayne murphy even hinted that at times hill became uncoachable because he was so wrapped up in his own struggles. linds “take it easy” attitude was probably the only reason why his numbers came back after the AS break and hill remained saddled on the mendoza line. if lind hits well next year we’ll probably all be praising him for keeping his cool under pressure, and never getting on the emotional roller coaster. emotional players only make the fans feel better, it is calm focus that usually gets the job done.
…his/her point was that winterball would have been a good idea…you defended him…As a fan and season ticket holder I am not happy with his effort…maybe “effort” from lind after a brutal year is asking too much…we should be happy with third place in our division…enjoy your snapple
He’s getting married his offseason.. end of conversation.
That’ll do it.
Im so happy to hear that Lind will finally be given the chance at first base. i think he had a career year in 2009 because he was mostly playing LF which kept his head in the game. I expect Lind and Hill to both have bounceback years.
Lind DHed in almost 2/3rds of the games he played in 2009.
Between all rumors and AA comments it sounds like Manny might just be a Jay in 2011. Lind probably could have used some time in winterball but who’s to say he isn’t training hard at home?
Let’s also not forget that the Jays went out of their way to bring back Brian Butterfield, and that Spring Training is 4 weeks long. Adam will have his footwork ironed out completely by the time real games start, winterball or not. I expect that he’s at a park in indiana right now taking grounders, or working on his footwork around the bag. All it takes is one person to throw balls across the diamond to him, and that if that person isn’t good, it’s just better practice for Lind. He’ll be fine.
Still not 100% sold on Frasor, even Downs turning down arbitration. One will be 34 next year and the other 35. Frasor due a raise over 2.6m and Downs on top of 4M. Frasor is a 7th inning guy, and I have a very hard time seeing another fluke Benoit deal out there myself, unless it is on a 1 year arbitration case to be argued for in a case like Frasor.
Downs could setup for some better teams, but I have a hard time seeing a contender letting Frasor due it, maybe some lower echelon teams, but the majority of those don’t pay the big bucks either in FA. Phillies seem to have a couple spots, but they look close to maxed and may be looking for lower priced help. Texas seems to be looking to unload on Cliff lee 1st. It’s just a lot of these guys right now out there it seems and have a hard time seeing more of these Balfour/frasor types getting more than a couple million-3M a year. Too many turn into Okajima after 2-3 years.