What to Make of the Offseason So Far?
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. After the Blue Jays’ first playoff appearance in 22 years, the offseason should have been a smooth ride south down the QEW to Florida for spring training. Of course, this was never how it was going to happen. Those who’ve followed the team closely have seen the pattern become all too familiar: a team on the cusp of greatness sagged down by an ownership unwilling to commit the dollars needed to sign A-class free agents. It’s awful, but this is the way Rogers—the team’s corporate owner—has been doing business for years. So before we even get into the fiasco that has been this offseason, let’s make sure we all understand the situation.
Rogers knows that the Blue Jays exist, they’re aware of the profits they made last season, and they sure as heck know that the fans want a winning team. What they also know is that the Blue Jays are a tiny fraction of their business. A small profit made by the team is barely going to make a blip on Rogers’ radar, if even that. The problem with the “no-profit” theory is that it raises the counter argument: ‘Well, if winning won’t make them any money, will losing not lose them any money either?’ And honestly, I have no idea. What I can say for certain is that Rogers does not believe investing in the Blue Jays to be a sound business strategy.
Now, even when you discount the dollars from the equation, the past couple months have been awfully messy. November began with the departure of Alex Anthopoulos, the highly-coveted Canadian executive who had finally made a name for himself this past season as the general manager of the Blue Jays. His split with the team came as a shock to everybody, although when you dig a little deeper, it’s fairly easy to understand.As sports columnist Bruce Arthur pointed out in the Star: “In a face-to-face meeting with the senior members of the Jays’ front office, [New Blue Jays President] Shapiro said he strongly disagreed with some of the [trade] deadline choices that sent prospects out. The initial contract offer to Anthopoulos, according to an official who was briefed on the talks, was a two-year deal, with the second year being optional. It was an insult. By the time Rogers tried to give Anthopoulos a five-year contract, it was already too late.”
This whole fiasco began last year when Rogers tried to rid itself of longtime Blue Jays president Paul Beeston by going behind his back to find a successor. The story was blown way out of proportion, but it appears this was the beginning of the end for Anthopoulos. Following that slip-up, Beeston announced he would retire at the end of the 2015 season, paving the way for a new regime to take over—a new regime that Anthopoulos would not be a part of. A few months into the season, Rogers hired a new president without consulting Anthopoulos; they disagreed on some things, he left, end of story.
That leads us to the present, and to what, in many fans' minds, is the worst offseason in Blue Jays history. Here’s the thing though: it’s not. Sure, it hasn’t been ideal, but people need to stop with the cries of ‘Fire Shapiro!’ and ‘Anthopoulos would've signed David Price!’ because guess what—he wouldn’t have.
As fans have already heard multiple times this offseason, there is a certain amount of money that the team has to spend, and blowing $217-million (U.S.) over seven years on David Price, a 30-year-old pitcher, just wasn’t an option. What was an option, however, was shoring up a pitching rotation badly lacking depth, and making sure the team still has money left to spend in 2017, 2018 and beyond. If you want to complain, go ahead, but direct your complaints at Rogers, not at Mark Shapiro or whoever else you feel is responsible.
The thing that a lot of people also seem to forget is that this team just finished first in its division with 93 wins! 93! The Jays reached the playoffs for the first time in 22 years; yet the mood of the fan base is grim. Cheer up! This team is much better than the one that started the season last year. Sure, things haven’t been perfect, but they’re not nearly as bad as they’ve been made out to be. So calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. Everything is going to be alright.
Photo Credit: The Canadian Press
Comments