Alex Anthopoulos's departure continues to haunt the Toronto Blue Jays
Imagine the Toronto Blue Jays with Alex Anthopoulos in charge instead of Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins. Blue Jays fans that have been around for a while remember when Anthopoulos was the team's general manager.
The greatest moment, however brief, that Edward Rogers has had as de facto owner of the Blue Jays came late in October 2015, when he offered huge money and considerable term for Alex Anthopoulos to remain as general manager of the Blue Jays.
For once, Edward Rogers read the wind properly and determined he needed Anthopoulos in charge of his baseball team.
In a 2-year span, Alex Anthopoulos signed or traded for Russell Martin, Marco Estrada, R.A. Dickey, Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzski, and David Price among others, leading the Blue Jays to back to back American League Chapionship Series appearances.
When Rogers hired Mark Shapiro to run the franchise instead of promoting Anthopoulos, it was clear that Anthopoulos would not, under any circumstance, work for new president Mark Shapiro.
Shapiro scolding Anthopoulos about depleting the Blue Jays farm system when he made those trades probably didn't help.
Anthopoulos had too much integrity to agree to any terms at all in Toronto and ultimately decided to move on.
Shapiro would eventually hire Atkins to take his place and the rest is history.
You can argue that under Anthopoulos the Blue Jays didn't win a World Series so it doesn't really matter, however they sure got close.
Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins version of the Blue Jays haven't even won a single playoff game in a decade.
In 10 years under Shapiro the Blue Jays farm system ranks 23rd out of 30 teams, talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Let's get back to Alex Anthopoulos for a moment. After a short stay with the Dodgers as an assistant GM, Anthopoulos ended up taking the Braves' general manager position and Atlanta almost immediately started winning division titles left and right and getting a World Series title in 2021.
He has made a number of high profile trades and signings to keep the good times rolling and his draft classes have resulted in a number of big league regulars.
Lets talk about the difference in players and contracts. Alex Anthopoulos signed Ronald Acu�a Jr. signed a 8 year , $100,000,000 contract with the Braves, including $100,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $12,500,000.
In 2025, Acu�a Jr. will earn a base salary of $17,000,000, while carrying a total salary of $17,000,000.
You read that right, EIGHT YEARS $100 MILLION. That is how its done. An incredible value for a player who is better than Juan Soto who Ross Atkins and Mark Shaprio wanted to sign for $700 + Million and couldn't even get it done anyway. It's laughable.
What's the difference between Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna Jr?
Both have won World Series, Soto's coming in Washington, Acuna's in Atlanta.
Acuna has won an MVP and a rookie of the year award in the National League. Soto has finished second in MVP voting and was second to Acuna in rookie of the year voting.
Both have won five Silver Slugger awards. Both are exceptional talents.
Acuna is considered a better fielder, a much faster base runner, he stole 73 bases in his MVP season and more of an all-around talent than Soto.
The only difference is Acuna has two less seasons under his belt due to injury otherwise its a no brainer.
The Mets will pay Soto $51 million per season. The Braves will pay Acuna Jr. $17 million for the next four seasons.
Anthopoulos, who went in early after Acuna with the Braves, will pay one-third of the money the Mets will pay Soto over the next four years, getting both players into their early 30s.
Take a step back to another time in Blue Jays history, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was a teenage free agent in the Dominican Republic and any team could have signed him.
But only one team did, the team that had Anthopoulos in charge of baseball decisions.
Anthopoulos and Director of Latin American Operations Ismael Cruz went all out to sign a 16-year old Vladimir Guerrero Jr back in 2015 to a $3.9 Million USD contract.
In fact they exceeded their assigned limit of US$2,324,100 for international signings by roughly $1.58 million, then traded two minor-league players to the Dodgers that helped them significantly reduce the tax penalty they must pay to Major League Baseball.
Anthopoulos and Cruz took a big chance because they were confident that Vladdy had the potential to be a very, very special kid.
They outworked and outbid and outfinessed the rest of baseball in getting Guerrero Jr. for a record price.
This much is certain, because it has happened with so many of the players in Atlanta: Had Anthopoulos stayed with the Jays, Guerrero Jr. would have been signed long-term years ago.
Anthopoulos did that with Acuna. He did that with Michael Harris II. He did that with Ozzie Albies. He did that with Austin Riley.
He did that with Matt Olson, for whom he traded after recent World Series hero Freddie Freeman walked away.
Had Anthopoulos remained which Rogers wanted, even if Shapiro didn't, you can bet that Bichette and Guerrero Jr. would have been signed long-term, likely for respectable terms.
This is a now a Blue Jays team without foresight or vision, reacting to the market instead of doing the Anthopoulos thing and creating your own.
If Shapiro and Atkins can find a way to extend Guerrero Jr., that narrative could change.
However, one cannot help but wonder if things in Toronto would've been a lot better if they had just given Anthopoulos the control of the team he sought instead of letting the Braves reap the benefits.
Meanwhile the Atlanta Braves agreed to a 7-year contract extension with Anthopoulos last year, that will keep him there through the 2031 season.
Braves CEO Terry McGuirk had this to say about Anthopoulos in the team's press release :
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 13 | 192 ANSWERS Alex Anthopoulos's departure continues to haunt the Toronto Blue Jays Who would you want in charge of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball operations? | ||
| Alex Anthopoulos and Paul Beeston | 182 | 94.8 % |
| Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro | 10 | 5.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
