Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos indicated that he’s working hard to add pitching this summer in an appearance on Sportsnet 590 The FAN (article via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith). And he left little doubt that he sees the club as a buyer.
“We still need to make upgrades in the rotation and the bullpen, that goes without saying,” said the Jays GM. “I’d love to land both. What we come away with or don’t come away with, I have no idea. Clearly we’re looking to be active. We’re looking to add and make the club a lot better.”
As Nicholson-Smith explains, there is at least some hope of an internal boost as well. Just-promoted rookie Matt Boyd is interesting enough to get a showcase, and the club expects to welcome Aaron Sanchez back from the DL in the near future. While Toronto anticipates that Sanchez will start, Anthopoulos says his role will depend upon the state of the rotation. And there’s even some possibility — albeit, perhaps, fairly remote — that Marcus Stroman could attempt a late-season return, though the team will surely err well on the side of caution with the prized righty.
Interestingly, Anthopoulos also discussed his broader strategy on the market, citing legendary investor Warren Buffett in saying: “It’s better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” As Nicholson-Smith notes, value-based dealing was something of a hallmark of the GM’s earlier years, but it seems that his outlook has evolved somewhat.
One undoubtedly high-quality and high-value asset that the Blue Jays possess is the contractual control over third baseman Josh Donaldson, who can be retained via arbitration through the 2018 season. That makes an extension more a future consideration, per Anthopoulos. “There’s no sense of  urgency since we still have him for a very long time,” he explained.
Hopefully we make a move for kazmir/clippard.
Why did beane give away Donaldson to the Jays for no reason….Reminds me of the time he sent Cargo and Street to the Roxs for Holliday….but then traded Holliday to St.Louis for nothing……
the trade isn’t that bad for oakland right now. graveman is pitching well and lawrie is starting to hit. obviously donaldson is still a lot better but he probably doesnt have the same stats playing for oakland. if nolin and barreto end up doing stuff in the majors, oakland will come out ahead on that deal.
Holliday sucked in Oakland and I remember reading somewhere that Beane got pretty angry and upset when Donaldson called him Billy-Boy.. The return was decent but for Oakland but I am sure he could have gotten more out of Boston (bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/clubhouse_insi… ) or the Yankees considering they were both shopping for 3rd basemen this past off season..
how about something crazy like
Blue Jays get Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman, and Brandon Phillips
Astros get Dioner Navarro, Mike Leake, Jay Bruce
Reds get Daniel Norris, Devon Travis, Domingo Santana, Brett Phillips, Matt Boyd, Max Stassi, Richard Urena, Jairo Labourt, Jacob Nottingham
Interesting suggestion.
No way the Jays trade Travis
If he’s required to get a Cueto or Hammels of course you do, a big time pitcher will add more value to the team than loosing Travis, the kids great but replaceable.
Even “great” is a bit of an overstatement.
It’s a start but Brandon Phillips isn’t as good as Devon Travis right now, even before considering the future, so it’s hard to understand why the Blue Jays would be interested in that specific aspect of the proposal.
No way I see the Jays trading Travis as he is looking really good at 2B and is under team control for 5 more years. He isn’t untouchable (no such thing) but not for a rental and a reliever.
We have great young SP depth thats MLB or near MLB ready, we either give a lot of that up to acquire an Ace pitcher or keep some and package the other pieces with a Travis/Pentecost/Pompey, but the later two certainly have diminished value
I don’t see the Jays making a huge splash. Maybe something along the lines of Dan Haren, Ichiro and A.J. Romas. Giving up Navarro, Matt Boyd and a B level prospect. Haren is a wild card. He’ll likely want nothing to do with Toronto but then again he might see it as two months with a chance to win a ring.
Are you serious? I see AA giving up a lot of the future to acquire an impact rotation and bullpen arm. We have the best offensive in MLB in the last decade, you go all in! I’d rather take a shot at winning, than be a team that’s consistently competitive but never good enough
I like doing hamles and howard to toronto for Edwin Ecarnacion and Batista
That wouldn’t help the jays at all. There trying to get better not worse.
Brilliant idea…
“I like doing….”
Does that mean you like making that trade in MLB:The Show?
Oh hey there, Ruben. Didn’t know you were an Indians fan.
How bout we throw in Hoffman, Norrris, Sanchez, and Osuna to and we can maybe get back Ben Revere
Toronto and San Diego line up nicely as trade partners if the Padres become sellers.. Kimbrel would look great in a Jays uniform and they could pick up somebody like Cashner from them as well (if he can stay healthy until the deadline)..
Toronto line’s up nicely with Oakland, Cinncy and Philly, kill two holes with one trade. I don’t think San Diego has the big time pitcher the Jays are after
Cueto,Chapman,Frazier to Blue Jays and Petticoat,Norris,Boyd,Stassi,Santana and so on to Reds and Leake,Votto to Astros.
For moving Cueto, Chapman, Frazier, Leake, and Votto, that’s an extremely light return.
so light….I’d try to package something like Norris, Pompey, Pentecost, leave Hoffman out, but if its a deal breaker add him
Where exactly would Todd Frazier fit into the Blue Jays plans? I don’t think Frazier represents an upgrade over Josh Donaldson. Frazier is solid, but so is Donaldson.
Some really brilliant suggestions here.
Hard to fathom the Jays move ANYONE currently on their 40-man. They could however make a pretty appealing package around players like Labourt, Reid-Foley, Urena, Pentecost that could get them a decent starter.
Work on the rotation first, then think about acquiring bullpen arms later.
KRod
Matt Boyd is being showcased, I think the Jays will be in on Cole Hamels, possibly looking at Matt Garza from The Brewers, and they have to address left field, we are strong at Center and Right, Navarro definitely will be shipped out to a contender, but would only attract a draft pick, Jays will likely use that draft pick and Boyd to attract a veteran pitcher
You cannot trade draft picks in MLB. Well, you can, but there are only competitive balance picks (I believe 10 each year) between the first and second round that can be traded and Navarro isn’t worth a pick that high. Plus only certain teams receive these picks.
Boyd, Norris and Sanchez are the ones people will chase. Osuna and Castro should be in demand too. Wonder if Hutchison has much value right now. Guys under 25 with some ML success as a pitcher generally are worth a lot and the Jays have 6 of them.
We have the MILB pieces to acquire anyone without giving up guys on our team….You can create an appealing package with Hoffman, Norris, Pentecost, Pompey plus others. Teams like Philly are building for the future they want multiple high end prospects that are near MLB ready, they don’t necessarily have to be ready now.
If LF is a worry for this team, just imagine the massive holes every other team has in baseball. Our positional players and our depth has to be the envy of MLB, are pitching’s certainly suspect though
Harang, Giles and Revere from the Phils for Pentecost? Maybe Toronto adds in another mid-lower tier prospect
This year would be too knee-jerk for a huge outlay of prospects for pitching. The timing is a bit critical, up against the deadline, but when Sanchez returns, things get so much better. And this is in the face that things haven’t been that bad for over a month. Estrada has arguably been one of the best 5 starters in baseball this past month. Sanchez found the strike zone (a mental thing, not a mechanics thing) in the big leagues before his muscle strain -he’ll pick up where he left off. Hutch has had some consistency issues, but they’ve been much reduced over last year. The vets are doing their thing as always, and keeping the pen rested while keeping games in reach for this offense. This team can make the playoffs with their current roster and that’s all they should have as a goal, this year. The next two years are the Jays’ “all-in” years. They’ll have more depth with young arms, the new signings will be that much more invested (we have hardly seen Sanders’ defense), Pillar may have his first, much deserved Gold Glove, the bash brothers (Joey & EE) will be just as good if not better, 2nd base will be more solid…there’s just no downside. Dumping a group of very solid prospects for some unknown gain right now is not the right play. Key progress this year is Osuna as closer, Stroman makes a strong recovery, Pillar gets Gold Glove, Sanders plays regular for 40 games, EE gets fully healthy and hits 40HR, Reyes stays healthy, Travis wins rookie of the year…man, there’s so many more. Patience. It’s really starting to look like AA can build a pennant team and he should get the chance to see this through. IMO, Osuna is a key cog…this 20-year old can throw saves with authority…he’s the real deal and most power combined with stuff the Jays have had since Henke.