ANTHOPOULOS WILL ALWAYS BE A TORONTO GUY
Former Jay GM is soaring in Atlanta, but still has fond memories of time here
Sitting inside the visiting team dugout at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday afternoon, former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was asked if he could see the playoff banners hanging over the scoreboard in centre field.
At first he couldn’t, because of the media crowd blocking his view. But then he could.
“It’s amazing,” he said.
In 2015, it was amazing around the Rogers Centre. And Anthopoulos was the man. No matter whom he traded and whom he traded for, Anthopoulos will forever be remembered as the GM who put that winning Blue Jays team together, the team that ended a 21year playoff drought and gave the increasingly cynical and indifferent fan base a reason to jump back on the bandwagon. He gave up some valuable pieces to get there, but winning the AL East in 2015 forever etched his place in Toronto sporting lore. Anthopoulos is now the executive VP and GM of the upstart Atlanta Braves, a team exceeding almost all expectations in the NL East. And while he’s having a great time in Georgia, Anthopoulos said that he’ll always be a Toronto guy. “I still come back to the city quite a bit, my kids go up north during the summer, so they ’re all here,” he said. “And I still commute back and forth (from Atlanta to Toronto). I love this place, I always will. It’s always going to be home.” Anthopoulos made some very good moves as Toronto’s GM from 2009-2015 and some not so great ones.
Getting Josh Donaldson from the Oakland A’s was one of the best. And while he did give up some decent prospects putting together those winning teams in 2015 and 2016 — right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard undoubtedly the biggest loss of all — he certainly didn’t leave the cupboard bare as some
I still come back to the city quite a bit, my kids go up north during the summer, so they’re all here. I love this place, I always will.
people would leave you to believe. There are still some solid prospects in the system acquired during his watch, including third baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr., outfielder Anthony Alford, catcher Danny Jansen and pitchers Sean Reid-Foley and Ryan Borucki. Not to mention some solid players that were drafted or acquired during his reign, including right-hander pitchers Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, Roberto Osuna, Ryan Tepera, and Danny Barnes, as well as outfielder Kevin Pillar, who the Jays drafted in the 32nd round in 2011. When Anthopoulos stepped on to the infield from the visiting dugout, Pillar was there to greet him. For many players — as well as the media — the Montreal native is like an old friend. And when he departed for the L.A. Dodgers after the 2015 season, there was a backlash directed at Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro.
To this day, it’s never been fully explained exactly why Anthopoulos split. He was offered a lucrative deal to stay, but didn’t.
Being the good Canadian boy, Anthopoulos has nothing but good things to say about the Toronto organization, Shapiro and Ross Atkins, his replacement.
“Oh yeah, those guys are great,” he said. “We (Atlanta and Toronto) had trade discussions this off season, obviously we couldn’t come to a deal. And I dealt with them (when I was) in L.A. It was great.” Anthopoulos insists he’s still a fan and readily admits that he still follows the Jays as closely as he can. “I’m not going to sit here and say I don’t follow the Jays,” he said. “I mean there’s no doubt I’m always going to follow (the Jays). I have friends that will still follow, and family that still follow. I haven’t been able to watch (many Toronto games) because now we’re both on the same coast, we play at the same time, but I’ll check the box scores and obviously I still have a lot of friends here.
“There’s still a ton of talent here,” Anthopoulos continued. “I know (the Jays) have had a lot of problems with health, guys going down in the rotation and things like that. But they’ve had a lot of good stories too. (Yangervis) Solarte was a great trade for them. Teoscar Hernandez looks like he was a great trade for them as well. And obviously (Justin) Smoak has done a good job overall the last few years. Like anything, I think they need to have health. And obviously it’s tough when you don’t have your full team out there.” Anthopoulos said if he has any regrets of his time in Toronto, it’s not being able to bring a World Series back to Canada.
“I remember Howie Starkman (former Jays VP of public relations) telling me, ‘It’s harder to win a division than it is to win a World Series.’ That being said, I would take a World Series any day of the week,” Anthopoulos said. “But winning a division felt like a great accomplishment.”
Most Jays fans would agree with that.