Anthopoulos under the gun? Not at all, says Blue Jays GM

Team hasn’t hit 90 wins under his stewardship

TORON TO • Conventional wisdom says this is a do-ordie year for Alex Anthopoulos, that if he cannot lead the Toronto Blue Jays to the playoffs after six years trying, his head will roll.

The general manager claims, however, that no one above him in the chain of command has ever told him that, and that he is blissfully unworried about losing his job.

So as he goes about his daily business, job security is not an issue when he considers whether to make one deal or another, he insists.

“No, no,” Anthopoulos answered hastily when asked if he feels like he’s under the gun. “It’s never been positioned to me that way, ever.

“These jobs are not about the person or the individual. You’re a steward for the ball club. We’re always focused on the short and the long term. We could easily trade a bunch of our young players for guys that are going to be free agents and players that are three and four years away, but we don’t feel that’s the right thing for the ball club. That’s what your job entails — doing the right thing for the ball club.”

In a National Post interview before the club’s annual State of the Franchise event for season-ticket holders, Anthopoulos discussed the question marks surrounding his team — the bullpen, second base, centre field — and confirmed his faith that the Jays will be an offensive powerhouse, regardless of who plays second and centre.

And he stressed that he would never even be tempted to make a deal that sacrifices the team’s future for his own job security.

It was hardly a surprising assertion. What else would he say to such a question? But as he enters the final year of his contract, his comments were consistent with those he has made from the day he took over the GM’s job in October 2009 following the ouster of his mentor, J.P. Ricciardi.

Part of his inspiration, he said, comes from the writings of U.S. business mogul Warren Buffett.

“I admire him a lot,” Anthopoulos said. “I read a lot of his work, not because I invest in stocks, I don’t invest in any. He talks about integrity being the pillar of any hire that he makes. It’s the No. 1 thing. You can define it any way that you want, but in this role, it’s ultimately doing what’s right for the ball club, not doing what’s right for someone’s career. If you stick to that simple formula, you still want to make the right decisions, but you’re not conflicted at all.”

If he faces conflicts, one might be how to fill the closer’s role left vacant by free agent Casey Janssen, who recently signed with the Washington Nationals. The Jays never tried to bring Janssen back.

Both Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons said Thursday that either veteran left-hander Brett Cecil or 22-year-old phenom Aaron Sanchez could be the closer. And if the GM and manager had to pick a role for Sanchez today, he would be in the bullpen.

“At this moment, yeah, he did a great job [as a reliever],” Anthopoulos said. “He did it last year and he did it well. That frees up Brett as the lefty to come in in the middle of an inning and things like that. Certainly we’re a stronger bullpen [with Sanchez] based on the results we saw last year. But that’ll depend on how [Marco] Estrada throws the ball, and how [Daniel] Norris throws the ball in spring training.”

Meaning that if Estrada, newly arrived from Milwaukee in the Adam Lind trade, and rookie southpaw Norris make strong bids for rotation spots in spring training, it would be easier to keep Sanchez in the bullpen, where he posted a 1.09 ERA in 24 games last year.

Sanchez remains projected as a starter. He wants to start this year and will be treated as a rotation candidate at start of spring training.

“But it ’s going to come down to what serves the team best,” Gibbons said.

Both Anthopoulos and Gibbons acknowledged the challenge of auditioning as many as five second-base candidates and choosing between rookie Dalton Pompey and the slightly more experienced Kevin Pillar in centre field. The winner in those sweepstakes will be the players who show they can hit in spring training, the GM said.

But Anthopoulos believes the addition of Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Michael Saunders to a lineup that already features Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Reyes means the offence will be strong and able to compensate for any production frailties at second base and centre field.

Much as fans would like it, no GM can create a perfect lineup, Anthopoulos said.

“Ideally, you’re nine-deep and everyone stays healthy. That’s not going to be the case. We’re going to need some guys to step up and emerge. That’s part of it. I think every club is going to have that [challenge].”

Meanwhile, he said his biggest off-season trades prove that he continues to balance the team’s short- and longterm viability, without regard for his own job.

“We traded [J.A.] Happ with a year of control left for two years of Saunders, and we traded some of our kids for four years of control of Josh Donaldson,” he said. “We like Josh Donaldson, but we’re not trading for him if he’s a free agent a year from now.”