Should Blue Jays’ GM test market?
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. • Alex Anthopoulos does not like to talk about his contract, which is about to expire, or his job prospects, which are better than ever.
All indicators suggest he will return next year to the Blue Jays club that he moulded into a division champion with a series of intrepid moves over an eightmonth period. Another school of thought says he’d be wise to become a free agent and test the market because his leverage will never be higher, or at least play hardball in negotiations with team owner Rogers Communications.
But during a session with reporters on Saturday afternoon, the Jays general manager said salary has never been an issue for him and that he definitely wants to stay in Toronto.
“Why wouldn’t I? I ’ ve enjoyed every year I’ve been in Toronto. I love the city. I love everything about it,” he said.
Only one detail has ever been leaked about his contract: that it covered five years and that it expires on Oct. 31. Even that much information is too much for his taste. He understands why players’ salaries are public, but he sees no reason why contract details of other club employees should be revealed.
Anthopoulos, 38, started his career in baseball as an unpaid intern with the Montreal Expos in 2000. He did not sound inclined to engage in tough bargaining with new president and CEO Mark Shapiro, who will replace the retiring Paul Beeston in November.
“My house is paid off, I don’t lease my car anymore, I’m fine,” Anthopoulos said. “I’m fine. Money has never motivated me in the slightest bit. I don’t think that’ll ever change.”
He does not have an agent, not does he think he needs one, he said.
“It’s not who I am. It’s not the way I’m wired. People say I’m naive and maybe that’s not smart. You’ve just got to be able to look yourself in the mirror. I’ve got kids, too and I want to do the right thing, and handle things the right way. It’s important.”
There is no question that Rogers is looking to give Anthopoulos a new deal.
“We’d love to extend Alex’s contract,” Rogers spokeswoman Andrea Goldstein told the Associated Press on Aug. 31. “He’s done a terrific job. We’ve been in discussions, but frankly we’re all focused on playing great baseball right now and winning.”
Since then, the Jays have done just that, clinching a postseason berth for the first time in 22 years and battling Kansas City down to the wire for the best record in the American League.
When Shapiro’s hiring was announced at the end of August, the Blue Jays issued a statement saying he would have no comment about his plans until the season was over. That’s fine with Anthopoulos, and as far as his contract goes, he’d prefer that it not be “a story.”
“I’ve tried to just kind of stay away from that,” he said to Toronto reporters gathered in the visitors’ dugout at Tropicana Field. “You guys know me. I never wanted my contractual circumstances to be out there to begin with. I never did and they got out last summer. But prior to that, I never felt it was important.”