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	<title>Comments on: Where Canada Fits in America&#8217;s Pastime</title>
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		<title>By: shantzy11</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-46</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[shantzy11]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Mar 2016 20:12:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-46</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I support AA just as much as the next guy, he ran a fabulous scouting department, and had a great drafting track record, got creative in trades, and overall was a very exciting manager to watch.
However ripping Shapiro for not signing Kawasaki and not being &quot;imaginative&quot; enough in trading is flat out ridiculous. He has repeatedly acquired high level talent in trades (see: Kluber, Carrassco, Bauer, Santana, Brantley) for expiring free agents. I imagine things will go even better with greater cash at hand. Improved scouting, ability to re-sign players.  Sure he may be calculated, but it&#039;s a strategy that has clearly paid off. 

Sure it wasn&#039;t a great publicity move to stay out of the running for Price, but would people be half as upset if he went to an NL team as opposed to the Red Sox? If we knew now that contract may hamper our ability to re-sign Donaldson, Stroman, or others in the future? These contracts have proven time and again to be very dangerous. With the offense Toronto has, you just need average starting pitching, and spreading the money around on some depth and short deals was a pretty smart move. 

If you think people wont come to the ballpark because of Kawasaki, or heck, even David Price...give your head a shake. Entertainment value? I&#039;d much rather watch Darwin Barney turn a fantastic double play late in a game than Kawasaki rambling on in a interview, if you want entertainment watch it later on YouTube.

I&#039;m not a huge supporter of Shapiro, I&#039;d love to have seen AA stick around, but his track record has been pretty good for a low budget team. He&#039;s a smart mind, and who knows how creative he can get with a little extra cash and flexibility on his side.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I support AA just as much as the next guy, he ran a fabulous scouting department, and had a great drafting track record, got creative in trades, and overall was a very exciting manager to watch.<br />
However ripping Shapiro for not signing Kawasaki and not being &#8220;imaginative&#8221; enough in trading is flat out ridiculous. He has repeatedly acquired high level talent in trades (see: Kluber, Carrassco, Bauer, Santana, Brantley) for expiring free agents. I imagine things will go even better with greater cash at hand. Improved scouting, ability to re-sign players.  Sure he may be calculated, but it&#8217;s a strategy that has clearly paid off. </p>
<p>Sure it wasn&#8217;t a great publicity move to stay out of the running for Price, but would people be half as upset if he went to an NL team as opposed to the Red Sox? If we knew now that contract may hamper our ability to re-sign Donaldson, Stroman, or others in the future? These contracts have proven time and again to be very dangerous. With the offense Toronto has, you just need average starting pitching, and spreading the money around on some depth and short deals was a pretty smart move. </p>
<p>If you think people wont come to the ballpark because of Kawasaki, or heck, even David Price&#8230;give your head a shake. Entertainment value? I&#8217;d much rather watch Darwin Barney turn a fantastic double play late in a game than Kawasaki rambling on in a interview, if you want entertainment watch it later on YouTube.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not a huge supporter of Shapiro, I&#8217;d love to have seen AA stick around, but his track record has been pretty good for a low budget team. He&#8217;s a smart mind, and who knows how creative he can get with a little extra cash and flexibility on his side.</p>
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		<title>By: CLint LAjeunesse</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-40</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[CLint LAjeunesse]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2016 14:47:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-40</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dude, Your Canadian? Wow... 
What an insulting article. I have been a Proud Canadian for 46 years now and a Jays fan for 36 of those and have never felt the feelings towards my Country or city or team.  You think writing &quot;none of this is to paint all Canadians with the same pessimistic brush&quot; Makes it better? You belittled us , You made fun of us, You stereotyped us. An American Reader will see the Brush you used to paint us with that&#039;s for sure  You are all the things you claim in this article accept you directed it at us, your people not some silly sports team. Ya were the worse.  Shame on you. SORRY FOR COMPLAINING.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Dude, Your Canadian? Wow&#8230;<br />
What an insulting article. I have been a Proud Canadian for 46 years now and a Jays fan for 36 of those and have never felt the feelings towards my Country or city or team.  You think writing &#8220;none of this is to paint all Canadians with the same pessimistic brush&#8221; Makes it better? You belittled us , You made fun of us, You stereotyped us. An American Reader will see the Brush you used to paint us with that&#8217;s for sure  You are all the things you claim in this article accept you directed it at us, your people not some silly sports team. Ya were the worse.  Shame on you. SORRY FOR COMPLAINING.</p>
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		<title>By: Joshua Howsam</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-33</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joshua Howsam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2016 01:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-33</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One thing that is important to mention, and is being continually glossed over whenever the Jays are talked about: Mark Shapiro is neither the GM or the bogus &quot;President of Baseball Operations.&quot; He is the President and CEO of the entire organization. He is not going to be the one negotiating trades the way he was in Cleveland. All of that will be Ross Atkins. Shapiro is merely the rubber stamp.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One thing that is important to mention, and is being continually glossed over whenever the Jays are talked about: Mark Shapiro is neither the GM or the bogus &#8220;President of Baseball Operations.&#8221; He is the President and CEO of the entire organization. He is not going to be the one negotiating trades the way he was in Cleveland. All of that will be Ross Atkins. Shapiro is merely the rubber stamp.</p>
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		<title>By: The Moxball</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-32</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[The Moxball]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2016 00:41:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-32</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now since this is a BP site and I want to bring up the article that is in the BP annual, about Shapiro, written by Pete Beatty. Pete talks about how Shapiro&#039;s Cleveland legacy is paved with trades that created stocking the Tribe&#039;s prospect pool  from trades such as CC Sabatha in 2008 the year after he won the Cy Young award and follow that up with Cliff Lee in 2009 also one year removed from winning his Cy Young award and come back player of the year.   He did see returns such as Carlos Carrasco and Michael Brantley as part of the above mentioned trades, so there is upside in this but Cleveland is still also waiting.

I am skeptical of what his role in Toronto will be looking back at his history with the Indians taking over as GM of a team that had won their division 6 of 7 years prior to him taking over. After that he dealt veteran after veteran to stock the pool but only followed up with three division titles over the next 15 years and one in which he took over.  Looking at this yeah this seems like an improvement here in Toronto considering it is the first time in 20 years we have seen a new winning flag fly.

I still believe that if this team does not get off to a good start you might as well look at all the veterans, players on expiring contracts or those high league value players that could be moved to refill the depleted farm system that is there. But who will it be Bautista, Edwin, Martin, Tulo even the reigning MVP Donaldson, or anyone else. 

Also just to prove that Shapiro(in Cleveland) is a miser he took a over a payroll that was ranked 4th in MLB and over the next 14 years averaged the 23rd rank among the 30 teams for highest payroll. 

So in conclusion this could be a very hated man if this team fails to produce and moves are made at the deadline. 

@themoxball   on twitter]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Now since this is a BP site and I want to bring up the article that is in the BP annual, about Shapiro, written by Pete Beatty. Pete talks about how Shapiro&#8217;s Cleveland legacy is paved with trades that created stocking the Tribe&#8217;s prospect pool  from trades such as CC Sabatha in 2008 the year after he won the Cy Young award and follow that up with Cliff Lee in 2009 also one year removed from winning his Cy Young award and come back player of the year.   He did see returns such as Carlos Carrasco and Michael Brantley as part of the above mentioned trades, so there is upside in this but Cleveland is still also waiting.</p>
<p>I am skeptical of what his role in Toronto will be looking back at his history with the Indians taking over as GM of a team that had won their division 6 of 7 years prior to him taking over. After that he dealt veteran after veteran to stock the pool but only followed up with three division titles over the next 15 years and one in which he took over.  Looking at this yeah this seems like an improvement here in Toronto considering it is the first time in 20 years we have seen a new winning flag fly.</p>
<p>I still believe that if this team does not get off to a good start you might as well look at all the veterans, players on expiring contracts or those high league value players that could be moved to refill the depleted farm system that is there. But who will it be Bautista, Edwin, Martin, Tulo even the reigning MVP Donaldson, or anyone else. </p>
<p>Also just to prove that Shapiro(in Cleveland) is a miser he took a over a payroll that was ranked 4th in MLB and over the next 14 years averaged the 23rd rank among the 30 teams for highest payroll. </p>
<p>So in conclusion this could be a very hated man if this team fails to produce and moves are made at the deadline. </p>
<p>@themoxball   on twitter</p>
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		<title>By: david cohen</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-31</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[david cohen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2016 20:37:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-31</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a someone who attended the opening game in 1977, I can say that I have little patience for what has happened recently. Last fall was the first bit of joy in 20 years.  On the one hand, I like AA, on the other hand, he happened to have a good second half season where several years of success had been promised. To me, the mistake was many years ago, not getting rid of Beeston and keeping Gillick.
That led to a string of lousy general managers and owners who did not care.
I resent the negative attacks on Shapiro, but would like a bit of his time, to explain why Estrada could not be signed for more than two years, while Happ is even back, but signed to three years.
The Jays will win the World Series this year and we should forget AA.  As to turf, who wants to see stars hurt?  I am sure, the best decision based on technology will be made, but our government, John Tory etc, cannot afford a new stadium]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As a someone who attended the opening game in 1977, I can say that I have little patience for what has happened recently. Last fall was the first bit of joy in 20 years.  On the one hand, I like AA, on the other hand, he happened to have a good second half season where several years of success had been promised. To me, the mistake was many years ago, not getting rid of Beeston and keeping Gillick.<br />
That led to a string of lousy general managers and owners who did not care.<br />
I resent the negative attacks on Shapiro, but would like a bit of his time, to explain why Estrada could not be signed for more than two years, while Happ is even back, but signed to three years.<br />
The Jays will win the World Series this year and we should forget AA.  As to turf, who wants to see stars hurt?  I am sure, the best decision based on technology will be made, but our government, John Tory etc, cannot afford a new stadium</p>
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		<title>By: Kongos</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-30</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kongos]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2016 19:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-30</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We were spoiled. We had the most imaginative, hardest-working, SMARTEST, executive in the  biz. Shapiro is apparently also hard working, but without the imagination and the intelligence, he&#039;s going to be a train wreck. Or, more accurately, he already is.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We were spoiled. We had the most imaginative, hardest-working, SMARTEST, executive in the  biz. Shapiro is apparently also hard working, but without the imagination and the intelligence, he&#8217;s going to be a train wreck. Or, more accurately, he already is.</p>
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		<title>By: Michael Bradburn</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-28</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Bradburn]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2016 16:23:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-28</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[He&#039;s had the job for six months.

I think there are some legitimate criticisms that people can make of Shapiro, but that he &#039;isn&#039;t Anthopoulos&#039; (which is the crux of your argument) isn&#039;t one of them.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>He&#8217;s had the job for six months.</p>
<p>I think there are some legitimate criticisms that people can make of Shapiro, but that he &#8216;isn&#8217;t Anthopoulos&#8217; (which is the crux of your argument) isn&#8217;t one of them.</p>
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		<title>By: mattstupp</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-27</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[mattstupp]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2016 16:13:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-27</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hard to lump the 2013 (Reyes, Dickey) and 2015 (Donaldson, Price) trades together. The former did not bring the Jays a division title; the latter can be said to have helped get them their 2015 division title.

As a die-hard Mets fan, I&#039;m also rooting for Montreal to get another team. I think the fanbase and resources are there. The NL East is boring without a Montreal team.

I also think Vancouver could be an option for another expansion team, despite it never being mentioned. It&#039;s a bigger metro area than Portland (which does get mention), as well as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Milwaukee.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hard to lump the 2013 (Reyes, Dickey) and 2015 (Donaldson, Price) trades together. The former did not bring the Jays a division title; the latter can be said to have helped get them their 2015 division title.</p>
<p>As a die-hard Mets fan, I&#8217;m also rooting for Montreal to get another team. I think the fanbase and resources are there. The NL East is boring without a Montreal team.</p>
<p>I also think Vancouver could be an option for another expansion team, despite it never being mentioned. It&#8217;s a bigger metro area than Portland (which does get mention), as well as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Milwaukee.</p>
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		<title>By: Kongos</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comment-24</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kongos]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2016 13:23:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41#comment-24</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Shapiro is an utter bonehead in two respects, and he&#039;s not going to be able to overcome either. 

The first is marketing. He doesn&#039;t get that if you sign a David Price, you get a huge marketing boost -- you&#039;ll sell more tickets, get better ratings, and so on. If you try to sign him and fail, people will be understanding and your public image is probably ok. If you don&#039;t even try to sign him, you&#039;re simply a pathetic loser who won&#039;t try. AA was known for asking about the availability of pretty much every other player, available or not. 

Shapiro isn&#039;t able to understand that a player like Kawasaki is vital to a team not because of his playing ability (which actually wasn&#039;t terrible) but because of his entertainment value. It was worth the price of a ticket to see his antics.

Shapiro&#039;s second major failing is lack of imagination. He simply would never have made the Vernon Wells trade, the Josh Donaldson one, even the Tulo one because he&#039;s not creative enough to pull deals like that off. 

Sure, some of AA&#039;s trades were complete busts. I&#039;d love to be able to undo the Dickey one. But he was always entertaining. You never knew what he&#039;d pull off next. 

None of Shapiro&#039;s deals have been surprising, imaginative, creative. He comes across as a boring bean-counter, and the Jays over the next few seasons will evolve into a dull bean-counter team like the Indians.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Shapiro is an utter bonehead in two respects, and he&#8217;s not going to be able to overcome either. </p>
<p>The first is marketing. He doesn&#8217;t get that if you sign a David Price, you get a huge marketing boost &#8212; you&#8217;ll sell more tickets, get better ratings, and so on. If you try to sign him and fail, people will be understanding and your public image is probably ok. If you don&#8217;t even try to sign him, you&#8217;re simply a pathetic loser who won&#8217;t try. AA was known for asking about the availability of pretty much every other player, available or not. </p>
<p>Shapiro isn&#8217;t able to understand that a player like Kawasaki is vital to a team not because of his playing ability (which actually wasn&#8217;t terrible) but because of his entertainment value. It was worth the price of a ticket to see his antics.</p>
<p>Shapiro&#8217;s second major failing is lack of imagination. He simply would never have made the Vernon Wells trade, the Josh Donaldson one, even the Tulo one because he&#8217;s not creative enough to pull deals like that off. </p>
<p>Sure, some of AA&#8217;s trades were complete busts. I&#8217;d love to be able to undo the Dickey one. But he was always entertaining. You never knew what he&#8217;d pull off next. </p>
<p>None of Shapiro&#8217;s deals have been surprising, imaginative, creative. He comes across as a boring bean-counter, and the Jays over the next few seasons will evolve into a dull bean-counter team like the Indians.</p>
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