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	<title>Toronto &#187; alex anthopoulos</title>
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	<description>Comprehensive coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays</description>
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		<title>BP Toronto 2017 MLB Draft Central</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/13/bp-toronto-2017-mlb-draft-central/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/13/bp-toronto-2017-mlb-draft-central/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Jun 2017 03:58:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BP Toronto Team]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Draft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MLB Draft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2017 MLB Draft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alex anthopoulos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Draft Picks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gord Ash]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.P. Ricciardi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Logan Warmoth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark shapiro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nate Pearson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=11688</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to BP Toronto Draft Central. In this section you’ll find all of the great 2017 MLB Draft coverage provided by the BP Toronto team. As new content comes in, including reaction to the Blue Jays picks, it will filter into this spot, so make sure to check back regularly for updates! Blue Jays Draft Selections:  [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Welcome to BP Toronto Draft Central. In this section you’ll find all of the great 2017 MLB Draft coverage provided by the BP Toronto team. As new content comes in, including reaction to the Blue Jays picks, it will filter into this spot, so make sure to check back regularly for updates!</p>
<p><strong>Blue Jays Draft Selections: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Blue Jays select SS Logan Warmoth with the 22nd pick <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/12/mlb-draft-blue-jays-select-ss-logan-warmoth-with-pick-22/" target="_blank">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>Blue Jays select RHP Nate Pearson with the 28th pick <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/12/mlb-draft-blue-jays-select-nate-pearson-with-28th-pick/" target="_blank">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>Blue Jays select C Hagen Danner with the 61st Pick <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/12/mlb-draft-blue-jays-select-c-hagen-danner-with-pick-61/">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>Blue Jays select C Riley Adams with the 99th Pick <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/13/mlb-draft-blue-jays-select-riley-adams-with-99th-pick/">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>Blue Jays select SS Kevin Smith with the 129th Pick <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=11670">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>Blue Jays select 2B Cullen Large with the 159th Pick <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/13/mlb-draft-blue-jays-select-cullen-large-with-159th-pick/">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>The Blue Jays&#8217; picks from rounds 6-10 <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/13/mlb-draft-reports-and-videos-on-blue-jays-picks-in-rounds-6-10/">(scouting reports and videos)</a></li>
<li>The Blue Jays&#8217; picks from rounds 11-25 <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/14/mlb-draft-reports-and-videos-on-blue-jays-picks-in-rounds-11-25/">(scouting reports and videos for key players)</a></li>
<li>The Blue Jays&#8217; picks from rounds 26-40 <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/14/mlb-draft-reports-and-videos-on-blue-jays-picks-in-rounds-26-40/" target="_blank">(scouting reports and videos for key players)</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Previous Draft Class Results and Analysis<br />
</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a title="What Makes for a Good Blue Jays Draft?" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/11/what-makes-a-good-blue-jays-draft/" target="_blank">Gord Ash and J.P. Ricciardi Draft Histories and Results</a></li>
<li><a title="How Great Were Alex Anthopoulos’ Drafts?" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/12/how-good-were-anthopoulos-and-shapiroatkins-blue-jays-drafts/" target="_blank">Alex Anthopoulos Draft History and Results</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Additional Draft Articles</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a title="What Players are Thinking During the First Few Days After the MLB Draft" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/06/15/what-players-are-thinking-during-the-first-few-days-after-the-mlb-draft/" target="_blank">Former MiLB GM Bennett Brauer goes in depth on the post-selection routine for recent draftees</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Podcast</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Burke Granger of 2080 Baseball reviews the Blue Jays&#8217; early round picks and provides other insight into the draft process. <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=11778" target="_blank">Listen here.</a></li>
</ul>
<p><em>Lead Photo © Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The True Legacies of R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/11/03/the-true-legacies-of-r-a-dickey-and-josh-thole/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/11/03/the-true-legacies-of-r-a-dickey-and-josh-thole/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Nov 2016 10:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Evan Peaslee]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Season That Was]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alex anthopoulos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[josh thole]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[r.a. dickey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=7759</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TORONTO – The good, the bad, the ugly, and the great. That’s how Josh Thole described his time in Toronto over the past four years. It was a fitting description for the tumultuous times he and batterymate R.A. Dickey shared while in a Blue Jays uniform. The duo entered their time in Toronto with a [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TORONTO – The good, the bad, the ugly, and the great.</p>
<p>That’s how Josh Thole described his time in Toronto over the past four years. It was a fitting description for the tumultuous times he and batterymate R.A. Dickey shared while in a Blue Jays uniform.</p>
<p>The duo entered their time in Toronto with a precipitous amount of fanfare and expectations thanks in large part to Dickey entering as the reigning NL Cy Young winner. They had a lot of ups and downs in the middle, and things ended quietly as they watched their teammates perform in the postseason without them.</p>
<p>Yet over those four years the landscape of Toronto Blue Jays baseball altered drastically; blue once again became a dominant colour on the uniform, Blue Jays fever swept the nation, an MVP became a household name, attendance skyrocketed and so did the wins. Both of those men were at the heart of it all.</p>
<p>Dickey started 130 games for the Jays over that stretch and threw 824 innings, and Thole played in 170 games, most of which came with Dickey on the mound. At this juncture, with their Toronto careers almost certainly over, their stats are a moot point. But what you’d find is a slightly above average innings-eater pitcher and a below average specialty catcher, the combination of which got a lot of scorn from Blue Jays fans and active social media users. But what fans also got were two trips to the postseason with two legitimate chances to advance to the World Series that fell just short.</p>
<p>“I take away in particular the last two years,” Dickey said reminiscing about his time in Toronto. “I mean, some of us have been together for four years so we have seen the process of how this thing has happened and getting to be in the playoffs in two of the last four years is a pretty remarkable feat in this day and age with how good these teams are.</p>
<p>“To be 50 percent of the time we go to the League Championship Series, that’s pretty good. Of course, you’re not satisfied, but it’s certainly a hard thing to do, so I really appreciate that.”</p>
<p>With the club achieving heights it hadn’t even sniffed in 21 years, the team’s success is the greatest argument for the duo despite what their personal stats might ultimately suggest. Even with neither making the 2016 postseason roster, without their accomplishments in the regular season the team simply doesn’t get to play beyond game 162 in either of the past two seasons.</p>
<blockquote><p>“To be 50 percent of the time we go to the League Championship Series, that’s pretty good. Of course, you’re not satisfied, but it’s certainly a hard thing to do, so I really appreciate that.” &#8211; R.A. Dickey</p></blockquote>
<p>However, the battery&#8217;s on-field performance is secondary to what their presence really meant to the Jays. Acquired from the New York Mets on December 17, 2012 by then-general manager Alex Anthopoulos for two elite prospects, Dickey and Thole were part of drastic shift in philosophy that aimed towards winning now. That move, along with the blockbuster Miami Marlins trade a month prior, influenced Blue Jays baseball more than any other and led directly to where the club stands today.</p>
<p>The first season with Dickey as the team’s presumptuous ace was underwhelming on the field, with the club finishing last in its division and with only a solitary win above than the previous year&#8217;s total. What paved the greatest dividends towards the win-now mode wasn’t the on-field product so much as attendance and a growing TV audience. Thanks in large part to the pre-season hype from those two trades, the Rogers Centre eclipsed 2.5 million paying fans in 2013 for the first time since 1997.</p>
<p>In the four years that Dickey and Thole were in Toronto the Jays averaged over 34,256 fans in attendance for home games, over 11,000 more per night than the average attendance in the four years prior to their arrival. In addition, this past season saw the team set a new record with over one million people per game tuning in to Blue Jays baseball on television.</p>
<p>With attendance at an unprecedented high for modern Rogers Centre times, and a surplus of money flowing in, Anthopoulos was allowed to stay aggressive on the trade market to keep the team competitive. Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson, Devon Travis, David Price, and Troy Tulowtizki followed, with today’s core of the club forming in large part because Anthopoulos was allowed to shed prospects for win-now talent &#8211; Something that wouldn’t have happened in the same aggressive and bold manner had the off-season of 2012 never happened.</p>
<p>Ultimately, those moves in the 2012 off-season precipitated the moves that followed, leading to the two most compelling seasons in recent Jays history.</p>
<p>“Special,” said Thole about his time in a Jays uniform over the last four years after being eliminated from the postseason by Cleveland in Game 5 of the ALCS. “Been through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the great. These last two years have been something you dream of. I’m not even on the playoff roster, but just to be part of it all season, it’s unbelievable.”</p>
<p>Now that their tenure in Toronto is likely over, and after experiencing two deep postseason runs with the Jays and a Cy Young campaign with the Mets, the ever intertwined duo are most likely headed for very different futures after seven years as batterymates that included 164 games together.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Been through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the great. These last two years have been something you dream of.&#8221; &#8211; Josh Thole</p></blockquote>
<p>“I mean, seven years together. Who knows what’s going to happen,” Thole said about their future. “He’s getting towards the end here. So, who knows. Who knows what’s going to happen. It’s unbelievable. Again, it’s something that you never dream of and it’s happened. I’ve been, you’re right, attached to him.”</p>
<p>“It’s hard to imagine a team without him because I’ve been with him seven years now,” Dickey said of Thole. “I consider him a friend before anything.</p>
<p>“He’s caught more of my starts than anyone in my whole career. I would venture to say he’s caught more of my starts than any catcher has caught somebody’s starts anywhere, regardless if they’re a knuckleballer or not. So, it’s been a special bond that we’ve had. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs together. It’s been fun. I’ll miss it if it doesn’t continue.”</p>
<p>Without each other it’s unclear if there’s a place for them in Major League Baseball. One thing’s for sure though, the last two magical runs to the postseason don’t happen without them or the trade that preceded their arrival. Their on field performance may not have had the impact anyone envisioned when they were acquired, but their impact off the field and on management is unmistakable.</p>
<p>For that alone Jays fans should be thankful.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Mark Shapiro, Alex Anthopoulos, and the Failures of Change</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/10/26/mark-shapiro-alex-anthopoulos-and-the-failures-of-change/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/10/26/mark-shapiro-alex-anthopoulos-and-the-failures-of-change/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Oct 2016 11:53:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Gwin]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Season That Was]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alex anthopoulos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blue jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleveland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dodgers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark shapiro]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=7676</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[History as we know it is defined in eras. Sports history is no different. When we think back to dynasties in baseball’s past, they’re asssociated with something specific. First, it was managers as the face of teams; like the Connie Mack A’s or the John McGraw Giants. That eventually gave way to the player era: [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>History as we know it is defined in eras. Sports history is no different. When we think back to dynasties in baseball’s past, they’re asssociated with something specific. First, it was managers as the face of teams; like the Connie Mack A’s or the John McGraw Giants. That eventually gave way to the player era: the Babe Ruth Yankees, the Stan Musial Cardinals, and the George Brett Royals.</p>
<p>In each of those cases, the team was defined by the most influential guy in the clubhouse. He was the one that fans saw driving the success of their beloved franchise, and therefore the one that they admired. However, we have now moved into the third age, where the clubhouse is no longer where baseball fans look to evaluate team success.  Franchises are now defined by the executives that built the team. One need look no further than one half of the current World Series matchup. It&#8217;s not Arrieta&#8217;s Cubs or Rizzo&#8217;s Cubs; it&#8217;s the Team that Theo Built. For the Blue Jays, the same was true of Alex Anthopoulos. Josh Donaldson was the Blue Jays&#8217; star talent and Jose Bautista was the soul, but it was Anthopoulos&#8217; team.</p>
<p>Our perception of Alex changed over time, and it followed along with changes in his demeanour. He came to us young, baby-faced, and as a memory of the previous generation. But he left us <a href="//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg9fdxQUcjc&amp;ab_channel=xaveruth”">older, bearded, and as the man who brought playoff baseball back to Toronto</a>. Things <a href="//www.bluejaysplus.com/the-season-that-will-be-its-judgement-year-for-alex-anthopoulos/“">weren’t always as rosy as the reaction to Anthopoulos’ exit seemed</a>, but he will be remembered for how he finished: (nearly) on top.</p>
<p>As the new Blue Jays decision makers, Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins have made additions to this team, but the core of the roster is entirely Alex Anthopoulos&#8217;. As such, that creates an attachment between the Jays and the Anthopoulos&#8217; era that isn&#8217;t easy to break. Shapiro has learned that the hard way while the fanbase has gone thought the Kübler-Ross model’s five stages of grief.</p>
<p>The first four stages came in fairly quick succession. Fans <a href="//twitter.com/Correia47/status/659727500407238657”">denied the possibility that AA could truly be gone</a>. Then they <a href="//twitter.com/n_thurm/status/677584561841176576”">angrily criticized the replacement</a>, Mark Shapiro. But Shapiro didn’t care, he knew what was really at stake.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mark Shapiro is more concerned with winning than being well-liked, writes John Lott. <a href="https://t.co/OmWv4ODIUG">https://t.co/OmWv4ODIUG</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/682160481101045761">December 30, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>When you think about it, it’s actually kind of remarkable how well Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins transitioned in to the helm of the Blue Jays. Regardless of how hard they tried, the fanbase as a whole was still opposed. There were instances in which <a href="//twitter.com/BFinleyy/status/685668661265313793”">they got some credit</a>, as Jays fans bargained with themselves on whether or not to believe. But, there were always others trying to find <a href="//twitter.com/KyleMeloTSN/status/714962254521896961”">something to protest</a>. We were sad.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anthopoulos leaving the Jays.  <a href="https://t.co/dKLcO8d6At">https://t.co/dKLcO8d6At</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Gruber&#39;s Mullet (@GrubersMullet) <a href="https://twitter.com/GrubersMullet/status/695334802627497987">February 4, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>In general, each of the five stages in the Kübler-Ross model comes one after another, but a particular time period is not stipulated for each. Above, we’ve run through the first four, but that leaves the last stage: acceptance.</p>
<p>As you might imagine, Jays fans have been reluctant to accept the Shapiro-Atkins (or Shapatkins) duo, and there are a few different reasons behind this. For starters, the transition could not have come at a worse time. When he left, Alex Anthopoulos was at the peak of his popularity. Not only had he taken the team to the playoffs for the first time in two decades, but, more importantly, he finally made Toronto feel like a big market team. In David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, the Blue Jays had acquired the two biggest pieces on the midseason trade market. If Canadians like anything, it’s feeling important. Alex made that happen.</p>
<p>Mark Shapiro on the other hand is the American whose first major Blue Jays headline was a report that he <a href="//www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/toronto-blue-jays-alex-anthopoulos-leaving-team-denied-extension-mark-shapiro-102915”">staunchly opposed those very same trades that reinvigorated the fan base</a>. He may end up being right, that the Jays’ 2015 deadline trades won’t end up being worth the prospects they cost, but being right isn’t the only thing that matters. Public perception is important too, and Shapiro&#8217;s lack of public relations perceptiveness has only made the transition of leadership worse.</p>
<p>Things started with the opposition to the trades–a report that <a href="http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/11/shapiro-president-blue-jays-retain-john-gibbons.html" target="_blank">Shapiro has since denied</a>– and further continued throughout his first year as President and CEO. In the first month of the offseason, with David Price, the symbol of the Blue Jays&#8217; big-marketedness, set to sign, Shapiro kept the team <a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/shapiro-blue-jays-didnt-aggressively-pursue-price/" target="_blank">firmly out of strong negotiations</a>. In a vacuum, that&#8217;s a pragmatic decision. David Price is unlikely to be worth the $217 million that he&#8217;ll be paid over seven years, and with three big sluggers set to hit free agency over the following three years, the Jays could use the financial flexibility. However, Price wasn&#8217;t just any other pitcher to Toronto. Not only was he the crown jewel of the trade deadline, but he <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/09/05/baseball-contenders-strengths-could-also-weaknesses/OWkq0Yt8QCMWRikkgvwkFL/story.html" target="_blank">repeatedly iterated how much he loved the team and the city</a>. For a Toronto sports market that has historically been told that American sports stars aren&#8217;t jumping to sign north of the border, Price was the messiah. If it doesn&#8217;t make good baseball sense, you don&#8217;t sign David Price. But, you can at least make it look like you tried.</p>
<p>The issues continued through the end of the offseason, as Shapiro once again rejected something that fans held dear: <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-mark-shapiro-says-grass-at-rogers-centre-is-not-a-top-priority" target="_blank">real grass at the Rogers Centre</a>. He didn&#8217;t say that it wouldn&#8217;t happen, just that it wasn&#8217;t one of his priorities. However, he didn&#8217;t <em>need</em> to say anything at all.</p>
<p>Later yet, a similar situation occurred in-season, this time from the mouth of his right hand man Ross Atkins. For what seemed like months, the Blue Jays pondered whether or not to place Aaron Sanchez in the bullpen. Again, pondering is good. It&#8217;s an important decision that the team needs to consider as there are implications for both the present and the future. That discussion didn&#8217;t need to happen in public, however. The result was a flip-flopping front office that ultimately handled Sanchez well, but made no friends along the way.</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t to say that Mark Shapiro&#8217;s first year has been a disaster, in fact it&#8217;s been anything but. Here are all of his major transactions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Signed <strong>Marco Estrada</strong> for two years, $26 million</li>
<li>Traded Liam Hendriks to Oakland for <strong>Jesse Chavez</strong></li>
<li>Signed <strong>J.A. Happ</strong> for three years, $36 million</li>
<li>Drafted <strong>Joe Biagini</strong> from San Francisco in the Rule V Draft</li>
<li>Traded Ben Revere to Washington for <strong>Drew Storen</strong></li>
<li>Traded Sean Ratcliffe to Atlanta for <strong>Jason Grilli</strong></li>
<li>Extended <strong>Justin Smoak</strong> for two years, $8.25 million</li>
<li>Traded Drew Storen to Seattle for <strong>Joaquin Benoit</strong></li>
<li>Traded Hansel Rodriguez to San Diego for <strong>Melvin Upton Jr.</strong> and cash considerations</li>
<li>Traded Jesse Chavez to the Dodgers for <strong>Mike Bolsinger</strong></li>
<li>Traded Lupe Chavez to Houston for <strong>Scott Feldman</strong></li>
<li>Traded Drew Hutchison to Pittsburgh for <strong>Francisco Liriano</strong>, <strong>Reese McGuire</strong>, and <strong>Harold Ramirez</strong></li>
<li>Traded Colton Turner to the White Sox for <strong>Dioner Navarro</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>That&#8217;s thirteen relatively significant transactions. If you evaluate them to this point, you could argue there&#8217;s only one bad one in the bunch: the Justin Smoak extension. There would be those who&#8217;d argue against the Revere, Upton, Feldman, and Hendriks trades, but each of the four have mitigating circumstances of their own. Drew Storen, while very bad, actually finished with a higher WARP than Ben Revere. Melvin Upton and Scott Feldman had troubles of their own, but each cost very little to acquire, and one could therefore argue that their upside was worth it. The Liam Hendriks trade is the next closest to being given a thumbs down, but the Jays&#8217; turned Jesse Chavez into Mike Bolsinger, who at least has a shot at being the best value of the three.</p>
<p>If we were partying like it was 1999 and executives weren&#8217;t in the media spotlight, we&#8217;d probably have evaluated 2016 as a good first year for the new Blue Jays&#8217; front office. Unfortunately for Mark and the gang, that isn&#8217;t the case. It&#8217;s the Executive Era and a passionate Jays fanbase that has a thirst for knowledge is something that they&#8217;ll have to learn to adjust to. The fanbase seems to have accepted the fact that Shapiro and Atkins are the new normal, but doesn&#8217;t yet approve of all their methods. Is that fair? Empirically, probably not. This doesn&#8217;t mean that we should let the new front office off the hook, but they deserve time to do their work. After two full seasons, they will have made their impression on the team, and it&#8217;s direction. They&#8217;ve made the task of wooing the fanbase as hard for themselves as possible, but that&#8217;s nothing that a successful 2017 season can&#8217;t fix.</p>
<p><em>Over the next week or so, other writers at BP Toronto will be sharing their thoughts on the 2016 season in our series &#8220;The Season that Was.&#8221; <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/category/the-season-that-was/" target="_blank">You can read them all here</a>. Look for a new one every day.</em></p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Where You Can Validly Criticize Mark Shapiro: Diversity</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/23/the-one-place-where-you-can-validly-criticize-mark-shapiro-diversity/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/23/the-one-place-where-you-can-validly-criticize-mark-shapiro-diversity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2016 10:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Bradburn]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alex anthopoulos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark shapiro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ross atkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tony lacava]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=537</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s been an awful lot of focus on the Blue Jays new President of Baseball Operations over the offseason. If you don&#8217;t believe me, you can take a glance at this petition for his dismissal, which has amassed more than 1300 signatures. This thinking follows from the topic of my last essay &#8211; an interesting, somewhat unhappy quirk of [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There&#8217;s been an <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-president-mark-shapiro-more-concerned-with-winning-than-being-well-liked">awful lot of focus</a> on the Blue Jays new President of Baseball Operations over the offseason. If you don&#8217;t believe me, you can take a glance at <a href="https://www.change.org/p/rogers-communications-inc-fire-mark-shapiro-and-resign-alex-anthopoulos">this petition</a> for his dismissal, which has amassed more than 1300 signatures. This thinking follows from the topic of <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/">my last essay</a> &#8211; an interesting, somewhat unhappy quirk of the Canadian baseball fan. While Mark Shapiro may not deserve the ire of Blue Jays fans, <em>one</em> thing he did during the offseason does follow a troubling trend in baseball: the hiring of Ross Atkins.</p>
<p>Prior to actually getting into this, I don&#8217;t want to imply that I think poorly of either Shapiro or Atkins, personally. However, it has become clear that baseball is heading into an era of exclusivity that desperately needs correcting.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s start with Shapiro. When Alex Anthopoulos stepped down, there was a very brief period of time where Shapiro acted as the general manager. However, that was quickly remedied by throwing an interim tag on Tony LaCava. LaCava, a Smart Baseball Man™, has been an assistant general manager with the Blue Jays since 2007. Although his original hiring actually predates the Anthopoulos era, he has, rightly or wrongly, been labeled as an &#8216;<a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-to-name-tony-lacava-interim-general-manager/">Anthopoulos guy</a>&#8216;. LaCava&#8217;s tenure would last less than a month, as Shapiro interviewed only few other candidates before deciding on current GM Ross Atkins.</p>
<p>Atkins could also be a Smart Baseball Man™. Frankly, I&#8217;m not sure. And Shapiro could be the Smartest Baseball Man™ that made an extremely Smart Baseball Decision™ by hiring Atkins. Or, conversely, the qualifications to get become a general manager in baseball have become misguided.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s look at those qualifications, shall we. Atkins has more than 14 years of baseball executive experience. He has worked his way from assistant director of player development to vice president of player personnel. It&#8217;s an impressive resume for certain. It is also one that may definitely qualify him to become a general manager. Through hard work and determination, Atkins has most-assuredly made himself a suitable candidate.</p>
<p>For those that don&#8217;t know, Atkins&#8217; former boss with his previous organization, and thereby the person at least partially responsible for some of those promotions, was Shapiro. Shapiro came from the Cleveland Indians and promptly poached an old colleague. There&#8217;s a lot to take in about that fact, but let&#8217;s make the fewest assumptions possible and say Shapiro really does like Atkins&#8217; work ethic and thinks he has gotten to where he is on merit.</p>
<p>Perhaps Shapiro and Atkins find it easy to work together just because they have before. Because they had a good rapport in prior work environments. Because they are like-minded individuals. These are by no means outlandish theories. The optimist may look at the last one and suggest that Atkins and Shapiro may not be like-minded insofar as they have simply found effective ways to deal with their differences. To me, that&#8217;s semantics.</p>
<p>Meg Rowley <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=28120">discussed this inequity</a> similarly mere months ago when Jerry Dipoto hired Scott Servais. Servais, who had worked as an executive under Dipoto with the Los Angeles Angels, was hired by the Seattle Mariners following the 2015 season to manage the team. What makes Servais different? He had absolutely zero managerial experience.</p>
<p>This inequity in baseball front offices stems from a really difficult question to answer: What makes someone qualified? For any job even. For some jobs, that question is easier. To teach at the university level, a PhD is required. For others it gets a tad trickier. While administrative jobs prefer some form of formal training, it isn&#8217;t actually a requirement and experience is favoured. So what does it actually take to be a general manager in sports?</p>
<p>Shapiro has a better understanding of that answer than I do. I&#8217;m certain of that and will concede that fact. However, I&#8217;m not certain he made the correct choice. Even more troubling though, it appears as though the correct process wasn&#8217;t even fulfilled; that due diligence wasn&#8217;t met. And Shapiro can get away with it because we all have no idea what it takes to be a general manager.</p>
<p>Perhaps Atkins just really is that good, but how does Shapiro know that if he didn&#8217;t interview other candidates? If he didn&#8217;t &#8216;broaden the talent pool.&#8217; At the very least, show Toronto, the most populous city in a country growing in culture, that you care about diversity.</p>
<p>By my count there will be only four non-white GMs or Presidents in baseball next season: Dave Stewart, Farhan Zaidi, Kenny Williams, and Michael Hill. And that&#8217;s where the inequity becomes most glaring. That&#8217;s both grossly unfortunate and unrepresentative. I would contend that it isn&#8217;t for a lack of qualified candidates either. Instead, it&#8217;s due entirely to the fact that executives get to a discourse on &#8216;inside baseball&#8217; with zero culpability. It is because teams perpetuate a false narrative that <em>they</em> know what makes a truly good executive, and the public is forced to agree because we don&#8217;t have the means to prove them wrong.</p>
<p>Frankly, I&#8217;m tired of hearing about this. I hope you are too. At this point, I&#8217;m really tired of writing about Shapiro even. For what it&#8217;s worth, he seems like a savvy business man and I hope he&#8217;s able to make the Rogers Centre resemble Progressive Field. Mostly though, I&#8217;m looking forward to writing about actual baseball. However, not talking about this has gone on for too long. Baseball should not operate outside of basic human resource principles. It&#8217;s unfortunate that it has. It has been easy to avert our gaze, but doing so has led us to a league that will only have two persons of colour managing clubhouses next season. And that&#8217;s not even addressing the abhorrent gender gap.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know what makes a good executive, but I do know that promoting diversity should be on that rubric. It&#8217;s time we make it a requirement.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
<p><em>Correction: This article originally stated that the Jays interviewed only two candidates for the GM position; they interviewed four. It also stated that there are only four non-white baseball executives, when the writer intended to say that there are only four non-white GMs or Presidents.</em></p>
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		<title>Where Canada Fits in America&#8217;s Pastime</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/11/where-canada-fits-in-americas-pastime/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2016 09:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Bradburn]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[alex anthopoulos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blue jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john tory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark shapiro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paul beeston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ross atkins]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=41</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When the city of Toronto completed work on the Luminous Veil that hems the Bloor Viaduct and held the event&#8217;s official lighting, the 2015 PanAm Games were finally ready to begin. In fact, it worked as a sort of unofficial opening ceremonies. Toronto’s mayor, John Tory – the one that came after the crack-smoking one – was, of [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When the city of Toronto completed work on the Luminous Veil that hems the Bloor Viaduct and held the event&#8217;s official lighting, the 2015 PanAm Games were finally ready to begin. In fact, it worked as a sort of unofficial opening ceremonies. Toronto’s mayor, John Tory – the one that came after the crack-smoking one – was, of course, in attendance. He ended up giving a speech that took a backhanded yet relatively unnoteworthy jab at Torontonians’ propensity to complain. “Toronto, on a regular basis,” Tory said only days later “would be qualifying for a gold medal in (moaning and groaning).” Somewhat anecdotally – or perhaps more to the point – the Toronto Blue Jays were in fourth place at the time, and three games back of the first-place New York Yankees.</p>
<p>Whether or not you agree with Mr. Tory, this, above all else, is what sets us apart as a baseball city. As you know, the 29 other teams are located in a different country. Canadians – the collective ‘we’ – like to think of ourselves as different. We’ve only got one team, and the entire country rallied behind it for two fantastic months at the end of last summer. We like to think what makes us different is our apologetic behaviour, which has seemingly become reflexive, or that we put an extra ‘u’ in some words because we didn’t overthrow our ties to the commonwealth. Maybe it&#8217;s our spelling of &#8216;defence.&#8217;</p>
<p>But it isn’t. What makes Canadians different is our ability to look on the other side of the fence and see that the grass on our side has been turf all along. It’s the Canadian condition. What we self-identify as humility actually comes off as an aversion to nationalism. We’re proud of a nation that takes as little pride in itself as possible. Now, none of this is to paint all Canadians with the same pessimistic brush. In fact, I believe many of us to be very optimistic. But our ability to complain while still staying positive is what sets us apart.</p>
<p>It surfaces in the most sublime ways. Take, for instance, the fact that a fan called in to Blue Jays Talk hosted by Mike Wilner on the day the Blue Jays clinched a postseason berth – their first after a two decade drought– to express his displeasure that Melky Cabrera wasn’t on the team anymore. The caller wasn’t upset; they just expressed empathy that Cabrera wouldn’t get to enjoy this.</p>
<p>If you need further proof, consider the fact that <a href="https://twitter.com/GideonTurk/status/545336856192499712">we joke about how much we hate the turf</a> here, but then also <a href="https://twitter.com/GideonTurk/status/591612706215632896">defend it when other teams threaten to protest</a>. We <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/how-blue-jays-fans-who-hate-toronto-justify-their-support-1.3250886">dislike ourselves, our city, our team</a> insofar as nobody else agrees. If anyone else dislikes us, <a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/the-baseball-world-hates-us-because-were-good-lets-embrace-it/">then we unite in our disdain for them</a>.</p>
<p>But nothing epitomizes this better than the fallout of this past offseason. For the uninitiated, the abridged version: Rogers, the corporation that owns the Blue Jays, had tried for a couple of seasons to replace team president, Paul Beeston. It’s worth noting that, when this process began nearly two years prior, Rogers contacted Kenny Williams about potentially taking over as Beeston’s replacement. That news went up to White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who just so happened to be Beeston&#8217;s best friend in all of baseball. As a result, Beeston – the Blue Jays’ first employee – found out for the first time that his bosses were trying to replace him from somebody outside the organization.</p>
<p>Last August 31, it was made official that Mark Shapiro would be taking over the role of team president. By this time, the Blue Jays had rocketed to first place. Somewhat hilariously, David Price was actually dinged with the &#8216;L&#8217; that evening against Shapiro&#8217;s old team, the Cleveland Indians. After the move was announced, there was a lot of speculation about what may have happened behind closed doors after the move. There was <a href="https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/659697223287074816">one report that</a> Shapiro scolded Alex Anthopoulos for trading so many top prospects. Regardless of the &#8216;how&#8217; it happened, it all culminated in Anthopoulos deciding to <a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2015/11/02/new-jays-chief-mark-shapiro-to-face-media-with-anthopoulos-looming-in-background.html">turn down a contract extension</a> to stay on as general manager. To be clear, that&#8217;s all we know. Shapiro got hired; Anthopoulos left. Maybe if Shapiro didn&#8217;t get hired, the Blue Jays would still have Anthopoulos. Maybe he would be in Los Angeles regardless. Whichever parts of the story seem to piece together for you are, predominantly, irrelevant.</p>
<p>All we have are optics. And we have a specifically strange lens through which to look. The day Anthopoulos announced he was stepping away from the Blue Jays, was the same day The Sporting News announced that he had been named <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb-news/4659623-alex-anthopoulos-executive-of-year-blue-jays-sporting-news">MLB&#8217;s Executive of the Year</a>. Obviously, that was less than desirable. &#8216;We&#8217; had our &#8216;guy&#8217; and he turned out to be the best in the league for one year and now he&#8217;s gone because some other guy may or may not have been able to work with him amicably.</p>
<p>Conversely however, our &#8216;guy&#8217; did trade away a lot of top prospects. And while it brought the Blue Jays a division title – the goal of all executives – if Shapiro did in fact bring that up in a meeting, it wouldn&#8217;t have been fallacious. And don&#8217;t forget, Anthopoulos also traded away Noah Syndergaard and Travis d&#8217;Arnaud – the New York Mets battery for game 3 of the World Series.</p>
<p>The fact is, some Canadians will choose not to like Shapiro. Even further, some may choose to actively dislike Shapiro – <a href="https://www.change.org/p/rogers-communications-inc-fire-mark-shapiro-and-resign-alex-anthopoulos">to request his dismissal</a>. And they need to know how weird that is, and how distinctly Canadian it is; to dislike a man because he isn&#8217;t named &#8216;Anthopoulos.&#8217; If you Google search &#8216;fire&#8217; with any other MLB executive&#8217;s name – <a href="https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;ion=1&amp;espv=2&amp;ie=UTF-8#q=fire%20jeff%20bridich">even the seemingly bad ones</a> – you won&#8217;t find a petition for their dismissal.</p>
<p>Nobody outside of team ownership really knows what makes an above average MLB executive, just as they don&#8217;t know what truly happened that caused Anthopoulos&#8217; to depart. Now that the dust has settled, I&#8217;d be willing to bet it has more to do with upward mobility than anything else. There is nothing that makes Shapiro measurably worse than Beeston. There is nothing any fan can point out that makes Ross Atkins more or less qualified than Anthopoulos.</p>
<p>Even when things are going well in Toronto, we will find ways to gripe. So don&#8217;t pretend that Anthopoulos should be sainted. And don&#8217;t pretend that Shapiro and Atkins are Satan and Mephistopheles. It defies logic to look at the Blue Jays roster – which is still excellent – and grumble about the team&#8217;s upper management.</p>
<p>My only solace is that, the next time anyone located beneath the 49th parallel takes issue with our infield – which is dirt now – or our MVP or our <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/jays-canada-insult-reynolds-1.3267152">ability to catch foul balls</a>, I know that we&#8217;ll unite in our ire against those foes. Similarly, if this team goes on to win for the next few years, Shapiro and Atkins will have helped that happen. There is, then, a conceivable way that both Shapiro and Atkins become very well-liked executives in this city; this country. So maybe we should appreciate what we have. Maybe we should embrace what makes us different; some of us just need better ways to express it.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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