Toronto’s Alex Anthopoulos has spent a good amount of time under the microscope this offseason. (Image Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

It’s five o’ clock in the evening

and Heyman, Rosenthal, Morosi be tweeting.

They’ve got some big breaking news

about that big name pitcher he signed to…

A big contract with the Blue Jays

the crowd yells, “what a great move by A.A.”

Then we hear about a move with Sabean

And fans were sayin’ he crazy

Ey. How do we think about the moves made by General Managers and their front offices when they sign players, or trade players, find a journeyman veteran on the waiver wire — are we subjective because we have a set opinion on a GM, or are we objective about the individual moves that they make? Certainly, every GM is not a perfect one — they do make mistakes, but they also make some good moves in the process (and moves that just happen to work out) — and they don’t need to be broad-brushed by everyone just because there’s a narrative attached to them. Sometimes tendencies and philosophies of these folks do help us predict what a GM should do, but if they got hired to be a general manager, shouldn’t those tendencies and philosophies be given a chance to work before they’re pooped on by the general public? I mean, unless they’re something like “sacrifice bunting anytime a man on first to get that runner in scoring position is the way we live,” and “grit will carry us to the promised land,” I think we should give them the respect to analyze every move in a fair manner. Consider the song above. Which General Managers do people say things about whenever a transaction goes down? I have some examples, and I want to hear some for the other clubs I know less about, or maybe you can do a better summary for a general manager:

Brian Sabean (San Francisco Giants) — narrative of mostly signs veterans attached to him, with history of some long-term contracts being busts (Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand come to mind the quickest), many moves are scrutinized, and most recent Zack Wheeler-Carlos Beltran transaction doesn’t help anybody.

Andrew Friedman (Tampa Bay Rays) — has to deal with a low payroll, and the moves he makes to save money and pick up cost-effective players are a hit with people that like to save money. Often a reasonable sense of sympathy I feel is placed on him for the situation he is in and his success has yielded the positive feedback to most of what he does. The Extra 2% book giving an inside look gave fans more reason to give their hearts to him and the Rays.

Ned Coletti (Los Angeles Dodgers) — never considered that great of a general manager overall, and maybe he isn’t, after that Juan Uribe, Andre Ethier, Adam Kennedy, and Juan Uribe set of contracts (yes, I know, it’s viewed that bad down here in Southern California). Being an assistant to Brian Sabean for many years didn’t help his perception see Sabes doesn’t have a great rep amongst the common fan.

Dayton Moore (Kansas City Royals) — developed a farm system, the prospects haven’t translated, and his reported being on the hot seat isn’t going to improve his perception by many. Trades of Melky Cabrera and Wil Myers didn’t help his image amongst most, but thank goodness people got to see at least one trade in 2012 work out with Jonathan Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie. If he gets fired at the end of the year, will he be seen as not being able to do good for the Royals?

Alex Anthopoulos (Toronto Blue Jays) — not one to sign players to long-term contracts, he just recently was given the green light to push in the chips by getting Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonafacio, R.A. Dickey, Melky Cabrera, and even sent Ricky Romero down to Dunedin giving people flashbacks of Roy Halladay. Through it all, A.A. has a great reputation, and moves like the J.A. Happ two-year deal, even if they don’t work out, might be seen more as the exception than the rule for him. Also, getting rid of Vernon Wells despite a horrible contract earned him instant street cred.

I could go on with other GM’s, but often other people will be able to describe the GMs they know better than I can, so how do people react to whatever your team’s GM does, or what narrative is attached to the man making the moves of a team you know well?

Whatever you may think of Melky Cabrera, the Blue Jays were wise to get him so cheaply. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

There still seems to be one problem, however: free agents aren’t getting any cheaper. Already this off-season we’ve seen Brandon League and Jeremy Affeldt ink three-year deals out of the bullpen, heard rumors that Anibal Sanchez might want $90 million, and waited patiently for Josh Hamilton to get way more money for way too many years. The real problem is that there are still general managers willing to pay the prices these players are asking, and that doesn’t seem to be changing. Even teams that build largely from within need to depend on a free agent acquisition here and there, so the key is to approach the free agent crop a little differently.

We have a couple of excellent examples of intelligent signings that have materialized just in the past week. First, we have Theo Epstein of the Cubs picking up starting pitcher Scott Baker on a one-year deal worth between $5.5 million and  $7.5 million depending on incentives. Baker was cheap because he is coming off Tommy John surgery, but he’s always been a dependable guy who can slot into the middle of a rotation without issue. His strikeout rate has even become respectable, and he never walks anyone. That’s good news considering control is said to be a bit of an issue for a while once a pitcher returns from Tommy John.

Alex Anthopoulos followed up Epstein’s potential bargain with a nice complimentary move of his own, signing soiled outfielder Melky Cabrera to a two-year deal worth $16 million. Normally an outfielder coming off the seasons Cabrera had in 2011 and 2012 would be rather expensive, but a positive performance enhancer test left him tainted and unwanted for many clubs around the game. Cabrera’s numbers over the last two seasons are almost certainly inflated (though I would argue an unusually high BABIP is to blame rather than “the juice”), but he’s a dependable enough producer across the board that Double-A was able to find value in signing him for the Blue Jays.

The key here is that both Epstein and Anthopoulos showed there is a way to snag valuable pieces without having to pay through the nose. I have no doubt in my mind that both of them would scoff at the idea of handing three years to a middle reliever. Both saw value in players who were damaged goods. Baker is recovering from a severe injury, while Cabrera wears the scarlet letter that has brought the spit and venom from so many baseball writers and fans. Thing is, it’s the general manager’s job to put a quality product on the field. Epstein is trying to rebuild the Cubs into something special, while Anthopoulos is trying to take his Jays to the playoffs for the first time in forever. Both of them have furthered their cause without having to break the bank simply because they were able to find value where others didn’t.

If Brian’s writing strikes your fancy, read his work at StanGraphs and follow him on Twitter at @vaughanbasepct.

Dec 6, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos answers questions during the MLB winter meetings at Hilton Anatole. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

The Blue Jays have made a rather large baseball trade. It is notable in both name value and monetary value. It is as risky as it is large. The Jays seemed to have called up the Marlins, or the other way around, it really doesn’t matter. The Marlins said, hey, we want to unload all of our large contracts, we don’t want to pay anybody. To that, the Blue Jays seem to have said, Ok, send them over, we’ll pay them. That’s about it. No doubt it’s more complicated than that, but for most intents and purposes, the Marlins dumped salary, and the Blue Jays picked it up. Such a move could make or break the franchise in the coming years. They could end the playoff drought and reward fans for decades of loyalty, or they could tank and lose all sight of hope. There is some extreme stuff going on in the Great White North. And why not?

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The Dodgers almost certainly won’t have the money to sign their expensive first-round draft pick, but they could have had a bit more had they not paid a Russian “healer” six figures. Seriously.

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