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The time is now for Toronto’s GM Alex Anthopoulos

By Darrell Samuels

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The Toronto Blue Jays are about to approach the Major League Baseball July 31 trade deadline. One thing everyone knows about the Toronto Blue Jays is that the team needs improvement with their pitching.

Prior to Canada Day’s Toronto’s 11-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos spoke to the press in Toronto. He expressed pitching as a need for the team as they march toward hopefully meaningful games in September. It would also be a chance for the first playoff date in Toronto since the 1993 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

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The Blue Jays have the best offence in baseball. All they need to do is shore up their pitching and problem solved.

“I think, clearly, the rotation’s the area that has the most need,” said Anthopoulos. “Not that the bullpen can’t use some work. But I think that the bullpen is starting to settle in.”

Case solved! No big deal! Anthopoulos can simply go out and trade for a starting pitcher and a bullpen arm and the team has a definite date for a playoff game at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The starters have a combined earned run average of 4.34. The bullpen had a 3.84 ERA.

That was before the series finale against the Boston Red Sox where the Blue Jays were clobbered 12-6. It was a game where their rookie starting pitcher Matt Boyd could not get a single out in the first inning and where 8 of the first 9 batters of the Red Sox scored before Toronto got a single out. The 27 outs by Toronto were courtesy of the bullpen. After the game, Boyd was sent back to the Buffalo Bisons. The team cut pitcher Todd Redmond and designated him for assignment.

They are currently 3 games over .500 with a record of 42-39 through 81 games. That’s the midway mark of the six month race toward the playoffs this fall. The second half of the season begins on Friday in a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Liam Hendricks, Bo Schultz and appointed closer, for now, Roberto Osuna have all had successful seasons thus far in the eyes of GM Anthopoulos.

The fact of the matter is it is early July and while everyone knows Toronto requires pitching, so does everyone else. You can never have enough pitching.

“What’s available,” said Anthopoulos when asked if he would take a starter or a reliever in a trade. “There’s not really much available, period, right now because of the timing”.

Alex Anthopoulos has his eyes and ears open to deals to elevate the team to the top of the American League East.

Pitching is the key that Anthopoulos is hoping to address heading toward the July trade deadline.

As much as Anthopoulos is looking for some pitching relief, he’s open to any deal that would push the Blue Jays to the top of the American League East.

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“If somebody calls and there’s a position player upgrade that we can make, even though it’s not the focus, you can talk about both,” said Anthopoulos. “It’s not like you’re so tied in to bullpen or starter. If we can upgrade another position player spot, we would do it.

“It’d have to make sense. We’d have to make sure it didn’t take away from our ability to add a starter or reliever.”

Anthopoulos stressed that he wants to add depth to Toronto’s pitching. Tinkering with the Blue Jays’ potent batting, even if it means adding a left-handed bat, is at the bottom of his priority list.

The Blue Jays have needs. So do the other 29 teams. Everyone needs pitching and everyone needs successful batters.

In the 2012 off-season the team mortgaged the future through two significant trades. The first one was acquiring Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes from the Miami Marlins. The other trade was acquiring pitcher R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets. Both trades required Anthopoulos to part with a lot of their top prospects in Triple-A.

There are players linked to Toronto. The rumored names linked to the team are Philadelphia Phillies’ Jonathan Papelbon and Cole Hamels as well as Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman.

The fact of the matter is that the American League East is not as strong a division as it once was. Each of the five teams has needs that require addressing, if they have thoughts of contending in the playoffs this fall. The window for winning a championship is closing in on players like Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista, R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle.

Acquiring anyone will require Anthopoulos to probably part with more prospects. He is not likely to part with any of their prospects that are growing within the organization now. Pitchers Daniel Norris, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez are probably the first people teams will want in return.

Anthopoulos’ future is up in the air after this season. He became Toronto’s GM in 2009, after former General Manager J.P. Riccardi was fired. Anthopoulos’ time as General Manager is up for discussion.

This organization is borderline good to a great team. The questions will continue to plague this team, as to whether Anthopoulos rocks the boat and goes to get ‘the missing ingredients’ that will push the team into the playoffs.

The time is now to strike, while the iron is hot!

Next: Why Brett Cecil?

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