Two Months of Moves Under Alex "The Great" Anthopolous

*List Updated as of 23 Dec 09

Alex Anthopolous took over at the helm for the Jays a mere 2 months ago, and already his impact can be felt throughout the organization. A Summary of his transactions in this short period of time are as follows:

Late October (pen addition)

• Claimed RP Sean Henn (28 yrs old) off waivers from the Orioles

November (fixed the infield, protected the right players, and added depth + speed)

• Signed SS John MacDonald (35 yrs old) to a $3,000,000 2-year deal
• Signed SS Alex Gonzalez (32 yrs old) to a $2,750,000 1 yr deal with option for 2011
• Protected both 1B Brian Dopirak and SP Reidier Gonzalez by placing them on 40-man roster
• Claimed INF Mike McCoy (28 yrs old) (who stole 40 bases in AAA in 09) off waivers from Colorado
• Claimed INF Jarrett Hoffpauir (26 yrs old) off waivers from the Cardinals

December

• Claimed RP Zechry Zinicola (24 yrs old) as rule 5 from the Washington Nationals
• Signed C John Buck (29 yrs old) as a FA from the KC Royals (quickly) for $2,000,000
• Signed C Raul Chavez (37 yrs old) to a minor league contract, which gives the Jays flexibility to have him in AAA and depth at C
• Signed OF Joey Gathright (28 yrs old) to a minor league contract as OF depth
• Resigned 3B/OF Jose Bautista to a $2,400,000 1 yr deal, avoiding arbitration
• Signed SP/RP Lance Broadway (26 yrs old) as a FA
• Traded SP Roy Halladay (32 yrs old)  and $6,000,000 to the Phillies in return for OF Michael Taylor (25 yrs old), SP Kyle Drabek (22 yrs old), C Travis d'Arnaud (20 yrs old)
• Traded OF Michael Taylor (25 yrs old) to OAK in return for 1B/3B Brett Wallace (23 yrs old)
• Signed FA C Ramon Castro (33 yrs old) to split time with John Buck
• Traded RP Brandon League (26 yrs old) and OF Yohermyn Chavez (21 yrs old) to Seattle in return for SP/RP Brandon Morrow (24 yrs old)

Alex is also responsible for letting Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas walk, instead of resigning them, which has or will net the Jays the 33rd, 45th, and 68th overall picks in the 2010 draft.

As related to 2010, when you add up the money sent to the Phillies, and the signings of Buck (2m), Gonzalez (2.75m), MacDonald (1.5m), and Bautista (2.4m), and subtract it from the salary they save from dealing Doc (9.75m), the Jays end up with $1,150,000 less in salary even with the addition of a starting SS and C.

When Alex took over, the Jays were weakest at SS, C, and in being held up by a potential Doc deal. In 2 months, he's taken care of all of those things, has added young and projectable players that fulfill exactly what the Jays needed this offseason. He's not done yet, obviously, but as we head into the Christmas break, we can rest assured that the Jays are finally headed into a new direction. Once filled with youth, excitement, and the potential to grown into something magical in the very near future.

Winter League Update - Jays Hitters Edition

With the chill of the FA market frenzy, most likely until the winter meetings, I decided to take a peak at what our winter blue birds are doing around the equator. Since some of these players may get a chance to prove themselves with the Jays in 2010, these performances can go a long way to ensuring they actually get a good long look.

1. Brian Dopirak 1B
Mr. Dopirak is continuing what has been an amazing 2009, albeit at a less impressive pace. He is playing for Navegantes del Magallanes in Venezuela, and has the following line thus far:
137 AB, 37 hits, .270 average, 7 doubles, 7 HRs, 32 RBI, 19 BB, and 40 SO

joining Brian on the same team just recently is the highly touted Balbino!!

2. Balbino Fuenmayor 3B
"Little" Balbino got his start in Venezuela this week and has only played in 4 games thus far, his line is:
14 AB, 5 hits, .357 average, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 2 BB and 8 SO

3. Raul Chavez C
The only catcher the Jays have under contract has the following line:
76 AB, 17 hits, .224 average, 4 doubles, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 10 SO

4. Mike McCoy 2B/SS
The newly acquired infielder is in Mexico, playing for Tomateros de Culiacan and has the following line:
129 AB, 43 hits, .333 average, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HRs, 10 RBI, 26 BB and 20 SO

5. Moises Sierra OF
Playing in the Dominican Republic, for Gigantes del Cibao, Moises has the following line:
51 AB, 11 hits, .216 average, 1 double, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 9 SO

6. David Cooper 1B
David played in the AFL for the Mesa Solar Sox, and his season's line there was:
78 AB, 18 hits, .231 average, 5 doubles, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 18 SO

7. Brad Emaus 2B
Brad also played in the AFL this fall, with a line of:
60 AB, 19 hits, .317 average, 3 doubles, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 7 BB, 3 SO

8. Darin Mastroianni OF
Played for the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the AFL, and had the following line:
44 AB, 11 hits, .250 average, 1 double, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB, 8 BB, 5 SO

9. Adam Loewen OF
Who knows why, but some still think he can hit, he had the following line in the AFL:
70 AB, 14 hits, .200 average, 1 double, 2 HRs, 9 RBI, 9 BB, 32 SO (almost struck out 50% of time!!!)

10. Johermyn Chavez OF
Didn't play much in a short stint in Venezuela's winter league, but had the following line:
23 AB, 5 hits, .217 average, 2 doubles, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 SO

When you look at all of these stats, you have to be seriously underwhelmed and have a clear understanding of why most people don't pay any attention to them. Out of all of the Jays hitters making the trip to winter leagues, only Brian Dopirak, Mike McCoy, and Brad Emaus made or continued their progress and performed well. Otherwise, if you're in Jays management you have to be scratching your head and wondering if it was worthwhile for the others to go. Balbino could still have a good performance in Venezuela and learn much from it. I wonder if Dopirak's performance helped him, or if it will tire him out instead. I can understand his wanting to keep the hot streak alive without sitting home waiting for spring training to come around, but with only a short time between the end of the season and spring training workouts, he could have used some time to rest. Mike McCoy could turn out to be a key role player for the Jays in 2010 and he looks like he can contribute offensively.

Like I said, not much really stands out form the hitting point of view, and some may actually sealed their next assignments based in poor performances (Cooper, Loewen). I feel that Cooper should be sent to HiA Dunedin in order to rebuild his confidence and to push him to get better, and Loewen should be released. Michael McDade can make the jump to AA from LoA since he deserves to be there more than Cooper does.