The Risk and Reward in the American League East

As these players became a glimpse of their former selves, the young up-and-comers weren’t ready to take over the reins. But perhaps the toughest aspect of the Blue Jays plight was their division.

In ’92, as mentioned, the Jays trotted out the first $50 million starting nine in baseball history, but they would not be the last. The Yankees and Red Sox took this idea and ran with it, turning the American League East into the predominant division in baseball, and earning it the moniker “the Beast.” Essentially every team in Major League Baseball were grooming talent for New York and Boston to pick up in free agency. It was an arms race in the East, but the Jays wanted nothing to do with it.

Instead they opted to do the exact opposite and try to shop at the MLB dollar store to build a championship team. They hired general manager J.P. Ricciardi to bring this vision to light. The style of baseball Ricciardi was hoping to perfect was called Moneyball, which was successfully put to use by the Oakland Athletics several years prior. A couple years into the Blue Jays’ Moneyball era, Ricciardi had handicapped the team by acquiring mid-level talent, as well as low-ceiling prospects. This meant that even if the Jays prospects and free agents played well, it would still place them behind the rest of the pack. After several attempts to emulate the A’s Moneyball success, Ricciardi abandoned the effort when his owner gave him the option of spending money.

It quickly became apparent that Ricciardi’s bargain baseball background left him unable to hang with the big boys. Almost every move he made while carrying a loaded wallet backfired. He gave Vernon Wells, who was a capable centerfielder coming off his best season, the sixth largest contract in baseball at the time, and followed that with another lucrative contract to Alex Rios, who was later allowed to walk to Chicago for nothing. Ricciardi became a gunslinger in his final years as the Blue Jays decision maker, making moves because he could. When he was finally sent packing in Oct. 2009, which resulted in the only standing ovation at the Rogers Centre during his tenure, the Blue Jays were stuck in the basement of baseball with the likes of the Royals and Pirates.

Ricciardi’s successor, Alex Anthopoulos, quickly became a fan favourite for making carefully calculated blockbuster trades. Blue Jays radio broadcaster, Jerry Howarth, clearly characterizes the difference between the two general managers, “Ricciardi was impulsive; Alex is not.”

Anthopoulos began rebuilding the team from the ground up, which included trading away the team’s best player, Roy Halladay, for top-tier prospects. Prospects were a big part of the plan, as the Jays began stockpiling talent in their farm system, and then patiently waiting for them to evolve into major league ball players. Through drafting and calculated trades, the Blue Jays had constructed a strong and youthful core that was expected to compete in 2012.

Injuries would derail the dream of meaningful baseball in September, turning the season into a circus. Despite such a dreadful season, the Jays crafty general manager began to notice that the sun was setting on the Yankees and Red Sox, and he would make every attempt to make sure it would rise on the Jays.

Looking back at Anthopoulos’ tenure up till now, any fan can see how he put the team together like a puzzle. He started by locking up young, potential, core players (Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Jose Bautista) as his frame, then built towards the center by piling up on prospects through drafts and trades.