Silly Suspensions and Deadline Analysis: Sanchez and Anthopoulos



I think we should all stop expecting any kind of fairness from MLB when it comes to the Blue Jays.

The Brook Jacoby incident earlier in the season indicated that it wasn't going to be logical or fair for this team. 

Of course, I find it completely ridiculous that Aaron Sanchez was suspended for three games after being ejected from Sunday's epic showdown with the Royals. Sanchez maintained that he didn't do it with intent, which is completely debatable, but at least he did it on the lower body and basically just made Alcides Escobar dance a little. Gibbons I get a little more, as he did return to the field after being ejected, but he didn't seem to go out to throw punches but rather to prevent his boys from getting into more trouble.

The fact that Edinson Volquez threw at Donaldson twice, once hitting him between the numbers and the other buzzing him back at his face, and then was completely unapologetic about it post game and who now faces no discipline at all is stupid. Yordano Ventura, though he apologized, did threaten Jose Bautista with violence over Twitter. I have yet to hear any kind of word on that by MLB. The Sanchez suspension would be a lot more tolerable if there was just some acknowledgment that the Royals instigated and then escalated the situation.

Hear Jonah Keri call both Volquez and Ventura trash on TSN Toronto 1050 the other day.  About 15 minutes in. It's great.

Thanks, homie.



Speaking of Mr. Keri, his feature on the Jays' trade deadline, which includes an extensive talk with Alex Anthopoulos, is up today on Grantland. 

Highlights include:

“I asked if it would go to Friday,” Anthopoulos said. “He said, ‘I’ll get back to you tonight.’ I told him, ‘Great, my family’s in Portugal until Monday. I’ll be all alone. Call anytime, I’ll be awake!’ So later that night, Dombrowski calls me. Except I’m on the phone with [Mariners GM] Jack Zduriencik talking about [veteran relief pitcher] Mark Lowe. I’m dying to jump off the phone, but I don’t want to do that to Jack. I did really want Price, though. So I did hurry it along.”
That's such a social thing, too. You don't want to insult someone you are talking to, but the person you really want to/have to talk to is in your sight line.

“I didn’t sleep a second that night,” Anthopoulos said. “I was too wired.”

“We had a lot of people within our organization who were not comfortable with the idea of getting Tulo and wanted starting pitching instead,” he said. “They brought up the length of his contract, the dollars on his contract, the players we’d have to give up.”
Well, luckily you got them both. And I think it's clear that the Tulowitzki deal happened when it did because he was made available at that time and things fell into place. It had nothing to do with SS being the most pressing need that had to be addressed, but rather something that might be a bigger problem later but could be addressed now.

It's just interesting that there are both short term and long term needs addressed in this very active trade deadline for AA. Also, that he sent the wife and kids to Portugal so he could get some work doen.

I suspected in my middle of the night post about the  Tulowitzki trade that Anthopoulos had been involved in the 2005 draft when the Jays took Ricky Romero over Tulowitzki and that that draft had been on AA's mind for a while.

Turns out, I was right:

Tulo had been on Anthopoulos’s mind for more than a decade, dating back to when he worked as a Jays scouting director in 2005. He and (now-assistant GM) Andrew Tinnish went to scout the shortstop when he was starring for Long Beach State. The Jays ended up drafting Ricky Romero one spot before the Rockies took Tulo. Both men then watched from a distance as that five-tool kid blossomed into an elite talent. A decade later, they wanted him badly.
I love it when that happens.

Finally:

Yes.

Added more stuff because everyone is writing a tonne about the Jays lately:

More on Anthopoulos from my buddy Arden Zwelling:

Beeston is known for his rigid schedule, which involves arriving at work at 7:30 a.m. every morning and going to sleep at 10:00 p.m. every night. Anthopoulos knew not to call his boss after that time unless it was a matter of crucial importance. This was the rare time that it was. Anthopoulos had secured ownership approval on a Reyes-for-Tulowitzki swap months earlier when talks first started to progress, but Beeston had always said he wanted his GM to work with him on a “no-surprises basis.” So he phoned Beeston’s home and spoke to his wife, asking her to wake up Beeston. “Hello?” came a gravelly voice a couple of minutes later. “Paul, I’m really sorry to do this, but I didn’t want you to wake up and find out without hearing from me first. We’re about to close on Tulowitzki.” Beeston was quiet for a moment as he digested the news. “Well, all right.”

Reyes arrived at the Rogers Centre at 12:30 a.m., well aware something was up. While Blue Jays trainer George Poulis exchanged medical information with his Rockies counterpart Keith Dugger in one room, Anthopoulos and Gibbons broke the news to a teary-eyed Reyes in another. Reyes was quiet and emotional, not saying much other than asking who he had been traded for. Anthopoulos, ever vigilant about leaks, wouldn’t say. Reyes got up to leave, giving everyone in the room a hug before he went.



Do you want to read what Josh Donaldson has to say about hitting? Of course you do. 

“Honestly I never really think about my hands,” laughed Donaldson as we talked before a game against the Athletics. “It more has to do with angles with your legs, your spine, your shoulders. I wouldn’t consider myself a guy who has a handsy swing, that’s more of the old-school kind of thing, or guys that slap the ball around. I use more of my entire body.”
Did you know LaTroy Hawkins is awesome? Because he is.

Hawkins links generations of Major Leaguers. He's more than twice the age of his new 20-year-old bullpen-mate, Roberto Osuna, who is the youngest player to appear in the Majors this season. When Osuna was born on Feb. 7, 1995, Hawkins was less than three months from making his Major League debut.
 With Minnesota from 1996-98, Hawkins shared a clubhouse with Hall of Famer and current Twins manager Paul Molitor, who was born Aug. 22, 1956. So Osuna and Molitor, born almost 40 years apart, are connected through a common teammate.

Also, from the Denver Post:

“When I’m done playing, I don’t care about having a career ERA of whatever,” Hawkins said recently in the Rockies clubhouse. “I won’t care about never winning a World Series. I won’t care about any of that. The only thing I’ll care about is what my teammates thought of me, and the managers, pitching coaches, general managers and all the people I came in contact with. I care what they think of me. …
“I want them to say, ‘LaTroy was one hell of a guy.’ ”