Buffalo Boy's Blog

If you are a Jays fan like me you were headed into this offseason a little disappointed, hurt, depressed, angry, and rejected. Keep throwing in the negative words.

Its now mid-January and with spring training fast approaching I have to say that Im not all that unhappy with what the Jays and new GM Alex Anthopoulos has been able to accomplish.

Are they going to be competing for a playoff spot this year? Well you never know but I doubt it. What they did accomplish so far was the following:

1. The increased the size of their scouting department, a goal set early by Alex Anthopoulos so that the Jays could reasonably compete for big name players overseas and get creative with how they draft, scout and develop players.

2. They traded Roy Halladay, while not the most popular move ever they got a ton of talent back in right handed pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, catcher Travis d' Arnaud, and infielder and ultimately first baseman Brett Wallace. All three project to be in Toronto in the not too distant future with Wallace and Drabek probably being in Toronto as soon as this year.

3. They filled some holes for the short term by signing catcher John Buck who will probably suffice as a starter/platoon guy with Raul Chavez for a year before d'Arnaud can make his presence felt.

They also signed Alex Gonzalez from the Boston Red Sox who will provide some veteran leadership and play full time shortstop this season and maybe next depending on how well he plays.

4. The added depth with several minor league signings of guys who have some major league experience, still young enough to have upside, strengthen their minor league system and provide some major league depth in the minors who  can fill in for injuries.

5. They traded Brandon League for a power righty Brandon Morrow a big 6'5" righty who while no Roy Halladay has some pretty nasty stuff if he turns the corner.

6. We used the revamped scouting department and took a good, long, hard look at Ardolis Chapman, the prized Cuban left hander and was second in the running after the dust settled with a $23 million offer which was beat out by the Cincinnati Reds. It showed that the ownership is not afraid to spend despite attendance and economic woe to make this team better if its the right move as deemed by the scouting department and baseball minds within.

In addition to the above according to the Jays website there are other deals in the works. As a diehard Jays fan one can only hope those trades involve finding this team a closer, ditching Lyle Overbay and somehow unloading the Vernon Wells contract. 

Its still a long way to go toward just being respectable again as an organization as a whole, but if this offseason is any indication the front office is on its way, hopefully they can turn that into results on the field soon after.