Speculation is that Blue Jays Senior VP/Baseball Operations & GM Alex Anthopoulos chose to leave the club because he would not be given the same role and responsibility that he had under outgoing President & CEO Paul Beeston, which meant "having the ultimate say in all baseball-related decisions," according to Robert MacLeod of the GLOBE & MAIL. The Blue Jays' hiring of the Indians' Mark Shapiro to take over for Beeston "skewed that, with the belief that Anthopoulos, if he returned to the GM’s job, would not enjoy the same autonomy that he enjoyed under Beeston." Ironically, Anthopoulos on Thursday was "chosen by his major-league peers" as MLB Exec of the Year. Anthopoulos: "It was Mark’s desire and his intention to have me stay on. I won’t speak for him, but he certainly expressed that to me repeatedly. And I’m extremely grateful for that. It was (club owner) Rogers Communications’ desire for me to stay on and it was their every intention to get that to happen. And it was mine as well. I had every intention and desire to stay on. But ultimately I had a decision to make. And I own this decision. This is my responsibility and it falls on me" (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/30). In Toronto, Brendan Kennedy notes Anthopoulos "offered few specifics behind his decision" to leave. In "oblique fashion, however, Anthopoulos hinted that it was Shapiro’s influence in baseball-decision making that made his continuance as GM untenable." Anthopoulos said that he “'unequivocally' does not have another job lined up and his decision has nothing to do with money" (TORONTO STAR, 10/30).
A BOLD MOVE: SPORTSNET.ca's Arden Zwelling wrote Anthopoulos "made a bold decision because he believed in himself; believed it was the right thing to do," and in "doing so, he did what he has always done." Anthopoulos: "You have to be true to yourself. You have to know what’s important to you and what you value. Look, I love the Blue Jays. That isn’t going to change. By no means was this an easy decision. But it was one I felt I needed to make." Zwelling noted for "as much shock and bewilderment as there has been over Anthopoulos’ departure, the move really doesn’t stray far from the man’s modus operandi as a baseball executive or, more simply, as a person." He was "anything but the picture of a conservative, hand-sitting company man." He made "bold, unconventional moves that were always rooted in his values and principles as a baseball executive" (SPORTSNET.ca, 10/29). The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly in a front-page piece writes Anthopoulos "behaved as expected -- gracefully and with a practical eye to the future." He "showered in garlands on all of the people who’d pushed him out of a team he’d largely built." In how he made his exit, Anthopoulos is "telling 29 other teams: 'I will take a bullet for you, even if I believe you’ve mistreated me'” (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/30).
JAY WALKING: SPORTSNET.ca's Shi Davidi writes the fact that things "got to this point is beyond description, and there are no satisfactory answers to be found, no explanations to make sense of why this happened." Davidi: "No one walks away from a five-year contract worth millions of dollars to work a job they’ve invested their souls in, unless there are real concerns" (SPORTSNET.ca, 10/30). In Toronto, Steve Simmons writes, "You can’t allow a young general manager -- this smart, this creative, this Canadian, this built for the position -- to walk away. Not after the season the Blue Jays, Toronto and Canada just experienced. ... If it means control, you give him control. You find a way" (TORONTO SUN, 10/30). Also in Toronto, Mike Zeisberger writes Shapiro is "under immense pressure to at least equal, if not surpass, the success the Jays enjoyed under the popular Anthopoulos’s watch this past season." If not, the "restless natives already are preparing the tar-and-feather treatment for any such shortcoming" (TORONTO SUN, 10/30).
TROUBLING TREND: In Toronto, Bruce Arthur in a front-page piece writes this "was the end of a very long, blind, careless fuse lit last year by Rogers Communications, whose stewardship of this franchise finally blundered into success this season." Arthur: "It was, as endings go, ridiculous." Anthopoulos "wasn’t going to accept being anything less than the general manager of this team." Arthur: "Would you? He built a top-four team in baseball. ... Shapiro, meanwhile, wanted control. Wouldn’t you?" (TORONTO STAR, 10/30). Also in Toronto, Richard Griffin wrote to say Anthopoulos "rejected an extension is ridiculous." The "insulting responsibility offer to Anthopoulos was akin to the man who built a business being asked to come back as an executive assistant" (THESTAR.com, 10/29). The NATIONAL POST's John Lott writes Rogers is "not particularly wise in the politics of baseball" (NATIONAL POST, 10/30).
