I was recently at an Edward Jones networking session and a financial advisor has shared his success story over the course of his nine-year career with the company. If you're not familiar with Edward Jones- well, it's a securities and mutual funds company that provides sound investment advice to the very "conservative" investor. When it comes to investing, everyone knows that you must exercise patience.
So I wondered how much patience exactly we would have to exercise with new General Manager Alex Anthopolous until we saw great returns. Like the man from Edward Jones, Anthopolous had roots in the industry before taking the big job. He had worked as an understudy for GM Ricciardi for a number of years. So the transition for Anthopolous would be a little bit smoother and a little bit quicker than for a financial advisor who had experience with a bank that had only limited him to certain funds, certain investments. Ricciardi had done that too- he had limited Anthopolous to his vision.
But what emerged for both the financial advisor and Anthopolous was a new vision. A vision towards helping clients and a team like no other before.
Anthopolous made a number of moves, and constructed his vision based on thoughts of old, current and new philosophies on baseball. Paul Beeston was the old, Ricciardi the current, and Anthopolous the future.
So Anthopolous went on to construct a new team with a younger direction and great potential for success. The Edward Jones financial advisor read all he could, contacted as many people as he could, and eventually began to see his first signs of success when people began calling him instead of him calling them.
Many General Managers have been calling Anthopolous regarding his players of value. But no general manager was forced to pull off the biggest blockbuster trade of the offseason like Anthopolous had to, in dealing Roy Halladay to the Philadelphia Phillies.
And nine years later, the financial advisor was just so modest about it. He'd known how he'd started at the beginning of the last decade, and now he had a younger man questioning him about why he would do those things again to start a financial advisor business.
So here's the point I make- Ricciardi may have been on top of the ball when he first came to the Blue Jays with Moneyball early last decade, but by the end of the decade the rest of the baseball world had caught up. And when that happened, Ricciardi, however smart he was, was nothing more than a mediocre General Manager stuck in the most difficult divison ever. Anthopolous, once again, had a new vision, and is probably using tools that no other manager has really ever used- but he must continue to innovate and change as the season begins and turns into next season for the baseball world is ever changing.
Ricciardi had bought into a formula and couldn't figure out how to get out. The financial advisor would likely fail if he had to start all over again.
But like the financial advisor before him who is fully committed to his job currently in maintaining his network or innovativeness, Anthopolous is the same. And that is the measure of a successful business or team.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Edward Jones and Alex Anthopolous...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
THE PROJECTED TORONTO BLUE JAYS 2010 LINEUP
The Lineup
1. Bautista, RF
2. Overbay, 1B
3. Lind, DH
4. Hill, 2B
5. Encarnacion, 3B
6. Wells, CF
7. Snider, LF
8. Buck, C
9. Gonzalez, SS
The Bench
McDonald
Gathright
Ruiz
Molina
The Rotation
1. Romero
2. Marcum
3. Morrow
4. Rzepczynski
5. Cecil or McGowan
The Bullpen
Downs
Frasor
Gregg
Tallet
Accardo
Carlson
If McGowan doesn't make the rotation and maintains his health, he'll get serious consideration for a bullpen spot because he's out of options.
The Outside
Camp
Janssen
Eveland
Mills
Purcey
Roenicke
Richmond
Reed
Dopirak
McCoy
Chavez . . . and the rest of the 40 man roster.
YES, PITCHERS AND CATCHERS HAVE REPORTED!
No posts in a couple of weeks- I've been running around the world, dominican and all, but LETS START GETTING PUMPED FOR THE 2010 BLUE JAYS SEASON!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
FOR THE BASEBALL NERD!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Just Imagine A Carlos Delgado Return to Toronto
Throughout Delgado's eleven seasons as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1993-2004 he became the cornerstone of the franchise. Fans came to see Carlos Delgado hit another homerun. Like Roy Halladay after him, Delgado was a humanitarian off the field. A return to Toronto has to be in the cards. Delgado sits at 473 lifetime homeruns. If he could hit 27 as a Blue Jay, Delgado could have NUMBER 500 with the team it all began with. Delgado, alongside Jim Thome might be the only players in the steroid era that put up legitimate homerun totals and should have been somewhat lone superstars. That's not how it turned out though...
It was: HOMERUN SAMMY SOSA! HOMERUN MARK MCGWIRE! HOMERUN BARRY BONDS! HOMERUN MANNY RAMIREZ! HOMERUN RAFAEL PALMERIO!
And somewhere along the line, arguably one of the best clean players of his era for his greatness at the plate got overlooked and overshadowed.
Delgado could help bring a playoff berth to Toronto- something Delgado was never able to offer to Toronto fans in his storied eleven year tenure that saw the old greats like Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, John Olerud, Joe Carter, Tony Fernandez, Roger Clemens, David Wells, and Pat Hengten be replaced by new greats like Roy Halladay, Shawn Green, Chris Carpenter, and Vernon Wells.
There just weren't as many new greats as old greats, and that's probably a good measure of the ticker tape when it comes to the difference between Toronto's old teams and Toronto's new teams. But Delgado's been offered a unique opportunity here- a chance to play for a team under a new vision, a new direction with tremendous upside. The old greats Cito Gaston and Paul Beeston are still around alongside energetic new general manager Alex Anthopolous are rebuilding a team to compete for years to come. If Delgado could be the Dave Winfield of 2010, that's all Toronto could ask for. The aging slugger that comes ready to play, ready to give a clutch performance and protect a slugger that desperately needs protecting in the lineup to succeed much like Roger Maris did, Vernon Wells. We saw a long line of players benefit from batting in front or behind of Carlos Delgado like Brad Fullmer, Shawn Green, Vernon Wells and even Jose Canseco to name a few.
Toronto does have a solid team for 2010- bashers Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Travis Snider, Vernon Wells, Bautista, Overbay, and Buck could all put up 20 homeruns or more. Delgado could bring 30 homeruns to the table. Once Delgado and his agents realize the potential of power this Blue Jays squad has for hitting bombs all the time, he might as well take another shot on a town that fell in love with Delgado years ago and now yearns for him. It's one of those rare occurances where a comeback to an old team might just be the best thing for both parties. He would join the short list of Tony Fernandez and David Wells as the only Blue Jays to have come back to Toronto for all the right reasons.
And most of all: it's to fill the rows and rows of empty blue seats.
I can only imagine the standing ovation Delgado would recieve Opening Day.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A NEW STORYLINE FOR THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS....CLOSER BATTLE.
Reports are surfacing that the Blue Jays have indeed signed former Marlins and Cubs closer Kevin Gregg to a 1-year 2.75 million dollar contract with an option for next season.
This means that old reliables Scott Downs and Jason Frasor will have to fight Gregg for the starting closer job.
That doesn't mean that we can't not have a system of closers though:
Like the one that would do the one-two run ball games...
The one that would do the mop up saves...
And the other one that would do the two or three inning saves to save the bullpen.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
THE TUESDAY CABINET ROLL...
TOM CHEEK DENIED AGAIN...
Longtime ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller was named the 2010 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award on Monday, beating out Tom Cheek, Dave Van Horne, Jacques Doucet and others for the prize. Cheek, along with Van Horne and Doucet, were among the 10 finalists for the prize.
I have a feeling Mike Wilner won't be too happy about that. That's at least the third time Cheek's been denied the award despite having been the most famous Jays' voice of all time. It's not just a fact, it's reality that Baseball North is not recognized very well by the United States General Public. Other facts that point to the latter might include that the Toronto Blue Jays were the 2nd least favourite team to watch in a survey of all 30 major league baseball markets a year ago. No wonder there's little to no respect for the men that play under a dazzling tower.
BLUE JAYS CLOSE TO SIGNING KEVIN GREGG
Kevin Gregg, a flame-throwing closer known for sometimes giving up the long-ball might be a great addition to the bullpen as either a setup man or the closer outright. He would add to a bullpen that already boasts one of the best shut-down staffs in the major leagues featuring Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, Jeremy Accardo, Dick Hayhurst, Casey Janssen, Shawn Camp, and long-man Brian Tallet among others. Gregg has narrowed his choices to Colorado and Toronto.
WILL THE JAYS SIGN CARLOS DELGADO?
Why the hell not? There has been no player, not even Roy Halladay, who was the greatest pitcher in the game of baseball when he was with Toronto over the course of the last eight seasons, that filled as many bodies in the seats as the powerful and gentle Delgado did.
An incentive-laden contract would be how one might sign Delgado. Obviously AA is capable of that. Delgado is capable of hitting 30 homeruns if healthy.
BLAIR REPORTS THAT MCGOWAN HAD A PAIN-FREE THROWING SESSION...
Dustin McGowan raised hopes with a pain-free throwing session on Friday, and in the process conjured up memories of Chris Carpenter's injury-plagued departure from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Carpenter went on to win a Cy Young and a World Series with the Cardinals.
Anthopoulos knows there's no point in cutting the cord with McGowan unless his career is over.
FOR THOSE WHO STILL LIKE ERIK BEDARD..
Chien-Ming Wang and Érik Bédard are two other rehabbing pitchers who have piqued the Blue Jays' interest. Both are coming off shoulder surgery, and the Blue Jays have made contact with their agents as well as doing their medical due diligence. A native of Navan, Ont., Bedard is still five months away from being able to pitch, and in this tight market, he might fall into the Blue Jays hands.
Nevermind Wang. But Bedard? Five months away? That's July earliest. Maybe not even at all this year.
ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE, IT IS FEBRUARY- that means...spring training is near, and we'll have more on that soon.
MARK MCGWIRE IS SPELLING THE END OF THE STEROID ERA...
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
ST. LOUIS — The night Mark McGwire slugged his record-breaking 62nd home run, Bob Beumer was cheering from the upper reaches of the old Busch Stadium. That ticket stub is on display in his basement, where it joins some photographs, a few autographed baseballs and other McGwire mementos from the home run chase in 1998 that gripped the nation and revived the sport. Now, though, for Beumer and many other Cardinals fans, those days seem a bit less triumphant.
Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
Shortly after he admitted steroid use, Mark McGwire drew a crowd at the Winter Warm-Up in St. Louis.
“It’s like when you find out your favorite grandfather didn’t turn in his income taxes,” Beumer said of McGwire, the Cardinals’ new hitting coach, who recently admitted using performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career. “You didn’t like him any less, but you squint at him and look at him a little funny because you wish he wouldn’t have done that.”
Beumer, 62, is the former owner of Hamilton Jewelers, which was a stalwart advertiser and sponsor of the Cardinals for more than three decades.
“The best way I can describe it,” Beumer said, “is that he’s brought a very big uneasiness to Cardinals baseball.”
That is a popular sentiment in this grand baseball town, where for the last three weeks they have gone crazy, folks, gone crazy trying to reconcile their feelings about the most divisive local baseball issue of their time. Should McGwire be forgotten or forgiven, jeered or cheered? Is he a villain or merely a product of his era? What is more relevant, the imprint his four and a half seasons in Cardinals red left on their lives, or the black mark it left on the record books?
Everyone and no one seems to know for sure.
The minute-long standing ovation McGwire received at the Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up event Jan. 17, his first public appearance since admitting to steroid use, less than a week earlier, represented only a small cross section of the fan base. Bernie Miklasz, a longtime sports columnist at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, likened it to the reception Sarah Palin or President Obama received at their parties’ nominating conventions.
“If you get away from the hardcore base, there’s been a legitimate and powerful debate whether this is a good thing or not,” said Miklasz, referring to McGwire’s taking over as the hitting coach. “People are talking about the past, they’re arguing about the past.”
Miklasz, who also hosts a weekday radio show on WXOS-FM, said that in 25 years working here, he had never seen or heard the community divided about anything involving the Cardinals. “Everyone just wants to know whether the family is ever going to get back together again,” he said.
St. Louisans are not accustomed to controversy swirling around their sports heroes. From Stan Musial to Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner to Marshall Faulk, iconic players have largely excelled on the field and lived clean lives off it. In a sense, fans here have been mentally preparing for McGwire’s admission since 2005, when he dodged questions about steroid use before Congress.
When McGwire ultimately confessed, during an orchestrated series of interviews Jan. 11, including one with The New York Times, many of those same fans were left with a hollow feeling. Despite several opportunities, McGwire repeatedly dismissed any link between performance-enhancing drugs and his remarkable power. If McGwire had acknowledged even receiving an inadvertent benefit from taking steroids, Miklasz said he thought a majority of local fans would forgive him.
“This is a very loyal town, but people are having a very hard time processing all of this,” said Tom Burke, 53, a lawyer from Town and Country, Mo. “For most people, that just isn’t complete enough of a story. It’s not realistic enough. To me, it seems like the Cardinals underestimated the fallout that was going to occur.”
First and foremost was the recent criticism of McGwire by several members of the Cardinals family. Adolphus Busch IV, scion of the family that once owned the team, said in a statement that McGwire “deliberately cheated the game,” “stole its most coveted records” and “was paid millions while perpetrating a fraud.” Jack Clark, a popular first baseman on two pennant-winning teams in the 1980s, said that seeing McGwire in uniform made him want to throw up and that McGwire, like all steroid users, should be barred from baseball forever.
Perhaps the most resonant criticism came from Whitey Herzog, a beloved former manager, who at a dinner in Appleton, Wis., said he could not fathom how McGwire received a standing ovation at the Winter Warm-Up and that Clark was roundly booed. “Now what the hell is the matter with society when that happens?” Herzog said.
Herzog, whose Hall of Fame plaque will depict him wearing a Cardinals cap, did not want to revisit that topic when he was approached last week in the driveway of his suburban St. Louis home. “I don’t want to talk about that,” he said, closing the garage door behind him.
“Their voices represent an important part of the Cardinals, which is their storied past,” said Tom Ackerman, the sports director and a morning anchor at KMOX-AM. “St. Louis people love this team, but they also love what it has represented, and there’s a lot of respect for the people who have put the team together and have helped build the franchise into what it is today. Whether people agree or disagree, they’re listening.”
BASEBALL WILL GET OVER THE STEROID SCANDAL- MARK MCGWIRE IS JUST THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN.
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