Jays president Beeston sees his team making the playoffs in the near future

[Pwillows]

Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos was in the hotseat at the team's annual State of the Franchise on Monday night.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;...chise-16592475

And it was team president Paul Beeston who really applied the pressure.

Beeston told a group of about 1,000 season ticketholders during a question-and-answer session at Rogers Centre that he expects the Jays to soon make regular appearances in the post-season.

"In the next five years, I would expect that we would be in it two to three times," Beeston said.

Anthopoulos, seated between Beeston and manager John Farrell on large leather chairs on the team's dugout, raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled after the remark. He then looked over at Beeston and raised two, then three fingers in the air before nodding his head.

Beeston wouldn't say when he expects the playoff breakthrough to occur, but he thinks the foundation is in place for the team to take the next step.

The Jays haven't been to the post-season since their last World Series win in 1993.

"I think that's what you've got to be looking at," Beeston said. "I think we've made the investment. I think (team owner) Rogers (Communications) has made the investment. I think that the farm system is coming the way that we want it to come.

"I think Alex is smart and he can make the decisions that have to be made to put the team and the pieces together. I don't think that we can have it both ways. We've built this team so that we can actually be a contending team for a sustainable period of time."

Anthopoulos said he wasn't surprised by Beeston's playoff expectations.

"He didn't throw me for a loop at all," Anthopoulos said. "That's why we're here — to talk about winning. Obviously to do it as fast as we can but to do it the right way and that isn't going to change."

Toronto finished fourth in the American League East last season with an 81-81 record. Anthopoulos has addressed a few key areas in the off-season but was unable to land a big-name star.

Most questions were of the softball variety but a few fans took him to task during the 75-minute session, wondering why big names like Japanese pitching star Yu Darvish and slugger Prince Fielder landed elsewhere.

The Jays' GM stuck to his guns, saying he wants to improve the team now and in the future, but not by overpaying free agents or by dealing players and prospects just for the sake of making a deal.

It has been a busy off-season for Anthopoulos. He has shored up the bullpen and filled some other holes but could still use a big bat to protect slugger Jose Bautista and the starting rotation remains thin.

The Blue Jays have been an average team for years but they do have several exciting young players who picked up some much-needed mileage under their belts last season.

Whether they can end the franchise's long run of mediocrity remains to be seen.

"The month of September better start meaning something to us," Beeston told the fans. "Because that's what you want, that's what we want."

Notes: The turf versus natural grass debate was raised during the session. Beeston said the issue has been examined over the years but is a "little bit more serious right now." He added that some free agents rule out playing for Toronto simply because they don't want to play on turf. One of the biggest hurdles is that Rogers Centre is not a baseball-exclusive facility. … Toronto begins pre-season play March 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Blue Jays have a good team but have to face many elite teams in the AL. Winning the division against Boston, New York and Tampa will be a tough task. Being the team to win the wild card will be equally as tough.

[Leafland Kyle]

The team is good but not that good. Beeston just wants to make the season ticket holders happy.

The Jays are moving in the right direction. Maybe in two years we can make a better assessment.

[umbrellavoid]

I like this team a lot. They are still going to experience some growing pains, but they have some serious talent. Their pitching staff has some real live arms. Ricky Romero is a stud. Morrow could be great. Cecil, Drabek, and Alvarez are just so young. They are the keys to whether the Jays can compete with the other monster AL teams.

Hitting is going to remain the teams strong point. They were six in runs scored while only batting .243. This number should easily improve.

It could be a good year if the pitching staff can keep their team ERA lower than 4.00. Last year they were 4.34.

My early prediction is this is still going to be another rebuilding year. Hopefully, the Jays don't waste too many years as Bautista is in his prime right now.

[Pwillows]

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has been on the job for just two years, and already he has presided over a dramatic makeover of his organization. Toronto still has to settle for the title of the best fourth-place team in baseball, which it has held for the last four seasons, including the final two under the reign of former GM J.P. Ricciardi. But the Jays are getting better in baseball's toughest division, and Anthopoulos has brought in as much young talent as any GM since he took over in October 2009.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...2/2612728.html

His first big move was to deal Roy Halladay to the Phillies for three blue-chip prospects: Kyle Drabek, Travis d'Arnaud and Michael Taylor. Drabek ranked as Toronto's No. 1 prospect a year ago before graduating to the majors (where he struggled mightily) and has been succeeded by d'Arnaud. Taylor was flipped immediately to the Athletics for Brett Wallace, who was traded seven months later to the Astros for outfielder Anthony Gose, currently No. 2 in our Blue Jays prospect rankings.

Anthopoulos continually has shown a deft touch on the trade market. He has acquired Yunel Escobar, Brandon Morrow and Colby Rasmus for the big league club without giving up anyone who was a key part of the franchise's future. He miraculously dumped Vernon Wells and the $86 million remaining on his contract on the Angels and got Mike Napoli back in the deal, though Anthopoulos then traded Napoli for Frank Francisco.

The GM's best move may turn out to be the December 2010 deal that sent Shaun Marcum to the Brewers for Brett Lawrie, who should be Toronto's third baseman for years to come. Lawrie ranked as the Triple-A Pacific Coast League's top prospect in 2011 before hitting .293/.373/.580 in two months in the majors.

The influx of young talent has extended to the farm system as well, thanks to the Blue Jays' aggressive approach to the draft and international markets. Toronto spent a club-record $11.6 million on the 2010 draft and nearly matched that with $11 million in 2011, when first-round pick Tyler Beede turned down a $2.4 million offer to attend Vanderbilt.

The 2010 draft stocked the system with several promising pitchers, including five who made our Jays Top 10 Prospects list: Justin Nicolino, Aaron Sanchez, Deck McGuire, Noah Syndergaard and Asher Wojciechowski. All were part of Toronto's bounty of nine picks in the first three rounds.

The Blue Jays had eight choices in the top three rounds last June, and hauled in their best current pitching prospect (Daniel Norris), three more quality arms (Kevin Comer, Joe Musgrove, John Stilson) and a pair of intriguing bats (Dwight Smith Jr., Jacob Anderson). They also gave sandwich-round money to a couple of later-round position players, second baseman Christian Lopes and third baseman Matt Dean.

Toronto has asserted itself just as much internationally, starting with a $10 million major league contract for Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria in April 2010. The Blue Jays also have handed out seven-figure deals to Venezuelan righthander Adonis Cardona ($2.8 million in 2010), Venezuelan outfielder Wilmer Becerra and Dominican shortstop Dawel Lugo ($1.3 million each in 2011).

The White Sox took note, hiring away Marco Paddy, who had been Toronto's director of Latin American operations the last five years. The Jays replaced him with former Mets supervisor of Latin American operations Ismael Cruz.

TOP TEN
PROSPECTS
1. Travis d'Arnaud, c
2. Anthony Gose, of
3. Jake Marisnick, of
4. Daniel Norris, lhp
5. Justin Nicolino, lhp
6. Aaron Sanchez, rhp
7. Noah Syndergaard, rhp
8. Deck McGuire, rhp
9. Drew Hutchison, rhp
10. Asher Wojciechowski, rhp

BEST
TOOLS
Best Hitter for Average Travis d'Arnaud
Best Power Hitter Travis d'Arnaud
Best Strike Zone Discipline David Cooper
Fastest Baserunner Anthony Gose
Best Athlete Jake Marisnick
Best Fastball Noah Syndergaard
Best Curveball Aaron Sanchez
Best Slider Deck McGuire
Best Changup Justin Nicolino
Best Control Drew Hutchison
Best Defensive Catcher A.J. Jimenez
Best Defensive Infielder Adeiny Hechavarria
Best Infield Arm Adeiny Hechavarria
Best Defensive OF Anthony Gose
Best Outfield Arm Moises Sierra

[Pwillows]

1. Travis d'Arnaud, c
2. Anthony Gose, of
3. Jake Marisnick, of

The top three Jays prospects are also among baseballs top 50 hitting prospects heading into 2012.

"d'Arnaud hit .311 with 21 HR and 78 RBI, leading the Fisher Cats to the Eastern League championship and earning the league's Most Valuable Player award in the process."

"Center fielder Anthony Gose is an absolute thoroughbred with explosive speed, swiping 70 bases for Double-A New Hampshire in the 2011 season. However, Gose is also starting to show a nice power stroke, hitting 16 home runs as well."

"Marisnick broke out last season, hitting .320 with 14 HR, 77 RBI, an .888 OPS and 37 steals in 45 attempts. At 6'4" and 200 pounds, scouts expect that Marisnick's emerging power stroke will continue to develop, but he'll need to show he can produce at higher levels before he's really viewed as a top prospect."

http://bleacherreport.com

The Jays have drafted much pitching in the last few years, with most of these pitchers still in A-ball and AA-ball.

[umbrellavoid]

Potential 2013 Free Agent Starting Pitchers

Matt Cain
Zack Greinke
Cole Hamels
Dan Haren
Shaun Marcum
Jonathan Sanchez
Ervin Santana
James Shields

Any one of these guys would look good in a Jays Uniform. Jays need another stud pitcher to compete in the AL

[Pwillows]

I don't know if the Jays will be able to attract any free agents to play. They will have a real good year.

"With a lot of players, at times, some of them don't want to play on turf, no matter what money. Some of them don't want to DH at no matter what money, and some of them have health concerns from the medical staff that the club may feel they have to DH, and if they have to DH, they're unwilling to sign no matter what the dollars are. At that point, I don't know what you can do, other than taking the shot."

—General manager Alex Anthopoulos, addressing a gathering of about 800 season ticket holders on why the Blue Jays did not sign a free-agent hitter like OF Carlos Beltran.

I don't know why they have not tried to bring in real grass to help make the Dome a better place to play.

[umbrellavoid]

Players will want to come to this young and exiting team.

Grass would help the Jays get some more free agents to come north of the border. Being a Canadian likely doesn't help with some of MLB free agents who do not want to play in Canada either.

[Pwillows]

They have a lot of Caribbean players, so it might be more plausible to attract Spanish speaking players. Young players should find this team appealing too.

The Jays have the pieces to make a trade for one of these pitchers. That might be the best way to gain the services of top notch hurler.