The greatest moment, however brief, that Edward Rogers has had as the de-facto owner of the Toronto Blue Jays came late in October of 2015, when he offered huge money and considerable term for Alex Anthopoulos to remain as general manager of the Blue Jays.
The money was potentially life-changing for young Anthopoulos. Rogers, as man in charge of the Jays, had never met his general manager before they had this post-season exchange.
For once, Rogers read the wind properly and determined he needed Anthopoulos in charge of his baseball team.
But instead, he was rather late in making his assessment and he misread the circumstance which was clear that Anthopoulos would not, under any circumstance — I actually advised him over breakfast to take the money and wind up getting fired at the end of one season working for newly hired president Mark Shapiro — but he had too much integrity to agree to any terms at all in Toronto.
Why does that matter now, nine years after the fact? It matters because of the rather insane contract Juan Soto has signed with the New York Mets that will pay him $51 million per season for the next 15 years and that the Blue Jays chased him to the finish line.
It matters because Anthopoulos has a better player than Soto — Ronald Acuna Jr. in Atlanta — whom he signed to an eight-year, $100-million contract four years ago.
What’s the difference between between Soto and Acuna?
Both have won World Series, Soto’s coming in Washington, Acuna’s coming in Atlanta.
Acuna has won an MVP and a rookie of the year award in the National League. Soto has finished second in MVP voting and was second to Acuna in rookie of the year voting.
Both have won five Silver Slugger awards. Both are exceptional talents.
Acuna Jr. is considered a better fielder, a much faster base runner — he stole 73 bases in his MVP season — and more of an all-around talent than Soto.
The Mets will pay Soto $51 million per season. The Braves will pay Acuna Jr. $17 million for the next four seasons.
Anthopoulos, who went in early after Acuna Jr. with the Braves, will pay one-third of the money the Mets will pay Soto over the next four years, getting both players into their early 30s.
Take a step back to another time in Blue Jays history, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was a teenaged free agent in the Dominican Republic and any team could have signed him. But only one team did.
The team that had Anthopoulos in charge of baseball decisions.
They outworked and outbid and out-finessed the rest of baseball in getting Guerrero Jr. for a record price. While, at times, he has disappointed, it’s only because expectations have been so high.
This much you can be certain of because it has happened with so many of the players in Atlanta: Had Anthopoulos stayed with the Jays, Guerrero would have been signed long-term years ago.
He did that with Acuna Jr. He did that with Michael Harris II. He did that with Ozzie Albies. He did that with Austin Riley. He did that with Matt Olson, whom he traded for after recent World Series hero Freddie Freeman had walked away.
This has been how Anthopoulos has operated in a market place that hasn’t always signed its young so early.
Instead, where do the Blue Jays find themselves? They wound up on the contending side of another failed bid for greatness in the Soto Sweepstakes and because of the amount they declared they were willing to pay, they are now all but forced to sign Guerrero for more than he’s probably worth — and if they don’t choose to do that, then how do they replace him?
Shapiro and Anthopoulos were like oil and water during their brief time together in Toronto. And we know which one was slippery.
There are no Blue Jays everyday players signed long-term except for the statistically diminished George Springer.
Springer will be paid $25 million for each of the next two seasons, which is $16 million more than the Braves will pay Acuna over the same period of time.
Combined, general manager Ross Atkins and president Shapiro have nothing concrete signed long-term for this club. They haven’t developed anything worth signing.
Instead the club is caught in the web of Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, who have both watched how free agency has played out this winter — look at the money Willy Adames got — which means the prices for everybody are going sky high. And now the Jays will have to overpay for what is left in free agency.
Had Anthopoulos remained — which Rogers wanted him to, even if Shapiro didn’t — you can bet that Bichette and Guerrero would have been signed long-term, likely for respectable terms.
Rogers had it right for a minute when he read the tea leaves and decided to try to keep Anthopoulos with the Blue Jays. That was a rare moment of sporting vision.
We now return you to today and to the future. With Ed Rogers more in charge than ever before of a baseball team with the wrong president and the wrong general manager under his leadership — and an owner unwilling to do anything about that.
This is a now a Blue Jays team without foresight or vision, reacting to the market instead of doing the Anthopoulos thing and creating your own.
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