Blue Jays: Alex Anthopoulos speaks, but says very little

Blue Jays outgoing general manager Alex Anthopoulos held a conference call with the media this afternoon to discuss the circumstances surrounding his unexpected departure from the organization. In a stroke of perfectly dark comedy, Anthopoulos was also named the Sporting News Executive of the Year in a vote of his peers. During the conference call.

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Anthopoulos gave us what we’d expect in the call. He toed the line perfectly perfectly with the repetitive line of questioning, being careful to exercise caution in the proper places and not burning any bridges along the way. He insisted at multiple points that Mark Shapiro gave him “every opportunity to return”, but that the decision to walk away was made entirely on his side of the table.

“Rogers and Mark were more than generous,” he added, which lines up with the report that money and term were never an issue. “It was Mark’s desire and every intention for me to stay on and it was mine as well.”

Anthopoulos did squash any suspicion that he would have been tempted back by the presidency, saying that the business and ballpark operations were not an area of interest to him. “I’m a baseball guy,” he said, and explained that his decisions over the past several months have been made with every intention of staying with the Blue Jays longterm.

“My goal, my desire was to remain with the Toronto Blue Jays until the end of my career.” When he signed top international amateur free agent Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this past summer, Anthopoulos expected to see him make his MLB debut in Toronto.

So, as is often the case following a press conference or conference call, we’re left with the same questions we had heading in. Anthopoulos is historically a very private person, and insisted time and again that he would not like to enter further details on his decision. He did, however, sound somewhat irritated that Rogers had revealed their 5-year contract offer. The press release from Rogers was rather odd, itself, and came off as a failed attempt to put the blame on Anthopoulos. Another public relations masterpiece from Rogers Miscommunications.

Still, something isn’t adding up here.

“I don’t know if I’ve had to make a harder decision in my life.”

Next: Is Gibbons next out the door? Not so fast...

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