Blue Jays Morning Brew: Turf, AA, Estrada & Canada

While MLB GMs are gathering in Florida, there is likely to be closed door meetings and ground work being laid for the upcoming winter months. We shouldn’t expect too much to come out of these meetings as far as signings and trades. Those will pick up a bit later. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some other odds and ends from Blue Jays Land.

Don’t forget that we’ll keep you up to date with any transactions, rumored or otherwise, throughout the entire winter with our Offseason Tracker! Bookmark this bad boy to stay up to date. Revisit it often to catch up and to engage in the dialogue that stems from the info you find there.

Toronto Blue Jays

A Canadian Experience– Ever wonder about the people behind the concession stands when you go to the Rogers Centre? In our haste to get an overpriced beverage and a footlong hotdog, sometimes we can forget that they are real people with real stories. Well, thanks to a teacher in Toronto, we get some insight into their perspective. Gu Zhenzhen (via the CanadianImmigrant.ca) breaks down her experiences during her season working at the home of the Blue Jays. She does a wonderful job of describing the human element of what can often be a thankless job.

AA Future Unclear– Apparently, former GM, Alex Anthopoulos is in no hurry to find a new job. Mike Wilner of Sportsnet fame tells us that, at this point, the Ninja GM is putting out feelers for his next job, but likely won’t make a decision until the new year. He describes it thusly: “maybe go to the New Year and then at some point I will need to find a job again, I’ll need an income at some point. One thing I’ve gotten advice-wise is to not rush and that’s been pretty good advice.”

What is interesting is that, while he’s conversing with baseball “people” at the GM Meetinsg in Boca Raton, Fla, (where AA is walking around with some swagger, according to Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun) Wilner says that AA is quite open to taking a lesser role in his new position. His love for the draft may mean his future is in scouting. Wilner suggests a scouting director position. Before I get accused of not being able to move on, his next move may actually prove to shed some light as to why he left the Blue Jays in the first place. Maybe it’ll provide closure.

More from Jays Journal

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• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
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• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

Q.O. for M.E.– This year, there seems to be a buzz around baseball that this might be the year that someone actually accepts the qualifying offer. Jennifer Rainwater writes at Today’s Knuckleball that there just may be a few guys who want to this year. She lists former Blue Jay, Colby Rasmus as a guy who might not stack up well in this year’s free agent class and could re-up and try again next offseason. She also suggests that Marco Estrada may want to take the money and run.

Estrada is coming off a career year and many clubs could see him that way. That means that they may not be so willing to hand over multiple years for a guy who very well could be what he was before 2015. s well, he’ll have the draft pick attached to him, which makes him that much more expensive. IF he takes the QO, and he could repeat his success, he very well could see his value increase next season. Of course, he’ll be a year older.

Turf Problems– Throughout the playoffs, we heard the commentary about the turf at Rogers Centre ad nauseum. The commentary became old, tired and, to be perfectly honest, flat out wrong in some cases. But, since the new turf came to Toronto, it has been the source of much discussion. It’s been blamed for hits, errors, etc. But, apparently, turf just might be causing cancer.

Next: Is There Reason to Optimistic About Blue Jays Payroll?

Well, as of right now, it would be more accurate to say that there is worry that it might. Jenny Yuen of the Toronto Sun tells us that ESPN aired a show called “Turf War” that higlighted a study done by a University of Washington coach. Now, US Senators want federal investigators to look into whether the anecdotal evidence in the study has merit. The Canadian Government says that the turf the Blue Jays play on does not fall under Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, so they won’t investigate.