Has AA Lost His Cajones?

"Jul 13, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos watches batting practice before their game against the Cleveland Indians at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports"

So the trade deadline has come and gone, and the Blue Jays did nothing. While obviously with the core pieces the club has locked up for the next few seasons a complete tear down/fire sale would be prohibitive. However a complete lack of moves from a last place team whose GM has never been shy about transactions in the past seems a little odd.

This is the same GM who once “traded” for Miguel Olivo just to get a sandwich pick, flipped Mike Napoli for Frank Francisco again to increase his chances at getting a draft pick, and this was one we also had a gaping hole at catcher. Now this same GM chose to hang on to Rajai Davis and Darren Oliver two players whose contracts will expire at the end of the season.

So the GM who took on massive amounts of payroll in the off-season, apparently inquires on nearly all players and he doesn’t pull the trigger on moving pieces that have zero value for the Jays to grab even a middling prospect?

Could it be that the massive failure this season has been so far has caused Alex Anthopoulos to become more tentative as a GM. Anthopoulos once spoke of how conversations with Ned Coletti and Walt Jocketty encouraged him to not be afraid to pull the trigger on moves. With the famous line from Coletti “Hey, if you’re scared, get a dog.”

The past three season Anthopoulos has not hesitated  to swing and miss in hopes of hitting a home run, however could this lack of activity at the trade deadline signal an end to his J.P. Arencibia-esque approach at the helm of the club.

Now maybe I’m reading too much into the situation and AA truly felt that there was no return that was better getting absolutely nothing for either of these players at the end of the season… or perhaps he feels as August unfolds and the true contenders are starting to emerge that he can perhaps get more for them after the non waiver deadline has passed.

Hopefully one of those scenarios are what actually has transpired, as the thought of a GM who’s running scared, or even worse one who has his hands tied by ownership is not a prospect I like to entertain.