Discoverer
Registered User
- Apr 11, 2012
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Last years team was AA's build, every major part was acquired by AA, doing barely nothing is not something you can pin your hat on and say hey the team didn't implode so they get "good" points, no it does not work that way.
Any person who's played competitive sport at any level and has experienced father time can tell you as you age your reaction times slow, your propensity to get injured increases. We have one of the oldest, if not the oldest team in the bigs, the MLB channel did an expose on the Jays declining ability to hit the fast ball, year over year for the last 3 years there has been a steady decline, maybe its just coincidence or maybe its an indication that our aging lineup is past its prime. Shatkin's answer to an aging team, drop one productive slugger for 2 less productive aging players. Not saying that is the only thing that makes me question their vision for this team, but its one of a few things that make me think these guys are either waiting for this team to bottom out or they are simply inept.
Or you could go with the actual answer: they were trying to help the team stay competitive while also recognizing that the core (the one Anthopoulos did an excellent job of putting together but is now past its prime) is aging and declining but still expensive, so it's unwise to lock into expensive, long-term contracts, or to expend prospects in an effort to plug holes in win-now moves.