SB Nation: Five lost scouting reports

Baseball Bullpen: Chatting with Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos

Just two guys, talking baseball, presumably at a Tim Horton’s.

RG: When you talk to agents or other GMs now do you detect a different vibe than when you were starting out? Do they know where you’re coming from before you even come from there?
AA: I never thought about it that way. Over time you get to know them better and they get to know me better. So, from a working relationship standpoint it’s better that way. I think having dealt with (Marlins GM) Larry Beinfest trying to get Dan Uggla three years ago made it that much easier having to deal with him now. I find (I’m) not wasting as much time. I won’t say I’m more direct but I find when you’re an AGM in a weird way you have more time on your hands even though you’re juggling a lot more things. I think that as a GM you just have to make a decision and get to the point….

RG: Another change is that for years this franchise—at least from 1993 on—has always used the excuse that it’s tough to get free agents, it’s tough to get players to be happy coming to Toronto.
AA: I don’t think I’ve ever said it.

RG: No, no. And then you’ve showed up and worked at it a different way. You go to Nashville and convince R.A. Dickey. You make a difficult Marlins deal and all of a sudden these players you know there are some issues and you talk to them and now they’re all on board. Was it always this easy or do you really have to work at what you’re doing right now as a salesman for this franchise?
AA: I don’t think it’s easy. I’d love to tell you we as a front office are doing a great job and I don’t believe it. I don’t think we’re doing a bad job but I think ultimately everything you pointed to was this off-season. When you look at the Blue Jays in the past they had their pick of free agents just as long as they paid. They were a winning team. All of a sudden— I love the fact R.A. wanted to be here and so on — but I bet you if you asked R.A. a winning team was a huge part of it. The Marlins players are going from a team that’s not winning.

RG: Melky wouldn’t have signed here without that deal.
AA: Sure, no doubt about it. It’s all part of the appeal … The Marlins, if they didn’t choose us we chose them and ultimately they knew if they were leaving they’re all leaving together. They came from a team that finished in last and they’re talented guys so they’re leaving that team and at least we know we had talent. I’m not trying to not give ourselves credit but I’m trying to be objective, too. Winning, it’s unbelievable the things that it cures, but we haven’t won anything yet. Having talent and the belief you can win opens a lot of doors.

J.P. Arencibia spent the offseason learning to catch R.A. Dickey—without a cup

“We’re both believers,” Arencibia says. Dickey brought the oversize mitt that he carries around like a traveling salesman and his suitcase of samples; Arencibia brought only his mask. He decided that he wouldn’t wear his shin guards or chest protector. He had also chosen, very purposefully, not to wear his cup.

To understand why Arencibia went jockless—well, there’s really no understanding it.

[...]

So Arencibia, in his unprotected undercarriage, was sending a message right back. “I don’t want to miss every fifth game,” he says. “It also makes you really, really concentrate.” After a few warmup tosses with Dickey at their first high-stakes meeting, Arencibia assumed the position. It wasn’t long before he took a pitch flush to his chest. But the two men played catch again, and again, and session by session Arencibia has learned more about Dickey, and about himself, and about the pitch.

Hopefully it works out better for him than it did for Yannick Bertrand in this video.

R.A. Dickey pens bittersweet farewell to the team and city that gave him a ‘chance’

I never expected to be writing a farewell “holiday card” to Mets fans. I never expected to be doing anything but celebrating the joy of the season with my wife and kids and looking toward the spring, and the start of my fourth season with an organization that gave me maybe the greatest gift an athlete can get:

A chance.

A chance for a fresh start. A chance to prove that maybe I could be somebody on a big league mound, an authentic and trustworthy pitcher, not just a retread with a weird name and an even weirder pitch — a man who was so in need of financial stability that he had to get talked out of taking a guaranteed contract to go pitch in Korea.

Toronto Blue Jays and R.A. Dickey agree upon 2 year, $25 million extension

10:52am: Dickey landed in Florida to undergo his physical, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). Some of the two-year, $25MM extension will be a signing bonus for 2013.

10:42am: The sides are in agreement on a two-year, $25MM deal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). The agreement is pending a physical, and the trade will be official if and when Dickey passes. The two-year deal would cover the 2014-15 seasons.

Robothal: Blue Jays, Mets have agreement in principle on Dickey trade

Your AL East preseason favorites, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Sources: #Mets, #BlueJays have agreement in principle on Dickey trade. Window open for Jays to extend Dickey, which would complete deal.

Heyman: Royals have talked about Shields, Lester, Dickey in effort to trade for top starter

Fried Zack Greinke?  Is he going to the Red Sox??

The Royals, who are searching for a top-of-the-rotation starter and have checked in on Jon Lester and James Shields, talked to the Mets about R.A. Dickey as well…

The Mets’ goal is to keep Dickey on a two-year extension, but if they did trade him would most prefer a catcher and outfield help. (As Mets GM Sandy Alderson said a few weeks ago regarding their roster, “What outfield?”)...

The Rays are willing to talk about just about anyone (except the recently extended Evan Longoria), but they love Shields’ durability, and seem willing to live with his $10-million salary, which is high for them. Jeremy Hellickson is a pitcher who might fit for the Royals, but they are at the moment looking for an ace…

The Royals have a terrific stash of prospects to dangle, and apparently would consider dealing even [Wil] Myers in the right deal, but aren’t looking to trade from their young nucleus that includes [Salvador] Perez, third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer.

They see Alex Gordon and Billy Butler as close to untouchable as they don’t want to break up a strong homegrown positional group. They’ve also gotten a lot of calls of inquiry about shortstop Alcides Escobar, but they aren’t inclined to trade him, either.

The Royals are believed to have up to $6 million to spend so they are not in the market for a top free-agent pitcher (that includes their old fried Zack Greinke), though they could increase their spending power slightly if they could trade Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen or Jeff Francoeur.