Anthopolous meets with the media Part Deux

As promised, we wanted to summarize some of the important points Anthopolous made in tonight's media scrum at the winter meetings. Wilner's doing a bang up job of getting the information from the daily media briefing with AA over at his blog, and we want to touch on some of what he's written about.

First on the ballot, AA is fully committed to playing Adam Lind at first base next year. He says that during his limited games at first last year ('atta boy Cito!) he displayed soft hands, but needs to work on his footwork to truly excel at the position. He explained that if Lind is able to man first base for the foreseeable future it opens up a lot of flexibility for the team to acquire a DH, who are more easily attainable. The Jays also don't have Encarnacion throwing bricks over to first, so the need to have a gold glove first baseman to bail him out won't be so crucial.

Speaking of finding a DH, Anthopolous says that the team is no longer looking at Manny Ramirez as an option. He would prefer to sign someone who is able to play different positions (especially if Lind begins to struggle at first base), and Ramirez butchering left field can't really be classified as "able to play" anything. I don't know if I entirely agree with AA on this point. I think if you're committed to playing Lind at first base, then why not be committed to employing Ramirez's bat and OBP at DH? If he's concerned about giving Lind some days off or insurance in case he shits the bed (which you shouldn't  be concerned with if you're going to start the season with him there) then you can still bring in Ramirez and get creative with your other players (for example: occasional starts at first for Bautista) or sign a defense first guy to come off the bench and play first. I say piss or get off the pot on this one, AA. Either commit to Lind at first, or find a better option - a la Derek Lee.Unless of course he sees Magglio Ordonez as the type of player who can be moved around to different positions - including first base. Then I'm all for it! How's that for picking a side?

Last thing, AA didn't deny any interest in Russel Martin, who I do think makes some sense for the team. If the Jays are finally willing to hand the reigns over to JP Arencibia, it would be nice to have a very capable, yet declining, catcher to back him up. That's assuming of course that Martin is willing to take a backup role. There's also the possibility that Russel could fill in at third base, or even first base for that matter, which would give Anthopolous the flexibility he's looking for.  That way he can sign a DH to do just that - D fucking H - and leave the flexing to the utility players.