Alex Anthopoulos says the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t sign Ervin Santana because the free agent right-hander wanted to pitch in the National League.
“From what I was told we couldn’t compete with the NL,” the Blue Jays general manager told Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 The FAN Wednesday. “The NL was where he wanted to be. It was not money. It was not years.”
The Blue Jays had interest in Santana, apparently nearing a deal with him over the weekend. But the right-hander signed for one year and a reported $14.1 million with the Atlanta Braves Wednesday, leaving the Blue Jays empty-handed.
“We would have loved to have added a starter,” Anthopoulos conceded. “But if it didn’t present itself, we still felt that we had some internal options that could really surprise people.”
Listen to Alex Anthopoulos with Jeff Blair
The Blue Jays now have a projected top three starters of R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow. J.A. Happ, Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman, Todd Redmond and Esmil Rogers are among the starters competing for the final two rotation spots.
Anthopoulos declined to say whether the Blue Jays ever believed they had a deal with Santana, saying “that’s a great question to ask me, but I’m probably not going to talk about it.” He did explain that Toronto had enough resources to complete a deal. “It definitely was not the money,” he said. “Money was not a problem as far as us being competitive.”
Blue Jays players worked to persuade Santana to come to Toronto, tweeting at him and reportedly sending him personal messages. But Anthopoulos downplayed the notion that Blue Jays players will be disappointed by the front office’s lack of activity.
“I think it’s actually the opposite,” the GM said. “I think the players would tell you that as well. They were unbelievable throughout the process. Obviously they wanted him here. I think they’d be the first ones to tell you that you can’t compete with the NL.”
The Blue Jays avoided major free agent expenditures this winter, with Dioner Navarro’s two-year, $8 million contract representing the Blue Jays’ biggest addition. Anthopoulos repeated a familiar line Wednesday, explaining that the Blue Jays didn’t line up with the asking price for free agents.
“We believe we had the right price points for the players and we weren’t going to force a deal just for the sake of doing it,” he said.
Even though the Blue Jays have yet to address a starting rotation that posted a 4.81 ERA in 2013, Anthopoulos says the Blue Jays didn’t misplay their hand. Instead of bringing in newcomers, the Blue Jays will rely on bounce-back seasons from players including Morrow, Hutchison and Melky Cabrera.
“We do have some guys that are coming back that we think are going to help,” Anthopoulos said.
Now that Santana has signed, the Blue Jays face a barren free agent market. The club may continue discussing trades designed to address the starting rotation, Anthopoulos said.
