New Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes gets introduced to the media yesterday by general manager Alex Anthopoulos at the Rogers Centre. (STAN BEHAL/TORONTO SUN)
Most every baseball fan has a favourite player and Alex Anthopoulos is nothing if not a baseball fan.
But unlike most fans, as general manager of the Blue Jays, Anthopoulos found himself with a rare opportunity to make a trade last fall that would bring his favourite player, Jose Reyes, to Toronto for the next five or six years.
Back in late November at the general managers meetings, Anthopoulos and Larry Beinfest, his counterpart with the Miami Marlins, met to discuss the possibility of a deal that would bring some much-needed starting pitching to the Jays.
The preliminary discussion began with Josh Johnson and then expanded to include Mark Buehrle. As the meeting neared a close, Anthopoulos casually dropped Reyes’ name into the mix.
“I just felt like I had to slide it in there, and that were willing to talk about him,” said Anthopoulos.
The game plan didn’t involve Reyes. Not at all. But by broaching Reyes’ name, AA didn’t surprise his assistant, Jay
