State Of The Franchise

Monday, January 30 2012 @ 09:02 PM EST

Contributed by: #2JBrumfield

The Toronto Blue Jays held their annual State of the Franchise event at the Dome Monday night for season ticket holders and it revealed an interesting nugget or two among some of the inane and long-winded soliloquies/questions.

Some fans seemed to be angry, much like the Blue Jays logo of 2004 to 2011.

For the first time, the event was broadcasted live on Sportsnet.ca. Play-by-play announcer Buck Martinez hosted the event with Jays president Paul Beeston, general manager Alex Anthopoulos and manager John Farrell. One fan expressed anger about the Jays unable to sign free agents like Prince Fielder or Carlos Beltran. Other complaints ranged from the Colby Rasmus trade, the seeming indifference about playing in Toronto (which Anthopoulos denied), the poor management of expectations by the club and the lack of merchandise for the fairer sex (the missus agrees! ;D).

Some of the comments made by the panel Monday...

Beeston says 5 year contracts is the maximum they will go on any player
Beeston says the team is looking at installing actual grass at the Dome but would not guarantee if or when that will happen
Beeston and Farrell would not mind seeing National League rules being used at American League parks and vice versa
Beeston says he would be disappointed if the team is not in the playoffs two or three times over the next five years
Former Jays catcher Kevin Cash is now an advance scout with the club
Anthopoulos says there were a couple of free agents they offered more years and money to but were turned down
AA adds some players do not want to play on turf, DH or change leagues
Farrell says the team would not hesitate to call on Drew Hutchison if he's needed and lists Anthony Gose, Travis d'Arnaud and Deck McGuire as other players to watch

One other interesting comment at the end made by Beeston was that if anyone had any questions, give him a call or e-mail AA. Okay Bauxites, if you had a chance to ask one or both of them anything, what would it be?

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