Anyone who doesn’t think that competition raises performance levels would do
well to take a look at the American League East. For the last decade, the
division has housed the two best teams in baseball. More recently, with the
ascent of the Tampa Bay Rays, it’s seen three highly successful
organizations in close competition, not just for the division crown, but also
the American League Wild Card. In fact, the consolation prize for the best
team not to have won a division has been collected by a team other than the
Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees only once in the last eight years.
有競爭才有進步，美東分區可以說是最佳的例子。
過去十年來，美東有全聯盟最好的兩支隊伍。最近幾年Tampa Bay的興起更是造成
三強鼎立的局面；這三隊不只是問鼎分區冠軍，同時也在角逐外卡名額。
事實上，最近八年AL的外卡資格，有七次是被洋基跟紅襪包辦。
And now, the Toronto Blue Jays, with the acquisition of Colby Rasmus from the
St. Louis Cardinals at the cost of some young pitching and spare parts, have
signaled to the rest of the division their intention of joining the elite of
the league.
現在，藉由丟出一些年輕投手跟多餘的球員換來Colby Rasmus這筆好交易，藍鳥也宣告
要加入美東前段班的競爭行列。
It’s almost enough to make you pity the Baltimore Orioles.
金鶯:(默...)
In a little less than two years, general manager Alex Anthopolous has
drastically improved the Blue Jays organization through a willingness to
spend large amounts of money on elite talent in the draft and the
international free agent scene and by including cash considerations in trades
to increase the team’s return in prospects.
最近兩年之內，AA藉由砸錢在農場體系、簽下潛力新秀以及優秀的年輕外國球員或是交易
獲得，現在藍鳥的農場煥然一新。
While building a highly-ranked system, Anthopoulos hasn’t ignored the active
roster. When not collecting potential Type-A and-B free agents like a dog
catcher bringing in strays, the Blue Jays GM has bought low on potential star
players in Brandon Morrow, Yunel Escobar, and now Rasmus, right after they
had fallen out of favor with their old organizations.
同時，AA也沒有忽略active roster的重要性。
Brandon Morrow、Yunel Escobar 還有新同學Rasmus，都是AA用便宜划算的交易搞來的。
這些球員在母隊都沒有愛。
It’s not merely thrifty spending—it’s also proving to be, perhaps
surprisingly, the fastest way to build a team capable of competing in the
toughest division in baseball. Maybe even scarier than the organization’s
quick rise up the rankings is that this type of financial discipline is being
practiced by a team owned by the wealthiest ownership group in the game, in a
city that ranks as the fourth biggest major-league market, and in a country
where they’re the game’s only representative.
AA不只是在打精算野球。這套建軍模式，也許是條最快能夠讓藍鳥重回美東列強的捷徑。
當我們對AA能如此快速的提升藍鳥農場排名感到吃驚的同時，或許更該訝異的是:
雖然用這種財務紀律的操作手法，但是藍鳥的擁有者可是加拿大最大的電信業公司，
這支球隊坐落於北美第四大城，並且是全加拿大唯一的MLB球隊。
(暗示藍鳥也是財力雄厚的大市場球隊，可以花錢不手軟??)
http://ppt.cc/4bw;
從facebook上看到的轉錄文章。
藍鳥終於要一飛沖天 一鳴驚人了??