Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia dives for and misses a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim batter Torii Hunter during the first inning.MIKE CASSESE/Reuters
Now we will find out what kind of riverboat gambler Alex Anthopoulos is.
Is he all in on his current makeover of the Toronto Blue Jays roster, or will he now hedge his bets and hope the new pieces he has added to the mix is enough to lift the team into the playoffs?
The belief here is that the 35-year-old general manager still has another move or two up his sleeve after he helped engineer Tuesday's 12-player trade that has immediately injected considerable swagger into the Blue Jays lineup.
So why stop now?
The addition of Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle gives the Blue Jays porous starting rotation a serious upgrade and Jose Reyes, the new shortstop, can hit out of the leadoff spot and help set the table for the likes of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
It is anticipated that Emilio Bonifacio will take over at second base although the 27-year-old is also proficient in the outfield and John Buck is a veteran catcher and former all-star who rapped 20 home runs for Toronto in 2010.
However, the Blue Jays still have holes to fill, most notably in left field, and Anthopouolos still has some assets to make another upgrade.
The most obvious candidate to be moved is J.P. Arencibia, the starting catcher who would fetch more on the open market than Buck, who at age 32 is in the twilight of his career.
And with Travis d'Arnaud, the Blue Jays top minor-league prospect, ready to to test his mettle at the Major League level it makes sense for Anthopoulos to use Arencibia as trade bait to try and secure a serviceable left fielder.
Let's face it, Rajai Davis is a useful piece on the 25-man roster, but the prospect of him manning left field on a regular basis does not exactly enhance Toronto's playoff chances.
Failing another trade, Anthopoulos could always consider going out and spending more Rogers money on the free agent market where the likes of Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera are lurking.
Toronto is now suddenly considered a desirable landing spot for free agents now that Anthopoulos has proven he is willing to spend some dough to upgrade the roster. So that kind of a move doesn't appear as far-fetched as it might have been a week ago.
The Blue Jays still have to name a new manager, and that decision now takes on added importance.
There's a growing belief that Anthopoulos now needs to hire a seasoned coach who has previous Major League managing experience and will instantly command the respect of veteran players the likes of Reyes and Johnson, not to mention Bautista.
Manny Acta continues to be one name that continues to surface when it comes to top candidates for the job as does Don Wakamatsu, the Blue Jays bench coach who has past managing experience in Seattle with the Mariners.
Jon Morosi of Foxsports raises an interesting scenario, suggesting that the Blue Jays approached Bobby Cox about interviewing for the job and the club's former manager turned them down.
According to Morosi, the request was made before the big trade went down and that Cox might feel differently now.
Although that sounds all warm and fuzzy and similar when the Blue Jays brought Cito Gaston back into the fold a couple of years ago, it would be a chancy proposition.
One has to question that if Cox, at age 71, still has enough gas in the tank to withstand the day-to-day rigors of managing again at the big league level.
Age certainly didn't detract Davey Johnson, 69, from doing an outstanding job in Washington with the Nationals this season, getting chosen as NL manager of the year for leading the team into the playoffs.