Via BBTF, the departure of Alex Anthopoulos was about control of player personnel decisions:

Shapiro, meanwhile, wanted control. Wouldn’t you? The consensus in baseball was that Shapiro had been pushed upstairs from the GM job in Cleveland after 65- and 69-win seasons. Running the business operations of the Cleveland Indians — 29th, 29th, 28th, 29th, 24th and 30th in attendance the past six years — doesn’t seem like the job of a lifetime. Shortly after he was hired by the Jays, word began filtering through baseball that Shapiro was telling people he couldn’t wait to get back into player personnel. You can be sure Rogers gave him that power.

And that’s where it broke. In a face-to-face meeting with the senior members of the Jays’ front office, Shapiro said he strongly disagreed with some of the deadline choices that sent prospects out. The initial contract offer to Anthopoulos, according to an official who was briefed on the talks, was a two-year deal, with the second year an option.

It was an insult. By the time Rogers tried to give Anthopoulos a five-year contract, it was already too late.

In general, sending out prospects for veterans isn’t a great move. When your franchise hasn’t been to the playoffs in two decades, however, it’s a perfectly legitimate move. Ask the fans of the Indians, who haven’t won a World Series since 1948 if they would trade a prospect for a playoff berth. Sometimes, you need to go for it, and not be the Cleveland Indians.