A "P.R. Campaign Against [Roy] Halladay"? Painting Doc as the "bad guy"? Fuck off. Look, J.P.'s got bigger issues to deal with. Like, I don't know, securing the best possible package in return for Roy Halladay. By next week.
Think about it for a second; everyone but me hates Ricciardi. He knows that. Why would he bother trying to sully the reputation of one of the finest men to ever wear a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, in a city where not many - not enough - give a shit about the Blue Jays to begin with? He wouldn't. He's got more important shit to do, like field calls about Jason Frasor, Marco Scutaro, Rod Barajas, and Scott Rolen.
Ricciardi and the Blue Jays aren't worried about the casual fan, because the casual fan isn't worried about them; the casual fan's been apathetic for years. It's the nature of this city's relationship with baseball. When the Blue Jays, eventually, become a winning team again (one day), the casual fans will be at the Rogers Centre, filling the seats. Not at home, sulking about how the Jays supposedly wronged Halladay during his final days with the team.
Nothing's changed. We've known for some time now that Doc was going to test the market. Here's what Ricciardi was quoted as saying on July 8, in the New York Post:
"We have kept him from free agency twice and I don't think we have the resources to keep him from free agency a third time, so I have to investigate what is out there ..."- J.P. Ricciardi
There's more. In the same blog post, Joel Sherman wrote that the organization and Doc had talked teams:
"Ricciardi said that Halladay has provided a long list of places he would not be willing to play, but the Toronto GM would not say if either New York club was on that list."- Joel Sherman
So when Ricciardi tells the scribes that Doc's going to test the market, can we all try to not lose our shit? Please? Don't fall into the media's trap; we all know, without a doubt, that Doc isn't the bad guy.
We also know that public relations isn't Ricciardi's forte. The world would be a better place if he'd just keep his mouth shut for one God damn day. But stop and think about the situation before you want to tear Ricciardi a new one. You don't think Ricciardi wanted Burnett to stay in his rotation? You don't think he wanted to add a bat like Bobby Abreu's to the lineup? He simply didn't have the cash. And now we're here, at the potential end of an era for the franchise, because Doc is going to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And that means he must be moved. Now, in the winter, or next July. He must be traded. Deal with it.
Fortunately, there are some people out there who do get it.
Here's Mike Wilner; he and I are on the exact same page:
"The other big piece of news was the revelation that Roy Halladay has told the Jays that he won’t sign an extension with the team before testing the free agent market after next season. ... Good for Roy Halladay. Were I him, no matter how much I loved it here, I wouldn’t re-sign without at least dipping a toe in the free agent waters. ... As I’ve said many times, there are 27 teams that have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Blue Jays do - every year. Halladay wants to win, and he’d prefer to win in Toronto, but he knows what he’s up against in the A.L. East until the Jays commit to competing financially with the big boys."- Wilnerology (reference h/t: Ghostrunner on First)
Odds and Ends:
Yes, the Jays did lose yesterday afternoon, for those of you that still care. Kevin Millar, batting cleanup, was of course the Jays' top performer on the day. The Tribe ended up taking two of three from Toronto, on the road. Yeah, that's about right ... After Jo-Bau's 0-for-4 performance, in which he left four runners on base, and costly error at third base, The Bautista Appreciation Society is looking for new members ... Goodbye David Dellucci. You left us, well, not too soon. You should have never been here in the first place ... I'll be live blogging Friday's Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers 1:07 PM matchup over at The Score. I have a feeling it will be a touch less climactic than Thursday's White Sox game. What a mind-blasting catch. It's officially impossible to not like Mark Buehrle ... Doc's on the mound tonight, so I'll be at the game. If you're not there, I trust you have a good excuse. I'll tell Doc you said thanks ...
UPDATE: Go and read The Tao of Stieb's takedown of Griffin's bullshit blog post. It's spot fucking on. And it's no longer a one-man Ricciardi defence team. I'm The Tao's assistant; secondary legel counsel, yo.
20 comments:
Ugh, I just can't help but hate rogers. So much.
Ricciardi looks foolish trying to defend his actions. He handled it correctly from the beginning. Halladay said himself that Ricciardi was up front with him. That shows Ricciardi's class in handling the situation. Why ruin that by defending your actions? Defending it to whom exactly? The folks here are the tightest Blue Jay fans there are and you all seem to understand why Ricciardi is in this situation, so why does he feel he has to defend himself? You're right, he should just shut up and go about his business of getting the best possible deal.
Millar reminds me of Nick Swisher. They have one great game once in a while and everyone thinks they are good players. Neither of them are and waste too much MLB at bats that other players should be getting.
It was pretty obvious that Halladay had something to do with the trade talk. There's no way you publicallly peddle your franchise players out of the blue. That being said, its understandable why Doc wants out, hes givin a lot of time to the Jays and he just wants to win. You've got to spend money to make money in sport business Rogers.
The media once again have made a non-issue into a controversy. Anyone with a right mind would test free agency after twice taking home town discounts to stay in Toronto. I just hope JP holds onto him until next year so we/he can see how close we are. .500!!!1 this year, playoffs!!!1 next year.
Also I'll be there tonight even if it is the end.
Here's to Doc:
http://anationofmasochists.blogspot.com/2009/07/docs-final-house-call.html
Okay, so Ricciardi says that Halladay will leave either by trade for free agency. But what happens if the Jays make a run next year and either get close to or make the playoffs? Maybe that changes Doc's complete state of mind and he stays in Toronto.
There are a lot of variables at work here, I just hope the end result is that Roy stats with the Jays or they end this trade speculation soon.
The Roy Halladay Depression.
Vernon Wells.
BJ Ryan.
Dustin McGowan/Jesse Litsch/Casey Janssen.
Kevin Millar (yesterday notwithstanding).
ETC.
What a miserable clusterfuck of a season this has become. Baseball is supposed to be fun, goddamnit.
I'm not saying JP is lying, or that he isn't - we have no way of knowing. It all depends on who he is more attached to if he thinks a separation is likely to occur: Halladay or the "fans". Clearly he is going to upset Halladay for making this new information (factual or not) public.
JP never said before yesterday that Halladay himself indicated he would test the market (despite the above sections from newspapers) - JP either deliberately chose to say that yesterday, or he said it accidentally. If he said it deliberately, he had a reason - if he said it accidentally, he's kind of an idiot. Whether trading Halladay, AND at the same time selling that trade to the Jays' customers, is actually among the smaller fish that JP is frying or not, it is clearly taking up a lot of space in the pan. I don't think it's true that the selling part is unimportant or that it doesn't matter to him.
I like JP, and I land on the side that believes he said it deliberately. It doesn't make Halladay or JP a worse person, but it does make JP trading Halladay more acceptable to most onlookers with that information out there. And, yes, Halladay would prefer it were not out there.
Eyebleaf, I know some teams are interested in Rolen, and that media types look at the Jays and see a marketable veteran and assume that a trade is obvious...but has anyone stopped to think about the implications?
Scotty is signed through next year. The Jays have utterly no third base prospects within 3 years of being big league ready. Even the unpalatable backup options on hand -- Jo-Bau, Johnny Mac, etc. -- are only signed through this year.
Even the most pathetic, defeatist clubs have to, y'know, have a third baseman in 2010. Trade Rolen and your 2010 option will either cost you free agent money (and try finding someone decent whom you won't have to overpay to come here next year) or value via a trade.
See you at the game tonight.
Here's what I don't get about the dwindling ranks of JP defenders: what do you want, exactly, to happen? Do you think he should continue to be the GM, and if so, why? And if you don't think he should stay on, why do you invest this much time and energy defending a guy you think should be fired?
I mean, it's honourable to defend a guy you think should be on the way out from unfair shots, but frankly no one's going to remember the specific Griffin stuff in a year. And I honestly don't understand what the people who think he should be back are looking at. If you're one of them, what gives you any hope that the team can compete going forward under his stewardship?
We are so ill served by our traditional brick and morter media in this city. The writing, reporting, and analysis on the blogs about the team are light years ahead of anything that old pompus fuck Griffin ever dreamed of composing.
About Wells home/road splits, this may have something to do with it, via Wilner:
"And after Vernon Wells struck out in the 10th, some preppy-looking guy in a sweater-vest no less came running down to the Jays dugout, leaned over and screamed “You Suck” three times - basically right in Wells’ face."
It's probably true that the tension among the home crowd for the albatross around the team's neck (Wells) is beginning to really take effect. It might eventually be time to cut him loose and pay his salary, but I really hope it doesn't come to that.
@ Q, I highly doubt that he will opt out BUT if he gets ripped like this he might get the message BIG TIME! THis loss today was a bit much. They can't hold an eight run lead at home? Unreal actually. I hate to say it BUT Wells deserves this and the team quite frankly 'cept for a few(including Doc).People are frustrated by the JP BS years, talk of Doc's departure from the Jays AND the fact that the Rays own them. I never believed in a team with no heart,no guts BUT a lot of these players are soft, they are losers.
I never imagined the signing of Dellucci could turn out worse than that of Wilkerson last season...
Between Roy Halladay, J.P. Riccardi, and the fact that this blog is currently (as I write this) sponsored by the movie "Orphan" there is a lonely/reject joke to be made there, but damned if I can find it.
@ Varry Galk: The lack of options at 3B make me think Rolen will stick around. But there's no way he's not moved at next year's deadline. Scutaro poses the same type of quandary: do you sign him after this career year? Or hope that he becomes a type-A free agent and let him walk? If we're tearing this shit down and starting over again, he's got to walk. With that in mind, sign Jo-Bau on the cheap for next year, if the right deal for Rolen comes around right now.
@ Ian Gray: I think I've been pretty clear in terms of what I want; I want ownerships, Rogers, to give Ricciardi at least a $130 million dollar payroll. $100 wasn't enough, and $80 is definitely not enough. I want them to show some commitment in terms of allowing J.P. the financial flexibility it's going to take to get back to the playoffs.
While it has been eight years, and it could be argued that it's time for a change, I would prefer it if Ricciardi did stay on. I think he should stay on for what he's been able to do when it comes to young players. It's those young players that will give us the best chance to win.
I also want ownership to make up their minds as to what they want to do with the team. I believe their change in direction is what is messing with the Blue Jays right now, and messing with J.P. and how he's supposed to do his job. He was under the belief that Rogers would be spending, not shedding, payroll in 2009 and 2010. Clearly that changed, and he's screwed because of it.
@ Expos: The booing of Wells is getting pretty bad. Friday night was rough. Hate to see it.
@ Q: There's no way, absolutely zero, Wells is cut.
@ Bruno: I wouldn't opt out. You wouldn't either.
@ Jeremy: Let's just be thankful they cut bait, unlike Wilkerson, who we were forced to watch night in and night out for far too fucking long.
@ Leaf, of course I wouldn't opt out, Vernon won't either (as I mentioned I highly doubt that V-Scrub would opt out BTW) BUT funny how some fan got into Vernon's face yesterday. He could become the Jays' version of Arod with all the booing. Who knows if he takes all that crap for 20 mill a year, but I sure as hell would.
Leaf, I really am sick of JP. All the lies, not sniffing the playoffs for 8 years and the general shittyness of the team. There needs to be a new direction, a new manager, new GM, and a new Pres. Hopefully, Gillick will have his last hurrah and become Pres and give the Jays a real GM because I can't take the losing, JP's bull and the battle for 5th that is going on. I agree that a GM needs over 100 million to retool the Jays but I don't agree that that GM is JP. JP is the AL version of Ed Wade. Like Philly, they need another GM to take an honest look and make the changes needed to contend. Even if the cheap Rogers gave JP the mullah, his free agent signings(like Thomas, Ryan and arguably AJ) has been bombs.
I meant JP's free agent signings have been bombs!
@ the expos - If Wells doesn't like his new nickname (that smug fucker, I wanted to cave his face in when he was joking about it) then rather than mope that some alcoholic, high-functioning mentally challenged, UCC grad told him the truth (he's so bad that even a guy in a sweater vest can identify his shittiness) then he should start playing baseball like an $18M player.
Step 1: Lose the damn gut.
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