J.P. Ricciardi Fired

Published October 3, 2009 @ 13:12 in Toronto Blue Jays

Jays NewsAn inside source sent me this email I received while sitting in Tim Hortons this morning.

Subject: Jays just fired JP

In Baltimore. Jays just turfed him immediately.

Then, an hour later, this update from the same source.

Well... There he goes.

JP just walked past me, suitcases in hand, with the Jays brass trailing behind him getting into a cab.

The Toronto Blue Jays have indeed fired general manager J.P. Ricciardi, ending his eight-year tenure. On June 19, 2008, I called for the firing of J.P. Ricciardi.

I remember when everyone was calling for Gord Ash's head. Gord had the misfortune of following a very successful and beloved GM in Pat Gillick. The clock just ran out on Ash and we all knew it was time for a change. We demanded more from our ball team.

For reasons I don't quite understand, we've given JP Ricciardi an extraordinary amount of time to field a playoff contender. Note, I didn't say World Series champion, nor did I say pennant or wild card winner, we really just want to be playing meaningful baseball in September.

Ricciardi was hired on November 14, 2001. That's an eternity when it comes to unsuccessful general managers. Today, our Blue Jays have the second least number of homers in the majors and simply can't score runs. With such an impotent offense, Ricciardi was asked about acquiring Adam Dunn, the Cincinnati Red who has hit 40 or more home runs each of the past four years. Ricciardi responded by claiming Dunn "doesn't have a passion to play the game that much."

Needless to say, there's another free agent who won't be coming here. I still remember Ricciardi's claims that BJ Ryan had a bad back last spring. That "bad back" was actually a severe elbow injury that required season ending Tommy John surgery, but as JP said, “They're not lies if we know the truth".

The clock has run out on this clown. He's taking a franchise drenched in integrity and soiling it and, even worse, he's given us a team that's fading fast in the American League. Enough is enough.

In August 2008, I was certain his dismissal was imminent. He released Reed Johnson and went with Shannon Stewart. Remember that gem? I predicted he'd be gone the day after the 2008 season concluded.

Better late than never. J.P. Ricciardi was just fired.

15 Responses to "J.P. Ricciardi Fired"

Al
October 3, 2009 / 13:31

About time.

Toronto Mike
October 3, 2009 / 13:45

Here are a few more J.P. Ricciardi boners:

The $17 million, three-year deal for Corey Koskie
The $127 million, seven-year deal for Vernon Wells
The Alex Rios contract and subsequent waiver posting of Rios
The $18 million, two-year deal with a vesting option for Frank Thomas who was eventually released
The $47 million, five-year deal for B.J. Ryan who was eventually released
The handling of Roy Halladay trade talks, paying the PR price for dealing our ace without actually trading him
The opt-out clause in A.J. Burnett's contract
A mediocre drafting record

Oh yeah, and the most important one...
An inability to make the playoffs in 8 seasons

Buffaloboymike
October 3, 2009 / 15:51

Mike, I agree, it was time for JP to go but Im going to defend two of his so called Boners: BJ Ryan was the best closer available that year he signed him, How could he possibly have anticipated Tommy John Surgery for Ryan in year two of that deal. They needed a closer and he landed at the time one of the top 5 closers in baseball.
His drafting record though marginal at best is still producing some good young pitchers namely Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil. I think if those two pan out I have to defend his draft record.
I think the biggest boner was his inability to get this team help back at the beginning of June that could have kept this team in the race in July and August. He had talent to trade for a bat or something. He could have easily made a run at someone who was on the blocks that could have helped thme through the injuries back then and gave them a chance, he didn't and thats why this team didn't survive their first place start.
Lets hope this starts a major overhaul and they hire a GM who they give some extra cash to deal with.

Buffaloboymike
October 3, 2009 / 15:56

Hopefully this also means that Cito stays on as Manager

Megan
October 3, 2009 / 16:09

Woot woot!! Well that made my day. Hopefully Cito stays.

James
October 3, 2009 / 16:41

Now let the healing begin! I thought JP was a pretty good GM for the most part, but wow, if ever there was someone who was due to get fired.....this was the guy.

James
October 3, 2009 / 16:46

Speaking of the Jays, apparently they're hugely popular on radio still:

http://tinyurl.com/y9w7x6p

Makes you wonder how big the Jays would be if they weren't terrible.

Stephanie Wilkinson
October 3, 2009 / 17:58

I agree with BuffaloBoy. I always liked JP, although I also did know him so it might have been a different story had he just been a name. But in the summer I had to wonder what was up.. The whole Halladay and Rios thing... what was that?? I think it was time and time for him to find somewhere else.

Cito though... I think his time has come. I think he was great in the 90s and great last season. This season the 1990s style of managing just doesn't work anymore. Sorry Cito..

Buffaloboymike
October 4, 2009 / 10:40

JP did draft Marcum and McGowan too if they both come back healthy and productive

Toronto Mike
October 4, 2009 / 10:45

BBM, all of your examples require a great deal of "if this happens" and "maybe if that happens". They're not elite players. At least not yet.

Buffaloboymike
October 4, 2009 / 20:40

Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil are good pitchers they should keep getting better.
I am sticking behind BJ Ryan though, no one knew his Elbow was going to explode ....If he doesnt require Tommy John Surgery this team still has one of the best closers in baseball. Im in no way saying that JP was a good GM he wasnt but I think that some of the points are unfair to him.
LEts face at the time the Wells extension looked good, they actually spent to keep at the time a great player, He also got Aaron Hill extended which has turned out great and He brought in Marco Scutaro.

Toronto Mike
October 4, 2009 / 20:47

Fair enough. We'll cut him a little slack on the B.J. Ryan signing. But the whole "They're not lies if we know the truth" regarding Ryan's arm was inexcusable.

B N
November 4, 2009 / 01:54

I'm cutting him no slack on BJ Ryan. Signing closers to big money is a mistake, unless they are an elite player. I don't mean best closer available, I don't mean best closer of the year. I mean Hall of Fame. I can name two closers in the last 10 years who would deserve the contract that Ryan got: Rivera and Hoffman. Nobody else. No other closer has deserved a five year FA deal that I can think of, in the last 10 years. The only two even close would be Wagner and Nathan for their prime years.

Those are not good odds. Assuming there are 30 closers annually, and they rotate on an average of every 3 years (pretty conservative) that is 2 guys out of 90. And nobody pegged Ryan to be as good as either of those guys. I can however name a whole basket of closers who looked like they were worth that for two years, and then either blew out their arm or stopped being dominant. Gagne anyone? Putz? Foulke with the Red Sox?

It's one thing to overpay for a closer over short years, especially if you're a piece or two short of a championship (ex. Foulke). But tying that kind of money into a guy with a total of 3 good years is super risky. That contract panning out had worse odds than waiting for a flush on the river.

So no, he should get no slack on that one. I would rate it the second worst contract he gave out, though still far behind the Wells thing. At least Rios was playing for the length of his contract, and had enough value for a salary dump. Ryan was a guy who was almost assured to miss or be ineffective for 2 out of five years, given the odds on closers. That's just bad.

B N
November 4, 2009 / 01:55

I'm cutting him no slack on BJ Ryan. Signing closers to big money is a mistake, unless they are an elite player. I don't mean best closer available, I don't mean best closer of the year. I mean Hall of Fame. I can name two closers in the last 10 years who would deserve the contract that Ryan got: Rivera and Hoffman. Nobody else. No other closer has deserved a five year FA deal that I can think of, in the last 10 years. The only two even close would be Wagner and Nathan for their prime years.

Those are not good odds. Assuming there are 30 closers annually, and they rotate on an average of every 3 years (pretty conservative) that is 2 guys out of 90. And nobody pegged Ryan to be as good as either of those guys. I can however name a whole basket of closers who looked like they were worth that for two years, and then either blew out their arm or stopped being dominant. Gagne anyone? Putz? Foulke with the Red Sox?

It's one thing to overpay for a closer over short years, especially if you're a piece or two short of a championship (ex. Foulke). But tying that kind of money into a guy with a total of 3 good years is super risky. That contract panning out had worse odds than waiting for a flush on the river.

So no, he should get no slack on that one. I would rate it the second worst contract he gave out, though still far behind the Wells thing. At least Rios was playing for the length of his contract, and had enough value for a salary dump. Ryan was a guy who was almost assured to miss or be ineffective for 2 out of five years, given the odds on closers. That's just bad.

B N
November 4, 2009 / 01:57

Correction on that. Since it's every 3 years, for 10 years, it's more like 275. So heck, 2 out of 250. Bad odds. Even if you could narrow the field down to 25 guys who MIGHT have been worth that contract, those are bad odds.

Leave a Reply



« Vote for the Shitstorm of the Week The Only Existing Film Images of Anne Frank »