I have no idea whether J.P. Ricciardi is a poker player, but if he is, I’ll wager he’s not very good. The Toronto Blue Jays GM sure doesn’t know much about making the most of the cards he’s dealt himself, and he’s way too open when it comes to expressing his thoughts. If you let everyone at the poker table know what you’ve got, you’re toast. And so it goes with running a baseball team, but that’s clearly a lesson Ricciardi still hasn’t learned.
The Blue Jays are operating at a disadvantage in the rugged AL East. Competing with the deep pockets of the Yankees and Red Sox sure isn’t easy. But the fact is that the Tampa Bay Rays have molded themselves into a legitimate contender, and now that they have real baseball people in place, the long downtrodden Orioles are not far away from making a major move of their own. Meanwhile, it’s getting ugly in Toronto. The Blue Jays shocked lots of observers, including me, with their fast start. But it was clear to me it wouldn’t last, and I can see this team coming unhinged in the season’s second half.
I put the blame for this squarely on Ricciardi. He’s made some very bad gambles over the past few seasons, and he’s now left with a mediocre major league roster and a farm system that’s not exactly loaded with top prospects. Ricciardi overpaid to keep Vernon Wells, he made a terrible mistake in giving monster money to B. J. Ryan and beyond that, he keeps sticking his entire foot into his mouth.
There was the ridiculous commentary on Adam Dunn last season, where he ripped a player he didn’t know personally for a perceived lack of passion, and then had to apologize for the diatribe shortly thereafter. I was shocked that a General Manager would get involved in discussing another team’s player in a public forum. That’s just dumb.
It’s also not very smart to announce to the world that you’re ready to deal your best player. Roy Halladay is one of the game’s top pitchers, and I don’t necessarily disagree with the decision to make him available. But doing so publicly is silly and counterproductive. Now that he’s declared to all concerned that Halladay is on the market, he’s operating at a disadvantage. To me, it’s the same thing as playing a hand of poker and showing your cards while everyone else at the table has theirs hidden. You simply can’t win playing the game that way.
Now that Ricciardi has put Halladay on the auction block, he’s virtually forced himself to accept whatever the best offer is, as chances are now very strong that Halladay will want out of Toronto. Ricciardi would have been much better off by quietly exploring the possibilities without tipping his hand. Instead, he has likely boxed himself into a corner and may well be in the process of further alienating an already diminishing fan base.
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The Mets continue to get destroyed, and I’m not buying Oliver Perez as their savior. Hiroki Kuroda is the more reliable pitcher, the Dodgers are obviously in way better form and the Mets fans have completely turned on their team. The home team is a fade till they figure a way out of their funk, so I’ll back the Dodgers tonight.
