Allsports Believes It's Time for J.P. Ricciardi to Go

For awhile now, I have had a passing interest in baseball for sports on the Web and other sports news involving the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays are my home town team and play in the toughest division in Major League Baseball. That division would be the American League East. Perenial power houses New York and Boston are always in a dog fight for the division pennant and now the new kids on the block, the Tampa Bay Rays have added themselves to the mix.

Toronto under the guidance of J.P. Riccardi have fallen way off the pace and are sitting two games below 500 after a promising start. In May, they were one of the best teams in baseball and allsports thought that they might have a chance if they could keep it up. Last year the start of the season was a disaster for the Blue Jays and they played the rest of the season out just trying to play catchup to the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays. Good luck with that, those ball teams are just to consistent to try and make up ground on.

This year a better start turned into the same result as Toronto is eleven games back going into the all star break. Good luck on making that up against Boston. The Jays also took it on the chin resently when they had to cut B.J. Ryan loose. The Jays are still on the hook for $15 million of his contract which is a huge amount for a guy that has become a batting practice pitcher. Ryan has never been the same since his arm injury and subsequent surgery. He has lost at least 10 miles per hour off his fastball and with that there is no bite to it anymore.

Now, I am not saying that Ricciardi or Ryan are to blame for this resent event. Some thing’s are unforeseen and injuries do happen. You pay your money and take your chances. No the beef that allsports has is that Riccardi’s song and dance at the helm of the Jays is wearing thin. His five-year plan has turned into an eight-year plan and the team is no farther ahead than the day he took over. One thing remains consistent with Riccardi, he seems to overvalue the talent he brings in. They may have some talent but most have lacked heart and the desire to compete everyday through a long and grinding season. Vernon Wells is the poster boy for under achievement and has not been worth a crap since he signed his huge contract.

The only bright spots for Toronto this year are Roy Halladay who is Mr. consistent again this year and Aaron Hill who is the deserving starter at second base for the American league in the all star game. Halladay, for the record is the starting pitcher for the American League in the game.

Halladay has been a breath of fresh air for Toronto because of his commitment and loyalty to the club. He deserves a shot at the prize before it is too late and sadly he won’t get that shot in Toronto. Riccardi should trade him and then step down from the helm. He is a mediocre general manager who has had too many chances and just builds a mediocre team. The Jays will never get out of the rut until Riccardi is cut loose. Riccardi has a brilliant baseball mind, just ask him and he will tell you so. That is where his problem starts, he thinks he is smarter than he is.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb