Saturday JPRBT 3000
Some interesting claims from one JP Ricciardi (pictured here with his lovely wife Debra) in the latest Ken Rosenthal column at Fox Sports, and... uh-oh! I think we're going to have to run this through our patented JP Ricciardi Bullshit Translator 3000.
In the column, Ricciardi makes the following claims in bold. The JPRBT 3000 translation is in italics:
"Realistically, we know teams will be able to afford more dollars than we're able to afford," Jays G.M. J.P. Ricciardi said.
It's important to understand that we don't have as much money as the Yankees or the Red Sox. Our fans can never really hear that enough.
"The biggest thing is, he's had success with us. He likes it here. How important is it for him to stay? (Roy) Halladay and (Vernon) Wells decided that Toronto was a place they wanted to stay.
If he leaves, I would like for the fans here to think it's purely because AJ is a dick who doesn't like Toronto. Ultimately, I come off looking better if they think this has nothing to do with me, or the team I've put together-- AJ either likes Toronto and he stays, or he doesn't like Toronto and he leaves. I think they're dumb enough to buy that-- just like I think they're dumb enough to believe that Wells stayed because he likes it here, and not because we gave him one of the worst contracts in baseball.
"We know we won't be the highest bidder. But we offer things that maybe some other people don't."
We obviously won't re-sign AJ, but as long as we keep preying on Toronto's sense of inadequacy and insisting that they believe in these pipe dreams, hopefully the fans will focus their indignation on how AJ rejected them, instead of what a staggeringly inept job of running a baseball franchise we've been doing here for these last seven years.
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47 comments:
I was more concerned with this part:
If the Jays lose Burnett?
"At that point, we may just re-evaluate where we're at," Ricciardi said. "The economy is not good. I don't know if we were going to be a player on some things."
That kind of sounds to me like: we're going to sign Carl Pavano instead of Burnett or Lowe. It makes Manny sound a little far fetched too.
given that JP will be evaluated on how the team performs this season i can't believe that he would be content to sign a C level pitcher and a B level bat and go into the season with that. If he did, the team would start out around .500 and he would be canned before July.
He's got cash to spend, and assets to trade. If this team enters April without AJ and with out any major additions for the lineup then they might as well sack him then.
He must know this. Now is the time to throw some money at a bat and an arm, and then get creative with adding value to the '09 team via the trade route.
I have no patience for JP and his Machiavellian tactics. When is someone going to smarten up enough to fire him back to Bwaaastyn, and hire a GM who has ability ?
as always the JPRBT3000 is fucking bang-on. its one of the best parts of your blog and should remain a recurring part of DJF. PLAYOFFS '09!
Yup.
Yup X2
Bang on. J.P. would be better suited as a wrestling promoter. He insults my intelligence as a knowledgeable fan, and he doesn't give a shit.
I loved his line from last season when Gibbons got fired.
"I'm not worried about my future. I've been working in the game for 20 years, if I get fired, I could go get a job anywhere else in baseball."
What a pompous cocksmoker.
He looks more like Gonzo than he does Ray.
FWIW:
We are dog-sitting my sister-in-law’s beagle (not my idea) since she is in heat and they haven’t had a chance to neuter the male they have on the farm.
My golden retriever (neutered in 1995) is doing his level best to service her and has been at it for quite some time now.
The incongruity of it makes perfect sense at the moment. It ain’t gonna work, he hasn’t got the goods and it’s a bitch that he can’t get over the hump but he’ll keep trying what doesn’t get him anywhere come hell or high water.
My dog’s name is Shadow but from this day forward he’ll be known as J.P.
Best Regards
John
John: does that make us your sister-in-law's beagle?
i've been called worse.
Not much feels better than the feeling you get after taking a shit that is so big it sticks out of the water. Put on a pair of wind pants without underwear and lay down for 30 minutes. You will feel like you are going to float away.
John, I know you are speaking from a lot of frustration. At a certain point, it is up to the players to get themselves into a decent enough position before the trade deadline to make a run. Detroit went for it in the offseasons and Dombrowski has handicapped the team for years with bad decisions. I say that for four years the players (not Doc obviously) have let the fans down.
-brent in Korea
And I'm going to miss Kevin Mench next year. That guy was a fuckin masher! I hope we pick up that Corey Patterson guy. He did really well in Cincinnati last year. The only problem is that he is black. JP doesn't like them much
Hold the fuck on. "Staggeringly inept job of running a baseball franchise". Stoeten are you fucking gay in your head or something? Even the biggest JP hater wouldnt say something like that.
And wtf do you want him to say about not being able to match the Yankee's spending? "Aw shit son, I aint worried about no fuckin Ted Rogers. Ima drop a 100 million offer on Manny, 50 mil on Lowe, 150 mil on CC, 75 mil on AJ...it's on son. We're rollin in it. I got c-notes hangin out my nostrils. I'm rich BITCH!"?
Get the fucka outta here with that bullshit. Why dont you complain about Rogers who actually decides how much money will be spent?
staggeringly unimpressive might be more accurate
A heartbreaking work of staggering ineptitude (and horrible PR) that would be a 2009 contender with Cole Hamels (2002 draft pick #17), Matt Cain (#25) or Scott Kazmir (#15), instead of @*&^%& Russ Adams (#14).
^all of whom were high school pitchers that were asking for over slot money during a time when ownership refused to spend. In fact, they still don't even pay over slot, regardless of the player.
Hey, I just post what the translator spits out. I agree, that line may have gone a touch too far, but what am I going to do? Tell the JPRBT 3000 how to do its job?
and that is how boston/New York are able to keep decent to excellent systems. (NY not so good lately). Whereas many other teams cannot pay over the slot value (or won't), NY and Boston do and thus higher tier prospects come to them. Money does a lot.
sp: not sure about you, but I would rather spend a bit more up front on a highly-regarded draft pick than dump an extra couple of million on an aging Pedro Martinez, Tomo Ohka, Victor Zambrano, Randy Johnson, or whoever the team currently has in its sights to patch up its 2009 rotation.
Just because the Jays weren't willing to go over slot in 2002 doesn't excuse them for getting beat by a bunch of other teams in the draft. If the other players were that much better, the Jays should have spent the extra $500K or $1M or $2M or whatever.
The point is that you need to make intelligent investments to win. If the Jays aren't willing to compete on draft talent, international talent, or free agent talent, why bother fielding a team at all?
God, I find this subject so boring. Fucking Rogers. Fucking JP. Fucking AL East. Fucking MLB, which prefers to look the other way. Every year, the same bullshit. I hate being a Ricciardi-era Blue Jays fan.
Well I agree that not going after high school guys on principle was a ridiculous philosophy. But no one knows what JP would've done in 2002 if he was allowed to go over slot.
Ben Fritz?
I hate being a Ricciardi-era Blue Jays fan.
Boo fucking hoo, you entitled prick. You long for the days when the Jays were the flashing the cash and outspending every other team in baseball. Those were the days.
If everyone goes over slot all the time, so long slotting system. Then it becomes another free-market shit show that the Yankees etc will pummel into oblivion.
They should give the slotting system some real teeth (fines) if they want anyone to abide by it.
I think they should do away with the slotting system altogether. But MLB does need to come up with some sort of system (salary cap or otherwise) to create some semblance of parity at the major-league level - or at least among AL East teams.
As for being entitled, I don't long for the days when the Jays were outspending everyone. I actually preferred the mid-80s teams. I just think that the current system is a bore. When the Yankees are willing to spend $250M/year, the Red Sox nearly $200M, and the Jays are debating whether to spend $90M or $100M, is there really any doubt which teams will prevail, 8 or 9 (if not 10) times out of 10?
The "storied" Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is basically just a spending arms race that only the truly entitled fans - those in Boston and New York - care deeply about. But those markets are so lucrative that major media like ESPN give them tons of coverage, perpetuating a myth that is more about money than merit.
"As for being entitled, I don't long for the days when the Jays were outspending everyone. I actually preferred the mid-80s teams. I just think that the current system is a bore."
In the end are we all not FANS?
You preferred the teams that didn't win the World Series? Sometimes I think we get caught up too much in all the technical stuff, most notably numbers. I've always been a Jays fan, but I'm not gonna bullshit and say my favourite teams were the ones in the 80s or any other one that didn't win.
My two favourite Jays teams were the 92 and 93 teams. And they really should be everybodys.
The mid-80s were when I became a fan, and there was a lot of raw excitement about those teams, starting in 1983. The WS teams were exciting too, but I liked the upstart status of the earlier versions.
In any case, I stand by my assertion that being a Ricciardi Jays fan sucks. The inflated expectations, endless spin, PR blunders, whining, lame draft strategy that prevailed for so long, and inability to execute a long-term strategy...I think Toronto fans have become so accustomed to mediocrity that they've stopped demanding the standard of performance that once reigned under Gillick and Beeston.
Fuck all the Jays shit. Debra aka Patricia Heaton has like 4 mother fucking kids. She is so fucking sexy I cannot describe it in words.
Its gonna be hard to fuck all this Jays shit here on this Jays blog.
Corey Patterson
I'd rather have AJ leave and watch his arm fall off this year playing for the Yanks under a huge contract. I know its sad.
absolutely, aj was great to have *this year* but I do not want him next year, especially at 15-18m. we all know aj has been injury-plagued, his best seasons have been walk years, and he threw the most pitches in the majors last year. it's been real, it's been fun, it's been real fun. thanks for the memories pete puma.
It aint easy bein a fuckin Jays fan. For fuck sakes.
World Baseball Classic tickets go on sale today...but you can't buy tickets to just one game you have to buy for all games.
I wish Bud had the balls to put an NBA like system in place, where there are pretty much set contracts for each draft slot; ie, the fourth pick makes a little more than the fifth and a little less than the third. That would level the playing field if they actually enforce it. Of course, that would piss off the players union and so it probably wouldn't happen. Although, the union might just screw over the young guys who aren't in the union yet.
Oh, and shitting on JP for not drafting Hamels, Kazmir, or Cain is ignorant and stupid.
Shit! We lost Kelvin Jiminez on waivers!!!!!!
Kelvin Jiminez = Kevin James???
Just trying to continue with the CBS sitcom thing
"Oh, and shitting on JP for not drafting Hamels, Kazmir, or Cain is ignorant and stupid."
Let me see...the Jays are a major-league baseball team. MLB teams participate in an amateur draft every year. They take turns choosing players using a preset order based on the previous year's standings. Each team, unless its GM is a total dumbass, tries to augment its organization by choosing the best (most promising, talented, skilled, hard-to-find, etc) player available when its turn comes up. Note: if the GM refuses to go over slot for one of several excellent pitchers, thereby avoiding having to pay an extra amount that will prove inconsequential in the long run, and instead chooses a light-hitting shortstop with a medium build who probably will have to switch to another position, he runs the risk of getting called a dumbass six years later.
Was it Ricciardi's choice not to go over slot? I don't have any evidence, but I don't believe at all that it was-- I think these are orders coming from higher up in the organization, primarily because of equalization payments.
And holy shit, yeah, Adams was a bad pick, but it's not like he went completely off the board for the guy-- lots of people thought he'd be a good major leaguer. And, generally, HS pitchers pose as big a risk as any type of player you can take in a draft, no?
I don't think it's at all off limits to criticize the Adams pick, but Manute Bol is a whole lot closer to having it right than the comment above this one. The Jays STILL haven't been able to develop a proper shortstop, and they've had some of the best pitching in the AL the last two years-- you're seriously going to shit on the guy for going for a SS and not a pitcher a draft seven years ago? Drafting with seven years of hindsight is pretty easy to do, but holy shit, it's an inexact science. Again, it's not off limits to criticize, but seriously, give the guy some fucking slack.
Yeah, I guess that was a bit extreme (perhaps prompted by the comment that any criticism of JP for choosing Adams is "ignorant and stupid").
JP did miss out on some great HS talent back in the college-only days, though.
On the plus side, it's true that JP managed to assemble a great pitching staff last year (whether it will remain a great staff is an open question). And he did gain back some street cred by drafting Snider (along with a few other savvy picks like Marcum, Arencibia, Cooper and Mills).
Fuck off Parkes
Also to be fair, in his last year of college, Russ Adams had an OPS of 1.031 with 45 stolen bases. He then managed .933 OPS in his first season at low A ball.
Point is, it wasn't an indefensible pick at the time. Who knows what happened between then and now?
I think it might be more a case of certain psychological filters that JP had at the time. He saw a scrappy, versatile white guy who could get on base, hit line drives (if not home runs), and stick at 2B, 3B, or maybe even LF if his SS skills turned out to be not quite good enough. According to Moneyball, Billy Beane liked Adams too (he ended up with Swisher, who I think Beane actually preferred).
Getting burned with the Adams picks probably helped JP become more open-minded in his drafting. Although to me "Chipper Jones clone" Kevin Ahrens looks like he might fall into the same category.
FWIW, these are the 11 players taken after Adams:
Scott Kazmir
NIck Swisher
Cole Hamels
Royce Ring
James Loney
Denard Span
Bobby Brownlie
Jeremy Guthrie
Jeff Francoeur
Joe Blanton
Matt Cain
Damn if that isn't a talented 11 (with one or two exceptions).
who is royce ring
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Baseball/article/538641
*sigh*
Sometimes, when i'm buying groceries, i'll become concerned about the cost of certain items. One time, I bought some PC mustard in lieu of French's. It was powdery and bland . . . it didn't have the same flavour as the French's. It was diluted with, most likely, some sort of flour or something. I should have shelled out the extra 20%. I've never made that mistake again. When it comes to condiments, you CAN'T settle.
PC mustard = Carlos Silva
French's = Jesse Litsch
Dijon = Roy Halladay
* Dijonaisse = Paul Byrd
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