JP Ricciardi Fired....

by ryanmoser on Oct 3, 2009 11:29 AM PDT

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4528183

TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays fired general manager J.P. Ricciardi on Saturday, ending an eight-year tenure marked by an inability to get past the Yankees and Red Sox and into the playoffs.

"This was a tough decision and a difficult one for me personally as I have enjoyed J.P.'s friendship and his perspective on the game," said Paul Beeston, Toronto's acting president and CEO.

"J.P. has put an incredible amount of effort into improving the team and he has brought along a number of great young players," Beeston said. "However, I feel that it is time for a change and accordingly we have decided to move on."

Tom Szczerbowski/US PresswireThe Blue Jays failed to make the playoffs in J.P. Ricciardi's eight years as GM.

Ricciardi, who joined the Jays in 2001, had one year left on his contract. The Blue Jays (75-85) are finishing off a mediocre season in Baltimore, with the team embroiled in locker-room unrest with manager Cito Gaston.

The Blue Jays said assistant general manager Alexander Anthopoulos will assume Ricciardi's duties until a permanent replacement is found.

Adam Dunn 1.....JP 0

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Somewhere Joe Morgan is celebrating

They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick

by mikev on Oct 3, 2009 11:33 AM PDT reply actions

Because now there's one fewer GM

with experience actually playing the game?

"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan

by iglew on Oct 3, 2009 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions

DEATH TO MONEYBALL

They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick

by mikev on Oct 3, 2009 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't understand

…why they didn’t wait until after tomorrow. Strange timing?

Losing this team would be a huge failure for this city and an affront to Oakland’s great sports legacy.

by skigurl on Oct 3, 2009 8:05 PM PDT reply actions

It's possible they were telling him early for whatever reason,

and he just decided not to wait until after the season to make it official. I kinda figure he knew he was on the way out anyway.

by LoneStranger on Oct 3, 2009 9:10 PM PDT up reply actions

I think it's so they can fire him while they're in Baltimore, so he doesn't have to face the Toronto press

and can just move on peacefully

by bobnothing on Oct 4, 2009 9:46 PM PDT up reply actions

Maybe Canada didn't want to let him back in?

In 2008 I was watching a team that was rebuilding. In 2009 I feel like I'm watching a team that just sucks.

by UncleLeo on Oct 4, 2009 11:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Also, not impossible

by bobnothing on Oct 5, 2009 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions

Perhaps had something to do with Towers being sacked a few hours before?

by DeJay on Oct 6, 2009 7:49 AM PDT up reply actions

probably had something to do with canadian payroll laws or something

by Benjamoats on Oct 3, 2009 11:37 PM PDT reply actions

I think Riccardi kinda fell into the spend spend spend mentality

A true Moneyballer would not have dropped that much money on a closer.

I'm the genius who said Chris Carter will slug .650 his rookie season.

by JamesCaprio on Oct 4, 2009 12:07 AM PDT reply actions

Or Vernon Wells.

He has had all of one “awesome” season, but ~~nothing~~ not much to even remotely warrant a huge contract beyond that.

"I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it" ~ Mae West

by Blicks on Oct 4, 2009 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions

Steroids

If you look at Wells’ stats, you’ll see a monster drop in power after the 2006 season. And he had two awesome seasons, not one (2003, 2006). I’m not sure Ricciardi can be blamed for trying to hold on to the most important player on the team.

Ricciardi, like the GMs in Tampa and Baltimore, had a far tougher road to the play-offs, vaulting over the Yankees and Bosox, two teams that have the financial reserves to make free agent mistakes. You have to put together a nearly perfect season (as the Rays did last year) to get into the post-season.

The Rios debacle probably wasn’t his fault. Hard to imagine he’d have just let the guy go, without compensation, if the suits hadn’t been involved.

Ownership of the Rays, Jays and Orioles has been silent on the fact that their teams stand only a very small chance, any given year, of getting to the post-season. Rather than blame their GMs, they should be looking at how the current economic situation screws their chances, and the hopes of their fans.

by richwol1 on Oct 4, 2009 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Doesn't mean PT's below comment is inaccurate, though.

by richwol1 on Oct 4, 2009 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm pretty sure the Jays owners have a lot of money

Afterall, Rogers owns most of Canada, by all accounts.

It’s just a matter of whether they chose to spend it on the team, or no

by bobnothing on Oct 4, 2009 9:47 PM PDT up reply actions

That was all ownership's doing

There are differing opinions on me. According to Iglew "DFA is PT with a sense of humor. PT is DFA with introspective self-doubt. I like them both" but according to sirbed Im "The Stats Killer"

by designatedforassignment on Oct 5, 2009 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions

You can't prove that.

They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick

by mikev on Oct 5, 2009 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions

I thought...

…it was pretty well established that ownership was responsible for the Wells contract and JP did not want to do it.

by rageon on Oct 6, 2009 6:49 AM PDT up reply actions

*Ricciardi

I'm the genius who said Chris Carter will slug .650 his rookie season.

by JamesCaprio on Oct 4, 2009 12:07 AM PDT reply actions

I always thought he was a bit smug

So this firing seems kinda fair to me, given 8 years with not even a sniff of contention.
DePo allegedly isn’t interested in the Padres job, so maybe he’ll have a crack at the Toronto one.

Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-

by Daniel777 on Oct 4, 2009 12:17 AM PDT reply actions

He had some degree of competency-- I mean, he wasn't Dayton Moore or Brian Sabean

but, ultimately, he was an ass.

Yes, yes, I know, takes one to know one, etc etc. I’ll just preempt those posts ahead of time.

Anyway, he always struck me as significantly the least sharp of the post-Moneyball GMs.

Linda's in the cold ground, won't see her anymore
Somewhere out on the highway tonight, the drunken engines roar
It's just one of those things, one of those things
-- Al Stewart, "Accident on 3rd St."
In memory of Nick Adenhart and all victims of drunk driving

by PaulThomas on Oct 4, 2009 12:13 PM PDT reply actions