Highlights of J.P. Ricciardi Conference Call

The Blue Jays conducted a post-trade deadline conference call this afternoon and here are some of the highlights of GM J.P. Ricciardi's comments.

It seems Scott Rolen asked to be traded for personal reasons and the Jays managed to accommodate him while at the same time making a decent deal that brings back, in addition to Edwin Encarnacion, earning $4.75 million next season in the final year of his contract, two good young arms. Righthander Josh Roenicke, 27, will report to the major-league team tomorrow, while righthander Zach Stewart, 22, will be assigned within the minor-league system. His future role as a starter or reliever will be determined.

Ricciardi indicated that he received calls from about 10 teams regarding Roy Halladay, but that only 2-3 seemed serious about meeting the Jays demands for one of the best pitchers in baseball. None of them blew him away with any "wow" factor.

He did not deny the possibility that a Halladay trade could be explored again in the off-season or that any team looking to trade for Doc might be allowed to negotiate an extension for the pitcher before the trade is finalized. That option, of course, would increase the value of the package the Jays might get back.

The Jays will pay the remainder of Rolen's salary for 2009.  

Jays' Rolen Dealt to Reds Pending his Approval

The Jays today traded third baseman Scott Rolen and his $11 million commitment for 2010 to the Reds for third bbaseman Edwin Encarnacion and two minor-league pitching prospects. The deal requires Rolen to waive his no-trade clause. It's likely the Jays will pick up the remainder of his salary for 2009. The deal was first reported by Jasyon Stark of ESPN.com.

Rolen has been the Jays' most consistent player this year, moving into the cleanup role after Vernon Wells and Adam Lind tried and failed. The key to the trade was the Jays getting the $11 million off the books for next year. They will be paying releaased closer B.J. Ryan $10 million for doing nothing and thois transaction gives them some wiggle room to sign a shortstop and catcher for next year since Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas are becoming free agents. 

The Jays' young pitching staff will really miss the often spectacular defence provided by Rolen at third base. Other than Halladay, Rolen was the most tradeable big-ticket item on the roster.     

Mail Bag

It’s beginning to look more and more like Roy Halladay, at 4:01 p.m. on Friday when the trade deadline passes, will still be a Blue Jay – and that’s not a bad thing.

I believe that Jays’ season-ticket holders (yes there still are such people) will be among the most thrilled when that moment arrives and Doc is still on board. I think that Rogers ownership was stunned at the passion that was generated among fans surrounding the bid to trade Halladay. And since Jays fans are also Rogers customers in wireless communications, cable, video rentals, etc. than they had to be concerned about doing the right thing.

Season ticket holders paid for their ticket package in good faith and want to see the product they were promised, which is a competitive team in ’09 and a contender in 2010.

If Halladay goes (and he still might) I believe the Jays’ rotation would lose its way without its compass (Doc) and the whole thing would spiral into 90-plus losses while the prospects they receive in return continue to develop away from the major-league Jays. People are tired of the idea of a 10-year rebuilding plan. Power to the people. On to the mail bag.

Q: Hello Richard,

I've never understood J.P. Ricciardi's drive to trade Roy Halladay this season. I mean the good Doctor still has a year and a half left on his contract. During the winter J.P. told anybody who would listen, including Ace, that 2010 would be the year, no doubt about it, with a healthy Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, and Casey Janssen we would compete with Yankees and Red Sox in the toughest division in baseball.

What I'm saying is, even if the Jays crash and burn the rest of the way, we still have the first half of 2010 to see what we've really got. It boggles my mind especially with the way Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil have been going this season as well. Why trade Halladay now? He'll be worth just as much at the next deadline.

Picture this, a rotation with Halladay, Cecil, Romero, Marcum and Jesse Litsch. 2010 could finally be the “year” that we've been promised since the first iteration of the five-year plan was initiated way back in 2001. What are your thoughts Richard?

Ray Young, Toronto

A: Actually it’s beginning to look as if Ricciardi is coming full circle with regard to the need to trade Halladay right here, right now. At least that’s what he’s telling some U.S. media. Perhaps the recent organizational retreat hosted by team president Paul Beeston was the turning point, but it now seems that 2010 once again is becoming a year that they want to contend.

The Jays certainly have enough candidates for a competitive rotation in ’10, even including Scott Richmond unless the “sophomore jinx” has a field day. Plus, if Travis Snider comes back in September this year and plays every day, he could be ready to do in 2010 what they expected him to do in 2009. And if they get a bounce-back of any kind from Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, who knows what’s possible. Nothing has changed from the optimism of last winter except the desire to save payroll.

Q: Richard,

What do you think of the recent rumour that the Jays are offering the Phillies Halladay for Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ and Dominic Brown? Apparently the Phillies are balking at the offer because of Drabek. Considering what the O's got for Erik Bedard, I think the offer should also include Jason Donald. Plus, Drabek isn't even their #1 pitching prospect (Carlos Carrasco). Thoughts?

Paul Miller, Waterloo, Ont.

A: The Phillies on Wednesday chose to go in another direction because of the Jays’ insistence on the inclusion of Drabek over Carrasco and Brown over another outfielder, Michael Taylor. Ricciardi made sure the Phils knew there was no wiggle room with regard to the three players the Jays wanted, bolstered by the fact that he knew he did not really need to deal Halladay right then. I agree with Ricciardi for setting his price and sticking to it and I agree with the Phillies for deciding they didn’t want to pay it and going in another direction with Cliff Lee.

I don’t think bringing the Bedard deal in for the sake of comparison in terms of what the Jays should get is fair. After all, the GM that pulled off that deal for the M’s was fired in large part because of that. I don’t think Ruben Amaro, Jr. and Pat Gillick of the Phils should be compared to Bill Bavasi of the M’s.

Q: I have read most of the questions in your latest mailbag and your replies, and strongly agree with everything I've read and the passion and thought in which they were delivered, so I won't belabour the point of a “Doc” trade any further.

My questions to you are: Do you sense any move afoot at this time by upper management to buy out J.P. from the last year of his contract (if you are at liberty to say, or don't if by doing so might create undue harm)?

Do you think that Major League Baseball, the real culprit in this unhappiness, has the guts, when the current deal with the player's association is up - and likely at the objection of Yankees and Red Sox - to fight for a real salary cap as with the other major league pro sports? The current one is a joke.

The two teams just mentioned have enough money in their kitty just from television alone to pay for those outrageously high salaries before their opening games of their season, and any penalty for exceeding the cap is a slap on the wrist. All the good players are gravitating to a few teams and this is now becoming more prevalent as salaries escalate. MLB is becoming an uneven playing field for the other teams while the Sox and Yankees fill their parks.

Ted Herman, Toronto

A: As for the status of Ricciardi, I don’t believe that he will continue on into the 2010 season as Jays’ GM. It won’t be a buyout by the Jays as much as it will be a failure to reach agreement on an extension into the future. Without that extension, they will mutually agree to part ways. I could be wrong. I have been wrong before on many things, but you asked the question and that’s my opinion.

As for the question of a salary cap in the future, there is no way. The players’ association is proud of the fact that theirs is the only major sport without a cap. It’s an issue that would cause another strike or lockout if ownership included it in the next negotiation. Baseball is proud of the fact that it has had eight different champions in the past nine years and that only a handful of teams have failed to reach the eight-out-of-30 post-season in that span – and yes the Jays are one of those teams.

It’s a huge generalization to say that “all the good players are gravitating to a few teams.” There are dozens of star players still with their original teams, but it is true that after six seasons when they are eligible for free agency that the same teams are always in the mix for their services. They don’t always end up with those players, but they do drive the price up for teams to keep their stars. Which is another reason why the players’ association likes things the way they are. Since 1996, the Yanks have won four World Series and the Red Sox have won two. That’s six of 13, but on the other hand, the small market, small budget Florida Marlins have also won twice.

Q: Richard,

I would like to comment on the Toronto Blue Jays' low attendance this year. The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Devil Rays have had low average attendance figures over the years as well. This is the heavy price these three teams pay when you're in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees. It is time these three teams got together and told MLB they no longer want to be in the same division as these two big spenders. Expand the playoffs. Do away with the current divisions or ask to move to another division. (i.e. the Jays should switch divisions with the NY Mets. Let them deal with the Red Sox and Yankees). As a Jays fan I am tired of seeing the Red Sox and Yankees battle every year. Enough is enough. Give some other teams a chance to win.

Thanks,

Rob Ralph, Hamilton

A: Actually the biggest crowds that the Jays, O’s and Rays draw are when either the Red Sox or Yankees are in town. The smallest crowds are when the AL Central visits. From a business sense, why would you want to slide over into a division that draws flies rather than one that rocks the house? This is more about front office and management.

For years, playing in the same division, the Orioles were contenders and a playoff team. The Rays proved last year with smart, aggressive management that you can build a contender via trades and the draft. Yes, I would expand the post-season by one more wild-card team in each league because the inter-league factor is not fair to some AL divisions that take advantage of play vs. weak NL divisions to rack up non-league victories that are tough for other teams to overcome. A second wild-card would increase interest through September in more cities.

Q: The shame of this whole Halladay saga is that he is now finally getting true recognition publicly across North America as the best pitcher in baseball. I find it incredible that day by day, J.P. Ricciardi has gone from “we're just going to listen to offers, that's all” to “teams have the ability to make a trade if they want him, they just have to give up a lot.” I'm not sure when Toronto will next have the best pitcher in the game, but as a fan, it will be extremely tough to see Halladay pitch in another uniform. Especially tougher because of his tireless work effort, and what he means to this city.

My question for you is this. Is it possible that there was already an agreement in place between Halladay and the Jays brass that if things went sour quickly the team would look to explore to trade him? I'm only asking because Halladay mentioned several times that Ricciardi has always been “extremely honest with him” (I believe even his wife mentioned the same thing) and in his mind he did not seem surprised and actually resigned to the fact that his long term future won't be in Toronto. As much as we all blast Ricciardi for his poor timing of making the trade comments a few weeks back, perhaps those were comments based on a foregone conclusion that Halladay and the team had already decided to part ways.

Zaki Ameen, Mississauga

A: In all my time in baseball, since 1973, I have never seen such a public 24-day feeding frenzy as has surrounded Halladay. Certainly there are now more 24-hour sports news on websites and on all-sports television with a need for new nuggets of information and speculation with new names, new teams and media competing for the juiciest rumours. But it has been crazy.

Much of the distraction for Halladay and his family could have been avoided with a little more discretion from the Jays’ general manager whose stance of no comment seems to stop at the 49th parallel heading south.

You are right about Doc receiving the recognition he deserves as one of the best pitchers in the game. He would still be pitching in relative obscurity and when he does finally reach free agency, his price has gone up just from the notoriety of the past few weeks. Nevertheless I’m sure he would rather have done without it.

I don’t think that originally there was an agreement in place that if things went sour that they would explore a trade because Halladay has always seemed to be reacting to circumstances rather than guiding them. After the Jays were unable to come through with their promise to make the post-season in 2008 and with the payroll being cut back from $95 million to $80 million, I am sure that when Ricciardi came to him and asked him if he would waive his no-trade to certain teams that the failure to launch by the Jays in recent years made his answer easy.

Q: I was just looking up the stats on MLB.com and noticed that Adam Lind is second in extra base hits in the major leagues with 54 (21 homers, 33 doubles and 0 triples). Of course the impossible to pitch to Albert Pujols has 56. Just think Lind deserves a shout out for his play this year. Great to see him get a shot and deliver when given a chance. It's nice to see guys like Lind, Marco Scutaro and Aaron Hill step up. The frustrating part is the struggles of two of the Jays top players, Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, if those two played to their potential or past and lived up the their contracts I think we'd see the Yanks and Sox looking up at the Jays in the standings!

P.S. Love Halladay, can't believe J.P. is trying to make him the villain. Embarrassing for the organization. All Halladay has ever done is bleed blue and this is the treatment he gets.

Brad Bakker, Kitchener, Ont.

A: Lind does deserve a shout out. His renaissance is one of the great successes of Cito Gaston’s managerial tenure. Recall that under John Gibbons in 2008, Lind was brought up and told he was the everyday left fielder. After going 1-for-19 he was all of a sudden no longer the everyday left fielder and was summarily shipped back to the minors where he was still buried when Gaston took over from Gibby. He was brought back up and nurtured and stroked by Cito and Gene Tenace and Dwayne Murphy and the result is one of the fine young power hitters in the AL.

It’s strange – not that I agree with you – but the Wells situation in particular to me is the key to the season. If Vernon had Torii Hunter type offensive numbers – which is what they expected – then this team would be in a far better position, even with Rios being Rios. Hunter is what they should have reasonably expected Wells to be. Instead, he fields like Torii Hunter and hits like Tori Spelling.

Q: Hi Richard...the team's 10-9 loss to the Rays killed me. But not the way you think. Teams make big time comebacks in sports all the time. What destroyed me was the TV view of the Jays dugout with the bases loaded and a chance to win it in the ninth. I expected the boys to be on the steps of the dugout pumping up the guys at bat. But no, nothing, nobody off the bench, heads down, no emotion, no nothing. I was shocked! Please don't give me the ‘don't get too up or down in the 162 game schedule’ excuse, or the Halladay debacle. In fact, with everything swirling around the Jays right now, it is the time for someone, anyone to show leadership and take this team by the throat. Do you see anybody on this team putting themselves on the line and becoming ‘the face’ of the franchise? Without this they will never, ever get to the next level.

Thanks!

Terry Fallat, Espanola Ont.

A: I know what you mean. I have the baseball package on TV at home and I’m amazed whenever I see the Yankees dugout in the middle of a late-inning rally. Derek Jeter and A-Rod are always standing at the rail fist pumping for every hit. Jorge Posada is up and down the dugout with Melky Cabrera and other pinstripers pounding backs and cheering for teammates. It may be a reflection of the manager because Joe Girardi is like that and Cito Gaston is not. However the Yankees were doing the same things under Joe Torre who is Mr. Laid Back. The common denominator is Jeter who is really a good captain. As for the Jays, in a couple of years Aaron Hill has a chance to be the dugout influence but for now he is still trying to establish himself after missing most of last year. Wells has never been that guy and never will be. Adam Lind and Rios won’t be either.

Q: I was at the Rogers Centre for the Cleveland series and noticed that Brett Cecil made a huge adjustment throwing curveballs to right-handed hitters who were pounding his fastball? I thought Cito Gaston was actually calling the game, but noticed that Rod Barajas actually was calling the pitches without looking into the dugout. I haven't noticed this aspect of the game from watching on TV, but has Barajas been calling the pitch selection all year? I thought it was an astute move to go from a mainly fastball repertoire to throwing more breaking stuff early in the count from the fifth to the seventh inning.

Jason Sinnarajah, Sydney, Australia

A: Cito is not the biggest fan of pitchers or the art of pitching. He was a hitter after all. The man that prepares his pitchers for battle is Jays’ pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. Prior to every game, he and Barajas sit down with that day’s starter and go over every detail of the opposing lineup. They decide how they want to pitch every hitter in every situation. They decide who they don’t want to beat them with the game on the line. They decide that this is the day for Cecil to go with more curve balls to right-handed hitters after something else may not have been working the start before. If a team is prepared properly from watching video and from personal history against opposition hitters then a catcher will never have to look into the dugout for pitch selection. They may look into the dugout more for controlling the running game than pitch selection.

Q: We fans are not privy to what goes on in the clubhouse or the front office. But what, really, is wrong with Wells, the $18 million would-be superstar-turned-dud? Why does Gaston insist on keeping him in the middle of the batting order when he should be at the bottom? What has happened to him? Has he soured on the game? Is he unhappy in Toronto? From glimpses of him on TV, he looks like he's just going through the motions. The same questions could be asked of Rios, another would-be superstar-turned-dud. Both of these guys look like they're desperate to get out of town on the fastest plane. Thanks. Love your blog.

Bill MacDougall, Toronto

A: Wells isn’t thrilled with the fan booing he receives at the Rogers Centre, but he has the solution to stop the abuse. Just hit the damn ball. Like I said in response to an earlier question, this guy should be the Jays’ equivalent of Torii Hunter. He is pressing all the time swinging at the wrong pitches – especially with runners in scoring position, especially on first pitch. And if you swing at first pitch you had better hit the ball hard because it’s your best opportunity to zero-in on a certain pitch in a certain location. Instead he gets himself out constantly with the game on the line. That’s what makes him look miserable, not the fact of being in Toronto.

Click here to send Richard a question, and he'll answer a selection in his mailbag Wednesdays in this space. **Note: please follow the link above to send a question to Richard. Questions posted in the comments section may not make it to the mailbag. Thanks.**

Jays and Phils won't be Dance Partners for Halladay

The Phils have seemingly stepped off the dance floor as far as acquiring Roy Halladay is concerned, at least until he becomes a free agent following the 2010 season. The Phils changed direction as far as the object of their affections was concerned as talks with the Jays broke down. They have tentatively acquired lefthander Cliff Lee, last year's Cy Young Award winner from the Indians with outfielder Ben Francisco for pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp; catcher Lou Marson and shortstop Jason Donald. The key was Knapp, a highly touted 19-year-old righthander selected in June 2008. The Phils had been looking for a righthanded bat off the bench to complement lefty swinger Matt Stairs.

Coincidentally none of the three Phils' prospects that the Jays were reportedly asking for were included in the Lee deal. The Jays were said to be asking for lefthander J.A. Happ, righthander Kyle Drabek and outfielder Dominic Brown, which prompted Jays' manager Cito Gaston this afternoon to half-jokingly suggest that maybe the Phils are still interested in Halladay. "That would be a pretty good rotation," Gaston said of Lee, Halladay and Cole Hamels at the top, with Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer at 4-5. Not bad at all.

A bunch of Jays players are using the off-day tomorrow to play some golf in Carmel down the coast from San Francisco. No surprise but the organization has asked Halladay not to be one of those players. There was a distinct favourable reaction that was palpable in the Jays' clubhouse when it was learned that the Phillies landed Lee instead of Halladay. Not even his teammates want to see him go.

Deadline Musings on a Cocktail Napkin

*I am stealing the title of this blog posting from the late great Nick Auf der Mar, Montreal politician, journalist and bon vivant who wrote a page three city column for the Montreal Gazette for a while and obtained some of his best info while seated at the bar at Winnie's on Crescent Street. People knew where to find him. Even though I am not at Winnie's I am seated in the press box at Safeco Field with Larry Stone of the Seattle Times and two other local guys at the far end. The only thing missing is the cocktails. There's nothing like the calm of a major-league stadium with nobody in the stands, guys mowing the grass with silent mowers, others cleaning the stands from the night before. Hey is that Scott Downs on top of the dugout with a mop? Just the peacefulness and tranquility. Sweet! Of course this is coming from a guy that when on an airplane that is landing is looking out the window for ball fields instead of landmarks and every day at 7:14 a.m. and p.m., if he sees a digital clock, immediately thinks of Babe Ruth. How many dingers did Barry Bonds end up with again?

*Well, what a sap I am. I honestly believed that the Jays were thinking about the well-being of Roy Halladay when GM J.P. Ricciardi announced his soft deadline of July 28, which of course was yesterday. I believed that it was the classy thing to do, letting Halladay go out to the mound this afternoon unencumbered by trade rumours, able to compete with a tough M's lineup with no nagging thought that this may indeed be his last hurrah in a Jays uniform. It turns out the "soft" in the Jays deadline was describing the heads, the brains of those that believed this Jays management would ever put a player's feelings ahead of the final goal -- of which the Jays are never certain anyway.

*It seems like some GMs love to play the media like a four-string banjo. Of course the great thing about the banjo, as comedian Steve Martin so ably describes it, is that it's the happiest instrument in the world. Nobody has ever had their funeral song played on the banjo. While Ricciardi amps up the pressure on other GMs to make a deal by floating Halladay's name and saying he wants to be a free agent after the 2010 season, the Red Sox' Theo Epstein has mastered the art of making ordinary players look good and good players look untouchable. See Clay Buchholz. He's a good pitcher and would look good as part of a package for Doc, but at first Theo said he was untouchable. Nobody can have him. Don't even think about it. Then when all the offers were in on the day of the Jays' soft deadline, the Sox change their mind and include Buchholz front and centre in the package making it look like they're caving. Some GMs are even rumoured to exchange inside information for mowing their lawns in suburban Boston.

*This just in. The M's have acquired shortstop Jack Wilson and righthander Ian Snell from the Pirates for shortstop Ronny Cedeno, catcher Jeff Clement and three minor league pitchers, none of whom are rated by Baseball America in the M's organization's Top 25. I guess those two Asian cricketers they signed last winter weren't working out for the Buccos.

*In any case, the Jays' clubhouse is about to open and I'm going down to see if Doc is still there. If this is his last start in a Jays' uniform, he has already established himself as the top player-slash-human being I have covered with the Jays.

R-Griff              

Note to Mailbag readers:

Because of the Halladay situation, the Mailbag will be published on Thursday this week.

Jays Begin P.R. Campaign against Halladay

When asked by the FAN's Mike Wilner on today's pre-game show what had changed in terms of their first thought of using 2009 as a bridge to being a contender in 2010 and now wanting to trade Roy Halladay as soon as possible, GM J.P. Ricciardi said:

"What changed is that Roy told us he was going to test the free-agent market."

The first salvo has been fired in the battle to sully Halladay's image as a loyal soldier.

What is wrong with what Halladay said? His contract is over after 2010. He has the right to test the free-agent market.

The only way Halladay was going to stay with the Jays is to give them a huge hometown discount. The Jays would have had to earn that respect by first showing Halladay that they were legitimate contenders for a World Series ring. Otherwise, with financial security already established for his family and with winning being what he wants now he has every right to test free agency.

Ricciardi promised Halladay the Jays would contend in 2008. That's why Doc extended the last time and took less money that '08 year so the Jays would have extra payroll for the necessary pieces to win. It didn't happen. It wasn't going to happen, so Halladay is set to test free agency.

Halladay watched the whole A.J. Burnett saga unfold, with Burnett never being offered an actual dollar figure by the Jays right up until the very moment he signed with the Yankees. The Jays said they had the money to keep Burnett, but never actually pulled it out of their pocket and when Burnett signed for a huge deal that the Jays would never have been able to match, he was made to look like an ungrateful, total mercenary.

Halladay will make more from some team than Burnett. The Jays will never have been able to match a Halladay offer if they could not ante up for Burnett. The campaign is now on to make Doc the bad guy as he is traded before his contract expires.

The fact is nothing but semantics has changed from what they originally said about contending in 2010, except maybe the Jays themselves don't believe it anymore. Now their fans don't either.  

Dustin McGowan: Can you have season-ending surgery -- twice?

This morning in the course of his daily briefing, Jays' manager Cito Gaston casually mentioned knee surgery to starting pitcher Dustin McGowan. There was a pause in the conversation.

The club had never announced that the already injured right-hander blew his left knee out working out in Dunedin and that July 9 surgery had been performed by Dr. Steve Mirabello.

Double jeopardy for the hard-luck McGowan. He had already been pronounced out for the season because of a slow bounceback from debridement surgery performed last July 31, so one assumes the club just didn't think it important for fans to know.

"He just blew his knee out running. It's not a setback," GM J.P. Ricciardi opined, sounding for all the world like the "dangerous-toy" president, a character on Saturday Night Live in the '80s. "Six weeks on his knee it's going to set him back."

Who's his personal trainer? Jeff Gilhooly?

"He's like John Travolta's Bubble Boy. He just can't stay healthy," Ricciardi said.

McGowan, after originally being expected to come back some time in June, had long ago been written off as a possibility for pitching any time in 2009. The best-case scenario is that he will be able to participate in some capacity at spring training next year.

Mail bag

It amazes me the amount of goodwill that Roy Halladay has built up over his time with the Jays. A couple of letters in the mailbag this week are eloquent, passionate tributes to Doc that need little in the way of response. It's nice to see an athlete that has consistently been able to maintain his class and dignity throughout a career in the city that signed him to his first contract. It will be sad to see him go. On to the mailbag.

Q: Good morning Richard,

This isn't really a question. It's more of an observation that I wanted to share. I have watched Roy Halladay since the first year he came up with the Jays. He would be about the same age as the boys I used to coach in Whitby about 30 years ago. I coached at the "rep" level in Minor Ball for 10 years so I seem to get a little more involved personally with these boys. I have become so impressed with his humility, dedication and skill.

I think back to few years ago when he slipped all the way down to "A" ball and Mel Queen changed his arm angle. And just look at him now! Here is a young man that worked his way, or was thrown into the world for professional sports, with its greed and selfishness and it didn't change him one bit. Roy and his wife are truly good people and I would be proud to know them. If and when he is traded, he will be sorely missed. Not just because he is a superstar but because the City of Toronto will have lost two of its nicest people to another city. Scott Rolen said it best ... Roy Halladay is special.

E/S. Thanks Mel Queen

Jim Gosleigh, Newcastle

A: Thanks for the thoughts on Roy. It's sometimes tough to understand the Jays' philosophy. It's like you have three luxury cars in your garage – call them Doc, Vernon and Rios. Two are clunkers and one is running like a dream. Economic times are tough so you can only afford to hang onto two of them, so you keep the two clunkers and sell the dream car because that's the only one that has maintained its value.

Q: Hello Mr. Griffin,

Why does this BJ management (which must reflect their owner) see Toronto as second class? They relied on the excuse of the CAN/US exchange rate for years, but not a peep now when exchange rate is even. We have the surrounding population base combined with the added bonus of being Canada's only team. TO was seen as a Big Spender in the NHL pre-cap days of a couple of years ago as well as in our World Series years. We've passionately supported a farce of a hockey team for 40+ yrs, and when we had passionate ownership of the BJ's, we were devoted to them as well. They won't even sign the best pitcher in baseball, a pitcher developed in their own system! Look at the reception Roy got at the All-Star Game and you see how rare it is to get a person/pitcher like Mr. Halladay. Gillick-minded GMs dream of building a franchise around that kind of class and ability. You know what? It is not about the money to keep Mr. Halladay. JP will wildly & recklessly spend money (Thomas/Ryan/Rios/Wells). The worst was Shannon Stewart & Reed Johnson. Throw money away only to spend more money for a less capable player. If Rios & Wells had only a portion of Reed's ‘dirt-bag' mentality, we could have buried the AL East by July 1st. It's about perception. Everyone talks about Tampa, but it kills me to say the real model is Boston. Winning/competing every year with home-grown talent all over Fenway. This gives them a poor draft position every year, but their minors are still well-stocked with prospects. They perceive themselves as winners and act accordingly. Their fans see that kind of commitment and they act accordingly. JP & the BJ owners see Toronto as second-class and they act accordingly. And as a 1977 opening-day fan, I act accordingly and weep at the thought of losing Roy.

Craig Hicken, Br. Virgin Islands

A: A lot of passion in this week's mailbag.

Q: Richard,

Your position on Halladay makes no sense. There is no way we'd be able to get as big a return in the off-season (when there are more options, less certainty among contenders, and Halladay's contract means you're only buying one title shot instead of two) as we would get now. And you haven't put forward a single compelling reason why the Jays should wait. You mention that Ricciardi has never gotten top dollar for a star at the deadline, but how many times has he tried to trade a star at the deadline? I count zero. In the meantime, any Jays higher ups looking to move on from Ricciardi would no doubt rather have him tagged with selling the franchise player than their new golden boy GM. I'd rather keep Roy long term, but if it ain't gonna happen, now is the time to make a deal. Waiting to the off-season makes no sense. It would not even be the "classy thing" to do, because in addition to all the deadline lead up, you'd then have 4 months of Halladay getting questions about if/where he'll be moved in the off-season.

Mark Acheson, London

A: I still maintain that the best time for the Jays as an organization to deal Halladay is in the upcoming off-season. History is nice to study and you can learn from it, but every case should be judged on its own. For every Johan Santana deal there's an Erik Bedard. This general manager will not be offered an extension beyond 2010 making his continued presence for the final year of his contract very iffy. Is he the man they want to make the best deal for this organization, especially if they're moving forward without him? The Jays want a ready-for-prime-time starting pitcher as part of the return package. Contenders at mid-season mostly want to send prospects. And just because Ricciardi has never made a mid-season deal for one of his stars does not mean he has not tried. He had a mid-season chance with Carlos Delgado and couldn't get the right deal. Explain to me what has changed for the Jays from the moment when they were waiting with great anticipation to all their pitching being healthy in 2010 so they could take a serious run at the playoffs to now. Actually, the best time to have made the Halladay deal would have been last winter. That would have given the acquiring team two shots at a World Series, but they needed him to sell tickets – and now with nothing changed they're ready to dump the rest of his contract. As for four months of questions, once Halladay gets home in the off-season, he's a hermit. The trade talk would not affect him.

Q: Richard would you not agree, given the many examples over the years, that it is better to let go of a high-priced pending free-agent and restock other positions, than to tie up big money for years to come? Too many GMs get caught up in paying for what has already been instead of what they will get. It is a team game and one Halladay will not win anything of significance for the Blue Jays other than a Cy Young. Would you trade him for three young players who can step in to your line-up almost immediately?

Brian Campbell, Toronto

A: I agree with you about the mistake of paying for the past. Too many GMs do that when a player is starting his downhill slide. The only time it is fair to pay for the past is when a player's entire past and all of his huge contributions have been for your team – as is the case with Halladay and the Jays. He should be worth more to the Jays than any other team. I also agree with you about the need to sometimes use a major asset to re-stock other areas around the diamond. I agree that the Jays in theory that they can do that using Halladay to get some needed pieces. The deed will be done and Doc will be gone at some point before opening day next year. I disagree with the way the Jays have handled Halladay, first as he was being extended a few years ago telling him they would compete in 2008 and failing. Then telling him this past winter that they would compete in 2010, then trading him just as other pitchers are showing their potential. I don't agree with telling the media of his availability just before he goes to the All-Star Game spoiling what should have been a crowning moment of his career. The Jays didn't even send a public relations person to St. Louis to help Halladay navigate his way through the media assault. The GM even stayed home. Where's the respect and appreciation?

Q: Richard,

Even before the season started, the Jays brass stated that the '09 season was a bridge to the 2010 season. What has happened with that commitment? If that outlook was being followed now, wouldn't the Jays be looking to acquire a bat at the trading deadline for next season, or wait until the off-season where there will be a lot of solid bats available? Why has the organization changed their stance?

Always a pleasure,

Scott Cochrane, Niagara-on-the-Lake

A: It's a case of round up the usual suspects. Blame it on the economy, the fans, the Canadian dollar. It seems the off-season Jays' promise of '09 leading to '10 was the Canadian equivalent of Sarah Palin and the Bridge to Nowhere. It's hard to put your finger on when that Jays' commitment to 2010 dissipated, but it did. If anything they have discovered more starting pitching options than even they had anticipated. But when they lost A.J. Burnett to free agency and only got a sandwich draft pick and the Yankees third round selection, it wasn't exactly the bonanza they had anticipated. They didn't want to get fooled again with a Halladay free-agency situation.

Q: Why have the Jays only signed one of their Top 10 Draft Picks? Is there any word on when they are going to sign any of these top picks or have the players already responded negatively to the team. JP should be making this a priority since his trading skills are not the best, we better have some kids coming up that we can count on, like Hill, Lind and all the pitchers we have seen the last two years!

Richard Knabenschuh, Welland

A: Speaking to a scout for another team, he was somewhat surprised at a couple of high school pitchers the Jays drafted because they were likely college bound in September. The deadline for having your drafted players signed is August 17. After that they go back into the pool for next year. So far J.P. hasn't moved that one up to August 14, but it's early. Overall, speaking with one Jays' executive, there is a waiting game being played by both agents and by teams, waiting for some of the big names to sign and set the market. The Jays have signed five of the top 14 picks, but so far none of the top five. They are waiting, as are other teams, to see what others are going to do in terms of sticking with MLB's strategy of controlling the range of payments to top draft picks. Someone will overpay and then there will be a rush to sign the rest of them.

Q: Hello Richard.

Here's a rare question that doesn't involve Roy Halladay.

I enjoy following the Jays' farm teams and this season these teams seem to be doing poorly, with pretty well all of them below .500 and in some cases well below .500. I also notice that most of the guys considered the organization's top position player prospects (e.g., J.P Arencibia, David Cooper, Kevin Ahrens) are having poor offensive seasons and that there seems to be little power at any level. For a team that must draft and develop players well to be competitive, one would think this has to be a concern. Or should it just be seen as a one-year blip?

Ron Ellsworth, Kingston, Ont.

A: Heading into Tuesday's games, the Jays' six-team farm system was a combined 189-236. There are two ways of running a farm system. The priority can be to win at the top levels or to develop individual players all the way up and down through the organization. The Jays have always seemed to be more concerned with development than winning. That being said, as you point out, many of their prized prospects have not had good seasons in 2009. Arencibia has batted .244 with a .295 on-base mark at Vegas. Scott Campbell is at .241 with a .731 OPS at New Hampshire. Cooper has a .697 OPS. Brad Emaus is at .248, .698 OPS at AA. Brian Jeroloman is hitting .228. Ahrens .211, Justin Jackson .218, Balbino Fuenmayor at A-Lansing has four walks and 78 strikeouts in 261 at-bats. There's a lot of developing left for many of those guys before they can help.

Q: Hi Richard,

Last week you mentioned that Paul Beeston knows who he wants to hire as the Blue Jays' new president/ceo; and that it's already a foregone conclusion that it will be a Canadian with "business" expertise rather than "baseball" expertise. Is that because Beeston is determined to keep the baseball operations "in the family," that is to retain the troika of Cito, Anthopoulos and LaCava; and hiring a so-call "baseball" president like Sandy Alderson or Stan Kasten might not work because neither might not want to accept Beeston's insistance on the troika remaining? Or is the decision to hire a "business" president something that the Rogers corporate elites are insisting on? As always, a sincere thanks for your mail bag and blog. I don't know what us Blue Jays fans would do without either. You are the best!

Ben Prestianni, Newark, Delaware

A: The Beeston assertion that the next president will be a businessman more than a sportsman is not uncommon with major-league teams. The reason that he gave for that desire back earlier in the season is that a big part of the next prez's job will be in maximizing profits from the Rogers Centre itself, including the Bills' games and concerts. Baseball decisions are best left to baseball people with a feel for the city and a respect for Canadian baseball fans. And thanks for the compliments.

Click here to send Richard a question, and he'll answer a selection in his mailbag Wednesdays in this space.

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Mail bag

Nowhere in North America is baseball treated with as much reverence as it is in St. Louis. Before the game Tuesday night, baseball clearly demonstrated what it means to the fabric of America with an emotional ceremony honouring 30 ordinary all-stars -- men and women who volunteer their lives to help others. The ceremony was accompanied by a moving video narrated by the five living presidents. The ceremony ended with the baseball all-stars from both teams mingling with the ordinary all-stars for the singing of the National Anthems.

“No matter what one thinks politically, right or left or whatever, this is a big thing,” Commissioner Bud Selig had said earlier in the day. He was right.

For the first pitch, a smiling Obama trotted onto the field in a White Sox jacket, waving to the crowd, before lobbing a left-handed changeup to hometown hero Albert Pujols. There were boos among the cheers, but more for the choice of attire by the president. Obama is a former senator from Illinois and life-long Sox fan.

It was a great night for Aaron Hill.

Now, on to the mailbag.

Q: Hi Richard, I have just one question: Whatever the hell happened to “we're one year away”??!!

Cheers,

David McCabe, Ottawa

A: The worst thing that happened to the Jays in the J.P. Ricciardi years is the mirage of 86 wins in 2003, his second season at the helm. It was good for the fans but promised too much, too soon. All of a sudden, that blip of a season changed his thought process and made him and the organization believe “the future is now”. It made him look like a genius for installing Carlos Tosca as manager and for competing with the big boys on a budget after just two seasons. “Just a couple of more pieces and we can win it all,” was the mantra. Instead of patience and building through the farm, they went for it and won a mere 67 games in 2004. Back to square one. Don’t forget, in ’03, Halladay won 22 games and the Cy Young, while Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells made like Ruth and Gehrig with a combined 75 home runs and 262 RBIs. Don’t forget Josh Towers at 8-1. After the smoke of ’03 cleared and the mirrors fogged up, the first “one-year plan” became a long-term rebuilding with John Gibbons at the wheel. There was an original plan to win by 2006, don’t let anyone try and rewrite history. We know, after that, there was a plan to win in 2008, but now they’re just so two-thousand-and-late. Then A.J. left and injuries happened and Doc is on his way out the door, so there’s no longer any plan at all.

Q: Richard,

It’s really disingenious of you to say that the timing of this Doc stuff is "thoughtless". You’re the one who was pushing all winter for the Jays to trade him. If I recall correctly, you mentioned that they "owed" it to him to trade him to a contender. I don't want them to trade him unless he wants it but we aren't privy to any behind the scenes discussions between Doc and JP and if Doc okayed the idea of him being shopped, then all JP's done by going public this week is to create a market which is the smart thing to do. Enough of trying to get your pound of flesh from JP. This week has been disheartening enough for Jays’ fans, your silliness just makes it all the more depressing.

Jays Fan, Toronto

A: The meaning of “thoughtless” in this case was to say that having the info leaked from the organization at that moment in early July just as Halladay was about to be named to the All-Star Game as the starting pitcher took away from his personal moment and put all the focus of the three days in St. Louis on his possibly being traded instead of his being allowed to celebrate the culmination of Doc being Doc. The organization was being thoughtless and selfish. As for pushing all winter for him to be traded to a contender, yes I did. But once again, the Jays needed his presence to sell tickets so they held onto him until they fell out of the race and now they act surprised that they are in this position with huge back-end loaded contracts staring them in the face down the immediate road. Now that’s disingenuous. After convincing their players and their fansd they could contend in 2009 and after a jackrabbit start out of the gate, finally coming back down to earth when the schedule got tougher, they pin it on Doc and say, “Hey we can’t win with him, so let’s rebuild.” That is manipulating the facts.

Q: I am the biggest Roy Halladay fan in the city. I have a signed jersey of his hanging above my desk at work. However, I have to say that the time is now to trade him, as much as I'd hate to see him go. The Jays need to take a page from the Marlins and D-Rays, and accept the fact that the fans will be upset, but have the bigger picture in mind.

The team has made it clear that they will not contend this year, and there's no reason to think they'll contend next year. They are not "one free agent signing" away. They need to stockpile youth, like they are doing now. Trading Halladay will get a stud young pitcher, a legitimate everyday player and more prospects. It is the right thing to do - with the young arms they have, and talented prospects, they will really build a solid nucleus for years to come. Ignore the fan’s reaction and do the right thing.

Jeff G, Toronto

A: I am a Roy Halladay fan too, but the real time to trade him for his sake was last winter, although the Jays’ brass may have looked and seen the strong crop of free agent pitchers out there in CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, etc. and realized that the richest teams, the same ones that would be after Halladay, were busy trying to spend their money on free agents. So they could make the deal for Doc now or wait until the end of the season, when this year’s free-agent starter crop is thinner. In listening to Halladay speak for the past week, it seems he is resigned to the fact of leaving and if such is the case, then it indeed may be the right thing for Roy. But it only becomes the right thing for the fans if the person making the deal is on top of his game. Of that we’re not sure.

Q: Hi Richard It appears that this is a watershed time for the Jays -- new ownership, interim president, lame duck GM and an ace and face of the franchise possibly on the move. Do you think Beeston becoming the permanent president or the naming of a new president (maybe Stan Kasten) could stabilize this franchise?

Kevin Layman, St. John's

A: The next president will be Canadian and Kasten is not. I doubt sincerely that Beeston will stay on past the end of the World Series. He already knows who he wants to replace him but this is also a bad time for a transition at the top as the team spirals downward through the standings. The franchise will be stabilized when Ricciardi asks for an extension and is denied and whenever the Halladay deal is completed, now or in the off-season, and when the new president comes in and lowers payroll. Stability, thy name if mediocrity.

Q: Hi Richard, I'm just wondering where Paul Beeston stands in this mess I'm calling 'The Roy Halladay Situation'. I'm all for scapegoating our uncultured and idiotic general manager, but isn't Beeston running the ship - at least temporarily - over there? Shouldn't he be taking interview requests, as opposed to ducking them?

Marc Losier, Toronto

A: Beeston is in the business of just handing out more rope to his GM. He has already proven that he is intent on hanging himself. When Beeston approved Ricciardi’s request to field offers for Halladay he didn’t intend for it to become a public circus. So, now there is no reason for him to step in and ratchet the situation down. He has already told Ricciardi to quit talking about it and Halladay said after the ASG that he is not going to talk about it for a while. There are those that believe itr was all a shrewd, well-planned ploy on the part of Ricciardi. Let the info leak and go public, forcing other GMs to feel pressure from their fan-base to get the best pitcher in the game. They believe that if all contending teams know they need to make their best offer that the package the Jays receive will be at its strongest. All of that could have been done through the GM grapevine without any of the public hoopla that has forced Halladay into an uncomfortable situation of dealing with Jays fans who are speculating on whether the pitcher himself asked for the deal. They didn’t need to do it this way.

Q: It's been 16 years since this team made the playoffs. I'm tired of rebuilding. I won't stand for it. If this team is aiming for 2010 to compete, why trade your pitching ace? I'll look for something else to do. When will Paul Beeston take control here? The fans deserve better than this.

Sean Murphy, Bowmanville

A: Beeston was not around when B.J. Ryan was signed and now released or when Vernon Wells was signed and now untradeable or when Corey Koskie was jettisoned to Milwaukee and the Jays paid his salary or when A.J. was given an easy opt-out after three years and left without a counter-offer from the Jays. This team was aiming for 2007, then 2004, then 2008 then 2010. All of those bets are off. Something has always happened to change the five-year plan into something else. They claim they never set dates but they did. At the beginning of this year, they were talking about how strong they would be when Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan return healthy in 2010 to join Halladay and Jesse Litsch. Now that Ricky Romero has stepped up, they said that would be a competitive rotation. Add the emergence of Hill and Adam Lind and Travis Snider re-finding his stroke and Scott Rolen and Lyle Overbay and Rios still under contract and that has all the makings of a contender. Roll the dice, guys. Instead, they have already given up on 2010, going with talented youth and are willing to count on Ricciardi being able to do something he has never done well – trade an established star for future stars. Never has he done that well. Never.

Q: I'm a Blue Jay fan living here in Ohio. I have followed the club for the entire 33-year existence. Needless to say, the news of a possible trade of Roy Halladay was not enthusiastically received on my part. I remember a few years back word got out here in my neck of the woods that the Cincinnati Reds were on the cusp of trading Ken Griffey Jr. for Phil Nevin. This news was met with profound apathy from the Reds fan base. I have long thought the Reds may have accidentally-on-purpose leaked the news of a possible Griffey trade to gauge the public reaction had any transaction involving Griffey actually been made. Do you suppose the Blue Jays had a similar motivation in letting the news out that they were listening to offers for Halladay? After all, had there been zero fan reaction, it is safe to say the club would be better serve to trade him than to attempt to re-sign him. One thing is for sure, if Halladay is traded, then the Blue Jays are officially in a Montreal Expos type of situation.

Jim Branscome, Newark, Ohio

A: I don’t discount that possibility of a purposeful leak. But when Ricciardi went on radio in New York and told one of his favoured big-market media friends on air that this Halladay thing would only cause a “stir” in markets that care, like New York, Philadelphia and Boston, he was basically saying that the strategy you suggest was not part of his thought process. I do believe that a lot of GMs do leak info like that to gauge public reaction. The Jays are not officially in an Expos type situation, because the difference is the Jays painted themselves into a financial corner with bad contracts, while the Expos never reached that point. They were always on a budget. What the Jays need is someone like former Expos’ personnel VP Bill Stoneman who never allowed his headstrong GMs, some of whom would have spent like drunken sailors, to do it.

Q: The release of BJ is not the first time the Jays have had to "swallow " a contract. Does anyone have a total of the number of dollars the Jays have lost thru decisions like this by the GM?? It must be massive!

Bruce Norris, Nanaimo

A: It’s not just inflated contracts like B.J., Frank Thomas and Koskie that Ricciardi has been forced to eat that are the issue. It’s the lucrative contracts he has liberally handed out to players that ended up not earning their keep. How about Royce Clayton, David Eckstein, Terry Adams and Shea Hillenbrand? Ricciardi was always at his best when trying to save money. He’s at his worst when trying to spend money.

Q: Hey Richard,

I saw Alex Anthopoulos saying a few words on TV the other day and he had a very uneasy, "deer In the headlights" kinda look about him. We fans don't really know much about this character. Do you feel he would be a strong candidate/presence as the future GM of this organization, or is he still a bit green? Is he even being considered, or will they go with an older established "Name"? Assuming JP's out that is.

Dave Kuzenko, Regina

A: Anthopoulos would be a good GM with a distinctly different personal style than the current one. He is not used to doing radio and TV work having always been a background guy. I know exactly the deer in the headlights look to which you are referring, but with more experience at doing media interviews he would get over it. The strengths of Anthopulos are the respect he has for Canadians, the fact that he would hire solid advisors and would listen to their advice in areas of their expertise and that he is a genuinely nice guy that came up in the Expos’ organization learning from some good ones. At this stage of his career he is no different than the GMs in Texas, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh and others. This game is going younger for its GMs. The Jays have another good candidate in Tony LaCava who also has the strength of listening to good advice.

Q: Richard, I know you are a fan of the nuances of baseball rules, whether they make sense or not, so bear with me as this is a tad silly. Let me lay it out in a hypothetical scenario. National League game, we'll say the Expos are involved and at home. Pedro Martinez has just finished off the top of the 8th in a tie game. He is due to lead off the bottom. The Expos pinch hit for Pedro with Larry Walker. They go on to score a couple runs that inning, and John Wetteland comes in and gets the save in the 9th. Now... Pedro gets the win, as he was the pitcher of record when the winning run scored. BUT, technically, wasn't Larry Walker the pitcher at that point? I realize Larry Walker is not a pitcher, and that they will give the win to the most recent actual pitcher in that slot when the run scored. But, consider this: When doing a double-switch, you are effectively saying that a position player is the pitcher, and vice-versa. So position players CAN be pitchers sometimes, even if they don't pitch. By that logic, Larry Walker should get the win in the above example. I know this is kind of crazy, and largely pointless, but I just wanted to get your thoughts. I love the blog... keep up the fantastic work.

Tim Farrell, Toronto

A: A player is not considered a pitcher until he strides up the hill and steps to the rubber and is announced into the game. At that point, he does not even have to throw a pitch to be considered in the game as a pitcher. Teams only truly need a pitcher in their defensive innings. The Expos had pesky Ron Hunt as their leadoff man in the early ‘70s, he was like a human piñata, constantly getting plunked by pitches. He set the major-league record of 50 in one year. He was injured once, but Gene Mauch batted him leadoff on the road, listing him as the pitcher. He got hit then they pinch-ran for him and in the bottom of the first inserted the pitcher in the one-hole for the rest of the game. Hunt was never credited with a game as a pitcher. Baseball closed that loophole shortly thereafter.

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Taped All-Star Anthem irks Canadians

Yes, the pre-game All-Star celebration was all about America, with tributes to volunteer all-stars from the five living presidents on the big electronic scoreboard, the biggest American flag this side of a used car dealership spreading across the outfield held up by returning members of the U.S. military and an appearance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch by Barack Obama, but surely the folks at MLB could have found someone, anyone, to sing the Canadian National Anthem. Instead it was a taped military-band-sounding, fast-paced, let's-get-this-out-of-the-way un-tribute to America's northern neighbour.

"I wasn't very impressed, to tell you the truth," B.C. native and Twins first-baseman Justin Morneau said. "You'd figure they could find somebody to come and sing the song. They have a hockey team here. The Canadian teams play here. It was something that didn't really go over too well. If they were playing in Toronto and they did that, it would be a big deal."

Fellow B.C.-born All-Star, Jason Bay did not notice it at first, but also wondered about the concept of a canned O Canada at a major sporting event. Baseball usually does manage to line up a singer -- not always good, but a live singer nonetheless..

"I didn't really notice and then someone mentioned it," Bay said. "I wouldn't call it cheesy. It was a decent rendition. But you'd think someone in St. Louis would know the words to O Canada. Morneau and I could have sung it."