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.
This is disgusting. There's a point where a hardcore fan can't tolerate bad baseball decisions, and another point where he or she cannot tolerate bad management. I agreed with Richard's post yesterday (yesterday?) about JP's slimy handling of the Halladay situation pre-All Star weekend, and this is just another example.
Maybe I'm naive, but are all the GMs in baseball really this disingenuous? I have no trouble believing JP hasn't pulled off any majorly beneficial trades in his tenure - probably because no one wants to deal with him. He runs off at his mouth before he even thinks - and the scary part is, maybe he IS thinking and he's still just that dumb. The Jays thought they were getting the next Billy Beane 8 years ago, and they got a man with the tact, honesty, and baseball knowledge of a beanbag chair.
The Toronto Blue Jays management see to be operating inside a bubble, right now. A bubble in which they have the audacity to believe they can operate without regard for how they treat their players, or their fans.
For god's sake, Rogers execs, pop the bubble. We're begging you. This is no way to run a business, a baseball team, or treat the customers you're supposed to serve. Although you admittedly, apparently, don't give a flying (expletive) about them, since this kind of thing doesn't really create a "stir" in Toronto.
I fully realize I've extrapolated a lot from Richard's post, I guess I just got going on an "all things Jays" rant.
Never thought I'd see the day when the Leafs management dwarfed the Jays in terms of direction, execution, and sheer competence.
Is it out of the realm of possibility to have Brian Burke run both teams? At least then the Jays would field a "tough" ball club, which would be more entertaining to watch than the current average Jays inning:
A) Marco Scutaro walks.
B) Aaron Hill flies out to deep left field. With the dome open, it's a home run.
C) Alex Rios strikes out looking.
D) Cito gets a phone call, "apparently another one of Dustin McGowan's limbs have inexplicably fallen off."
E) Vernon Wells pops out to second base. End of inning.
F) Fans cheer for Roy as he runs back out.
Posted by: Matt | July 23, 2009 at 01:34 PM
Remember that JP is the guy who said it wasn't a lie if he knew the truth. I now assume every word coming out of his mouth is a lie. I wonder how his parents feel about the lie statement? Oh, right, that's where he got that idea in the first place. Nice job, Mr. and Mrs. Ricciardi, I'm sure you're ever so proud of your lying son, but you have been revealed as liars yourselves, and just to stir the pot a little more, I do believe that this must be a cultural phenomenon that is strange to me, since I'm not of the same cultural group. Can someone from that cultural group please enlighten me as to whether they were brought up this same way? Thanks for helping me to understand other cultures. And as an aside, it would seem to make sense that someone with such an attitude towards the truth would not have a problem extending the ethical failings to the criminal milieu. What crimes has JP committed? Can we get him out of office through prosecution for some of the offences that I'm sure he has committed?
Posted by: Tabber | July 23, 2009 at 01:40 PM
Are you kidding me? I'm hardly JP's biggest fan, but that quote hardly seems like an attempt to "sully" Halladay's image.
Mr. Griffin: We get it. You don't like JP. Now please start reporting with a little less bias. Opinions are good, bias is just embarrassing to read.
Posted by: Jeff | July 23, 2009 at 01:43 PM
Everyday JP looks worse and worse...now he is trying to make Doc look bad. How can he think the fans would turn on the greatest Jay pitcher ever?!?!? Its like asking us not to stand up for Steib, Carter or Alomar - they will all be in the hearts of Jay fans long after JP is finaly fired!
Posted by: Hersh | July 23, 2009 at 01:51 PM
I'd say the Jay's Org is dumping the wrong guy. But, after all, how much would they get for Ricciardi?
Posted by: Jim Miller | July 23, 2009 at 02:00 PM
I think you're overreacting, Richard. PR campaign? Talk about taking an inch a mile. I love your work but this post is not fair.
Posted by: Eric | July 23, 2009 at 02:01 PM
No matter how hard Ricciardi tries, he is going to end up looking like the bad guy.
Is it the Jays trying to make Doc look bad or is it JP? This used to be such a class organization. Watching it treat a player who has shown nothing but class while a part of the team is despicable.
Posted by: RonT | July 23, 2009 at 02:06 PM
I am thorougly tired of J.P's act, he has pulled the wool over Godfrey's eyes and now Beeston's, he has been the worse thing that has ever happened to Toronto sports(and yes J.P. there were sports in Toronot before you came along),,he has lost a generation of fans and the Jays organization is to blind to see it...I am through with the Jays and have been for the last year or so as long as J.P. is in charge...I don't respect him at all as a human being plain and simple...classless, trite, rude man..
Posted by: doug | July 23, 2009 at 02:12 PM
Who said there was something wrong with testing the free agent market? Did Riccardi say (or even imply) that Halladay's comments were unwarranted? And how does that 'sully his image as a loyal solider'?
Shocking that Richard Griffin would take an angle that makes JP look bad. You're supposed to report news, not try and create it.
Posted by: Ian Jones | July 23, 2009 at 02:13 PM
J.P must go ! someone with a some sense in Jays organization has to take away his decision making abilities..his 5 yrs plan will turn into 15 before he does anything of substance..
Posted by: mickey | July 23, 2009 at 02:17 PM
so who cares, Toronto sports fans must be the most passive in the world. The most they'll do in protest is write some blog.
Posted by: James | July 23, 2009 at 02:20 PM
Get rid of the PIMP and keep Doc
Posted by: JaysForLife | July 23, 2009 at 02:31 PM
I can't see how that JP statement sully's Doc's image. AND, i don't see how JP was TRYING to do that.
JP never said that was wrong for DOC to say (that he wants to test FA). And Doc has that right.
It seems you're searching for something that isn't there. Maybe you're trying to (further) smear JP's reputation. Maybe.
Posted by: karim kanji | July 23, 2009 at 02:31 PM
I never thought Jays management would frustrate me more than the committee running the pre-Burke Leafs. Lo and behold...
Posted by: Frank | July 23, 2009 at 02:38 PM
When JPs contract expires and he becomes a free agent the Jays cannot afford to resign him either, but it has nothing to do with money!
Posted by: Chris | July 23, 2009 at 02:43 PM
Riccardi is talking his way into getting his own rear kicked out of town. Fans can see right through his (fill in the blank) persona and know that he is trying to twist things so that he doesn't look like the bad guy in trading away the franchise.
Posted by: Steve | July 23, 2009 at 02:44 PM
I completely agree. Halladay is arguably the best pitcher in the league and the Jays are paying him a salary that in comparison to other less talented players can only be described as paltry. What do they expect him to do? Become the Borje Salming of baseball?
Posted by: Fred | July 23, 2009 at 02:49 PM
JP is the biggest waste of a GM, how could he treat Halladay like this, Halladay set the terms, JP and the team did not live up to the promise of being contenders, I can't blame Roy for wanting a chance at a ring.
Posted by: MCB | July 23, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Bang on, Richard. Please make sure to continue informing the fans about J.P.'s idiotic and self-serving comments and attitude. It is obvious he has seen the writing on the wall regarding his chances of remaining in Toronto and is already campaigning for a job elsewhere by trying to increase his profile in the US media. Roy Halladay has been nothing but a class act here and is one athlete who deserves every penny he can get, although it is now, and probably always was, more about winning for Roy than about money.
Posted by: Robert Campeau | July 23, 2009 at 02:51 PM
Roy has carried himself with nothing but class throughout his entire career with the Jays. It is really infortunate if J.P. attempts to make Roy out to be a bad guy here. While it would be great for Halladay to remain a Jay forever, if J.P. can't/won't make some quality moves to make them a contender, why shouldn't he look elsewhere when he becomes a free agent? Geez, I've been a Jay fan all my life (we both came into the world in 1977) and if this guy continues to be the GM, I'm thinking that I may just give up on the team entirely.
Posted by: Andrew | July 23, 2009 at 02:53 PM
The key component here is that Roy wants a chance to win. That's all he's asking for. He's never pitched a playoff game. He's never had a sniff. As far as I'm concerned he only wants what any self-respecting professional who has passion for the games wants - a chance to shine.
Instead of doing what it takes to prove that the Jays are serious about winning, JP instead opens the trade doors. What does this say to Roy? What does this say to potential UFA's, to the fans, to his teammates? It says the Jays don't believe they can contend. Maybe ever. Is this the kind of management we want in Toronto? It's time for a change. This whole week has crushed my faith in this club.
Posted by: Jason L | July 23, 2009 at 02:55 PM
This writer's bias against the GM is incredible. He was asked a question and gave the reporter an honest answer. How is that trying to sully his reputation. It is the duty of any impending free agent to test the market. This should not be a surprise to somebody covering the team or any of it's fans. I remember another incident when the GM lied about an injury and was excoriated in print and on the radio. These are the same "journalists" who would watch a Leaf player get hit in the mouth with a puck, then stand around giggling while Pat Quinn told them the player had an "upper body injury". The writers in this town happily go along with this practice when it comes to the hockey team.
Posted by: lemongello | July 23, 2009 at 02:58 PM
Fire Ricciardi, he is the cause of all the Jay's problems.
Posted by: Kyle Snelling | July 23, 2009 at 03:02 PM
I've been a jays fan my whole life. Literally the first thing I did upon returning home from the hospital after birth was watching a game on my fathers lap. I've been there ever since, thick and thin. But not this time. If Halladay is going to go, at least give him the respect of allowing him to leave with class. But thats too much for JP. When he treated the fans like crap, with inferior products on the field, with lies about players and with slanderous comments towards opposing players, well it was an annoyance. It made me care less. But to disrespect the greatest player in franchise history like that is just disgraceful. No MLB player should have to put up with that, esp one as loyal as Doc. I'd already decided to move on and support another team in the Jays stead (either Baltimore or Detroit are the final 2), but I figured my love for Aaron Hill and Lind would keep me interested. Now I'm praying for them to leave, and as soon as possible. They're too good for the Skydome. At least until JP and the morons who hired and continued to pay him are gone too.
Posted by: Eric | July 23, 2009 at 03:03 PM
My problem is not in trading Halladay but in the fact that JP Riccardi seems to be like a kidd wallowing in the attention....this is his chance to get some limelight, some pub and airtime. The guy hasnt mattered in baseball circles for a long time and I can pretty much guarantee he wont be getting another Gm job anytime in the next 22 years...he reminds me of the fantasy baseball owner who dangles Pujols out there once a week, just to get some messages and some chit chat....JP doesnt want to be the one who traded Doc , so if u make the asking price so high, the others teams bow out for you.......Jp is way in over his head..only Hunington has seemed more like an overmatched Gm than JP
Posted by: Tony Randazz | July 23, 2009 at 03:03 PM