And He's Dating Morgan Fairchild, Too!

This just in from the J.P. Ricciardi Sports Flash:

"De La Hoya beats Mayweather in fifth round knockout. . .Devils come back to eliminate Senators. . .Brady Quinn goes first overall in NFL draft. . .Nowitzki's 65 points helps Mavs knock off Warriors. . .Frank Thomas in middle of MVP season."

Yeah, that's the ticket.

I mean seriously, how much arrogance does it take to lie your ass off, then admit it, and then basically shrug and double-dog-dare anybody to say anything about it?

It remains incredible, really, how much cachet Ricciardi seems to have built up in this town despite having never accomplished anything. People barely allowed Rob Babcock to get his family photos up in his office and crucify John Ferguson on a daily basis, but while Ricciardi has been around longer - he's now in the sixth year of his five-year road map to greatness - few seem inclined to even question him.

Right now, after spending more of Uncle Ted's money, he may have put together a worse club than last year, albeit with some difficult early injuries to Reed Johnson, Greg Zaun and, of course, B.J. (My Aching Back) Ryan.

This business about it's-not-lying-if-you-know-the-truth is one of the most incredible blatherings to erupt from the yap of a local sports exec since Floyd Smith fired Doug Carpenter with the immortal opening line, "I've got nothing to say and I'm only going to say it once."

You might think that a franchise that has endured such drastic attendance setbacks over the past decade might want to show the paying customers a little more respect than out-and-out lying to them through the media. Now, there is no reason to ever again believe a single utterance from Ricciardi's mouth. We all simply have to assume he's fibbing again anytime he has something to say.

Clearly, the man thinks he's not only the genius of baseball, but that he's untouchable.

Not bad for a guy who runs a club with the third worst record in major league baseball. Guess reaching the giddy heights of second place went to his head.

Comments

[Mike]

Agree with you 100% Damien. J.P. has failed to develop any decent minor league talent in his 6 yr reign; has invested considerable sums of money in some questionable areas (10mil/season for a .500 like Burnett?); and has resorted this season to throwing a bunch of injury prone comeback cases against a wall and hoping some will stick. Combine that now with his obvious contempt for Jays fans and it's a recipe for disaster on the field and in the stands. 'Uncle Ted' should disown him.

[Randy]

Let's face it, Ricciardi is the worst GM in baseball. Since he came to Toronto, he's traded a gold glove 2B, two all-star shortstops for pitchers who were out of baseball withing a year (i.e. Luke Prokopec), Wells for an injured starter who never did pitched again, he did not offer Chris Carpenter a contract after Tommy John surgery, signed a guy coming off Tommy John who was already a bust in Tampa and NY (Zambrano). In six years, his draft record is somewhere between crap and suck - we got a Hill to replace Hudson, a bunch of 4th starters, and a promising DH/LF. On top of that, he hired the worst manager in baseball who overmangages his bullpen, which costs the Jays 8-10 wins a year. So, put it all together and we have an aging, hurt lineup that can't play defense behind a sinker ball ace, a 15 win, 13 loss power pitcher, no young arms,a bunch of hurt arms, and two stud outfielders. Congraduations, JP, you've assembled a team that is simutaneously bad and boring.

[greg]

You are right on this being a worse team than last year. Last years team had better character and a better 7-8-9 lineup. So you didn't want to pay 7mil for Molina...now he looks like a steal, batting close to .300 with over 20 dingers. How about those trade away .300 character hitters. Hildenbrand, Catalannatto,Hinske all these guys were great with runners on base. This year will be sub .500

[Charley James]

"It's not a lie if we know the truth?"

That comment from Jays president Paul Godfrey is not only astonishing, it sounds as if it were written by one of George Bush's speechwriters.

The fact is that J. P. Riccardi has done nothing that improved the club in the six seasons he's been here, with the possible exception of signing Vernon Wells but Wells didn't want to leave, anyway. Yet he has the gaul to lie to his paying customers -- those who go through the gate and those who watch on TV or radio -- about the extent of an injury to a key player. I'm surprised he didn't try keeping it under wraps until at least after the Red Sox series that starts Tuesday.

(Maybe he wasn't worried about ticket sales when Boston is in town: Red Sox Nation follows them everywhere and may well account for half the seats sold during the series.)

Both Paul Godfrey and Jays chairman Herb Solway are men of upmost integrity. I'm astonished that they don't demand the same from their general manager.

Shame on you, J.P.

[Douglas]

The worst part isn't that Ricciardi misled the Blue Jays fans, the media, or (by extension) every other MLB team. The worst part is Ricciardi's sense of entitlement to do that and to disclaim the responsibility that comes with being a public figure whose words and actions are being observed carefully by everyone who has any kind of connection to him (again: the fans, the media, and other MLB teams). Since Ricciardi was named the Blue Jays' GM back in '01, he's made little if any progress to return the team to the playoffs. His best year was the off-season leading up to the '06 campaign where he got Ryan, Glaus, Burnett, and Overbay. He's also made decent cuts over the years: ditched Mondesi and Hinske. But he's also made a lot of major mistakes: lost Delgado, Carpenter, and Escobar, the question mark known as Koskie, and the bad 4-way trade for the prospect bust Jason Arnold. I don't know why he offered $18M to Frank Thomas who doesn't deserve that kind of money to be a pure DH when Glaus' knees and feet were in issue in the previous season. Our pitching is still hinged on Halladay and our offence is still hinged on Wells. He has strange faith and loyalty to Gibbons who seems to be uncomfortable to say anything but meaningless drivel. In other words, nothing has really changed over the past 6 years under Ricciard's watch. Is it any wonder that the contracts for major players (Wells, Halladay) end in the same year as Ricciardi's own contract?

[Jonathan Burton]

Amen.
Enough is enough with JP.
If the Blue Jays draw approximately the same number of fans to each game (at worst) as the Maple Leafs, and the city does appear to care about this team, then why are we so accepting of JP's behaviour? I think it has something to do with his attitude. Is it the fact that JP is aggressive and outward whereas Ferguson seems soft and timid? Everyone is disgusted by the Leafs' hush-hush strategy with regards to Sundin's hip, so why is there not more of an uproar about how JP has lied about BJ?
He may be confident, brash, in-your-face and talkative, but JP Riccardi has not delivered in Toronto, and it is time that the fans start pushing for his dismissal.

[Craig Hodge]

Who can blame a guy. Lie to the media....fine! Lie to the people who pay for tickets...not so much.
I wonder how many less tickets would have been sold if we knew BJ was going to be out for most of the season. Flase advertising at the least.
Glad I did not renew my tickets for this season!!!

[joe jacobs]

Damien
i wouldn't change a word that you said. perfect.
i think the reality is that the people of Toronto really could care less about the Blue Jays that something like this isn't even on the radar.
the blue jays are a soul-less team and organization.
what a joke

[Sudeep Saraon]

Ricciardi has been the GM for 6 years running and I'm unemployed. Go figure!

[Joel]

Riccardi oozes arrogance, and acts like baseball is rocket roger science. Yet, as you say, he hasn't won. He (and his Stephen Harper like muzzled co-workers) has drafted horribly and can trade well with no one except Oakland, where his former mentor shows mercy towards him. Hey J.P., pitching's very important! Wow! On the same level as NHL goaltending...

[Scott]

The only people care about this are the media people. The fans don't care. People have lied about injuries the whole time. The media is just upset because they missed out on a big story back in spring training. For fans, it eased us into the reality that BJ will be out for a while as opposed to having the bomb dropped on us back in March that it was a possibility. Give it a rest and let's focus on the team's play and not how the media lost out on a big story.

[Kyle Lawrie]

Ok Damien...so should we believe Maple Leafs management when they say they want to win a Stanley Cup? I guess Ricciardi should have said it was an "upper body injury", then it would have been ok.

[Chris]

I'd love to know what Cox would have done to put together a better team this year. Offer 14 million a year for Gil Meche?

[Douglas]

This is what I love about people who attack the critics. When criticism (e.g. Cox's) is leveled against a decision-maker (e.g. Ricciardi), the question that comes up inevitably is "What WOULD you have done instead?" That question shouldn't really be in play because it's not what Damien Cox would have done in Ricciardi's place--the question is "What DID Ricciardi do?" That's a distinction between "in theory" and "in practice". We won't know what any one else would have done, if s/he were the Blue Jays' GM in this situation because no one else is under any obligation to answer that question. However, even someone other than Ricciardi were the Blue Jays' GM, it's probably safe to say that they would have approached the situation differently. Another GM would have admitted that B.J. Ryan's injury was elbow-related and weathered the storm on that issue alone instead of Ricciardi having to deal with BOTH the nature of Ryan's injury AND the damage done to his reputation as a person and as the Blue Jays' GM.

Your trustworthiness and reputation amongst others are the things that is hard to earn, but so easy to lose.

[Les Yatabe]

Damian,

Sometimes I find your columns to be pointless and full of half-truths, while other times they are hard-hitting and a real pleasure to read.

This one about JP Ricciardi is one of your best.

Thanks!

[Mike Thompson Jr]

This much is clear, the Blue Jays braintrust is among the most arrogant I've seen in a long time. That not only includes Mr. Riccardi, but that also includes Paul Godfrey as well. It is painfully apparent that these two are joined at the hip, and that Riccardi has somehow convinced them that baseball in this city is not possible if he's not running the show. Riccardi will be here, until Godfrey is bounced...bottom line. In Riccardi's years here the Jays have not played a single game of signifigance in September. First he had to retool and pair down the budget, then he complained that there wasn't enough money. Uncle Ted opens up the bank, and that's still not enough. The Jays are now spending close to $100 Million, and this team looks horrible. To lie to this buying public, and then admit it, is Riccardi basically saying, "I run s*#!, and I don't have to tell you people Jack, what I say goes"...I don't know about the rest of Toronto, but the sooner "Mr JP Kool Aid" goes, the better we're off...memo to JP, your five year plan failed five years ago.

[Chris]

"It's not a lie if we know the truth?"

Isn't that the definition of lying?

Yeesh. Mr. Rogers has to clean out his neighbourhood.

[Tom P.]

whine all you want about JP ruining the franchinse. JP has made a bold attempt to compete with the Evil Empires, Boston and New York. Last season when JP signed AJ Burnett, BJ Ryan, Troy Glauss and Lyle Overbay, he was praised for making great moves. This season due to multiple injuries, the team is off to an awful start. Fire the manager, Fire JP, trade this guy, get rid of this guy. If the Jays don't turn it around soon, Gibbons will get fired. I have been a Blue Jays fan since 1979. Pitching is the key to this season, lets hope it this team turns it around.

[Dante]

Right on Damien. This edition of the Blue Jays appears to be weak on starting pitching with an uninspired bullpen. J.P. has done a poor job of putting together a solid, first rate pitching staff top to bottom, and Gibbons is not very good at managing and working his pitchers. This 2007 team could have a rough season of losing because J.P. messed up building his team and lying about it is not going to get the pitchers winning again.

[Andrew Barrie]

Alright, I agree Ricciardi is an idiot. (I'm not to fond of Gibbons either, and I wonder what Cito Gaston is up to...)

I however disagree that its a big deal he "lied" (I prefer misinformed) about B.J. Ryan's injury. B.J. Ryan is injured. that's the truth. he is out of the line up, also the truth, what he hurt, is less important. Whether its his back, or his elbow, he is out regardless. An elbow is important to a pitcher, but a serious back injury could be just as career threatening, or threatening to the jays season.

How are we going to deal with Sundin and his Agent if we find out he did have hip surgery, and lied about it, I wonder? should we start preparing the lynch mob now?

[Jim Boyd]

"It's not lying if you know the truth" has to be one of the stupidest things ever said by anyone, anywhere.

As stated above, that is what lying is!!!

Great blast Damien!! I enjoy it when writers don't hold back when it is really called for.

Sad part of this Blue Jay team, is that Doc Holliday pitching is going to waste. It is all for naught.
They are going to pitch him unto the DL by August again, as they have done in the last 2 seasons, and by the time his contract is done, he will be moving on.

Oh, and another thing, when this team is 10-15 games under .500 and 15-20 games back, a guy like Frank Thomas will be such a joy around the clubhouse.........

[Andrew Roth]

Aaron Hill is his work, no?

The fact that JP comes on the fan 590 in the first place says a lot. I also don't see much problem with redirecting the media, because they'd hound BJ Ryan, and it was probably looking like it wouldn't be a problem so he just made a call. This media redirection/holding back info is pretty common in sports, look at hockey and their "upper body injuries".

I know I wouldn't be following this team right now if it weren't for JP's work in signing some high-caliber free agents two years ago. This year he went after some guys (Lilly, Meche) but it just didn't work out, that happens.. so he took a few educated guesses. Then they have some hard times on the field and suddenly it looks like a witchhunt.

[Jim M]

When JP came to town I was very excited about the Blue Jay chances because he was supposedly a stat guy who was mentored by perhaps the best GM in the game Billy Beane. But he's not a stat guy he some kind of hybrid old school/stat guy. He makes bizzare assessments of players - no self respecting stat oriented GM would have players like John McDonald, Jason Smith, Jason Phillips, or Royce Clayton on his AAA team, let alone a major league roster.

On top of all that he's now saddled the Jays with a far worse contract (Vernon Wells) than the one he complained so much about (Delgado) when became the GM. Vernon Wells is probably somewhere between the 20th and 40th most valuable player in baseball (based on last years performance) - and that was a good season for him. How do you think he'll fair in years 5,6, and 7 of the contract?

I fear the Jays will become one of the worst franchises in baseball over the next few years because Riccardi has signed or taken on some pretty questionable big contracts (Wells, Thomas, Glaus, Ryan, Burnett). That's 60M plus a year and the only top tier talent in the bunch (Ryan) is having arm troubles. On top of that JP has developed a farm system that most consider below average.

Time to fire JP and start over.

[Douglas]

Oh, it gets better now: Ryan is out for the season, having undergone Tommy John surgery. Are we now to believe that Ricciardi "didn't know" that Ryan was going under the knife -- or that Ricciardi DID know about Ryan's TJ surgery all along and decided to withhold that information too?

[chris]

What makes the Ricciardi debacale even more frustrating is to look at other teams that were in worse shape than the Jays when they hired Ricciardi in 2002.

Dave Dombrowski took over the Detroit Tigers around the same time and were an abomination for years, until last year when, thanks to building through their farm system and some shrewd deals, they captured the American League pennant and are continuing with their success this year. The Milwaukee Brewers, who haven't amounted to anything since the early 80s, have the best record in all of baseball right now after rebuilding their team in the same manner as the Tigers thanks to a couple of Canadians, Doug Melvin and Gord Ash, the same Gord Ash whom Paul "The Weasel" Godfrey gassed and replaced with Ricciardi.

And what have Ricciardi and Godfrey accomplished? Nothing! Except for some expensive free agent signings to mask their depressing developmental system and a lot of hot air.

Yet listening to these two egomaniacal creeps talk, you would be convinced that the Jays are on the right path to glory, and we should all just shut the hell up and run along because we don't know anything about baseball. They'd fit right in with the other drones in the Bush administration.

Ted Rogers has some serious thinking to do here. Does he want to continue using the Jays for his "synergy plan" of selling cell phones, internet/cable tv services, and video rentals? Or does he want a winning baseball organization, the likes of which haven't been seen here since the early 90s?

If it's the latter, he'd would be wise to fire Ricciardi and Godfrey, clean house from top to bottom, start all over again and do it right.

The Blue Jays CAN be a solid contending team, even in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox. But, as long as the current brain trust is intact, that dream will never happen.