MLB shakeups continue
Posted by: Sam Borden - Posted in Misc on Oct 03, 2009 
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Toronto fired GM J.P. Ricciardi today, which comes on the heels of reports saying the Padres are letting GM Kevin Towers go. Ricciardi might have been able to save himself if he’d dealt Roy Halladay during the summer, but it’ll be interesting to see where they both end up, particularly Towers, who is a good friend of Brian Cashman’s (and a relatively frequent trade partner).
The Blue Jays named Alexander Anthopoulos, the assistant GM, as Ricciardi’s replacement but there’s no guarantee they won’t look for someone else during the offseason. Either way, it’s pretty clear the San Diego job is the cushier of the two – being a GM in the AL East these days is one of the toughest gigs in sports.
Game post coming soon from Josh down in Tampa. Enjoy the games tonight.
Sam looks like Scottie Brosius.
your on the ball sam…(and josh)…keep it up guys!
The only problem is, severance pay in Canada is a box of Tim Horton’s and a cup of poutine.
How are you liking the gig?
For a second I thought the team referenced was the Yankees……uh oh, shakeups? LOL
Good call, Betsy. Title changed!
I’m headed to the wedding — enjoy the game tonight!
don’t see the intellect, in firing Towers. He was decent, given what he had to work with (ie nothing)
Cashman having one less trade partner is a negative
“don’t see the intellect, in firing Towers.”
Like many GM’s, some good (Lind, Hill) and some bad (he owns the contracts to Wells, Rios and Ryan). One thing GM’s like Cashman and Epstein enjoy is a significantly greater margin for error, particularly financially, than most other GMs have. Ricciardi missed big on some financial gambles and that probably sealed his doom. He got most of a decade there in Toronto, no? His time was about up.
How are you liking the gig?
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lmao, funny man.
Loving the second half of this Minny-Wisconsin game, I took the 2H over too.
are we gona see a situation where a new gm (tor) is pressured to make a deal with his ace, like we did in Minnesota and Santana? Bet the Jays get way less for Halladay now.
demolition photos from zell:
http://zellspinstripeblog.com/.....r-removal/
Sam, thanks! I wasn’t knocking you by the way or the title…….that was just me being nervous!
Rex, that’s Ricciardi you’re referring to. Vinny’s referring to Kevin Towers. Vinny, I agree….I’m sure Towers will be snapped up by some team. The Pads are in flux, so maybe it’s just as well.
Another 5-star cover in CFB.
Phew! Took until the end.
-dennis
Am I wrong to like the over 45 in the UCLA-Stanfurd game?
My bad Betsy. You’re right Towers will get some work pretty quickly. Actually think Ricciardi will too.
NickSF-
Did you get the WI/MN 5-star in time to put it in?
I like UCLA and the over. I took UCLA as per PAT M (AL East Solidarity) I also took ND and over. All small plays. My big play now is BC over 45.5 much to Rex’s disagreement.
Rex-
I hope you are wrong but please cheer for points regardless!
-dennis
dennis, I only had the 2H over in this game, I was a little busy this morning and didn’t check the lines until after the 9am (PDT) games began.
Go Baby Bruins and many points.
Wilpon needs a new VP for Player Development, right?
They will say that this season was a tough one for Omar and that he had too much on his plate so they are hiring someone to “help” Omar and allow him to concentrate on the real business of running the team. And come The All Star Break they fire Omar and move up the new “assistant.”
Or maybe I’m just too cynical
Riccardi did what he needed too… he just played in a brutal division. Toronto probably wins the AL Central
“Either way, it’s pretty clear the San Diego job is the cushier of the two – being a GM in the AL East these days is one of the toughest gigs in sports.”
To say nothing of the SoCal life and weather. San Diego, La Jolla… just beautiful.
Towers is a good GM and would do great being the GM of a big money team. If you look at the roster for the Padres, they are setup to take off with a few more good moves. Towers is somebody that the Cubs or Mets should look at because he would do much better with a larger budget than he had in San Diego.
A couple of years ago they were on the verge of being a contender again, then injuries, bad signings and that old budget problem fell in on them. Ricciardi’s handling of the Halladay situation was nothing short of bizarre. Time to clean house and start over. IMO, give the Jays another 4 years of being a doormat.
Agreed,as Mr T would say,”I pity the fool” that comes to the AL EAST to manage.Sunny Cal is much easier.But….If you really want a challenge ,and are confident,Come on up,(you’re the next contestant for the AL EAST MGR)!!!
Baseball movies all day and night on AMC.
Field of Dreams, For Love of the Game, Major League and The Rookie.
murphydog – the thing about being cynical is, you’re often right. I think the only thing saving Omar right now is his contract which has 3 years to run, I think. Given the widely reported financial issues the Wilpons face, that would a lot of coin to eat.
How’s this for cynical – they will keep payroll down (including not paying two people to be GM, ie, not firing Omar) in hopes of finding a buyer. Oh, they won’t advertise that, and will make Red Sox type noises that they are heavily looking into whatever player happens to be on the market at that time, but they will not do anything to increase costs – not at the major league level, not the minor league level, not in the admin. level – nothing.
The only thing they will do is suck money out of the baseball operations to make up for the family’s losses to Madoff.
J.P. Ricciardi’s firing is more proof that the idea that the moneyball philosophy was going to sweep baseball was wrong.
i never liked ricciardi or his approach.
as torre says, baseball has a pulse.
the thing that was funny was at one point, the blue jays thought stealing was so stupid they didn’t even bother having catchers who could defend against it.
with PEDS mostly out of the game, not so ironically is someone like ricciardi out of the gam . the new game needs a different philosophy where speed and running are more imporatnt than the one Ricciardi believed in.
now new guys with new and better statistical analysis( defensive metrics for example) will come into the game and make it a better game, but Ricciardi’s views were simplistic and really didn’t work.
pat
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Baseball movies all day and night on AMC.
Field of Dreams, For Love of the Game, Major League and The Rookie.
*****
The last time I watched for Love of the Game was as Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS was being played.
In the movie, Kevin Costner a Detroit Tiger pitches a perfect game against the Yankees on the last day of the season.
In real life, Kenny Rogers, a Detroit Tiger was perfect through too many innings against the Yankees in what proved to be the last day of the Yankee season.
The irony ruined the movie for me
For love of the game is a real story of a perfect game thrown against the Yankees VS Tigers.A great movie.Kevin Coster and Kelly Preston.
randy l.
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
J.P. Ricciardi’s firing is more proof that the idea that the moneyball philosophy was going to sweep baseball was wrong.
****
Ricciardi’s undoing was that he misread the market for Halladay and was too greedy until there were no takers left
Dave Eiland was Costner’s pitching double for long shots in For Love of the Game.
Nick in SF….UCLA’s strenght is their defense…Thank’s Dennis -Constanza…29 points in the 4th….Tough way to make a buck
Ledger_Yankees: A-Rod and Jeter out of the lineup today. –Carig
7 minutes ago from TweetDeck
Ledger_Yankees: Gardner 8, Damon 7, Teixeira 3, Matsui DH, Posada 2, Cano 4, Swisher 9, Hinske 5, Hairston 6, Pettitte 1. –Carig
Ricciardi never figured out the exchange rate.
Pat M, fumbles at the 50 yard line don’t do much for the over, but I am on UCLA as well. I would be ok with them winning 3-0, but 27-20 works better.
Looks like Molina catches AJ tomorrow.
Pat M.
A cover is a cover!!
-dennis
“Ricciardi’s undoing was that he misread the market for Halladay and was too greedy until there were no takers left”
His undoing started a long time before that, but his inability to complete a trade sealed his fate.
Riccardi also messed up Halladay’s head for about 3 straight starts,that he lost.This guy wanted out of Toronto,and he wasn’t traded because of the greed,and unreasonableness of the GM.
Doc Halladay will no longer cost an arm, a leg, a Joba, a Montero, etc……
When sawx played at Toronto,I remember seeing a huge sign saying,”Keeo Halladay,trade RICCARDI.” The fan base may have help seal his demise too.
A good merry-go-round of GM’s. How about Theo Epstein to the Mets, J.P. Ricciardi to Boston (he lives in Mass.) and Kevin Towers to Toronto.
“Ricciardi’s undoing was that he misread the market for Halladay and was too greedy until there were no takers left”
erica-
that didn’t help did it?
but there’s no denying that ricciardi was part of a movement that was supposed to revolutionize baseball. it didn’t.
he had the blue jays playing in a very limited way.
his philosophy as well as himself was fired.
I wouldnt be surprised if JP Riccardi winds up being the GM of the Indians. They are shaking things up there as Wedge was recently fired. Id love to see what he can do with a decent budget.
I doubt that Ricciardi again will be hired as a GM. The manner in which he handled the failed “Halladay Auction” was both shameful and sophomoric. His shortcomings go way beyond the Moneyball philosophy, though one could hardly say that the Wells and Rios contractual largess was within the Moneyball dictates. Beane also appears to have strayed from basic Moneyball if the Holliday deal with the Rockies last year is any indication.
Wow. Twins put down Greinke and KC. Maybe the Yanks don’t want to play them…