Through the first six games of the season, the Blue Jays have been an offensive juggernaut, embracing the spirit of Joe Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine and averaging seven runs per game. Last night they put the boots to Kansas City, pummeling the Royals to the tune of 9-1.
The victory must have been especially sweet to Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, who courted pitcher Gil Meche over the offseason like he was the goddam queen of the prom, only to see Meche sign with the Royals, who offered him a fifth year and $55 million.
Stung, Ricciardi said that the Jays might have "dodged a bullet" by not signing Meche, adding:
"When you're talking to a guy about coming to a place that's very close to winning, and he's telling you how important it is to him - and then he chooses a place like [Kansas City], that might have been an eye-opener for us. We're trying to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox, so we need guys who want to compete against those guys."
Never one to back down from a donnybrook, verbal or otherwise, Royals manager Buddy Bell said of Ricciardi:
"He's a little guy with a big mouth, and all he does is whine. That's the kind of crap in this game that just drives me crazy. He knows nothing about our situation. You've got to be kidding me. Every time I hear this guy talk, all he's doing is whining."
Interestingly, while the Jays' offense has been tearing it up, their pitching is regarded as something of an Achilles heel, even with Roy Halladay and AJ Burnett in the rotation. Adding Meche to the mix may well have pushed them over the top.
