J.P. Ricciardi, fired Saturday morning as general manager of the Blue Jays, will be remembered for spending plenty and not winning enough.Hired in 2001, Ricciardi was charged with trying to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox in the AL East. To do it, he splurged on free-agent signings such as A.J. Burnett and B.J. Ryan and long-term deals for Toronto players Vernon Wells and Alex Rios.
Not only did those not work out, but Blue Jays ownership reversed course on its payroll plan. By trimming its budget for salary, Toronto made the Wells and Rios contracts even more untenable.
And despite a hot start this year, the Jays will finish fourth. Meanwhile, Rios went to the Chicago White Sox on waivers for nothing and a three-week exploration into trading ace Roy Halladay ended with no deal.
"This was a tough decision and a difficult one for me personally as I have enjoyed J.P.'s friendship and his perspective on the game," Jays acting president and CEO Paul Beeston said in a prepared statement. "J.P. has put an incredible amount of effort into improving the team and he has brought along a number of great young players. However, I feel that it is time for a change and accordingly we have decided to move on."
Ricciardi is probably relieved in some ways, since his contract was up in a year anyway and he no longer has to deal with baseball's toughest division or the unique challenges of running a team in Canada.
And his successor -- intelligent assistant Alex Anthopoulos takes over for now -- will have a lot to do. Such as trying a new plan (Tampa Bay came up with one) and, probably, finding a good deal for Halladay.
There have been rumors (rumours?) that Pat Gillick could come out of retirement to rejoin the Blue Jays as GM or in a higher position. And he could bring back former Toronto scouting director Tim Wilken in some capacity.
