Blue Jays To Sit Out Free Agent Market?

Fire JP! Fire JP!

Wow, honestly. How do you plan to stay competitive when your starting rotation is in tatters (Halladay and Litsch are the only locks, as McGowan won't be back 'til May-June, Marcum is gone for the year, and Burnett is probably gone), and your pitching prospects aren't even all that great?

Moves he's planning on making are moving relievers into a starting role (Janssen, Frasor, Downs) or giving the roles to prospects (Purcey? Romero? Really?). Now how does that keep you competitive in a division that includes the consistent Red Sox, the up-and-coming Rays, and the $1billion-payroll Yankees? Heck, if the Orioles can just sign one high-end player, they could even overtake the Jays.

The Jays need at LEAST one more high-end starter to be able to stay competitive. Good luck finding a dance partner, JP. Your days are looking numbered, after this published report.

Ricciardi is an idiot. There are plenty of impact bats and pitchers out there and available. If the Jays don't get in on the bidding, a lot of these guys are going to go to division rivals.

This situation isn't like the 2007 Red Sox basically standing pat after that season -- they were coming off a WS win. The Jays suck right now and they'll only be worse next year without an acquisition.

HELP!!!!
Can someone please tell my why J.P. Ricciardi still has a job with the jays...i mean since he was assigned the jays GM in 2001, they are under 500. I cant recall any deal this pricks made thats been an advantage to the Jays.....When he sent Billy Koch to the A's for Hinske i had came to the conclusion that he was not all there....Koch couldve been the jays closer for a very long time....there is more...He doesnt resign Delgado, for whatever reason yet he doesnt trade him so atleast the Jays can get some one for a big bat like him...i mean if you have a place that you are gonna start off fresh with young players then why not deal Delgado when you had the chance...Signing Burnett was a good move but nothing came out of it until last season when he had his best season in his career....Glaus could've been promising but that deal went south and as far as Thomas is concerned,...well you all know how that turned out....I guess the best deal that Richardi has made since becoming the GM was signing BJ and B. Molina and still thats nothing to throw ur hat in the air.....So i will ask again....why is J.P. Ricciardi still the GM of the Jays.....Why is he not going after Bradley,...or Giambi or if he is sure that Burnett will not sign with the jays than why not look for a Lowe or Peavey type pitcher to compliment a Holliday and give the team some confidence.....Please help me understand guys...i know we are a hockey town but i need answers....

Jays4life,
I don't think Koch was that good a closer anyway. After he was traded, Koch had one good year as closer (3.87 ERA in '02 for Oakland), lost his job the following year, then he sort of fell off the map after that. He had a 1.47 WHIP in his final year in Toronto, fell to 1.28 in Oakland, rose to 1.64 the following year for ChiSox, then 1.65 in '04 for ChiSox/Florida. Not to mention, his ERA went from 4.80 to 3.27 (Oakland), to 5.77, then 4.41, respectively. I think it was good he traded Koch while his value was still high. Besides, he got a ROY in Hinske (though, truth be told, he too regressed after that).

I think the Delgado fiasco had more to do with management not willing to pony up the dollars, although JP did decline to offer him arbritation (however, it was a result of payroll limitations, as he made $18 million his last year in Toronto, and offering him arbritation, they couldn't cut his salary more than 20%, so he would've been paid $14.4 million, much more than he was worth at that time). If you want more info, check out:
https://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=3661
Although, I do agree, it was stupid not to trade him midseason to cash in on his value.

I think he might be wary of signing an offensive slugger like Giambi BECAUSE of what happened with the Frank Thomas signing. Giambi is about at the same age that Frank Thomas was when he was signed. And perhaps, JP is wary of signing Bradley too due to his injury history (sort of similar to Frank Thomas' injury proneness).

However, there is no excuse in NOT signing a free agent pitcher to help the rotation. And I'm not talking about a Tomo Ohka signing or a John Thomson signing. I'm talking about a high-end starter signing, like a Ben Sheets type. I agree with you on that one. How do you plan to stay competitive and urge fans to buy your tickets, when you can't even field a competitive team like that? At LEAST one more #2 starter wouldn't hurt. They need it badly.

Although, with the economy in Canada right now, it would be understandable not to make a huge splash in free agency. It still wouldn't be good in a baseball perspective. Especially with those fans that have stayed loyal through the years of... mediocrity, the Jays have went through following their 92-93 championships.

I honestly don't understand either why he's still in the GM chair. I would've been okay giving him this coming year to see what he can do, but after news that he's got no plans to spend on a starter to fill the hole from Burnett's departure, I'm starting to get tired of this guy.

At least the Jays should still be better then the Orioles....so they got that going.

if the Jays do nothing they could very well be worse than Baltimore. the Orioles dont have an ace like Halladay, but they do have other multiple pitchers that are better than Litsch.. and right now Litsch is #2 on the depth chart for the Jays.
maybe JP plan is to have the worst team in all of baseball to get the #1 draft pick :/

i dont think the Jays need to necessarily go out and sign a bunch of free agents, but to say your not interested in any of them(except for Burnett) is absolutely ridiculous!

if the Jays plan to improve the team by trading the likes of Ryan/McDonald/Overbay/Frasor then this team will not be much different in 2009.
Ryan has a big contract, hes not going to be traded easy.
Overbay, nobody wants him, NOBODY. they couldnt trade him even paying half his salary.
McDonald might be great with the glove, but he simply cant hit.

the Jays should ATLEAST be in on one of Giambi/Ibanez/Bradley.
im not high on the SP like Dempster/Lowe/ ..but they could atleast take a shot at one of Sheets/Penny.

how JP is still the GM of the Jays is shocking.
i wish the Jays should just fire JP and get it overwith. you know its going to happen. he has 2 years left on his contract, and hasnt shown that he deserves to be extended.
dead GM walking.

To be honest, this seems like a smoke screen to me. I dont fully understand why Ricciardi would even say something like this being that his job is very clearly on the line this year. If they dont have a winning season this year, he is gone without a shadow of a doubt.

Having said that, I am 100% glad that the Jays arent pursuing Milton Bradley, they dont need an injury prone drama queen like him to infect the club house. I also cant see Cito Gaston tolerating him for long because he is known to bench and make examples of egotistic non-team player types.

I had hoped Giambi would be in the picture though and I still think he could be if they can move Overbay and then move Lind or Snider to 1st base.

Furcal isnt needed, I think Scutaro will do a fine job as the #1 shortstop. He is a consistent hitter and a great defensive player that isnt costing them much money.

Who does Baltimore have not named Guthrie that is better than Litsch?

jp is useless
fire him
i admit i dont mind the jays team some parts of it the outfield is good with well rios ..lind?
i think we need a GOOD first baseman and a 3rd
between the 2 of them they make 17 million
go after Mark Teixeira or a picture
maybe a good catcher for once
trade some youth
enough of this building for the future its been long enough

for real jp should have been gone this season and jays should look for a hitter enough building around picthers and deffencee, even though its a important part of our game, but without hitters this team is never i mean never will be a competeter

the jays should try trading player like lyle overbay scutaro mcdonald hill marcum litsch any1 of them for a big name so other free agents wanna come play with the blue jays ps i forgot to add frasor and bj ryan to that list