J.P. Ricciardi Rumors

Odds & Ends: Ricciardi, Sabathia, Chapman

Links for Monday... Former Padres GM Kevin Towers told Bill Madden of the New York Daily News recently "it's just a matter of when" the team trades first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The Astros claimed outfielder Jason Bourgeois off waivers from the Brewers, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart via Twitter. Bourgeois, 28 in January, hit .316/.354/.401 in Triple A while playing all three outfield positions. In other Brewers-related news, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the team retained Mike Burns and Adam Stern on minor league deals. Don Mattingly is discussing his future with the Dodgers, according to ESPN's Buster...   Continue Reading

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Minaya Interested In Hiring Towers, Ricciardi

Mets GM Omar Minaya has interest in hiring two of his former counterparts, Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi. Joel Sherman of the New York Postsays Minaya contacted the ousted GMs "to express his support...and also to lay the groundwork to speak to both soon about possible jobs in the Mets' organization." Sherman notes that Minaya is on thin ice, and bringing in his potential replacement is a double-edged sword. Plus, Minaya would have to deal with Towers ribbing him about the Heath Bell trade. In other Mets news, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reported on Twitterthis morning that Minaya fired...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Nationals, Towers, Marlins

A few links on the second to last day of the regular season... Even though they'll finish with the worst record in baseball, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo indicated that it's not a lock the team will draft Bryce Harper first overall next year, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Says Rizzo: "I haven't seen him yet. He certainly hasn't separated himself like [pitcher] Stephen Strasburg did last year." CBSSports.com reports that Kevin Towers said he wasn't given a specific reason for his termination, but KT did say that he's "been around long enough to know why." Juan C. Rodriguez of The...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Towers, Ricciardi, Jenks, Barajas

Some links on a surprisingly busy Saturday morning... Here's a link to this morning's post containing comments from Padres CEO Jeff Moorad about the firing of Kevin Towers. It was quickly buried by the news of J.P. Ricciardi being let go, so you may have missed it. FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that Towers "should be relieved to be out of an organization in which he constantly faced ownership interference, payroll reductions and other forms of nonsense." Stoeten at Drunk Jays Fans provides some fan reaction to the Ricciardi move. Moral of the story: it was a move that had to...   Continue Reading

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Ricciardi Out As Blue Jays GM

According to MLB.com's Noah Coslov, J.P. Ricciardi is leaving his position as Blue Jays Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager effective immediately. SI.com's Jon Heyman adds that assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos has been promoted. From TSN and a team press release: "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,” said Blue Jays acting President and CEO Paul Beeston in a statement. "J.P. has put an incredible amount of effort into improving the team and he has brought along a number of...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Astros, Tribe, Tracy, Ricciardi

Another hearty batch of links... The Astros have not contacted Red Sox first base coach Tim Bogar about their vacant managerial position, according to the Boston Globe's Adam Kilgore. He's interested, but too focused on the 2009 season to consider such a major change at this time. MLB.com's Alyson Footer says Bogar is "at the top of everyone's speculation list," for the gig, but the "club isn't tipping [its] hand on anything." Larry Stone of the Seattle Times thinks the Indians' managerial post, assuming Eric Wedge is let go after this season, might fall to former Mariners skipper Mike Hargrove....   Continue Reading

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Discussion: J.P. Ricciardi

Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal speculated that Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi might be the only general manager in immediate jeopardy of losing his job. Ricciardi has been under scrutiny for much of the season, particularly at the trade deadline, when he made the biggest non-trade of the year, keeping Roy Halladay in Toronto. The argument for letting Ricciardi finish his contract, which runs through 2010: The Jays have been one of the teams hit hardest by economic woes, cutting payroll from $97MM in 2008 to $80MM this season. They're playing in the toughest division in baseball, and still finished...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Full Count Video: Dodgers, DeRosa, Cubs, Managers, General Managers

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive right on in... Southpaws Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw are likely to start the first two games of the playoffs for the Dodgers, but Kershaw must recover from his dislocated non-throwing shoulder first. The back-to-back lefties would be a big advantage if LA played the lefthanded hitter heavy Phillies. Rosenthal also mentions that the Cardinals, despite being so righty heavy, have the second lowest team OPS (.675) against lefthanded pitchers in the National League. Hiroki Kuroda would likely start game three for the Dodgers, followed by...   Continue Reading

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Ricciardi Comments On Youth

Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail spoke with J.P. Ricciardi and heard that the Blue Jays GM expects the game to become younger. "I don't think you're going to see guys playing into their late 30s or early 40s anymore," Ricciardi said. "I'd be surprised if you see many guys get multiyear deals later in their careers." Ricciardi added that he's taken a "giant step back" and a "totally different look at things" while evaluating players in recent years. He said some numbers, like strikeout to walk ratio, are still important to him, but he looks at other stats,...   Continue Reading

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Ricciardi Discusses Halladay

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is tired of the Roy Halladay rumors, even though they are entirely his fault. He told ESPN's Jayson Stark: "Roy Halladay is not going anywhere," Ricciardi says, as emphatically as he can possibly say it without grabbing a bullhorn or splashing it on a billboard. "This has become kind of a hot topic in baseball, but we're not trading him. We have no intention of trading him. He allows us to be good. And we feel we are going to be good. And he's going to be The Guy." So there. It's settled, right? Trading...   Continue Reading

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