When GM J.P. Ricciardi was fired in October by the Toronto Blue Jays many fans thought that they could now rest easy as Ricciardi was no longer involved with the club and could do no further damage than he had already done.
So much for that.
The effect of Ricciardi's decisions are still being felt today as his decision not to trade Roy Halladay at the trade deadline last season is coming back to bite the Jays and new GM Alex Anthopoulos in the ass.
Going into the winter meetings many people thought that the Jays would trade Halladay and try and get maximum value for him since he had made it clear that he would be testing free agency once his contract expired at the end of the 2010 season. Unfortunately for Anthopoulos and Jays fans things haven't gone exactly the way they had hoped.
League interest on Halladay seems to have cooled since teams are now aware that if they were to trade for him he would more than likely not sign any sort of extension thus limiting his value. Teams are more likely to simply wait until the end of the 2010 season to try and pursue Halladay as this way they will not need to give up any top prospects which is what Anthopoulos is asking for.
During the season the two biggest suitors of Halladay were the Red Sox and the Phillies. The Yankees were also involved but when they found out that the price tag would include Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain they backed off quickly.
The Sox offered the most impressive package by far as it included Clay Buckholz, Daniel Bard and at least 1 - 2 other players. At the time Ricciardi felt he could get more and turned the deal down hoping the Sox would become desperate and give away their whole farm system for Halladay.
The Phillies offer was also impressive as it included JA Happ who a Rookie of the Year finalist and a number of top prospects from the Phillies system. Once again Ricciardi turned the deal down thinking that he could get more.
This never happened and so Halladay remained with the Jays.
Now the repercussions of Ricciardi's greed are being felt by Anthopoulos as he is desperately trying to get a deal done. The problem is not only that Halladay's value has diminished (due to his reluctancy to sign an extension) but also the fact Halladay has a no-trade clause and that teams can sense the desperation from the Jays.
If the Jays don't move Halladay now (and it seems like they won't) then they will be forced to move him at the deadline in the hopes that a contender will need an ace to make that big push going into the playoffs. Even then the same problems will remain and some more may have presented themselves. Halladay still will not sign an extension, he still ha the no-trade, the Jays will still be desperate sellers and now add in the fact that he may have a bad year or worse yet he may get injured.
Right now the offers for Halladay have been less than fair. It is being reported by the Boston Globe that the Red Sox are reluctant to trade away any of their prospects and more than likely wouldn't do a Buckholz for Halladay swap. I doubt that is true but the fact remains that Antopoulos has a tough road ahead of him.
Sidenote: As a Sox fan I don't think I want them to trade for Halladay. I realize he is a great pitcher and all but he is a groundball pitcher who relies on good infield defense to be effective. I just don't trust Lowell and his bum hip at 3rd base, newly acquired Marco Scutaro at shortstop and the 5 foot phenom Dustin Pedroia at 2nd. I also am a fan of Clay Buckholz and Daniel Bard and don't want to see another phenom prospect get traded like we did with Hanley Ramirez.
If he can't get market value for Halladay what does he do? He needs to make sure that Halladay doesn't walk for nothing but you don't want to just give away a Top 5 pitcher in baseball. How he resolves this situation will show Jays fans how good of a GM Anthopoulos is and whether or not their team is in good hands.
All I know if that J.P. Ricciardi was fired more than 2 months ago and yet he is still ruining this team. I would compare him to a smelly fart. The person who farted may have left the room but the smell remains torturing all who come anywhere near it.
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