Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 29, 2006
Ricciardi's Out of the Club

It's officially time to throw J.P. Ricciardi out of the Moneyball club.

Ricciardi also would like to sign a middle infielder this week. He planned on having Aaron Hill play shortstop but said he'll probably play second now.

"We like Royce Clayton. We like a lot of guys," Ricciardi said. "We're going to address that in the next few days."

We like Royce Clayton? Please excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall.

Update: The Jays actually signed Clayton:

Clayton's career on-base percentage is .313, and he has little power. However, the Jays should be formidable enough offensively after signing free-agent designated hitter Frank Thomas - presuming they keep center fielder Vernon Wells.

Clayton no longer is an elite defender, and his weaknesses could be highlighted playing on artificial turf at SkyDome. He still makes the routine plays, but had the third-lowest zone rating among the 15 qualifying National League shortstops last season.

So he's a lousy offensive player, and he's not a great defensive player, but at $1.5 million at least he's a cheap lousy player!


Posted by David Pinto at 04:31 PM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I was going to say that Ricciardi might be dyslexic but Royce Clayton's career .313 OBP is a palindrome. So that doesn't really work.

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak at November 29, 2006 05:01 PM

Figures Kabak would notice....

:)

(seriously, though, you should name your son Bob).

Posted by: JC at November 29, 2006 06:47 PM

It's probable that Clayton won't be the only middle infielder Ricciardi gets. He might be the right-handed part of a platoon, with say, Craig Counsell.

Posted by: Dan at November 29, 2006 07:02 PM

Nevermind, Counsell already signed.

Posted by: Dan at November 29, 2006 07:04 PM

Counsell was signed by the Brewers.

In fairness to J.P., he was probably asked if he liked Clayton and made the statement he did. Still, I'd rather he'd have said, "Clayton's not our first choice, but we're considering him."

Posted by: David Pinto at November 29, 2006 07:05 PM

Yeah, that sucks, but I guess it's a good 7 million more freed for pitching (assuming Lugo would've been the other option). Not everyone can be the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox...bastards.

Posted by: Dan at November 29, 2006 07:11 PM

It's official now by the way, 1.5 million for one year.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6221264

Posted by: Dan at November 29, 2006 07:28 PM

Speaking of Boston...the Herald's reporting that Drew's contract will be announced on Sunday. 4/$56MM, with a 5th year option.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/redSox/?p=758

Posted by: the other josh at November 29, 2006 07:28 PM

It's a shame BBTF had to go down when it did (anyone else getting some adsite when they try to visit?), because their posters always go to town on idiotic signings like this.

Posted by: Jeff B. at November 29, 2006 07:45 PM

Don't they still have Russ Adams? Is he not the same player except left handed, cheaper, and 10 years younger?

Posted by: Joe at November 29, 2006 07:53 PM

Jays would be better off with John McDonald. Or Russ Adams. Maybe the intent is to light a fire under Adams' rear end and motivate him to win the job outright.

Posted by: Rally at November 29, 2006 07:53 PM

In addition to the above comments about Clayton's baseball prowess, I'd also note that the guy is gonna be 37 years old next season! Late-career bounce-back? Steroids legal in Canada? The last time he was an average player was back in 1999, when he was 29 and hit .288/346/445 with Texas.

I agree that, in baseball terms, it's not a lot of money... but it's a waste of every dollar. If they don't like Russ Adams anymore, they could do better than Clayton by picking up a low-mileage utility guy during spring training roster cutdowns. There's always an Alex Cora type to be had.

If my team signed Royce Clayton, I'd be chugging Listerine to get the taste out of my mouth.

Posted by: johnw at November 29, 2006 10:24 PM

David, you can't throw JP out of the moneyball club. He hasn't been in since he traded for Shea Hillenbrand.

Posted by: Rally at November 29, 2006 10:48 PM

Didn't JP once delight in announcing, "We've got one-point-eight million dollars on the field!" - the league minimum salary at every position - in MoneyBall or somewhere?

What happened to *that* guy?

Posted by: Chris at November 30, 2006 09:54 AM

Adams hit .135 against lefties last year. I'm really surprise they didn't sign Lugo.

Posted by: The Zoner at November 30, 2006 06:30 PM
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