April 26, 2008
Jays Smoked
The Toronto Blue Jays lost for the ninth time in eleven games last night, blowing a late, two-run lead.
Scott Rolen, making a dramatic return from a finger injury that had sidelined him since spring training, delivered a two-run double in the top half of the eighth to put the Jays up 4-2 and seemingly in good shape to snap their four-game losing streak.
Then it all fell apart.
A.J. Burnett, who cruised on five hits through seven innings, gave up a pair of singles and a walk to serve up a run that made it 4-3 with one out in the eighth.
Jays manager John Gibbons yanked him in favour of reliever Scott Downs and he coaxed a groundball out of Ross Gload, a comebacker to the mound. Downs promptly scooped it up to start what should have been an inning-ending double play.
But shortstop David Eckstein fumbled the throw from Downs. Two runs scored and the Royals tacked on two more on David DeJesus' grounder that squeaked into right field with the infield drawn in.
The Jays are a bit dysfunctional this season. The bullpen's ERA is a very good 3.44, but they have a 1-6 record. That indicates bad timing. The offensive is a poor man's A's and Tigers from the early 1990s. Those teams didn't hit much for average, but drew a ton of walks and pounded the ball when they did make contact. The Blue Jays are drawing the walks, but their slugging percentage is a measly .369, twelfth in the AL. Maybe it wasn't the best time to let Frank Thomas go.
I wonder how long Ricciardi lasts. He talks a good game, but of all the GMs to come out of the Alderson/Beane school, he's done the worst job of execution. With the Rogers increasing payroll in recent years, he no longer has the excuse of money. He should be on the hot seat.
The question is: does Rogers care that Ricciardi hasn't won anything? The Jays are a commercial asset for Rogers Communications more than a baseball team - in particular, they are a cheap way to get some of the Canadian content that Sportsnet, Rogers' TV channel, is legally required to broadcast.
If Ricciardi is keeping the bank accounts balanced and is keeping the team competitive enough that the fans don't desert the club (keeping ticket revenues and TV ratings at acceptable levels), is there really any pressure on Ricciardi to do more? There certainly hasn't been any public talk about it from Godfrey or Ted Rogers himself.
I don't doubt that the company would _like_ a winning ballclub - more wins means more revenues and more profits, after all - but I question how much pressure he's really under to do anything more than deliver a financially stable, moderately respectable franchise.
Riccardi may be on the hot seat but it's not very hot. Last night an error blew the game... the night before, our starter STB... It's frustrating to watch but someone has to loose.
Last night, I was screaming at the TV asking why John McDonald wasn't in the game in that late and close situation. A friend said it was in case the Jays loose the lead... Eck was coming up 3rd in the 9th. I just stared at him for like 2 minutes at the crazyness of that logic bomb. If we loose the lead we need his bat.. if we put in the best defensive player to preserve that lead, then his bat is useless. Ergo, Eck should have been benched.