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If only the Jays had been as defensively skilled during yesterday's 5-4 loss to the Indians as their general manager J.P. Ricciardi was after the game, they might have been able to reverse the score.

Instead, while Ricciardi attempted to justify statements earlier in the day on FAN 590 that laid the main reason for possibly trading Roy Halladay directly at the pitcher's feet, the Jays on the field made two errors leading to four runs, dropping rookie Marc Rzepczynski's record to 2-1 and Toronto's to two games under .500.

"What changed is that Roy told us he was going to test the free-agent market," Ricciardi bluntly told the FAN's Mike Wilner.

The insinuation? It's not the team's fault. It was the player who set the wheels in motion. But the fact is nothing has changed as far as Halladay's situation is concerned. Doc's three-year extension signed in March '06, negotiated with a year remaining, expires at the end of 2010 and he becomes a free agent 15 days after the World Series. It's part of the collective bargaining agreement. Nothing changed there.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/671114

So now what? Ricciardi can't trade him as the offers are too low and with blaming Halladay he's clearly not going to cooperate now.

Why run your star players name through the mud?

I am guessing Ricciardi knows he is going to get a lot less for Roy than he (and everyone else) anticipated so he is setting it up as Halladay forcing a trade. That way some fans will say "JP had no choice since Roy was not going to re-sign" when justifying why the team traded the best pitcher in baseball for a less than desirable return. I see no other reason why Ricciardi would deliberately lessen Halladay's value via the media. Then again, PR and media saavy has never been Ricciardi's strong point.

It is kind of funny that one of the men who made this franchise so classy and admired in the past (Beeston) is here watching Ricciardi destroy every bit of that reputation.

It's obvious JP doesn't want the blame for this. It's also obvious that the Jays franchise might be extinct in the near future with JP trading him. All us fans can hope for is the safer pick. JP should've been let go a long time ago, this is is partially Beeston's fault.

Man, Ricciardi is such a tool.

On the plus side - I'm in that picture! The people who made that sign sat two rows in front of me and brought it down at the start of the 8th inning. We started chanting Keep Doc, Trade JP! Good times!

He needs to go with the George Costanza "opposite of all of my instincts" plan.

JP's an idiot. He mishandled this whole thing from the start, beginning with that initial radio interview where he put Doc out there. So instead of acting discreetly, trying to get a good deal, he opened his yapper and now look where we are. Now he's just making things worse with Doc.

Screw him.

Hold on a second. I'm not going to sit here and defend everything Riccardi's ever done, but I've got a big problem with this article. Griffin seems to have a bone to pick; this article is all spin.

First of all, from everything I can gather this is just wrong:

Everyone knew that the Jays could not satisfy him the next time and that Halladay would explore free agency if he ever wanted to get A.J. Burnett money – the type of five-year contract he earned through his hard work and talent.

Beeston has always said that there's money there, all he has to do is ask for it. Moreover, he stated unequivocally just the other day that "money will not be a factor" in resigning Hallday, but of course this became a moot point as soon as Hallday said he wouldn't resign.

On that note: Do people think Riccardi is lying? I certainly believe him when he says Halladay told him that he doesn't want to sign an extension. Frankly, that's virtually the only reason that you would want to trade him. And you know what? Riccardi is absolutely doing the right thing by exploring trade possibilities. You can't let an asset like this get away for nothing. I honestly don't understand how people can become so angry about these comments. I categorically disagree with the assertion that he's "dragging [Halladay's] name through the mud." It's just not true. All he's doing is answering a question honestly. "Blaming" has a deliberate negative connotation. He's merely offering an explanation, not criticism. To my knowledge, Riccardi hasn't said a single negative thing about Halladay, ever. That headline and the general tone of the article are very misleading, and it really bothers me that Griffin is painting this situation this way.

I've also got to reject the idea that Riccardi has lowered Hallday's value with these comments. We know that the pitcher has offered list of team's to which he's willing to go, and we also know that negotiations have been going on for a couple of weeks. Therefore it's safe to assume that while this revelation is news to us, it's certainly not news to any of the other GMs in the league. Because of Halladay's list, every GM must have known for a while that Hallday has made this declaration, where he's willing to go, and all parties involved would understand the effect (if any) it has on his trade value.

It seems to me that people are just (understandably) very frustrated about the prospect of losing Halladay, but I really dislike the witchhunting and scapegoating that's going on here. I'll say it again: I don't have a problem with how Riccardi has handled this. Let's at least wait until a deal gets done before we break out the toches and pitchforks.

When I heard that sound bite from JP, all hopes of getting really good value for Doc were dashed. Furthermore, wtf is he thinking placing blame on a player and in all likelihood spreading misery in the dugout? He should be canned today for that nonsense.

JP talks too much but really I think this is as much Griffin's hate of JP (imo his BJs reporting is one sided) / media love for creating controversy out of nothing that led to this headline as anything else.

Why does JP keep running his mouth to the media, how can a General Manager be this bad with the press? He might not have intentionally said anything bad about Doc but he should know about the media in this city, it is best to say as little as possible. I don't how hard it is to repeat "We're doing everything in the best interest of the Player and the Organization" in every single interview. This man is becoming a disaster

JP needs to shut the **** up.

Well at least he's back to picking on his own players again.

Richard Griffin is a hack. JP indeed runs his mouth too much, but that article is trash all the same.

HOLY $HIT JP YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED LAST YEAR FOR SKIPPING OUT ON THE DEADLINE AND NOW YOU SKIP THIS ONE TOO. MAKE AN IMPACTFUL MOVE OR GET THE F@CK OUT OF TOWN.

A likely deal would send Doc to Philly for a package surrounding Kyle Drabek? The 20 year old who's already got a Tommy John under his belt? I mean, not to say he ain't a solid prospect, but just the thought and I'm feeling kind of queasy.

TJ surgery is so ridiculously common nowadays, it's barely even a red flag when scouting a young player. The fact he had it young and has seemingly recovered very well actually makes him more appealing, especially for a franchise like Toronto who seem to destroy young arms.

Still, it's only the second best deal out there. Here's hoping the Dodgers get nervous.

Here's the offer... http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/Dai ... .html?assd

Well, here it is, the Blue Jays asking price for Roy Halladay: Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has spoken to the Phillies within the past 24 hours and negotiations are underway in earnest, baseball sources tell the Inquirer. They want Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ and Dominic Brown.

That's what they've asked for. It remains to be seen how the Phils will respond to that.

When Charlie Manuel said yesterday “I prefer the horse,” the horse had a name: Halladay. As the Phillies and Blue Jays negotiate, figuring out who to include or not in a potential trade, there is a buzz around the clubhouse. Phillies players have pulled me aside, asking, “Hey, off the record, are we going to get Doc? What will we have to give up?
Manuel was asked today if he’d revised the thoughts he expressed about two weeks ago re: giving up Drabek. Here’s what he said a few hours ago: "I like Drabek and the basic reason I say that is, when I look at him, the style of pitcher that he is, I look at his upside. I look at his tools. I look at the kind of pitcher he is - I call him a drop and drive pitcher - and I think he's on the order of Nolan Ryan or Tom Seaver or Colon, guys like that with a real strong core, strong legs, get a big push off the rubber to produce power. It's a style that usually makes for a long career. That's what I see."

Two weeks ago, he said clearly: “For me, it would be tough to trade Drabek.” Today, compliments about the kid, no concrete plea to keep him around.

So which is it, Charlie--do you want the horse or the pony? You probably can’t have both. And if you can, you sure can’t have J.A. Happ anymore.

I love Doc as much as anyone but a package of Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ and Dominic Brown is too good to pass up. Drabek is a potential ace, Happ is already a number two guy and Dominic Brown is their best overall prospect. The Phillies might consider that to be too high of a price but the good news is their farm system is extremely deep, so even if they lose those three guys they still have a decent farm.

Yeah, that package sounds great

JP has a habit of yapping too much for his own good, but this article is ridiculous. Ozzy you should know by now that Griffin is the last person to trust regarding anything JP, even less than Keith Law. Talk about making grand generalizations.

I thought JP handled the trade talk really well at first but as soon as he got a chance to talk about the details of why they're trading him, he said too much. Nothing good comes out of saying Doc said he would test free agency. I'd like everyone in the front office, including Beeston, to shut the hell up. Beeston himself has gaffed recently, saying they can spend up to Boston's payroll level and not elaborating, and saying he'll be sitting down to talk extension with Doc this week, contradicting JP. They all need to get on the same page.

But Griffin? He's an idiot.