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[Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis'

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[Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#1 » by tsherkin » Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:18 pm

There's an article on ESPN right now entitled 'Baseball's Worst Ricciardis" by Rob Neyer.

Joe Posnanski has some fun with the worst contracts in baseball, all building up to this big finish:

1. Vernon Wells (Toronto Blue Jays). Cot's Baseball Contracts - the incredibly awesome site where I got these numbers from - is one of my favorite Internet stops. And on occasion, just for fun, I will go to the site just to look up Vernon Wells' contract. I don't know why. It gives me hope, somehow. It tells me that in this world, anything is possible. It tells me that good things happen, funny things, unexpected things. Don't tell me that I won't win the lottery ... just look at Vernon Wells' contract.

In 2011, Vernon Wells will get paid $23 million. No. Really. He will get paid $23 million.

In 2012, he will have to take a paycut and will only get $21 million. Same in 2013. And same again in 2014.

This isn't a baseball contract. This is a testament to the power of mankind to do the impossible.

Oh, Vernon Wells also has a full no-trade clause in his contract. Well, sure, why not? Then, what difference would it make? This is the most untradable contract in the history of the world. Vernon Wells turns 31 this year. The Dewan has him a minus-29 centerfielder, which means he's exactly as bad defensively as you can be while a manager who is still breathing allows you to play centerfield. He has an 85 OPS+. He has a lifetime .329 on-base percentage. He's slugging .408. He is third in the American League in making outs. So he has that going for him.

And it never made sense. Ever. Wells had a very good year in 2003 (and he was a very good fielder then), a couple of OK years, a good year in 2006 at age 27. But he never got on base much, and he was inconsistent, and ... then the Blue Jays gave him this hysterical contract.

This deal, to be honest, is not the sort of thing that leads to a general manager getting fired. It's the sort of thing that leads to entire villages getting pillaged. And that's what I mean about Ricciardi. I mean, this contract alone should be enough to put him in the Bad Contract Hall of Fame. But when you look over the whole body of work ... he is the Bad Contract Hall of Fame.

In fact, really, we should just start referring to bad baseball contracts as "Ricciardis.”


Click Here to Read

That's actually the opening, before Neyer starts talking, and we all generally understand that Ricciardi, whatever his faults, wasn't actually responsible for V-Scrub's contract, but it's still an interesting read, and Neyer actually spends a chunk of time defending Ricciardi (or rather, the idea that things are done against the wishes of GMs all the time).

For example:

Only a few dozen people in Toronto know the absolute truth, but I can tell you that many dozens of stupid things have been done, just in the last decade or so, over the objections of the general manager. Often, it's because owners consider themselves the public face of their franchises and just can't handle the criticism that would come with letting popular players leave.


Of course, he concludes:

Does this absolve the general manager, completely? No. Among the general manager's many and sundry chores -- and one of the most important -- is convincing his boss to avoid terribly stupid decisions, and Ricciardi seems, at best, to have failed at this chore. Still, that doesn't mean that he is stupid, or even generally ineffective.

Of course, there's more. He seems to have botched the Halladay Affair this summer. More damningly, Ricciardi's been running the show for seven seasons and the Blue Jays have essentially been a .500 team. In the meantime they've been passed -- and are about to be lapped -- by the Rays. At this point, maybe he's just the right guy in the wrong place.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#2 » by youngLion » Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:51 pm

It seems to me that Riccardi will have two legacies when he leaves Toronto. One is a good draft record, and the other is a rough free agent record. Whether or not the Wells deal was Godfrey's doing, it will still stick to JP.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#3 » by RapsFanInVA » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:02 pm

I've never realized just how bad Wells' contract is. I'm speechless.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#4 » by tsherkin » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:03 pm

Yeah. It doesn't matter much, though; if JP was a really good GM otherwise, then it'd be something of a shame, but since he's a middling to average GM, I don't think it much matters.

It's interesting that Neyer would care, though; maybe he was stretching for something to write, but you don't usually see defenses of Toronto personnel on ESPN.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#5 » by zilby » Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:02 pm

theres only one contract on the list?

LOL
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#6 » by wicked_crossova » Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:30 pm

zilby wrote:theres only one contract on the list?

LOL



no, there was a whole article with 10...
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#7 » by tecumseh18 » Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:52 pm

RapsFanInVA wrote:I've never realized just how bad Wells' contract is. I'm speechless.


Actually, it didn't seem that bad a few years ago back when players were hitting their 30's and improving their numbers substantially. Oh wait ...
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#8 » by Schad » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:05 pm

tecumseh18 wrote:
RapsFanInVA wrote:I've never realized just how bad Wells' contract is. I'm speechless.


Actually, it didn't seem that bad a few years ago back when players were hitting their 30's and improving their numbers substantially. Oh wait ...


Heh, this is actually a really good point...while Wells' contract is awful in any light and was awful the day it was signed, there definitely has to be a revaluation of long-term, big-money contracts for aging players since the end of the 'roids n' greenies era (the latter might have been as impactful as the former). You'll still have players who are very effective late in their 30s, but we're seeing a pretty dramatic increase in the number of players hitting the wall between 32-34. The days of giving a 30 year old a huge deal and being fairly confident that he'd remain useful for the duration are over...or at least should be.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#9 » by dirtybird » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:50 pm

^ Teams have to spend within their means. The Jays can't take a risk on Vernon for that long in the same way that the Yankees have for Giambi, A-rod, or Texeira. The Risk is just too big, especially at the age at which they're signing their deals. If that means that you have to deal those players for prospects, then so be it.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#10 » by Avenger » Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:10 pm

Handing out 3 of the worst 11 contracts should alone be enough to fire ANY GM but it blows my mind how many people want to keep this guy around
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#11 » by Modern_epic » Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:24 pm

It's true, that should get your theoretical guy fired. Why some people are indifferent to the firing of JP, however, is that he was directly responsible for handing out only one of the worst ten contracts that go past this season.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#12 » by drew1981 » Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:30 pm

Avenger wrote:Handing out 3 of the worst 11 contracts should alone be enough to fire ANY GM but it blows my mind how many people want to keep this guy around


What a joke. Good Ole' JP.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#13 » by LieCheatSteal » Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:47 pm

youngLion wrote:It seems to me that Riccardi will have two legacies when he leaves Toronto. One is a good draft record, and the other is a rough free agent record. Whether or not the Wells deal was Godfrey's doing, it will still stick to JP.


JP has a good draft record? Isn't this the guy who drafted SS back-to-back in the first round and ended up with no SS to show for it (Hill's a 2nd baseman now)? Isn't he pick Romero over Tulowitski? Didn't he avoid drafting high school players, talented or otherwise? The farm system is middle of the road (unless you consider the Bleacher report quality, unbiased journalism) (FYI Baseball America- #19; ESPN.com Keith Law- not top 10; baseball prospecticus- not top 5).
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#14 » by Modern_epic » Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:05 pm

Romero over Tulowitzki is looking alright right now. Troy is good, but he is also hitting in Colorado. Ricky looks like a good #2 guy. Also, are you really complaining about Hill? I don't care where he plays when he hits like this, but 2B is still an important defensive position.

And the farm system is indeed middle of the road, but you need to consider some things. First, when JP got here, this was the worst system in baseball. So yeah, he drafted college guys, because they needed help fast to not field one of the worst teams in baseball. The second thing you need to consider is that it is middle of the road because so many JP draftees are already up here. On top of Lind and Hill, pretty much the entire pitching staff but Doc are JP products. And it is a well above average staff, by the numbers.

Minor league rankings aren't really a good way to judge how good at drafting a GM is, anyway (unless your only concern is how good they are at drafting promising looking minor leaguers). A couple places have posted lists of the teams that have drafted best based on the idea that what is important is getting impact players to the majors (on their team and others). As I recall, JP is top 5 on every one of those lists I've seen.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#15 » by Schad » Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:07 pm

LieCheatSteal wrote:
JP has a good draft record? Isn't this the guy who drafted SS back-to-back in the first round and ended up with no SS to show for it (Hill's a 2nd baseman now)?


He did end up with the best 2B in the AL, though. With a mid-round pick, that ain't bad.

Isn't he pick Romero over Tulowitski?


Yeah, and it looked like an awful decision (I ripped him frequently for it)...until this year. I'd still rather have Tulo, but

Didn't he avoid drafting high school players, talented or otherwise?


He did until he didn't. In the last four years, we've taken plenty of high schoolers...in 2007, four of our top 7 picks were HS kids.

The farm system is middle of the road (unless you consider the Bleacher report quality, unbiased journalism) (FYI Baseball America- #19; ESPN.com Keith Law- not top 10; baseball prospecticus- not top 5).


Agreed, though when he took over we were ranked in the bottom three by virtually every service...our farm system was absolutely atrocious. JP doesn't get an A+ by any stretch, but his overall record has been pretty solid.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#16 » by Brinbe » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:20 am

Great piece, entertaining to read... and regardless of whatever positives JP has contributed, I'm just tired of him now. Hopefully he's gone by next year if not sooner.
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#17 » by RapsVC15 » Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:53 pm

.. good god, 3 of the 10 are Ricciardi's ****.

I thought it couldn't get any worse after Gord Ash, but JP has even outdone him LOL.

Let's go Blue Jays!!!! /sarcasm
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Re: [Article] Baseball's Worst 'Ricciardis' 

Post#18 » by Kevin Willis » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:43 pm

And the scary thing is we're supposed to contend in 2010!! That's what we've sold.

If we can get a solid enough lineup that Wells goes down to 6 that would be great. Can't blame him for the contract, they offered the money to him so you can't expect him to say no. BJ Ryan is a mystery though, I know he had Tommy John surgery but his pitch selection was horrid coming back. It's like he still felt he can blow by ppl when he couldn't.

Zito is bad too. Maybe Wells for Zito isn't that bad because it gives them both a change of scenery.
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