Three cheers for J.P. Ricciardi…

Nobody likes a quiet off-season in sports. Nothing makes the fans groan louder with displeasure than a GM who sits on his hands and watches division rivals sign the big players and improve their teams for the next season. As a diehard Toronto Blue Jay fan, I’ve been watching the Yankees and Red Sox do just that for the last four years. The Blue Jays have been in rebuilding mode for the last half a decade, and while I do understand the need to clean house every now and then and start from scratch… it doesn’t make it easier to watch your club have multiple sub .500 seasons. But I had faith in the Jays GM, who graduated from the Oakland school of cheap yet compeditive teams. Up until this season, J.P. Ricciardi has been working on a budget as instructed to by the team owner. Based on the budget he’s been working with over the last few seasons, I think he’s actually done rather well considering he’s only been working with about 30% of what the Yankees spend every year. So to watch the Jays play over the last few years has been fun, since they’ve been doing so well on such a limited budget but we all knew that the Jays were just one or two good free agents away from a wild card or possibly a division title.

This offseason has been different. The Jays owner realizes how close they are to actually catching up with the Yankees and the Red Sox and opened the vault a little. The owners that be told J.P. that he was allowed to spend an extra 30-40 million this year on the team budget, and bring in the big fish that will take the team over the top and into the playoffs this year. I think what happened is that early last year when the Jays had that great start before Holiday got injured, the owners got a taste of what it was like to be in first place… and I’m sure they liked it to the point where they’re opening the wallet. This year, the owners gave J.P. new marching orders: get out there and bring in the best… we want to win this year. Not only did the Jays GM hit the free market pool as ordered, he virtually cannonballed into it… outspending every team in the league to sign the best two pitchers that were available. The Jays haven’t been this aggressive on the free agent market since they won the Series a decade ago, and the only reason why the Jays didn’t win the Wild Card last year was because their # 1 pitcher broke his leg last June. He was virtually unbeatable last year, so to add a few new players will make the team very, very compeditive.

The one thing the Blue Jays needed more than anything else was a closer. While Last year’s closer, Miguel Batista, make a great go of it last year but he blew a lot of games. Fans shook with fear everytime Batista got on the mound, as did starting pitchers who lost win after win as teams made ninth inning combacks to crush the jays late in the game. The Jays have a great bullpen, they just need a good, strong closer. Just that one addition would increase morale in the starting rotation and add at least ten wins ontop of leat seasons record and push them over 90 wins. J.P. knew a closer was badly needed, so with his new found money and marching orders, he went out and netted the biggest one he could find. B.J. Ryan was the closer for Baltimore last year and the lefty has an amazing year for the Orioles last season. He’s a hard throwing southpaw and one of the most feared young closers in the league. Under 30 years old, he’s a long term pitcher that will close games for at least another decade. After watching him smoke the Jays game in and game out last year (over 20 strike outs in 15 innings last year), J.P. knew this was the guy to go after. A few teams trying to sign this pitcher were offering him around thirty million over 3 years. The Jays came in out of nowhere and offered the young pitcher a five year contract worth forty seven million. Wanna take a guess which offer Mr. Ryan accepted here? Yeah, he signed with the Jays and is our new closer. With a pitcher that good coming out to close, starting pitchers will be a little easier to give up the ball and turn the game over to the bullpen and not push himself too hard to finish every game… which will in turn equal less injuries in the rotation. While the Jays spent an enormous amount of cash to get this closer, he will be worth every penny as it will be a big relief to the rest of the pitching staff.

After that enormous signing, the Jays were not finished. Yesterday, the Jays signed the crown jewel of the free agent market: Florida Marlins starting pitcher, A.J. Burnett. He’s a hard throwing 28 year old right hander that has a world of potential. Over twenty (out of 30) general managers made an offer to his agent, and in the end the Jays outspent them all. The price tag for this pitcher, another five year contract… this time worth fifty five million dollars. With another ace in the pitching staff, the Jays have the solid 1-2 punch behind Roy Halliday to complete with the big clubs like the Red Sox and the Yankees. The Jays are also looking long term, as the length of these contracts suggest. They want to complete not just next year, but also in 2010… so fans of the team have something to look forward to beyond just next season. So as a fan of the team, I’m very hopeful and look forward to watching a lot of games over the next few seasons. Critics south of the border have been blasting the Jays for going over the top for both pitchers. Personally, I think it’s sour grapes. Had any other team done this, they would have been praising the team and called them bold for making the moves. They’re just upset that the team north of the border is going to make a real run for the playoffs this year, and they’ll just have to live with it.

J.P. said he isn’t finished with the free agent market yet either. He’s still got a few bucks left of that 30-40 million that the owers gave him permission to spend. Even after that budget increase, the Jays are still only spending half of what the Yankees spend last year on their budget, so to say they are overspending is laughable. The Jays would have to spend another $100 million to match the money George Steinbrenner is pumping into his team every year. Truth is, even if the team didn’t get both pitchers this off season, the fact that our team is at least making an effort to improve this off season is enough to make the fans feel better. It tells us that our team at least wants to get better, and that’s all one can hope for during the off season cause no one wants to be a supporter of a team that does nothing, or worse… dumps all their good players like the Marlins are doing right now. I’d hate to be a season ticket holder for that team. I’d be asking for my money back and start making plans to make trips north to watch Atlanta or Tampa play this year.

So win or lose, I’m excited to see the next season… and since I have two trips planned for Toronto this year, I’m determined to go see a game or to in the Dome this year with my son. My brother has promised to gobble up a few tickets so I can take Ethan to what will be the first of many baseball games. It’s one thing I’m dying to do with my boys… take them to a few games here and there like my Dad did when I was young. Even last year when Dad & I caught a game at Jaccobs field in Cleveland was a lot of fun… so this year I look forward to doing the same with Ethan. He might not remember it, but I will… and that’s the important thing. Thanks to a very active off season… this year’s games are something to look forward to, which is something a lot of Yankee, Oriole, and especially Marlin fans can’t say this off season.

Peter