The great migration of 2013

[jaysblue]

He wasn't good. A big part of building a sustainable franchise is drafting, international signings. Terrible in that regard.

 

Drafting under his tenure wasn't top notch, though the Jays system still rolled out solid players who contributed or were used in future trades to land other assets even under AA's tenure.

 

Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum (turned into Brett Lawrie who was turned into Josh Donaldson), Brandon League (was turned into Brandon Morrow prior to 2010), Brett Cecil, Eric Thames, and Drew Hutchison. Travis Snider was a bust unfortunately, though when coming up there was a lot of hype around him as any prospect in the game. It's unfortunate McGowan couldn't stay healthy because he had some of the best raw stuff I've seen.

 

In terms of trades and free agent signings, Ricciardi did a great job at finding value and even his big signings/trades turned out well. The Blue Jays always had a solid bullpen. His FO did a great job at evaluating talent. Look at guys he brought in via trade or minor league contracts for the bullpen like Jason Frasor, Scott Downs, Brian Tallet, Justin Speier, Jeremy Accardo, and Pete Walker. If Pete Walker never spent most of playing career with the Blue Jays, who knows if he would be here as the pitching coach right now? In terms of bats, look no further than Jose Bautista when they brought him in from the Pirates. Others include Frank Catalanotto, Marco Scutaro, traded Bobby Kielty for Ted Lilly, Gregg Zaun, and got solid years out of guys who were near the end of the line on one-year contracts like Gregg Myers, Mike Bordick and Matt Stairs haha.

 

When you look back at the big trades and signings he did, I actually appreciate those moves even more now. After the 2005 season, he had a huge offseason signing AJ Burnett, BJ Ryan, Benjie Molina and trading for Troy Glaus and Lyle Overbay. There was a lot of buzz surrounding the Blue Jays for the first time in a long time. Burnett was a really solid signing and pitched well here especially in 2008 before his opt-out. BJ Ryan was lights out in 2006 and decent in 2008 though yes injuries really made his contract look bad. If he was healthy, he was performing though. Glaus and Overbay were great in their first seasons here. Overbay was never the same after getting hit on the wrists in 2007. He resigned Roy Halladay to a very favorable contract extension to keep him around longer and did leave AA with one of the best trading chips to completely retool the farm system. As much as I hated the Vernon Wells contract, he managed to keep a big name player from leaving Toronto as a free agent at a time when nobody wanted to come play with the Blue Jays. He traded Glaus for Scott Rolen after 2007 and AA turned Rolen into Edwin Encarnacion in 2009. I wish though JP was more aggressive in 2008 in terms of adding solid bats. A lot of ABs were wasted on Shannon Stewart, Brad Wilkerson, Kevin Mench, David Eckstein etc. The team had no real true power threat that season and wasted all that great pitching they had. Losing Marcum and McGowan though to injuries that season and long term did really impact what the Jays were going to do in 2009. I think if the Jays knew they would have had a healthy Marcum and McGowan in 2009, they would have added more in the offseason or went after Burnett harder.

[Jimcanuck]

Ricciardi was given a pretty hefty payroll for years, delivered nothing.

[jaysblue]

Ricciardi was given a pretty hefty payroll for years, delivered nothing.

 

He was only given a hefty payroll in the offseason before the 2006 season. As some posters discussed earlier, he actually did put together a very good roster that season. Some bad luck and with Boston and New York still power houses and having unlimited payrolls, Blue Jays were always the best third place team in the MLB. Some signings turned out bad afterwards like BJ Ryan and Vernon Wells, which strapped his FO from making any other big moves. But even after 2006, they were going hard both after Gil Meche and Ted Lilly so they were willing to spend. Unfortunately at that time, not many FA's wanted to sign in Toronto so was definitely tougher than it is now which is something you have to consider. No way a player like George Springer signs in Toronto during JPs tenure. After the 2008 season with knowing Marcum and McGowan were going to miss all of 2009, Burnett opting out and Doc in his two last years before free agency, JP knew the 2009 season was going to be a write off.

 

If there was an expanded postseason during JPs tenure, the Blue Jays would have made the Postseason in 2003, 2005 possibly if Doc was healthy, 2006, and possibly close in 2007 and in 2008. They likely would have been more aggressive at those trade deadlines as well. Given the 2008 team with Halladay and Burnett at the top of the rotation, the Jays in a short Postseason series would have been dangerous.

Edited July 28, 2022 by jaysblue

[Brownie19]

He was only given a hefty payroll in the offseason before the 2006 season. As some posters discussed earlier, he actually did put together a very good roster that season. Some bad luck and with Boston and New York still power houses, Blue Jays were always the best third place team in the MLB. Some signings turned out bad afterwards like BJ Ryan and Vernon Wells, which strapped his FO from making any other big moves. But even after 2006, they were going hard both after Gil Meche and Ted Lilly so they were willing to spend. Unfortunately at that time, not many FA's wanted to sign in Toronto so was definitely tougher than it is now which is something you have to consider. No way a player like George Springer signs in Toronto during JPs tenure. After the 2008 season with knowing Marcum and McGowan were going to miss all of 2009, Burnett opting out and Doc in his two last years before free agency, JP knew the 2009 season was going to be a write off.

 

If there was an expanded postseason during JPs tenure, the Blue Jays would have made the Postseason in 2003, 2005 possibly if Doc was healthy, 2006, and possibly close in 2007 and in 2008. They likely would have been more aggressive at those trade deadlines as well. Given the 2008 team with Halladay and Burnett at the top of the rotation, the Jays in a short Postseason series would have been dangerous.

 

Hey JP, welcome to the board.

 

Why was it harder to get players to sign in Toronto in 2007 than it is today? He literally signed AJ and BJ in 2006...

[Terminator]

Riccardi was okay but his drafting and development stunk. He put a heavy focus on college players which lead to a ton of low ceiling prospects.

 

He was the beneficiary of a payroll spike and he actually managed that pretty well in signing Burnett (highly controversial at the time) and trading for Glaus and Overbay, etc. But because of the lack of player development, the teams were always paper thin. In this division, we need someone better than him.

[jaysblue]

Hey JP, welcome to the board.

 

Why was it harder to get players to sign in Toronto in 2007 than it is today? He literally signed AJ and BJ in 2006...

 

Blue Jays had to go extra years and cash on Burnett and Ryan. Even at the time, they both had question marks. Burnett had durability concerns and BJ Ryan was a closer just for one season and a setup guy the year before. The Burnett signing was a high reward signing mostly. They were paying for his potential more than anything. It wasn't like signing an established/elite player like George Springer or pitcher like Gerrit Cole. If you were following the Blue Jays during that time period, you would have known it was a lot more difficult to sign FA's back in the 2000s than it is now obviously. I think most Blue Jays fan would also agree with that.

[jaysblue]

Riccardi was okay but his drafting and development stunk. He put a heavy focus on college players which lead to a ton of low ceiling prospects.

 

He was the beneficiary of a payroll spike and he actually managed that pretty well in signing Burnett (highly controversial at the time) and trading for Glaus and Overbay, etc. But because of the lack of player development, the teams were always paper thin. In this division, we need someone better than him.

 

His FO never drafted a true stud or elite talent which was the organizations biggest downfall, and like you said never had a pipeline of solid guys they could call up when they needed. They got solid production from some of his draft picks, but never over a long period of time.

 

If an expanded Postseason existed during the 2000s, I do believe the Jays make the postseason in 3 or 4 of JP's seasons here with the rosters they had.

[Spanky99]

Me at some point. Posted on both for awhile. Sempai used to post on old Forum this new one would be sued for infringement on MLB lol. Mac DJBlueray who is now on this Board under another name. Spanky used to come in and attack troll the old Forum periodically in a blitzkrieg maneuver.

 

Haha... *Fish in a barrel*

[BCZ]

I had like a 100 thousand posts on the old forum. That place got crazy, lol.\

 

2003 till this forum, lol.

 

20 years in February.

 

You have 85,338 posts on this forum. One day on your death bed you can rest easy knowing you made the most of your life.

[Spanky99]

You have 85,338 posts on this forum. One day on your death bed you can rest easy knowing you made the most of your life.

 

Cheers f***face.

[Krylian]

You have 85,338 posts on this forum. One day on your death bed you can rest easy knowing you made the most of your life.

 

... Here it comes...

[Krylian]

Cheers f***face.

 

... There it is... Lol

[Brownie19]

Blue Jays had to go extra years and cash on Burnett and Ryan. Even at the time, they both had question marks. Burnett had durability concerns and BJ Ryan was a closer just for one season and a setup guy the year before. The Burnett signing was a high reward signing mostly. They were paying for his potential more than anything. It wasn't like signing an established/elite player like George Springer or pitcher like Gerrit Cole. If you were following the Blue Jays during that time period, you would have known it was a lot more difficult to sign FA's back in the 2000s than it is now obviously. I think most Blue Jays fan would also agree with that.

 

Jays had to go extra years and money to get Ryu and Springer too...Ryu had durability concerns. I'm not sure a lot has changed. Perhaps you could argue our new training facility gives us a bit more advantage than we had in 2006?

[glory]

His FO never drafted a true stud or elite talent which was the organizations biggest downfall, and like you said never had a pipeline of solid guys they could call up when they needed. They got solid production from some of his draft picks, but never over a long period of time.

 

If an expanded Postseason existed during the 2000s, I do believe the Jays make the postseason in 3 or 4 of JP's seasons here with the rosters they had.

 

If the current playoff format (3 division winners, 3 wild cards) existed from 1995 to 2014, the Jays would have made the playoffs two times (1998 and 1999). They would have been tied with the White Sox in 2003 for the last WC spot, but the Jays lost the H2H with them that year, so using the current format, the White Sox would have gotten in.

 

Man it was a depressing 20 years as a Jays fan.

[mellowgold]

Been here since 2005ish...

[jaysblue]

If the current playoff format (3 division winners, 3 wild cards) existed from 1995 to 2014, the Jays would have made the playoffs two times (1998 and 1999). They would have been tied with the White Sox in 2003 for the last WC spot, but the Jays lost the H2H with them that year, so using the current format, the White Sox would have gotten in.

 

Man it was a depressing 20 years as a Jays fan.

 

Yeah though remember during that time period, the Jays FO and other teams knew only 4 teams made the Postseason, so it would definitely impacted the FOs strategy during the offseason and at the trade deadline. Pretty much even some Jays teams under JPs tenure, they would have been right there and I'm sure you would have had different outlooks/direction each offseason and at the trade deadline. For an example, in 2003, 2006 and 2008, maybe the Blue Jays are buyers at the trade deadline instead of just standing pat or selling. Would have impacted other teams as well in the mix for sure. Though those seasons I just mentioned, the Blue Jays definitely would have been in the mix for one of those extra Postseason spots.