Why Coco Crisp is not long in Boston, why J.P. Riccardi is a horrible GM that should have been fired a long time ago, 2007 Free Agent Pitchers (Part 1 of 3) and the Royals' Rookie Closer.

Coco Not Long In Beantown

Tired of Coco Crisp yet Boston?

Don't worry.  He won't be there for long.

Simply put, for two reasons:

1. Andruw Jones is a free agent after this season
2. Jacoby Ellsbury has reached Triple A

Crisp has long been seen as a stopgap for Ellsbury, who is an OBP machine in the minors and looks to be the second coming of Johnny Damon in the Red Sox system.  He's a excellent centerfielder with speed, plate discipline, and insticts in the outfield.  And at this point in time, there's going to be a desire to see him sooner rather than later in Crisp continues to struggle.

As for Jones, Jones was pursued by Boston last season and was almost dealt for until the Red Sox balked at the Braves' demand for Jon Lester to be included in the deal.  With Jones nearing Free Agency and the Braves not likely to bring him back, he would be a excellent addition in the short term for the Red Sox, who could play him in center for one year while Ellsbury remains in Triple A for one more year.  Afterward, the Red Sox would allow Manny Ramirez to leave, then promote Ellsbury to center while allowing Jones to slide over to left field, where the overall Boston Defense would improve.  Jones would also serve as protection for Ortiz in the lineup, as his bat is just as potent as Ramirez'

Crisp in the meantime, would be quite attractive as a trade chip to teams needing a centerfielder and would net another prospect for the Red Sox, who need a third baseman who can succeed Mike Lowell. 

It's not a trade rumor, it's simply an obersvation that bears watching.

J.P. Ricciardi - A Disaster That Walks Like A Man

Apologies to the Daily Show for the tagline, but it fits Toronto's hapless GM.  For some reason or another, ownership is steadfastly standing by their GM, even though he's probably done far more harm to the organization than good, in terms of his wheeling and dealing.

Let's rewind a bit.  The Blue Jays dominated the American League in the early 90's, winning the World Series in 1992 and 1993, but had to jetison most of the team because of the strike and a decline in fan base.  The team worked itself back to try and rebuild itself from within, but the process cost then GM Gord Ash his job.  Ricciardi, then one of Billy Beane's lieutenants in Oakland, had made a name for himself as Oakland's director of personnel and was given the job.

Since then, Ricciardi has made some severely questionable decisions, in terms of the talent brought in and given away.  Here are the players Toronto has brought in that have made any sort of impact that are still on the roster:

• B.J. Ryan (LHP) - The O's former closer had an All Star caliber season before his Tommy John procedure cost him his season and Ricciardi's credability.
• Troy Glaus (3B) - Obtained in a trade with Arizona and probably one of the few trades where Toronto may have gotten the better deal.
• Lyle Overbay (1B) - Brought in to counterbalance Glaus.  A minor deal, really.
• A.J. Burnett (RHP) -

And here's who's gone, by trade or by free agency:

• Michael Young (SS) - Traded for Esteban Loaiza.  Loaiza was average in Toronto and left via free agency.  Despite his slump, he's done far better than any of the Toronto Shortstops they've fielded.
• Ted Lilly (LHP) - This capable lefty wasn't shown enough love to stay with the Jays.  Now he's knocking them down in Chicago.
• Felipe Lopez (SS/2B) - Traded to Cincinatti, I wonder how Toronto would be fared with a infield combination of Young and Lopez instead of what they're running out right now.
• Orlando Hudson (2B) - A smooth second baseman, Hudson has a decent bat that provides depth to the lineup.  The DBacks send their thank yous.
• Miguel Batista (RHP) - Oooh, another starting pitcher that's far better than what Toronto has right now.
• Dave Bush (RHP) - Milwaukee says Thanks Again.
• Carlos Delgado (1B) - A face of the franchise, Delgado was simply allowed to walk.  Terrible.
• Justin Speier (RHP) - A solid relief pitcher that helped cement the bullpen.  He was also allowed to walk and all the Jays got was the Angels' second round draft pick.
• Chris Carpenter (RHP) - Drafted by the organization and was let go.  Found stardom in St. Louis.
• Kelvim Escobar (RHP) - Another player allowed to leave, became a solid starter for the Angels.
• Cory Lidle (RHP) - The late Corey Lidle had success in the Blue Jays and then was also allowed to leave.
• Mark Hendrickson (RHP) - Traded to Tampa Bay, Hendrickson is actually a decent starter, who Toronto could use right now.

Ouch, that a lot of talent to let go, especially when you consider that many of these players would have helped Toronto compete in the short and long term and may have severely affected the race of the AL East and the American League as a whole.

But, the counterarguement is that in Oakland, the team has found ways of competeing in spite of losses of talent, for the draft pick compensation would result in high quality players that would help the big league club contribute immediately.  Such a strategy would work for Toronto, right?

Not exactly.

Here's the rundown of Ricciardi's drafts, which have been focused mostly on college players, and the players that have Toronto has passed on that have become productive major leaguers.  It should be noted that the two franchise cornerstone players, Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay, were not drafted by Ricciardi, but rather by the previous regime. 

• 2002 - Russ Adams.  Passed On:  Scott Kazmir (Mets), Nick Swisher (Oakland), Cole Hamels (Philly), Jeff Francouer (Atlanta), Joe Blanton (Oakland), Matt Cain (Giants).
• 2003 - Aaron Hill.  Passed On:  Chad Cordero (Nationals), Brandon Wood (Angels), Chad Billingsley (Dodgers)
• 2004 - David Purcey, Zach Johnson.  Passed On:  Josh Fields (White Sox), Philip Hughes (Yankees), Eric Hurley (Rangers), Huston Street (Oakland)
• 2005 - Ricky Romero.  Passed On:  Troy Tulowitzki, Mike Pelfrey, Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutcheon, Jacoby Ellsbury, Matt Garza,
• 2006 - Travis Snyder. 

Of all of these drafts, the Jays have let better players fall past them in order to draft college talent that they figured would have less of a change of a bust potential.  Of all of Ricciardi's drafts, only Snyder looks like he'll become anything special and allow Hamels and Cain to slip past them, along with Street, Garza and others, make Ricciardi's draft decisions look questionable at best.

Typically, it takes 5 years for it to see i####eneral Manager is working out or not for a franchise, as that is how long it takes for the talent development department for the team in order to bring up the fruits of the draft to the big league club.  Toronto hasn't done that and has hemmoraged more talent away from the club than it has to brought into it.  Toronto has misjudged their own free agent decisions, either by time, evaluation or money and the result has been a loss of players that the Jays had to keep around if they wanted to remain competitive.  I know Toronto isn't made of money like their other AL Rivals, but there is a point in time where you need to hold onto your own homegrown players, otherwise the drain on your club can become overpowering. 

2007 Free Agency - Starting Pitchers (Fours And Fives)

Continuing the look at free agency after this season, here is a look at starting pitching, namely back of the rotation starters.  This market looks rather pathetic, but there are a few attractive options that could work for a team in need of a fourth starter.

• Kenny Rogers (Tigers) – There’s going to be the usual health questions with Rogers, considering he’s now in his early 40’s and nearing retirement.  His stuff is very much diminished and he gets by more on deception than by pure raw stuff.  However, he’d be a suitable fourth starter for any team willing to pay for his services.  Unless he’s totally soured on management, I can see him taking a one year deal to finish his career in Texas, where it all started.
• Joe Kennedy (Athletics) – Kennedy will be hitting the free agent market at the right time.  He's a left hander with decent stuff that has seen his career turn around since he left Colorado.  Kennedy is off to a solid starter and a good season will net him a 3 year, $33 million deal from somebody.
• Kris Benson (Orioles) – [If $7.5MM club option is declined.]  I don’t expect Benson to return to the Orioles, as his tenure with Baltimore has pretty much been a disappointment all around, though to be fair, he was a relatively cheap date as far as what was given up (Jorge Julio and a John Maine that would have floundered in Baltimore).  Realistically, I expect Benson to take a incentive laden one year deal in order to boost his value once again.  Realistically, Benson is still young enough where he could afford to go that route and still obtain a multiple year deal afterwards, but you get the feeling that his stock has fallen so far that people regard him as one of the biggest over hyped talents in the past decade.  I think he’d be a decent three in the National League, but don’t hold me to that.
• Jon Lieber (Phillies) – Lieber is nearing the end of his career and is not going to be in line for a huge payday.  However, a one year deal isn’t out of the question, as teams are always willing to pay for talent.  Hey, Chan #### Park got an offer and he has worse stuff that Lieber does.  Lieber outmaneuvers hitters rather than blowing them away and may be able to put up roughly league average numbers in the right situation.  It’s not with the Phillies, so a team with a big ballpark may be the best thing for him. 
• Tomo Ohka (Blue Jays) – Millhouse’s favorite player will re-enter the free agent market after this year.  Ohka’s not a bad pitcher, as he’s reasonably durable and gets by with a lot of deception.  However, he’s a fighter and is willing to give you six innings of work unless he absolutely can’t go.  He’d be a valuable fourth or fifth starter on a National League team.
• Kyle Lohse (Reds) – The talking heads and pundits always talk about how Kyle Lohse has underachieved and should be a number two starter with his stuff.  The fact of the matter is that he’s strictly a number four with maybe ambitions of being a three.  However, he’s done fairly well since moving to the NL, so it’s possible that he may have just been a poor fit for the AL style of play.  Anyhow, if he continues to do fairly well, he’ll get well compensated for it by a team seeking pitching depth, possibly with a 3 year, $30 million deal.  Lohse features a fastball that clocks in the low 90’s and couples this with a slider that reaches the mid 80’s.  He’s also got a serviceable changeup that he has some command over, but not enough to make it a plus pitch.  The one thing Lohse does have going for him is that he’s fairly durable.
• Josh Fogg (Rockies) – About the only thing that Fogg offers is that he’s able to log in innings.  While there is some value to that, I’m not sure how great that serves a team when the offense is sputtering and they need a dominant pitching performance to win.

Joakim Soria – Another Rule V Pick Done Good (So Far…)

The Royals have made a move that is paying off big dividends so far.

And that is using a Rule V pick instead of just letting him gather dust, they took a chance on Soria when Octavio Dotel went down and he has delievered, posting a record of 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and 6 saves in 7 opportunities.  Soria was a former San Diego Padres prospect that went unprotected and was picked by Kansas City, who saw the need for a solid pitching prospect.  So far, the result has been spectacular and it doesn't look like Soria will be headed by to the San Diego system anytime soon, if ever.

That's my time everyone.  Have a great weekend.