As far as general managers go, Toronto’s J.P. Ricciardi has been accused of being too much like poker player. Not that you’re likely to see the 38 year old Boston native frequenting Casino Rama any time soon, but critics of Ricciardi say he’s notorious for keeping his cards close to the vest.
Secretive, sly, evasive: these are just some of the names he’s been called by local scribes over his seven years with the Blue Jays. Still, you have to respect a man who, after lying about B.J. Ryan’s injury in 2007, kept a straight face as he pronounced,
“It’s not a lie, if we know the truth.” If the game was Texas Hold ‘em rather than baseball, Ricciardi’s poker face would be a virtue. In the high-stakes game of the American League East, where the team is constantly undermined by big spending New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, perhaps that’s the kind of competitive advantage he needs.
“We’ve been backseat to Boston and New York the last couple of years,” said Toronto bench boss John Gibbons during spring training, “Sooner or later, we have to get over the hump. With the team we’ve put together this year, we think we have a chance to do that.” The Blue Jays haven’t won the AL East crown since 1993, the year they won the world series, but there is reason for optimism. While Ricciardi is cautious to make predictions, it’s clear he might have a few aces up his sleeve.
The top three of the Jays rotation have the potential to be the best in a tough East division. Led by 2003 Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay, flame-thrower A.J. Burnett, and young gun Dustin McGowan, the Jays have arguably assembled their finest rotation since Roger Clemens, Pat Hentgen, and Juan Guzman donned the Toronto Blue together in 1998.
But beyond Halladay, who posted a 16- 7 record to go with a 3.71 ERA in 2007, perhaps ‘ace’ is a stretch in describing the 30-year-old career Blue Jay’s other running mates. After all, Burnett, now in the third year of a five-year contract signed in 2005, has yet to win 12 games in a single season over his entire career. In 2007, Burnett posted solid peripherals with a 3.75 ERA, and 176 strikeouts in 165.2 innings, but made only 25 starts, going 10-8 over all.
McGowan offers even more of a mixed bag. The 25-year-old, only in his second full season, had an impressive 2007 campaign, setting a career-high with 12 wins, while ranking second on the staff in innings pitched behind Halladay. It would be unfair to compare either of them to Halladay, a four-time all-star and perennial Cy Young candidate, yet they share much in common.
All three are power pitchers, who throw in the mid-nineties with excellent secondary stuff. They all have an ideal pitcher’s frame, Halladay stands tallest at 6’6”, while Burnett and McGowan are 6’4” and 6’3” respectively. Finally, all three were high school picks, struggling early in their careers.
Burnett and McGowan may not be aces in the traditional sense like Halladay, but it’s hard to dispute, when looking at their similarities, that they aren’t three of a kind, even if they seem to be wild cards at this point.
“You have to pitch to win our division,” said Ricciardi bluntly during the off-season. To that end, the GM spent the winter meetings trying to land one more big-time starter to line up with his current top three. Deals were discussed, which would have sent the Blue Jays’ best hitter Alex Rios to San Francisco for starters Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum, and later to Philadelphia for Cole Hamels or Brett Myers. The logic is simple: good pitching beats good hitting, a tried-and-true baseball adage.
Pitching has always been a priority, as it’s more cost effective to assemble a strong 3 or 4 rotation than to put together a dominant nine-man batting order like the Yankees or Red Sox; teams operating on an unlimited budgets.
Even though they were not able to landed another top flight starter, Halladay, Burnett, and McGowan should still form a devastating top three of a rotation. If the chips fall Ricciardi’s way this season and the team is able to capture their first AL East title in fifteen years, we can expect to see that familiar poker face of his soften into a smile.
