"Rios is someone to watch," I said the next day at work," He's got hustle and drive, but he makes a lot of rookie mistakes. Someone who's played a little more would know better than that."
A few years later, and he's still overrunning the bases.
Prior to the 2008 season there was a very serious offer from the Hated San Francisco Giants for Rios. What they were offering for Alex Rios included Time Lincecum, who was a young pitcher with an.....unorthodox...delivery but who was showing some promise. "Nay nay," said the Beloved Jays,"We see a lot of promise in Alex Rios. With a little discipline and some work on his fundamentals, he's going to be a star And we've given him a large contract based on that promise."
Late last week Rios was placed on waivers and picked up by the Hated White Sox. Note he wasn't designated for assignment - that is what being fired in baseball is, though you still have to pay them (see Ryan, Robert Victor). He was put on waivers, meaning the Jays could keep him, or could not, or could make a trade, or not. Really, it's like they're in the schoolyard and no one's said 'No Take Backs' yet.
A lot of people have said that they Jays got nothing for Rios. And in a way, they didn't. They didn't get any new players, and still have the same needs they had before (third base and catcher, sorry but I don't think our yells are going to be satisfied by them giving us Brajas). But they did get something far more tangible:
$58.7 million. That's the amount that was remaining on his 7 year (7!) deal. They paid Rios this based on a promise he never fulfilled.
Now, I'm the first to admit that baseball is a game of futility ("Hey boss, you gave me ten thing to do, but I only got three of them done, and one of them only because it bounced off of Jose Canseco's head." "Great, here's the key to the corner office!"), but at the same time it's a game of consistency - it's a year-over-year game. Jays GM JP Riccardi has made that mistake constantly, either signing guys to large contracts based on promise (Rios) or on those who anyone with half a baseball brain could see were coming off a statistical blip of a year (Frank Thomas). It's deals like the last one that are very disappointing because Riccardi was supposed to be a Moneyball dude: Sign people who are consistent, but unspectacular players and nibble the other teams to death.
So no matter how you cut it, he overpaid for Rios, and was on the hook for the long run. Now, add to this the current economic downturn. A lot of teams don't want to pick up a contact that's worth that much without a promise of a big return. Note that Wells and his enormous contract was put on waivers also with nary a bite. The pale Sox were willing to take a chance, and had nothing to offer. So what did the Jays get:
Again, $58.7 million.
What can they do with this? They can go over a number of free agents in the off season. Why should they? Because we're in an economic downturn right now that won't impact major sports until next year (it's why people are excited about LeBron in the NBA, and there's the potential for another NFL strike). People might be more inclined to sign with the Blue Jays or Pirates knowing that those wages will be competitive with the Hated Yankees and Hated BoSox. As well, the Jays have more depth than they are given credit for, so they don't need a lot of new parts, just a couple of guns for hire (and middle relief, but that's where I hope the Cincy deal for Rolen pays off). They Jays did the same when they bought their two World Series' in the 90s. So they gave up Rios, but they might have gained a chance to be competitive next year.
Having said that, Riccardi is done. He's done not so much for the moves he made on the field (though those are pretty bad and, again, he did not live up to his billing as much as Rios didn't) but for the way he handled being a GM. Let's just say I suck at poker, but I have a feeling I could take a few bucks from JP without too much work. He's gone, and would be gone already for one reason: Paul Beeston is only interim President, and supposed to be looking for his replacement. I'm with Bob McCowan on this one: Paul Beeston's replacement is Paul Beeston, and he's just waiting for (1) the end of the season and (2) to have his GM pick ready to take over before he pulls his Cheney. Once those ducks are in a row, he'll start firing. And here's my other prediction, which I'll go into later: The order of firing will be this - Riccardi, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, and then manager Cito Gaston, all on the same day and within minutes of each other if not at the same time.
I just hope that whoever it is looks at the money - $58.7 million - looks at the team and looks for the pieces that fit as opposed to trying to make those pieces fit on the team. Because the last few they did that with? They're on other teams right now.
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