i dont remember exact quote, but i could maybe take some time to try and find something ..but i do remember in the offseason some suggested BJ Ryan should have been traded and Ricciardi said that wasnt an option. i dont know where he could have been traded or who they could have gotten for him, but even low grade prospect would have bene better than releasing him and still owing him the money.
Ricciardi has made some good moves, but hes also made some stupid moves ..and even stupid non moves. 2 could have been trades come to mind in particular. i dont remember the years. -the Jays had Jose Cruz in the OF. the Mets were interested and offered a young 3B by the name of David Wright. Ricciardi said no. -the Jays had Ted Lilly. the Phillies were interested. the Phillies at the time had Jim Thome at 1B and were offering up a young 1B from the minors by the name of Ryan Howard. Ricciardi said no. the Jays could have David Wright and Ryan Howard right now. both Cruz and Lilly left as free agents. ofcorse that would have meant other moves would not have been made. the Jays would not have traded for Troy Glaus or Lyle Overbay
one quick find for BJ Ryan from mlbtraderumors.com
Blue Jays Rumors: Burnett, Manny, Ryan By Tim Dierkes [October 24, 2008 at 10:07pm CST]
10:07pm: Dave O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution heard the Blue Jays will make Burnett a "take it or leave it" offer of four years, $54MM ($13.5MM per year). Burnett's agent hasn't heard that, and Ricciardi says there's no offer on the table currently. Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail says the Jays have indicated privately they'll do a three-year, $48MM deal ($16MM per year). On the open market, Burnett can probably get four or five years at a higher salary.
10:06am: A little more on Ricciardi's talks with Burnett's agent. Here, Ricciardi says talks have been "very productive." But here, Ricciardi says they're "not going bad, they're not going good. They're fine."
8:42am: Talking to Cathal Kelly at the Toronto Star, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi gives the standard line of being willing to trade any player if it makes the team better. Beyond that, he gave some quotes about his offseason plans.
* Ricciardi says payroll will be $100MM, which should mean $15MM+ to spend after A.J. Burnett leaves for greener pastures. Ricciardi may allow for uncertainty in the rotation and spend that money on a slugger. He likes Manny Ramirez, but doesn't sound optimistic on signing him. * Burnett hasn't officially decided whether to opt out, but...c'mon. The Jays' exclusive window to talk to him will depend on when he opts out. Burnett's agent set salary expectations at more than Derek Lowe, less than C.C. Sabathia. * Ricciardi says trading B.J. Ryan is not a priority for the Jays at present. * To sum it all up: Burnett is a long shot, he won't be replaced with another free agent starter, Manny is unlikely, Marco Scutaro is the shortstop, and Ryan is probably staying put. If all of those things hold true, it may be difficult to improve in 2008. On the other hand, full seasons of Vernon Wells, Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Travis Snider, and a free agent hitter could result in a decent offense.
That says it wasn't a priority (at the time, they probably thought the payroll would remain stable), but that doesn't mean they didn't try to do anything. My guess is his trade value wasn't too much.
SpecialFNK wrote:at this point no team was going to even give up a fringe prospect for him. hes owed too much money and he sucks. Ricciardi made a HUGE mistake by not trading Ryan during the offseason when he still had some value. Ricciardi said during the offseason he had no interest in trading Ryan, which was a stupid move! there were teams that were looking for closers that would have traded something. he could have got a player in return AND saved money. another bone head move by Ricciardi. sure hes not the worst GM in baseball, but i hardly think he is anywhere near the top.
How do you know he what he could have gotten for BJ Ryan in the offseason? In fact, how do you know he didn't try to trade him (I don't remember this quote about having no interest in doing it)?
Also why would you have traded him in the off season ? They're trying to compete, they don't trade their closer. I don't remember many calls for giving Downs the job during the off season. So it didn't work out, hey it happens. Its easy to look back now and say why didn't they trade him, but really how much value did he have, and who else was an obvious choice to replace him?
swyck wrote:Also why would you have traded him in the off season ? They're trying to compete, they don't trade their closer.
I would have traded him because it's a bad contract for a reliever, and a decline from him could probably have been expected by the end of the deal. With Downs healthy, the bullpen is strong enough to lose BJ Ryan. But yeah, I can also see why it wouldn't have been a priority to move him. He came off a good year, and showed no signs of this kind of collapse.
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by SpecialFNK » Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:43 pm 
