BDD: Top-3 Ricciardi Blunders
by Bill Baer on October 3rd, 2009Posted in Baseball Daily Digest, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Sabermetrics | Print | 6 Comments »
At Baseball Daily Digest, I recall the three biggest blunders made under the watch of J.P. Ricciardi.
There is no doubt that when this season ends, Halladay will be named one of the best pitchers of the decade. He is one of the few for-sure aces left in the game. However, when the Jays hit the skids in July (they went 8-16), it made mounds of financial sense for the Jays to move Halladay to a post-season contender to clear up some cash for the 2010 season.
They were not without potential suitors. Several teams made inquiries to Ricciardi, but the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies pursued Halladay the most. The Phils offered Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Michael Taylor, and J.A. Happ, their #2, 4, 6, and 9 prospects according to Baseball America’s pre-season rankings. Ricciardi turned it down because Kyle Drabek, the Phillies’ most-coveted pitching prospect, was not included. As I detailed at the time, Ricciardi didn’t exactly have a lot of leverage with which to bargain, so his refusal was mind-boggling then just as it is now.
6 Responses to “BDD: Top-3 Ricciardi Blunders”
By eh on Oct 3, 2009
in defense of JP,
Happ would get absolutely shelled in the AL, particularly in the AL East. Donald is a horrible prospect and probably not an MLB player.
Word was the Red sox offered a ton for him? that’s the deal i would have done.
By Jdashdog on Oct 4, 2009
Why would Happ get shelled in the AL? I really don’t understand why people think the AL is the superior league.
JP, should not be defended. He managed that whole situation horribly.
By eh on Oct 5, 2009
AL is a superior hitting division, see the DH.
Happ is pitching wayyy over his head, and the AL East CRUSHES lefties. he’d probably have a near 5.00 ERA.
By Jdashdog on Oct 6, 2009
Maybe 3 months ago you could speculate he was pitching over his head, but when he’s as consistent as he’s been it’s not luck
By EH on Oct 6, 2009
a .304 BABIP and 83% LOB % is quite lucky.particularly when you throw 88 MPH
By Bill Baer on Oct 6, 2009
I have to side with EH on this one. Happ has out-performed his xFIP by nearly one and a half runs, the largest disparity among all Major League pitchers. Jair Jurrjens is second, out-performing his xFIP by 1.12.