Warning: if you dislike Richard Griffin-bashing, you'd best move on to another thread.
In today's Star, happy-go-lucky Griff examines the plethora of ex-Jays who are setting the major leagues on fire, contrasting them with the sorry lot of current Blue Jays who have been so putrid thus far. The implication, as always, is that it's only ever been about dumping salary, cutting loose valued veterans for little in return. If he has a point beyond that, it's difficult to tell, since the column simply tapers off at the end.
Fine as far as it goes, in theory: JP isn't immune from criticism for his player moves, in these or other parts. But Griff, as usual, doesn't seem interested in telling the whole story: he fails to characterize unusually hot starts as exactly what they are, and doesn't provide enough context to the impugned transactions. These are the former Blue Jays identified by Griffin as thriving cast-offs: Jose Cruz Jr., Raul Mondesi, Tony Batista, Brad Fullmer, Alex Gonzalez, Esteban Loiaza, Brandon Lyon, Dan Plesac, Billy Koch, Paul Quantrill and David Wells. Let's take a closer look at each of these ex-Jays.
1. Jose Cruz Jr.
Here are Junior's statlines for the past four seasons:
1999: .241/.358/.433 (349 AB)
2000: .242/.323/.466 (603 AB)
2001: .274/.326/.530 (577 AB)
2002: .245/.317/.438 (466 AB)
2003: .312/.441/.587 (109 AB)
Now, call me a zombie-like cult member, but I'm pretty sure I can spot the outlier there, both in terms of performance and sample size. Add to this the fact that Jose plays in one of the most extreme pitcher's parks in baseball, and that NL pitchers are going to learn pretty soon to throw him breaking stuff in the dirt, and I think you can see where his season is heading. Indeed, after 6 HRs in his first 8 games, Junior has hit just 2 in the 22 since.
There's nothing inherently wrong with Jose Cruz Jr., of course -- he's fine defensively, he has power to spare and he used to take a walk once in a while (as he's been doing so far this season, a 26/28 BB/K ratio). But he's an established 780 OPS player, and he was going to make $5 million plus this season to do that again; Frank Catalanotto is an established 820 OPS player making one-fifth of that. Even figuring in the huge defensive difference, it's a no-brainer. When Jose is back down in the .260s in June or July, you think we'll hear about him then?
JP 1, Richard 0
2. Raul Mondesi
Raul's off to a great start with the Yankees, .367/.466/.717 in 60 ABs. Does anyone remember how Raul played for the Yanks after the trade last season? Try .241/.315/.430 in 270 ABs. Now the truth is, Mondesi's a bit better than that: you can usually count on him for around an 800 OPS. But his numbers have been in a steady decline since 1997, he's 32, and he had a price tag only George Steinbrenner can afford (not that he wants to -- all reports indicated the Yanks spent the off-season peddling the Buffalo, even considering a straight salary dump with the Pirates). The Mondesi dump was the best part of 2002 for Toronto -- Scott Wiggins is Triple-A bullpen filler, nothing more -- and it strains credulity to imply that Toronto would be better off with him today. But then, according to Griff''s logic, the Jays should have kept Mondesi, Cruz, Shannon Stewart and Vernon Wells, and wasn't that where we were last spring?
JP 2, Richard 0
3. Tony Batista
I'm in agreement with Griffin up to a point: Batista's loss on waivers in 2001 was completely unnecessary. Despite his horrific slump at the time, he was less than half a year removed from a 41-HR season, and a lot of teams would value that without looking too closely at his background numbers. The Orioles did, and they've been rewarded with an OPS that hasn't cracked .773 since he arrived. But let's also face facts: his trade value was very low, few teams had shown much interest in him before that, he couldn't (and didn't) pass through waivers, and what did the Orioles have to offer Toronto anyway? Add to this the fact it was on Gord Ash's dying watch, and you wonder what the Batista loss is doing on this list, except for purposes of piling on. Griffin's not wrong, but JP wasn't involved with this, so call it a draw.
JP 2, Richard 0
4. Brad Fullmer
I'm feeling generous, so I'll give this one to Griffin. Fullmer is a perfectly fine right-handed first baseman/DH: he has a .298 BA, 872 OPS against righties lifetime, and posted a solid .289/.357/.531 for the Angels last year. The trade return for Fullmer, Brian Cooper, got slapped around in Toronto and Syracuse last year and was released soon afterwards. The reasons for the trade are, of course, obvious: Fullmer had a too-generous contract (courtesy of Gord Ash) and no position, and with four outfielders already fighting for playing time, Ricciardi had to make room. It was a talent and salary dump both, and even at the time there were questions about the quality of the return (though anyone who thought the Jays were getting John Lackey or Francisco Rodriguez are dreaming in technicolour). And if Fullmer were with the Jays today, where would he play? A $4 million pinch-hitter? But as I say, I'm feeling generous, and I certainly wouldn't want it said I have it in for Griffin or anything.
JP 2, Richard 1
5. Alex Gonzalez
OK, you've got to be joking. Gonzalez was Toronto's answer to Rey Ordonez: fine glove, terrible bat, way overrated and way overpaid. His last season with the Blue Jays: .253/.303/.388, 17 HR, 18 SB, 43 BB, 149 K. His first season with the Cubs: .248/.312/.425, 18 HR, 5 SB, 46 BB, 136 K. His career line: .247/.308/.394. He continually insisted that 150 Ks and a .240 average were an acceptable price to pay for 15 HRs a season. He was wrong. Gonzalez's departure opened the door to Felipe Lopez, and eventually to Chris Woodward; Lopez brought Jason Arnold and John-Ford Griffin in trade; and $4 million was saved. And this was a bad move for JP? The GM should get bonus points for this silliness, but instead the score simply goes to:
JP 3, Richard 1
6. Esteban Loaiza
This won't take long. Loiaza in April, career: 2.85 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .223 opponents' BA, .72 K/IP. Loaiza in full-season, career: 4.80 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, .265 opponents' BA, .61 K/IP. Loaiza in April 2003: 1.25 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, .142 opponents' BA, .97 K/IP. Anyone care to fill in the last blank? Oh yeah, Esteban's first May start: 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 3 BB, 2 K. And let's not forget his reportedly terrible impact on the clubhouse in 2002. Yeah, the Jays really should've kept this metronome of mediocrity around.
JP 4, Richard 1
7. Brandon Lyon
I'm tempted to give Richard this one as well. I do agree that Lyon was cut loose too soon, that the Jays' front office exercised a rush to judgment in clearing him out of the organization. But let's be serious here: he's pitched exactly 10 innings for Boston this season, and has allowed 14 baserunners and struck out 7; his 2.70 ERA in those 10 IP contrasts vividly with the 6.53 mark he threw up in 62 Toronto innings in '02. Maybe he will come back to haunt his former team someday, but the jury hasn't even ordered their coffee yet. For drawing conclusions on the most spurious of sample sizes, Griffin loses this one.
JP 5, Richard 1
8. Dan Plesac
Yeah, right. Acquiring the team's new minimum-wage closer in exchange for a 40ish setup guy making ten times his salary was a bad idea.
JP 6, Richard 1
9. Billy Koch
Griff has the cojones to actually record this transaction in his column as "Billy Koch (1-1, 8.56 ERA, 3 saves), traded to the A's for two players." Yes, Rich -- one of whom was rookie of the year and is now the starting third baseman. And an 8.56 ERA is a good thing? Koch has now benefitted both teams who traded him away (the A's cleaned up on the White Sox deal), and Billy has temporarily lost his closer's job to Damaso Marte. Then again, where closer-killer Jerry Manuel is concerned, maybe Koch is destined for long relief all year long.
JP 7, Richard 1
10. Paul Quantrill
Richard can have this one. Quantrill was overpaid for a setup man, but he was also pretty highly valued around the league, as was Cesar Izturis. Chad Ricketts and Luke Prokopec both turned up lame after their arrival and both are now out of the organization. Tough luck, but this was easily JP's least successful trade, and he should be held accountable for it.
JP 7, Richard 2
11. David Wells
Taking another page from his Bash Ash book, Griffin resurrects the ugly spectre of Boomer Wells, dealt for sore-armed Mike Sirotka and overhyped Brian Simmons. Sure it was a dog of a trade, even considering that Wells had pushed Ash into a corner. But how far back, exactly, are we going to go to cast aspersions on the current Jays administration? Shall we discuss the Collins-and-Griffin-for-Caudill deal as well? I should penalize Griff for going back to the Wells once too often, but I am a gentle soul, so the final score is:
JP 7, Richard 2
So what was the point of all this? After all, I know I'm largely preaching to the choir here. But I just can't stand it when a prominent columnist, the baseball beat writer in Toronto's flagship paper, authors negative and one-sided copy as part of an ongoing effort to complain about whoever occupies the GM position at Skydome. A lot of people are going to read Griff's column today and buy it completely, not knowing any better that there's more to the story. This rant was penned in the hopes that at least one of them might read it.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030506111418999