It would have been irresponsible of JP to continue to pay Eckstein's salary the rest of the way. The return was irrelevant, although big strong throwers who K a guy an inning are nice.

This could work out to be a steal, or it could be nothing... either way, this is about as much as the team could expect for a month of Eck. Good of JP to go out and get it and at the time when at least two clubs were desperate for a MI.

Beck was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 43rd round of the 2004 draft.  Arizona drafted him in the 14th round of the 2006 draft out of Louisiana-Lafayette.  Beck is 23 years old, playing in the California League, and has switched between starting and relieving.  The Cal league is an offense-oriented league so Beck's ERA of 3.98 is pretty good.  Beck was not listed in the Arizona section of BA's prospect handbook, either in the top 30 or the depth chart.

Just wanted to give CC Sabathia a shout-out for his start today - barring what I perceive as an official scorer's mistake he threw a no-hitter.

At this stage of his career, Eckstein probably doesn't have the skills required to play shortstop anywhere, and certainly not on one of the few remaining artificial turf parks left in the game. But it's never the player's fault when he's asked to do something he can't do. And the little fellow was the best possible soldier. He's been an everyday player his entire career, and I didn't hear a peep out of him when he was banished to the bench. He kept his mouth shut and played hard when they put him in.

A shout out to CC -- who are you, Hank Steinbrenner?

Nice to see J.P. get Beck for Eck. But is Arizona really planning on replacing the O-dog with Grits?

 I presume Chad Beck is not a relation of Rod Beck. That would be too awesome.

I truly hope our most lasting memory of Eck is not the ringing in Aaron Hill's ears.

I'm hoping that this abundance of pitching prospects will finally lead to acquiring a true offensive SS/power hitter. Teams such as Milwaukee and Philly make sense as trading partners because they will both need pitching in 2009 as it stands. As someone on this site said earlier, if KC was reportedly getting Jason Donald for Ron Mahay, why couldn't we do this with  Tallet/Carlson?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that JP will return for 2009 (which I'd like to see) and will have one last chance to make this a playoff team (or at least a true contender). If JP fails again, it makes sense to fire him and (potentially) start a fire sale prior to 2010 with Halladay, Overbay, Ryan, Downs, Rolen and others possibly being traded for prospects. This way they only pay JP to not be there GM for one year, which I suspect is how the Jays prefer to do business.

He's been an everyday player his entire career, and I didn't hear a peep out of him when he was banished to the bench. He kept his mouth shut and played hard when they put him in.

Absolutely. I don't see how anyone can have a single negative thing to say about Eckstein. As a ballplayer and individual, he was exactly as advertised and gave it his all for the team. As much as qualities such as hustle may be overrated by the MSM, I've seen few players give it their all on every single play like Eckstein. He hustled harder back the dugout after being retired than some players do when they hit routine grounders. Also, he was one of the first players out of the dugout in every single Blue Jays walkoff win, despite the fact he played no role in several of them, and was constantly at the front of the dugout with high fives and congrats for his teammates throughout the year.

Good point about Ecks, good teamplayer, wish him well, and nice job JP getting anything for him given that he had zero value to the jays at the end of the bench - they didn't even use him as a pinch runner.

One of the best gauges of a pitcher's potential is the K/BB ratio.  Beck's is excellent this year, at 108/28 combined for the 2 teams he has pitched for, almost a 4 to 1 ratio.  Opponents' batting average of .230.  Sounds like a good pickup.  Big guy, listed as 6 ft 4 in and 251 lbs.  I imagine he will be at New Hampshire next year.

I have always found it immensely pleasurable to watch David Eckstein play baseball.  There probably isn't a ballplayer alive who couldn't benefit from adapting something Eckstein does to his own game.  (The last guys I remember who were like this were Ozzie Smith and Tony Fernandez).  I hope Aaron Hill absorbed a lot of the lessons visible in Eckstein's play while he was able to play with him this year - noted the furious commitment (to the moment and to the cause of winning) that carries ordinary players and ordinary teams to the top of the heap.

That said, Eckstein is not a major league shortstop anymore and since he still delivers value with the bat he really should be playing second base (presumably with the D-Backs he will).  It's been difficult to watch Eckstein struggle to make his body respond to the demands of a position it can no longer handle.  I imagine Eckstein could still play a very fine second base... his feet are definitely not too slow, his footwork is still very fine and his arm, now a total liability at short, is plenty good enough for second.

Much like Mike Bordick before him, David Eckstein was an utter class act and the great thing about his time here is that he's undoubtedly made tens of thousands of more fans for life.  Players like David Eckstein actually deserve the hero worship that people give to athletes.  I say that without knowing a thing about his personal life (he could bite the heads of baby rabbits for all I care); I mean he plays baseball like a religious mystic in the throes of a frenzied ecstasy.

Eh, stats from anything before AA don't mean too much because there is such a wide range of ages and experiences at the level. White a good K/BB at A+ shows he isn't actively bad, you really want to wait until he duplicates the results at a relevantly high level before you get excited.

That said, you can never have enough dorky bullpen prospects hanging around.

If it's true that Eckstein can play a "very fine" second base, I really hope that this trade is an indication that the Jays have evaluated Aaron Hill's injury and are confident that he can return next year.  Or it means that they are confident of Inglett's ability to maintain his strong production next season.  If there was any doubt about Hill or Inglett, why would the Jays give away a potential replacement?  (And Eckstein probably would be a lot cheaper in 2009 than in 2008, if he isn't seen as a starting SS any more.)  So I'm going to interpret this as a positive:  the Jays have medical evaluations that Hill can return to form next season.  By the way, there was a brief note recently on mlb.com, saying that Hill was jogging without any headaches any more.  A slender reed to clutch on, but I'm going to be optimistic and say that Hill will be back to form in 2009.

why would the Jays give away a potential replacement?

You, uh, know that he's a free agent, right?

The team that J.P. assembled this year, the team he was comfortable with, the players he spent money on included the now departed Frank Thomas, Matt Stairs, Shannon Stewart, Reed Johnson, and David Eckstein.  Those five players represented enough money to have landed a quality free agent, instead of the very haphazard approach to assembling an offensive that J.P. took.

Another meaningless September lies ahead.

why would the Jays give away a potential replacement?

Because he's a free agent anyway, but mainly because they like him and want to see him land in the post-season:

Cito Gaston: This man is probably one of the classiest individuals I've ever had here. He never complained once. He came to play. Any time I asked him to play, he played. If he didn't play, or I put a defensive player in for him or whatever, he never said a word. All he wants to do is win. I'm happy for him. I think it's good for him. He's going to go to a first-place team and get a chance to maybe play in the playoffs.

J.P. Ricciardi:  We tried to put him in a spot where, A, he's going to go to the playoffs and, B, he's going to get a chance to play, which is what he wants to do more than anything. He's just an absolutely great guy.

John McDonald: He's been a great teammate. You watched the way he prepared every day -- whether he was playing or he wasn't playing -- how much he gave, it didn't matter if he wasn't in the lineup.

The team that J.P. assembled this year, the team he was comfortable with, the players he spent money on included the now departed Frank Thomas, Matt Stairs, Shannon Stewart, Reed Johnson, and David Eckstein.  Those five players represented enough money to have landed a quality free agent, instead of the very haphazard approach to assembling an offensive that J.P. took.

Dear Mr. Mick,

First of all, why are you including a player that they cut in spring training so they wouldn't have to pay him an additional three million dollars in your collection of 'wasted funds'? Second of all, I would be greatly appreciative if you could list a free agent who signed in the offseason who would have accepted an $18M/1 deal.

Signing free agents isn't alchemy. There actually has to be a player to sign.

"J.P. Ricciardi:  We tried to put him in a spot where,[b] A, he's going to go to the playoffs [/b]and, B, he's going to get a chance to play, which is what he wants to do more than anything."

A subtle admission, finally?

I liked Eckstein a lot before the Jays acquired him, but wasn't sure whether he'd be enough of an offensive upgrade to make a difference here. The injury certainly didn't help his season, either...

If nothing else, two players that were on the Jays a week ago have a pretty good shot at the post-season.

Those five players represented enough money to have landed a quality free agent

Who?

(Please also note - Frank Thomas was signed on January 25, 2006 and he was one of the 20 or so best hitters in baseball at the time he signed.  Question marks, yes, but he was a quality free agent.  At any rate, since he was signed in 2006 his money was committed this offseason.  Exclude Thomas's salary from the equation.) 

This leaves $4.5M (Eck) plus $1.5M (Stew) plus $2.25M (Stairs) plus $0.75M (Reed's guarantee, which is all he was paid b/c he was released before the magic date).  That's nine million dollars, less $0.8M for minimum deals for the two roster spots that Eck and Stew represent (you'd have to find replacements for them somewhere - our mythical "quality free agent" only replaces Stairs).  So a one-year deal for $8.2 million, and remember that John McDonald is playing full time now instead of Eckstein (with the consequent result on the offense) so your guy starts in a 20-run hole.

Find me someone.  Go ahead!   A "quality free agent" is someone who was a FA in the '07 offseason with a good, recent track record of hitting, somewhere.  He had to have signed for less than an average of $8.2 million and I'll let you have an extra year... so no more than a two-year deal.  You can even use hindsight if you want... I'm more than happy to let you cherry-pick someone who has had a good year (has to be a full year, though, not some guy who lucked into a starting slot in mid-June and got hot for two months).  Remember the 20-run hole thanks to Johnny Mac.  Fix our offense in hindsight, Mick, all for eight million smackeroos!  Show J.P. what he should have been doing.

(To be fair, there is actually one guy - maybe two - who would fit the criteria I put up.  Both guys have raked this year, one seriously, one not as much but still raked, and there were other problems with the second guy as well.  But his problems pale to those of the first guy.  I'd have welcomed either guy, but I think either signing would have been roundly panned here.)

(To be fair, there is actually one guy - maybe two - who would fit the criteria I put up.  Both guys have raked this year, one seriously, one not as much but still raked, and there were other problems with the second guy as well.  But his problems pale to those of the first guy.  I'd have welcomed either guy, but I think either signing would have been roundly panned here.)

Signong Milton Bradley would have also been kind of hard since you would have had to clear out Frank Thomas because there is absolutely no way that Bradley is going to play defence on the turf.

I think we can accept, though, that our friend views Frank as part of the problem from the beginning rather than as a potential solution.  Cutting Frank (or trading him for a prospect) in January instead of bringing him to spring would have opened up the DH slot.  I thought Frank was going to hit, but not everyone did.

Milton Bradley, though, would have been career suicide for J.P.  I think we all know what this guy represents; if you Google "Milton Bradley" and "mental patient" together, you get 2270 hits, which is about 50 times the number you get when you use a typical player's name with a about Bradley's profile.  But even more to the point, he had had four serious injuries in the final five months of the 2007 season.  He hit every spare minute in between, but to say this guy was a health risk is like saying I like the occasional donut.

The other guy is Mike Cameron, who was facing a 25-game drug suspension to start the year.  That would have been popular, eh?

One of these guys must be Milton Bradley.  Who's the other guy? Jermaine Dye? Nah, he makes a little too much money. Who? Mike Cameron?

I don't think everyone should be too hard on the mick because he meant the comment out of frustration. Good work to the rest of you pointing out (even with hindsight) the difficulty of acquiring talent. Last, many Bauxites have been left puzzled by some of JP 's moves or roster construction (a lot of them don't come here anymore I think).

So, I object to the idea that John McDonald is 2 wins worse than Eckstein: there was totally reasonable discussion last winter about if playing Eck over JMac was worth it: defense is worth something.  A lot, in this case: John McDonald is excellent, and Eckstein has never been good and is now worse.

Frank Thomas was signed in January 2007, not in January 2006.   But I agree with your point, Craig.   In general, I think Ricciardi's handling of the free-agent market has been pretty good.  He has gone into the market with a specific plan, looking at holes in the Jays lineup, targeting key players and trying hard to sign them.   Sometimes the aggressive plan doesn't work -- or it works for only the first year of a two-year contract, as with Frank Thomas -- but that's better than lethargy or conservatism.  He's out there trying hard to acquire affordable players who can upgrade the team's lineup.  If it doesn't always work perfectly, that's inevitable, because nobody has a crystal ball.  And often the perfect free agent -- for the precise hole that needs to be filled -- is just not available on the market.  To fault him, in hindsight, for the signings that don't succeed perfectly, seems a little unfair to me.  If Ricciardi needs to be faulted, it's for his draft record, perhaps, or some of his trades.  But I think it's fair to say that he's also been partially a victim of bad luck over the past couple years too.
As for Eckstein -- of course I know he will be a free agent.   But if he's potentially a good 2B as Craig suggested, and if the team is uncertain about Hill and Inglett, it wouldn't have been hard to sign Eckstein again -- and probably for less money than he is making this year.  That's why I referred, in my previous post, to the fact that he would be cheaper in 2009. Since the team traded him, instead of trying to sign him, I have to think that the Jays are comfortable with Hill and Inglett.   (Or does it foreshadow a bid to sign Orlando Hudson??  Unlikely, but worth pondering.... The fans would love it......)

Further correction:  Frank Thomas signed with the Jays in November 2006.

Given the list of players as "waste" said FA would also have to be able to fill 3 spots, SS, LF and DH in addition to being on said deal...

20 runs is for offense only - this is supposed to have fixed the offense.  But why the hell am I (and we) crapping all over Eckstein's farewell thread with this nonsense?  Sorry.  To get back to the point at hand, Eckstein is also a great human being in addition to being a great ballplayer (I have that on the highest authority now), and I am glad and proud to see that he was dealt with nobly.