Obviously this isn't a surprise and the team needed it at least for marketing reasons.  However the "what comes next" is the big question.  Is Anthopoulos the new permanent GM, if so what does that mean?  We don't know.  What will the budget and philosophy be for next year, we don't know.  So the next phase of the Blue Jays is underway but it is murky right now.

Why today?  Well if there is a mess to be cleaned up in Baltimore then there is no sense in JP making promises or decisions that he will not be around to keep.  Let Beeston and Anthopoulos get in the middle of that.

Beeston is no doubt talking with Cito Gaston today.  Even if Beeston persuades Cito to leave you won't know about it for a while.  Cito is too proud to make it look like he was run out of town by the players.  If the payroll will be held low next season and if the Jays are going to trade Halladay and have a rebuilding year Beeston might persuade Cito he doesn't want to be the manager of that team but that decision would be announced after the payroll for 2010 is set.

Kevin Towers was let go by the Padres today as well.

Could Towers be a potential replacement for JP. 

This is from the producer of XM/Sirius Home Plate from his twitter page:

"According to @MLBHomePlate, Anthopoulos title as GM is NOT interim. Anthopoulos will remain GM as long as Beeston is #BlueJays President."

http://twitter.com/BrentSGambill/status/4580586890 

While I think Ricciardi didn't do a bad job given the resources available, it was time for a change.

It looks like Anthopoulos is the new GM. Maybe he'll be fine, maybe not. I don't know enough about him to hazard a guess as to how he'll do, and I doubt anyone else here does either. I do find it disturbing that  they didn't undertake a search and interview a number of candidates. Just handing the most important job in the baseball operation side to a guy who happens to be around isn't my idea of how to do things. But then, like I said, I don't know enough about him. I do know that I haven't sen his name mentioned on those lists you see sometimes of the top young GM candidates, and I haven't heard of any other teams asking permission to talk to him. But that may not mean all that much.

I wish Alex all the best. But let's just say I'm open-minded but skeptical.

According to @MLBHomePlate, Anthopoulos title as GM is NOT interim. Anthopoulos will remain GM as long as Beeston is #BlueJays President.

Because Beeston's role is interim, by design, doesn't that mean the same for Anthopoulos? Isn't Beeston trying to head out the door?

This is from the producer of XM/Sirius Home Plate from his twitter page:

"According to @MLBHomePlate, Anthopoulos title as GM is NOT interim. Anthopoulos will remain GM as long as Beeston is #BlueJays President."

Wow! As long as Beeston is President, that's what?...Another week, maybe til monday morning. According to Beeston and Blair, the next President is already selected and waiting in the wings.

I do find it disturbing that  they didn't undertake a search and interview a number of candidates. Just handing the most important job in the baseball operation side to a guy who happens to be around isn't my idea of how to do things.

Right. Plus he's Canadian. Very few MLB Exec's have that going for them on their resume. Don't need any Logan White's here. Unless, perhaps the next President isn't much of an inspired move, a sturdy sports guy, but someone who is more there to run the Rogers Center Entertainment end of it, and he has already signed off as Anthopoulos being a fine replacement, because Beeston assures him, it is.

So I wonder if Beeston seen Ricciardi's fingerprints on the revolt?

I assume it's a clearing of the deck three days earlier than is customarily done at the conclusion of a season because there's going to be other moves/hiring's to come in the next few days now that the Revolt hit.. There's a lot that going to be taking place within the organization in the days/weeks/months to come, might as well start the dominoes now? Fire him on monday and maybe it gets framed that Ricciardi is paying for the Gaston players revolt, and this way his dismissal is kept a separate issue? Because of yesterday's further disintegration of the club, maybe JP really new a house cleaning was coming, asked if he was going to be kept on board, was told he wasn't, and asked out now rather than wait? With the huge Cito issue now, Beeston becomes the sole voice of the organization, and can handle all the delicate word play that's about to come post-Beeston/Players meeting tonight, keeping Ricciardi as far away from microphones as possible?

I hope this firing will also lead to a firing or "relieving" of Cito for 2010. Overall I think JP did an average job and improved near the end of his tenure; but he HAD to go if for no other reason than to appease the apathetic fanbase (and I rarely think it is a good idea to make decisions like this based on the fanbase). The part that I find annoying (and I am sure I will find more annoying in the next couple of years if the Jays improve) is that Anthopolous was hired by and served under JP. I'm not sure why people would expect there to be a massive shift in philosophy (unless, of course, Rogers decides to spend more money on the draft and on-field product, in which case I'm sure AA will receive a ton of credit).

AA seems like a nice guy (and a good ol' Canadian boy) but other than the idea for option years on the Aaron Hill contract (which, frankly, a number of people on this site could figure out similarly interesting ways to add options on to a contract) I am not quite sure what he has done of significance. Heck, he could be very good at his job, but this seems as much of a PR move as anything (deflecting attention away from Cito). Not to mention making the move TWO days before the end of the year...why?

On a side note, I REALLY would love to see JP get another job as a GM, specifically in the NL. Not that I think he'd want to work on the West Coast, but San Diego would be the PERFECT environment for his strengths as a GM to be appreciated (cheap bullpen moves, tons of 'good' but not 'elite' pitching etc). I think he'd have more success in the NL West on a $50 mill payroll than a $100 mill payroll in the AL East.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.  I can see all obstacles in my way.  Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind, It's gonna be a bright, bright, Sun-Shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone.  All of the bad feelings have disappeared.  Here is the rainbow I've been praying for.  It's gonna be a bright, bright, Sun-Shiny day.

Senior Vice President, Baseball Operations and General Manager    J.P. Ricciardi
Vice President, Baseball Operations & Assistant General Manager    Alex Anthopoulos
Assistant General Manager, Player Personnel    Tony LaCava

Senior Vice President, Baseball Operations and General Manager    Alex Anthopoulos
Assistant General Manager, Player Personnel    Tony LaCava

I, for one, cannot wait to hear the next few JP sound bites. I hope the first thing he does is attribute the Wells signing to Uncle Ted/Godfrey and talk about how he, like the fans, never liked Wells or Rios...I'm sure most people won't believe him or care...but I really want to hear what he will say now that he no longer has to protect the image of his employer...the unintentional contreversial stuff from JP (i.e. the Dunn comments, BJ's injury) were amusing...the intentional controversial stuff will be even better...

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a prediction here.

JP Ricciardi will be hired by the Red Sox as a special assistant to the GM or some such. He's always had a good relationship with Roy Halladay, and plays a key role in convincing Halladay to sign with Boston after the 2010 season.

I don't want Arnsberg toast and I want Butter for Manager. A dollop of jam would go nice too. 

Poor ol' JP - ever since he misunderstood O'Dog's backhanded compliment it's been a struggle for JP to get - and keep - Jays fans support. I think it's fair to say - even by me, one of his supporters - that'll he'll be gone but not missed. Pity really.

As to the Alex Antichrist (or whatever his name is - bad enough it's taken me a full year to learn to spell Rzealphabetsoupski's name correctly) It'l be interesting to see what a Canadian kid can do. I suspect he may suprise. He better - if not we'll get the O'Dog to say he looks like a pimp. That'll finish him.

The most valuable asset on the team, Roy Halladay, was not that much of an asset and may never have been a major asset until JP arrived. He kept him here with two contract extensions (the second of which may be the best deal for a franchise player in his "prime years" in all of baseball) and because of this, Roy will not experience free agency until his mid-30's...which is amazing when you consider that NEVER seems to happen without a Derek Jeter-like contract.

AA will trade Roy and the fanbase will not blame him in the least like they would have with JP; and if he manages to get a couple of nice pieces, he will become even more of a media darling for "salvaging something from JP's mess." Ash may have drafted Roy, but Roy was not an all-star, Cy Young winner, perennial Cy Young candidate, franchise player on and off the field and the best pitcher in franchise history until JP got here and kept him here through ALL of his prime years. AA is simply benefitting from the hall of fame asset that JP kept for him. So let's not forget that there is an inextricable link between the best player the franchise has ever produced and KEPT through his prime years (in the free agency era) and the most vilified GM in team history...

Mind you, it WAS time to fire him, but seemingly very little of the fanbase seems to appreciate the fact that he kept Halladay which, you know, is as important as drafting very good players like Aaron Hill. I almost hope he does land with the Red Sox and convinces Roy to sign there because I prefer JP to Rogers, Cito, the Toronto media and the "average" fan...

In some ways, I wonder if Ricciardi would have been better with a tiny payroll, because most of his mistakes have been of the big budget variety; take away the big free agents and contract extensions, and he doesn't look too bad.

I agree with this - but it really doesn't work in this division without a sustained period of losing. JP with less money in another division would be fine...

From Bastian's twitter:

"Anthopoulos will be the general manager going forward, unless the new president (whenever he is hired) decides to bring in his own GM."

http://twitter.com/MLBastian

JP Ricciardi failed as a General Manager in almost every aspect. There’s no need to repeat all of my “mini-essays” I have produced on this site the past couple of years but the truth is that the Jays didn’t play a single meaningful game in August during his tenure. The Jays have fallen so far off of the map, even organizational soldier Roy Halladay wants out. The 25 man roster isn’t good enough to compete for a playoff spot and the farm system is in terrible shape. When your best prospect is Zack Stewart or Henderson Alvarez you know your farm system is awful. It’s ironic that JP will now be a sunk cost when he created so many of these himself. While I give him credit for some smart low profile free agent signings, most of his big ticket items have been a disaster.

He also couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He popped off at Adam Dunn, Gil Meche, Keith Law, Jays fan on WWJP, the BJ Ryan lie, etc…..

What floors me is that there are still JP supporters out there. I almost want to puke every time somebody says he simply hasn’t been lucky enough. I have some land in Compton I want to sell you………

The most puzzling thing about today isn’t the timing of the firing, it’s the fact a new permanent General Manager has already been promoted when the team doesn’t even have a permanent President in place. What harm is there in conducting a search for the next General Manager while giving the interim tag to Anthopoulos? Does Ownership believe their Organization is such a joke, they don’t even believe any qualified candidates would even accept a job interview? While I am happy Ricciardi is no longer associated with the Jays, the moves made today is merely putting lipstick on a pig. The Jays need a complete makeover from Ownership all the way down to the Mascots.

JP Ricciardi failed as a General Manager in almost every aspect. There’s no need to repeat all of my “mini-essays” I have produced on this site the past couple of years but the truth is that the Jays didn’t play a single meaningful game in August during his tenure. The Jays have fallen so far off of the map, even organizational soldier Roy Halladay wants out. The 25 man roster isn’t good enough to compete for a playoff spot and the farm system is in terrible shape. When your best prospect is Zack Stewart or Henderson Alvarez you know your farm system is awful. It’s ironic that JP will now be a sunk cost when he created so many of these himself. While I give him credit for some smart low profile free agent signings, most of his big ticket items have been a disaster.

From 2006 onward (i.e. when the payroll became respectable) JP assembled teams that were, at the least, in the top 8-12 in all of baseball. Every season. He definately did not create a team that could be elite for many years, but he had teams that would contend if baseball had a playoff format based on merit instead of on these horrible metaphors known as "divisions", the AL East being the most devoid-of-meaning of them all.

What floors me is that there are still JP supporters out there. I almost want to puke every time somebody says he simply hasn’t been lucky enough. I have some land in Compton I want to sell you………

I don't think most of these so-called "supporters" (myself included) think he has done a fantastic job or even built a team that is good enough for the AL East. I think most of us just don't like that he gets singled out for most of the turmoil associated with this franchise when there are clearly internal (i.e. ownership) and external (the realities of the AL East) forces that he cannot control.

While I am happy Ricciardi is no longer associated with the Jays, the moves made today is merely putting lipstick on a pig. The Jays need a complete makeover from Ownership all the way down to the Mascots.

Exactly. The Jays need a complete makeover. Which is why assigning the majority of the blame to JP without putting it in the context of ownership (and the division) is erroneous.

If AA has learned from JP (not just his good qualities, but also from his mistakes) and simply has more resources to work with (starting with a massive budget for the 2010 draft) and continues to conduct himself well in the public, I think the organization can move in the right direction. There are some decent pieces (though by itself the core is not good enough for this division) and if ownership accepts Wells as a sunk cost, AA will have a fairly clean slate after 2010. I'm looking forward to the offseason (and likely a Halladay trade) to see where this team is going for 2010 and beyond.

Here are my thoughts:

1. I like the tone AA set in his first conference. He actually mentioned being interested in others' input and leaning heavily on LaCava.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091003&content_id=7308206&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor

2. I said Cito would still be around by spring training the other day, and I'm sticking by it. It seems the players have already backed off, and no one is ready to put their name to anything like a bunch of scared kids when being stared down by their teacher. Cito and Doc come out looking like men amongst boys in this situation. Wells might need to hire a bodyguard in addition to his personal trainer after how bad he looks through all of this.

Exactly. The Jays need a complete makeover. Which is why assigning the majority of the blame to JP without putting it in the context of ownership (and the division) is erroneous.

If AA has learned from JP (not just his good qualities, but also from his mistakes) and simply has more resources to work with (starting with a massive budget for the 2010 draft) and continues to conduct himself well in the public, I think the organization can move in the right direction. There are some decent pieces (though by itself the core is not good enough for this division) and if ownership accepts Wells as a sunk cost, AA will have a fairly clean slate after 2010. I'm looking forward to the offseason (and likely a Halladay trade) to see where this team is going for 2010 and beyond.

Naming AA the Jays GM without having a permanent President is already a red flag. This is the equivalent of a team firing its GM and manager and than hiring the manager first and than conducting interviews with prospective GM’s. I’m already sour on AA after hearing his interview after the signing deadline for drafted players past. Leading up to the draft the Jays talked a big game about how the gloves were going to be off and how the Jays were going to draft the best players available now. Now we all know they were just blowing smoke up our asses. AA quickly did the PR spin and said how the Jays would continue to draft the best players available. Drafting the best players available is completely irrelevant when you don’t sign them. AA clearly doesn’t have a clean slate because he has the Wells albatross contract on his hands. A significant amount of payroll flexibility he should have enjoyed is tied into Well’s contract (20+ million the next 5 years). AA is a JP disciple and this has me extremely worried. The whole Blue Jays organization is lost.

Again, how can you solely attribute the draft budget, or lack thereof, to JP? It's not a guarantee that if JP wanted to spend more on the draft that ownership would have approved it (take the 2009 draft fiasco as an example). And numerous people attribute the Wells signing to a combination of Godfrey's interference and Rogers wanting to spend with the big boys. From the outside, how can you suggest that it is all JP's doing? It is perfectly reasonable to suggest that JP wanted to trade Wells (he said that in an interview prior to the extension) but Godfrey wanted to keep him and Rogers basically agreed to raise the budget to accomodate Wells (i.e. a $90 million non-Wells budget from 2010 onward) and then this offseason decided to backtrack when the team was close to contention like they were in 2008.

Naming AA the Jays GM without having a permanent President is already a red flag. This is the equivalent of a team firing its GM and manager and than hiring the manager first and than conducting interviews with prospective GM’s. I’m already sour on AA after hearing his interview after the signing deadline for drafted players past. Leading up to the draft the Jays talked a big game about how the gloves were going to be off and how the Jays were going to draft the best players available now. Now we all know they were just blowing smoke up our asses. AA quickly did the PR spin and said how the Jays would continue to draft the best players available. Drafting the best players available is completely irrelevant when you don’t sign them. AA clearly doesn’t have a clean slate because he has the Wells albatross contract on his hands. A significant amount of payroll flexibility he should have enjoyed is tied into Well’s contract (20+ million the next 5 years). AA is a JP disciple and this has me extremely worried. The whole Blue Jays organization is lost.

Yes, the Jays organization is lost. But I'm not sure how much of Rogers' stinginess you can attribute to the fact that JP was GM. We'll see what happens going forward; but I'm guessing the majority of fans would be fine with JP's tactics as long as AA is the one selling them (at least for a couple of years). The Jays have had good to very good teams, just not an elite one or the willingness to spend money to build through free agency.

Wilner's BEST line yesterday...

MW: If you don’t know whether Cito deserves to be relieved of his manager’s duties, then you haven’t been watching closely!

 Love it.

I know that there are legions of JP supporters on this board and nothing is going to change their minds, but let me say

this - JP Ricciardi drained every bit of hope and fan loyalty I had - He did the impossible, made me regret the joy I felt

when Gord Ash was fired  - This time I will be restrained in my joy until I evaluate this offseason. I hope JP gets

another shot at GM duties so his supporters can see what a moron he is (hopefully with an AL east team)

Also, what really hurt was that I could afford season tickets and nearly purchased them in JP's first season, but wisely

decided to wait and see - I certainly hope I will be energised enough to buy season tickets next year - I don't mind if

the team decided to rebuild.

It's terribly unfair of me to prejudge the new guy, but I can't shake the feeling that the Blue Jays have put the office boy in charge. I strongly suspect Craig is right, and we're looking at Gord Ash Mark II.

This is a large market and the Blue Jays need to start acting like one. Even MLSE woke up to this fact, and finally put top-notch executives in charge of the Raptors and Leafs.

I prefer not to pass judgement on AA on his first day of work.  I think I'll wait to see how he performs over several years.  Obviously, some have already got their new whipping boy.

As for LaCava - he was passed over by Pittsburg and Seattle and now the Jays.  Maybe he isn't what he's cracked up to be.

Last time I checked billion dollar public companies to promote people into executive positions because they'll work for free.  It's in Rogers interest to have well managed baseball operations.  If the hiring is permanent, it was based on merit alone.

AA seems like a nice boy. That's the problem. I watched him on TV yesterday after the game. I felt embarrassed. Of course, the media (God, it's bad here) will love him, because he's a patsy. Richard Griffin must be wetting his pants about all this. Craig B. is absolutely right. And AA wasn't even a member of the grounds crew. He is, as someone here has said, a “mouthpiece”. That is all. This franchise is now mired in a royal mess, and will be as long as it's owned by Rogers.

Oooh. Must have stung a bit, did it, son?  You didn't like the comments: but can you refute them?

Dewey the dinosaur.

This thing is going to get ugly, if it hasn't already.

Maybe everyone should take a deep breath before their next post. I mean, we're all on the same team here. Let's act like it.

AA's first job, if he is infact here to stay for any longer than a couple months (and even if he IS only here for that long) is to try and hire the best talent available to surround himself with. It won't be easy, but he has to develop a strong front office that he can rely and lean upon, given his youth and relative inexperience. Invest in talent here so he can make good on field investments.

He must be pretty good at something to have worked his way up the company quickly. If he is a glorified HR guy, maybe he is good at identifying talent. I don't mean players talent, but scouting directors, etc. Hopefully is he more aware of his limitations and has a more manageable ego than JP.  Unless his greatest gift was agreeing with JP and stroking JP's ego, I will give AA the benefit of the doubt until he proves he isn't worthy.

And then once he has assembled a competent executive, listen to them. 

I said AA “seemed” like a nice boy (in an after-game TV 'interview', not at a press conference). And he did. His comments and his demeanor did not inspire (or suggest) confidence. I genuinely hope I am mistaken in my impressions. If AA turns out to be a superb GM, I'll be delighted. It's possible he will grow into the job. That would be great. But everything he said, and the way he said it, suggested that his modus operandi was not to rock any boats, anywhere; to be deferential and accomodating to all. Yes, I know, it would be surprising if he did otherwise at this juncture. But he certainly does not come across as a Theo Epstein clone. Hope I'm wrong. I really do.

As for China Fan's wish for some “evidence”, that too is part of the difficulty: there seems to be virtually none to evaluate. Which further suggests that AA is little more than the employers' mouthpiece.  Again, I hope I'm wrong in these first impressions.  Let's see what he can get for Doc (an avowed JP fan).   A tough early test for so inexperienced an appointment.

Davidi's article is very good.

One other interesting insight from the story:

Those who worked with Ricciardi say his reluctance to change tack on the draft is an indicative of his refusal to accept input. His foes have long contended that he surrounds himself with yes men and those outside his inner circle who disagree with him are usually shouted down.

I hadn't heard this about JP.  However he did surround himself with a lot of his friends and a lot of junior Canadians.  Not to take anything away from the Canadians but was this JP's way of surrounding himself with more junior subordinates who would be much less likely to challenge his views?  Certainly there does not appear to be an experienced, older, number two in the organization, other than perhaps LaCava.  I know some organizations are big on having older more experienced advisors around.

But what does this say about Anthopoulos?  Earlier this season Bart Given was fired and Anthopoulos had his responsibilities increase.  Does this story imply that AA is a yes man? 

Our problem whenever a number 2 is promoted to number 1 is knowing what does the number 2 stand for?  We don't know if AA will just want to tweak what JP was doing or does he want to make radical changes?  We just have to wait and watch and see.

"So by the end of today we'll know where the Jays are in the draft order for next June. Could finish as high as nine it looks like. Whoot whoot."

So with the chance of Oakland and San Diego having the same record as the jays when all is said and done, how is draft order decided?

"And? what the hell does law School have to dowith being a good GM?

If you don't understand the difference in terms of academic competence and commitment between an economics degree from McMaster and attending Yale + getting a law degree, heaven help you"

Just for a point of reference before anyone makes a judement on AA's education background, he was forced out of school early because his dad died and he and his brother took over the family business.  AA finished school with night classes while running the family business and ultimately he left to pursue his baseball career by taking a job for no money. 

"And? what the hell does law School have to dowith being a good GM?

If you don't understand the difference in terms of academic competence and commitment between an economics degree from McMaster and attending Yale + getting a law degree, heaven help you"

Just for a point of reference before anyone makes a judement on AA's education background, he was forced out of school early because his dad died and he and his brother took over the family business.  AA finished school with night classes while running the family business and ultimately he left to pursue his baseball career by taking a job for no money. 

AA sounds pretty responsible and mature based on this. Perhaps he didn't enjoy the inherited privilege needed to get a law degree from Yale; perhaps a degree in economics and running a family business is more relevant to his new job as general manager than a degree in law...

I do agree, though, that it makes no sense to just hand the job to AA without interviewing other candidates and seeing what else is available.

I don't understand the reason for attacking someone as a "good company man" or a "Yes man" -- as if loyalty and diplomacy are terrible things.   Find me a baseball executive who seems like a "maverick" and I'll show you a loose cannon who can't be trusted by his own organization. How would you expect anyone to survive in a baseball career if they were constantly criticizing their own team?   Should any executive be obliged to prove their integrity to the fans by publicly disagreeing with their own bosses?   This is a completely unrealistic expectation, and it's bizarre to attack someone for failing to be disloyal to his employers.  We should judge AA on his merits, based on what he does on the job, not on our speculation about his character.

Moreover, there is a major advantage to promoting someone from within, instead of hiring an outsider.  An outsider would probably need 6 to 12 months to understand his new organization, to learn the ropes and evaluate his players, managers and coaches.  Instead of spinning his wheels for half a year in learning mode, AA can hit the ground running.  He might not make some of the mistakes that Ricciardi made in his first half a year in Toronto.   At a minimum, we should admit that the hiring of an insider has certain advantages which might even outweigh the advantages of launching a big time-consuming search for other candidates.

Buster Olney states today that it won't take JP long to get another job, not necessarily a GM job, but he cites JP's player evaluation skills.  Also MLB Rumors states that Omar Minaya has already called JP and would be interested in bringing him in to the Mets front office.

As others have said JP's teams were competitive in the AL East and that carries a lot of weight within baseball.

Arguing on the internet is a treacherous business, even more so than arguing off it. It seems to encourage exaggerated, even polarizing, positions. There's a tendency to fasten on one statement, then exaggerate it for purposes of ready demolition; but often the initial observation is exaggerated to the extent that it becomes something quite different than the original post had intended . . . and we're off into ad hominem vituperation. Discussion dies.

For example, I don't recall anyone saying that loyalty or diplomacy were terrible things. And no one attacked anyone “for failing to be disloyal to their employers”! That certainly is “a completely unrealistic expectation.”  When people refer to a 'company man' or a 'yes man' they usually mean someone who uncritically (that is, without independent thought) agrees with what his superiors assert to be true. Frankly, such people are often a danger to a company. Though it takes a strong company to understand that. Insecure organizations, like insecure people, cannot bear much criticism.  What is sought is honesty, not subversion. (It seems that China Fan has made something of a u-turn in his views of corporate ownership--which I entirely agreed with when he posted them some weeks back--but perhaps I misconstrue his remarks here.)

As for the matter of continuity, I for one also entirely agree with his views. I do not wish to go back eight years and start all over again.

Dewey, my point is that AA's critics are describing him as a Yes Man and a company man, without any evidence.  If their only evidence is that AA has not publicly quarrelled with Ricciardi or Beeston, that's not evidence at all, and it's unfair for people to assume that he is a Yes Man just because of the absence of public disputes.   What other evidence have the critics provided?  They're simply assuming that he must be a Yes Man because he got a big promotion.  I think that's unfair and unsubstantiated.

And yes, I'm still very unhappy with the team's corporate ownership and their salary dumps and budget cutting.  But even if the current owners are penny-pinchers and budget-slashers, that doesn't prove that AA's promotion was a bad decision.  Of course it's possible that AA was given the job simply because the owners wanted to save money with a cheap hire.  If that's the case, I'd be against it.  But at this point, there's no evidence for or against that theory.  I'm just saying that AA should be given the benefit of the doubt.  If he screws up, maybe it will be because he's too inexperienced and incapable, and maybe the owners were just trying to save money when they gave him the job.  But that hasn't happened yet.  There's also a chance that this might actually be a smart move, and I'm willing to wait and see.  Even bad owners can sometimes make good moves -- it's not impossible.

China Fan:  Of course it's possible that AA was given the job simply because the owners wanted to save money with a cheap hire.  If that's the case, I'd be against it.  But at this point, there's no evidence for or against that theory.

I am reminded of a sentence of Henry Thoreau's: “Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk."

People,who are complaining about AA, who cannot do their own taxes, shouldn't read any more.  Generally the people who wish for the GM to be a lawyer (an EGO without common sense) rather than an economist (understanding $$$) deserve everthing they get (all bad).  Who says the "new" President, who's main purpose is to make the "dome" profitable, doesn't want his own people or the best possible available (Towers ?).

Take the team's share of the average ticket price per person (approx.$35.00), add the team's share of concessions, programs, clothing and souvineers (approx.$15.00) and add 2,000,000 Fans (2008: 2.4 M, 2009: 1.86 M) and that should equal $100. 0 million.  Baseball operations:$25.0 M; Team Salaries $75.0 M.  (Rogers gets a lot of free advertising and programming).

Television rights, Radio rights and other broadscast media generate (let's say) approx. $150,000 per game broadcast over 145 games, and that should equal $21.75 million.  Baseball operations: $31.75 M; Team Salaries: $90.0 M.

I am excluding any Football revenues of any kind.

81 Home Baseball games + 1 or 2 NFL games + 9 Home CFL games = approx. 275 days to book other events at the "Dome".  75 - 100: decent; 100-125: good; 125-150: very good; 150 - ? GREAT!  Just allow the Baseball Team 30% of the take - perhaps $500,000 x 100 days booked = $50.0 million.  Baseball operations: $46.75 M; Team Salaries: $125.0 M.

What do the Boxes bring in?  There is a Hotel and two Restaurants.  What do they bring in?  The Rogers Center (AKA Skydome) should fund the Blue Jays and ALL Baseball operations totally (TV & Radio not included) and provide for the upkeep of  and upgrades to The Center, and provide Rogers Corp. with a profit and or pay back any further investment within 5 years.  You don`t have to believe me, just work it out yourself.

And just imagine 2.5 - 4.0 million fans.

Will Hill, who used to work for the Blue Jays before becoming a columnist for TSN, is very complimentary to AA. 

I have a personal story that I think sheds some light on that issue. Anthopoulos is a real fan of basketball. Sometime in the days after the 2006 NBA Draft, he and I and another friend were talking about the Raptors top pick, Andrea Bargnani. My friend made the mistake of suggesting Anthopoulos would have picked Adam Morrison first overall because being a "J.P. guy" he would want the more polished college product - the kind of player Ricciardi has been known to prefer in baseball's draft. The conversation became less friendly and more heated and became less about professional basketball and more about personal beliefs. Anthopoulos has told me he always thought as a good lieutenant he should follow orders from above and support them to the fullest. That doesn't necessarily mean that once promoted to the rank of five-star general he'd be giving those exact orders himself. He has ideas of his own.

Blair's latest entry describes AA as a consensus builder, which is pretty much the opposite of recent depictions of JP.  It also sounds like the new President is essentially hired and is just waiting for his season to end.  Beeston will apparently be recommending AA to the new President and has every reason to expect that he will agree. 

Fans are griping about JP and Rogers and now AA.  Nobody's griping about Beeston.  I get the strong sense that he's been running the ship since day 1.  No money for free agents?  Not Rogers, Beeston.  Create a auction market for Roy to see his worth?  Not JP, Beeston.  Free up salary for future flexibility (BJ, Rolen, Rios)?  Not Rogers, Beeston.

Some will say that's unlikely, if not impossible, because those key stakeholders will view him as too young, too inexperienced and too "interim" to be taken seriously. To them, I would say this. Many years ago - long before he ever took over the interim presidency - my friend Paul Beeston said to me; "You watch Alex. He's going to be a GM someday. It might not be here in Toronto, but it's going to happen before too long." At the time, Anthopoulos was still in his twenties and was a scouting coordinator, one of the lower rungs in the baseball operations hierarchy. Beeston looked past the issue of age and saw the kind of traits that make for a successful executive.

No one will know how good or bad AA is until we see him in action. I don't have an issue with that. My issue is not having an extensive search to potentially find a better candidate. Beeston hasn't exactly filled me with warm optimism since he came back last year either, so his endorsement isn't what it used to be in my eyes.

As Ricciardi himself proved, being an assistant behind a successful GM (Beane) doesn't mean squat, so AA being an assistant behind a relatively mediocre one (Ricciardi) doesn't mean much either. It's possible AA is better. It's possible he is worse. It's possible he is the same. Who the heck knows. I would have been more comfortable with LaCava just based on what I have read about him, but we don't know how LaCava would have done either. The benefits of someone like Terry Ryan is he has an extensive history to go on. Some times the unknown is both intriguing and scary at the same time and that about sums up by feelings on AA.

I will give AA a chance if he stays on (which I think he will). He seems like a nice humble guy, which on its own is a massive step above Ricciardi. Whether he is the right guy for the job is another issue. We will see.

I have a feeling that he is going to rebuild though, starting with a Halladay trade and moving from there. I will be pleasantly surprised if payroll is increased and AA is given a chance to add talent, but I highly doubt that. I might actually lose interest in this team if they trade Halladay, just because he is one of the classiest guys in baseball in addition to one of the best performers, but hopefully if he is moved it adds impact young talent that can start a rebuilding process that the Jays probably need at this point.

Uh, oh.  Poor AA.  McCown and Godfrey, two of the biggest and most fraudulent loudmouths on the Toronto sports stage for far too long now. Them being "candid" boggles the mind.  An endorsement from either of them is pretty foul matter to have hanging off one's portrait.

Showbiz.   Wizards of Oz.   Nothing there but gas.  Nothing.

Ryan built playoff teams on low payrolls. Ricciardi did not sniff the playoffs in 8 seasons. I think that would put Ryan on a higher level using anyone's standards.

Yes, the Twins stunk for Ryan's first few years. Big deal. He wasn't running on a .500 treadmill like JP was, he was actually rebuilding. That type of rebuild requires time and ownership backing; both of which Ryan was given. He did a true rebuild where the team stunk for a few years and he worked on building the farm system in the mean time. If anything, that "5-year plan" was a lot more sensible because it gave the Twins an opportunity to replenish their talent base rather than finish with 82 wins every year, settle for a mid-round draft pick every year, and live off their pythag record in hopes of future improvement (the latter sounds familiar, doesn't it?). Ricciardi was given a small window to trade away expensive players early on, but within a few years was given a huge payroll increase to win. The situations are not even close to similar.

From 2001-2006 (Ryan's best years), the Twins made four playoff appearances and averaged 90 wins. According to USAToday, the Twins payroll during that stretch was anywhere from 18th in the league to dead last. Division excuse or not, he built a strong talent base and hired an effective manager to exploit that talent all with a well below average payroll; and that was after what should have been a franchise altering blunder (letting Ortiz go). Again, we have evidence to suggest Ryan can handle the type of situation the Jays may see themselves in if they decide to trade Halladay. Plus Ryan can show he can make moves to win as well.

Ricciardi built a few decent teams in a division that requires a great team in order to win. If you want to look at that as some sort of accomplishment, that is up to you. I can't imagine one person in baseball circles who would view Ricciardi in a greater light than Ryan. If you could find one, be my guest.

Ryan built playoff teams on low payrolls. Ricciardi did not sniff the playoffs in 8 seasons. I think that would put Ryan on a higher level using anyone's standards.

If your point of view is simplistic enough to say "only making the playoffs counts" then yes, but even then - people have been calling JP a failure for at least 2 years and in some cases more. many Jays fans would have only given him five or at the most six years to make the playoffs.If Ryan had been held to that standard he would have never fielded a .500+ team

Ryan acconplished the goal everyone sets as "the only thing that matters" in his EIGHTH year. So it's only in 2009 that one can even say that Ryan did what JP did not. You cannot claim from on-field evidence that if JP had stayed here for five more years that he wouldn't have ever made the playoffs (maybe multiple times) - you've have to make a guess.

Point being, if the same fans who wanted JP gone last year and the year before were judging Ryan at the same point in his tenure they would have had to call him a failure - especially given his hill to climb was much less steep.

Yes, the Twins stunk for Ryan's first few years.

If by "few" you mean SIX.

Big deal.

It was a "big deal" here.

He wasn't running on a .500 treadmill like JP was, he was actually rebuilding. That type of rebuild requires time and ownership backing; both of which Ryan was given. He did a true rebuild where the team stunk for a few years and he worked on building the farm system in the mean time. If anything, that "5-year plan" was a lot more sensible because it gave the Twins an opportunity to replenish their talent base rather than finish with 82 wins every year, settle for a mid-round draft pick every year, and live off their pythag record in hopes of future improvement (the latter sounds familiar, doesn't it?). Ricciardi was given a small window to trade away expensive players early on, but within a few years was given a huge payroll increase to win. The situations are not even close to similar.

So much rivisionist hindsight rationalization. JP took four years to tear down and rebuild and was given the money to "go for it" begining in his fifth year. Begining that year he fielded teams which were as good or better than almost any of the teams Ryan built (perhaps 2 of the teams Ryan built in 13 years were better than any the 2006-2008 Jays) but not good enough to win in this division.

Now, it is certainly true that Ryan didn't recieve a big payroll boost in order to get overthe hump and one can argue that without that payroll spike JP's teams wouldn't have improved when they did. But even if that's true, if you put JP on the same timetable that Ryan was on, you shouldn't have expected them to be competitive until 2009.

As far as "building up the farm system" goes - here are the players drafted by Ryan who spent any relevant time in the majors:

'95 - Mark Redman, Doug Mietkiewicz, AJ Hinch

'96- Jacque Jones, Chad Allen, Michael Ryan, Chad Moeller, Mike Lincoln, Matt Kata

'97- Mike Cuddyer, Matt LeCroy, Michael Restovich, JC Romero, Nick Punto

'98- Saul Rivera

'99- Rob Bowen, Justin Moreneau (in the third round!)

'00- Jason Kubel

'01- Joe Mauer (#1 overall), Nick Blackburn

Let me pause here to note that this is six years into Ryan's reign, he has driven them through the end of 2000 down to being SO bad they got the #1 overall pick and at that point the second best talent he's added to the farm through the draft is Mike Cuddyer. There is NOT ONE Jays fan in the land who would not - at that point - have called Ryan's reign as GM an unmitigated disaster. Being smart enough to take the wildly talented HOME TOWN boy with the #1 pick certainly wouldn't have made anyone here say "well hell, I guess he's a pretty good GM after all"

In fact, if you look at the 2002 team (the first one to win anything) you find one solid reliever, one solid outfielder (Jones) and one league average 1B contributing from all of those drafts (and Cuddyer coming off the bench in the second half). That's in the eight year of Ryan's tenure.

contrast that to the significant contributions made in Toronto (by JP's eighth year) by Hill, Lind, Marcum, Listch, and Romero and lesser contributions by Bush, Snider, Janssen, Purcey, Cecil, and Zep .Was the Twins farm system stronger on opening day 2002 than the Jays system was on opening day 2009? I don't know. But I do know who had produces more win shares in the majors at that point and it's not remotely close.

In point of fact, until Morneau turned it down the stretch in 2004, those first three playoff teams didn't get significant contributions from anyone else Ryan had drafted except the aformentioned Jones, Romero, and Mienty.

His best team came in 2006 - long after he would have been fired if he had been held to the same standard as JP by the local fans - and that team featured Mauer, Moreneau, and Cuddyer in starting roles (plus a couple of weak hitters such as Punto). Did you see that? In 11 drafts to that point Ryan had yet to draft one single pitcher who contributed to his best team. 

Replinish the talent base? Hardly. In 2002 he drafted Span and Neshek, in 2003 he drafted Baker (it only took him nine drafts to find a good SP), in 2004 Glenn Perkins, in 2005 Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey and Brian Duensing (that was a good year) - but all that was after having spent eight years of high draft picks on a pretty weak collection of hitters and virtually no pitchers. The eight years he was supposedly replinishing.

He didn't, of course, get to the playoffs because he did a "true rebuild" - the 2002 team featured 4 above average hitters, two of which he inherited and one of which he released after the season, and four above average starters, one of whom was a veteran free agent, one he inherited, one he had to trade one of his best inherited hitters to get and the other was Santana (which was sheer luck but I'll still give him credit for)

That's not a team that got there because of a "true rebuild" in the sense you mean it because it's not loaded with homegrown talent that Ryan brought in during his many years of failure.

You could say much the same about the 2006 team.

that's not to say he didn't eventually field two good teams and two above average teams - starting in his eighth year - but your explanation of how he got there and why is revisionism that bears little resemblence to what happened.

From 2001-2006 (Ryan's best years), the Twins made four playoff appearances and averaged 90 wins. According to USAToday, the Twins payroll during that stretch was anywhere from 18th in the league to dead last.

Indeed he did. And he gets credit for that (albeit hiring Gardenhire had a lot to do with it). but you are missing the point that Bitter Jays fans would already have given up on Ryan before all that happened if they applied the same standards to him as they applied to JP.

Division excuse or not, he built a strong talent base and hired an effective manager to exploit that talent all with a well below average payroll; and that was after what should have been a franchise altering blunder (letting Ortiz go). Again, we have evidence to suggest Ryan can handle the type of situation the Jays may see themselves in if they decide to trade Halladay. Plus Ryan can show he can make moves to win as well.

Eventually. Given enough years of failure and on the job training and poor drafting and "blunders" - he got it right. the story arund these parts has been for at least two years that a good GM shouldn't take eight years to get it right.

Ricciardi built a few decent teams in a division that requires a great team in order to win. If you want to look at that as some sort of accomplishment, that is up to you. I can't imagine one person in baseball circles who would view Ricciardi in a greater light than Ryan. If you could find one, be my guest.

I agree. NOW. In hindsight.

But that's not my argument. My argument is that this time last year, after seven years on the job, 90% of Jays fans (including as it turns out Paul Godfrey) were in tears hoping that JP would be fired. And after seven years in his job, Ryan had ONE season above .500, hadn't remotely sniffed the playoffs in a much weaker division, and outside a #1 pick, had drafted ONE star level talent in 7 years.

AT THAT POINT no one with any unemotional logic in their brain would have HAD to have concluded JP had done a considerably better job than Ryan had.

Your closing comment reflects the hindsight of having seen what Ryan did in his 8-12 seasons. That obviously colors the comparison. and yes, most people will render a superficial judgment that winning the AL Central is a much greater accomplishment than building good-but-not-good-enough third place teams in the AL East.

But I would guess that JP would have won more games more often in Ryan's job than Ryan did and that Ryan would never have sniffed the playoffs had he been in charge of the Jays.

(please note, I still believe JP had to be fired because of the personality issues - my arguments pretain to team building only)