Most of the hot stove chatter we read amounts to nothing as journos crank out copy even though there's not much of substance really happening, so take Mike Rutsey's report in the Sun that JP is willing to go 5 years on a new deal for AJ Burnett with a grain of salt. (Read Bastian recycle the same story if you like.)Did JP actually really say he'd go down that road? It's pretty hard to tell given that most of what he says has to be run through an Enigma machine for deciphering.
Rutsey's money shot:
Five years may not be the first preference of general manager J.P. Ricciardi either, but it's a concept he hasn't ruled out....
"I wouldn't say it scares me. I'd say we'd be open to talking about frameworks but right now we don't have anything on the table in terms of years or money," Ricciardi said.
Does this really mean we'll see AJ back in town on a ludicrous new deal? No, no it doesn't. For all we know JP's just blowing smoke up Rutsey's ass--I defy you to find any real meaning in anything he was quoted as saying--in an attempt to drive up AJ's price for the Yankees or Red Sox.
I understand that this cloak and dagger shit might be part of the game, but JP's cover as a practioner of the black arts was blown long ago and no one really believes a word that comes out of his mouth anymore. All this sort of thing--be it telling Bastian that there are no big free agent position players on the way or this shit teasing/horrifying us with the prospect of retaining AJ--really does is get people agitated and pissed off. The maxim that there's no such thing as bad publicity doesn't hold here; ticket-buying fans (hi, remember us?) need some reassurance, or, at the very least, no obtuse comments from the GM that stoke our pessimism.
Really, for the good of the community, is it too much to ask that JP impose a media blackout until something is about to happen or actually has happened?
Let us pray.
***
Other shit: No Manny, JP says to Bastian. Move on, guys. Would've been fun, but really the odds of that were never higher than those of me finding myself in the middle of a Naomi Watts-Monica Belluci-Gong Li sandwich.
Some roster moves: LHP Ricky Romero, RHP Robert Ray and LHP Luis Perez were all added to the 40-man roster. Romero, soon to be The Southpaw's resident favourite up and comer, you know. Ray is a guy Will likes who has been making slow but steady progress and put up decent numbers in AA last year. Perez is starter who keeps it on the ground (5 HR in 212 pro innings?!?) and posted about a K an inning in A ball last season.
-- Johnny Was
7 comments:
Luis Perez made 23 starts for Lansing this year....groundball lefty
You are correct, Sir. Will edit.
JW
To be clear about, "Ray is a guy will likes":
I like him as a potential Cliff Politte or Justin Speier. I'm not ruling him out as a potential major league starter, but given our depth of starting pitching, he seems like a potential reliever if he stays in our system.
But, to argue with myself a bit, I'd hate to have to make a compelling case that he CAN'T be a decent #5 guy
Ray's gotta be a starter...he's 6'5" and there's something intimidating about those big righthanders. i've got an offseason boner just thinking about it.....plus the sportsdesk crew could make Rob Ray hockey references every time he pitched for years.
i changed my mind....my boner's gone
Generally, I like how your blog posts have been lately. I have been a much more frequent visitor here. Switching to the white background made for much easier reading too. The commenters on DJF sometimes are ruining that site.
-brent in Korea
I love how J.P. said he was out of the Manny sweepstakes, and now he is throwing out a 5 year offer to A.J. Is he in, or is he out?
"and now he is throwing out a 5 year offer to A.J"
Actually he did nothing of the sort. In fact he said the opposite, that they have NO offer, term or $$, on the table for AJ. All he said is that 5-years wouldn't necessarily be a deal killer in any potential negotiation. And wouldn't he be a hypocrite if he said 5-yr deals for pitchers of AJ's ilk are a bad idea.
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