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CLEVELAND – General manager J.P. Ricciardi blew into town today to join the Jays and he said he doesn't anticipate making any more wholesale changes to his underperforming outfit.
“I think we're pretty much there, now,” Ricciardi said of his 17-21 club, good for last place in the American League East. “I think we're done. This is our team. These are the guys we've made our bed with and I don't really see us being able to do a lot at this point.
“We've tried to do some little things, getting Mench and Wilkerson in here and try to shake up the lineup a little bit and maybe give Gibby a few more options. But I don't see us being able to go out and do anything major at this point.”
The simple fact is, Ricciardi said, is that the team is just coming up with the clutch hits with runners in scoring position. Do that and the wins will start coming.
“Until we start hitting we're not going to get ourselves out of this funk,” said the GM.
The Blue Jays are preparing for a doubleheader against the Indians today thanks to yesterday's rain out which people are still trying to figure out.
About 40 minutes after yesterday's game was canned at 2:20 p.m. EST, the skies cleared there was no rain for the rest of the day.
And it looks like the stadium will be pretty much deserted for the first game, which is slated to begin at 4:05 p.m. It's about 20 minutes from the first pitch and there's maybe 200 people in the stands.
The lineups:
Blue Jays
1. Brad Wilkerson, RF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Alex Rios, CF
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Matt Stairs, DH
6. Lyle Overbay, 1B
7. Marco Scutaro, SS
8. Rod Barajas, C
9. Joe Inglett, LF
Pitcher: A.J. Burnett
Indians
1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Jamey Carroll, 2B
3. David Dellucci, LF
4. Victor Martinez, C
5. Ben Francisco, RF
6. Travis Hafner, DH
7. Ryan Garko, 1B
8. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
9. Casey Blake, 3B
Pitcher: Fausto Carmona
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Andrew Stoeten from Toronto, Canada writes: Is it typical that JP would join the team mid road trip? Is there any reason to think that this might be because he anticipates having some sort of conversation with, say... the manager, which he would want to be sure to have face to face?
- Posted 12/05/08 at 4:47 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
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Mike M from Toronto, Canada writes: Jeff - a couple of questions for your next mailbag ...
How long are the Jays planning on giving the team before deciding to focus on next year? 11th in the AL and 4 games under .500 (maybe soon-to-be 5 as they are down 3 heading into the 8th) requires some dramatic improvement by June for them to have even a slim chance. I can see the idea to stand pat as being the same thing as not wanting to make trades they may end up undoing a month or two from now.
Any word on the Jays focus for this year's draft? The last couple of years pitching and college players haven't been as emphasized as they were when Riccardi first came on board. Is this likely to continue?- Posted 12/05/08 at 6:13 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
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