Jays overpaid for Ryan, but message is priceless
On the rock- solid grounds that pitching wins pennants, you can never have enough of it and all it cost them was money, there’s much reason to like the Blue Jays’ acquisition of aspareenthrowing left- hander B. J. Ryan.
Sure, they overpaid. Sure, $47 million ( U. S.) for five years is nuts for a reliever and sure, five years for any pitcher is nuts, period. A lot of general managers wouldn’t give five years to any hothouse flower known as a pitcher. Good for them.
J. P. Ricciardi did, though, and might even do it again. After years of cleaning up, he signs a very large fish. Fans wanted him to spend, he’s now in position to spend and so he spent. Nor can anyone put a price on the message that it sends to other free agents — that the Jays are serious again. Ted Rogers provided the money and there was no mistaking who wrote the cheque, given that the debutante ball was held in the lobby of the Rogers flagship building and Rogers employees were there to applaud at the precise moments. Rogers himself came down from the ivory tower to oversee proceedings and make confusing comments — such as this is a great day for Canada and that the Blue Jays were doing it the old- fashioned way here — working hard “ and not buying it.’’
Given that they had just handed out the largest free-agent contract to a reliever, who knew what he was driving at? As Ricciardi noted, though, “ wait until Billy Wagner signs.’’ Which he did, hours later, with the Mets for $43 million over four years.
If the Jays can land free- agent A.J. Burnett, they’ll have the best pitching staff in the American League, which means the post- season isn’t far away. That’s even with Miguel Batista and Ted Lilly subtracted. If they miss on Burnett, they’ll still have the deepest bullpen. Plus, Ricciardi gets to go to the winter meetings with pitching to trade, a first. The five- year deal? Well, the last gigantic Blue Jay contract was four years and $68 million to Carlos Delgado and Paul Godfrey was equally enthusiastic that time, too. Everyone knows — mostly because Ricciardi always kept mentioning it — how much of a burden that became for him to dig out from under. Now he’s out from under it. Could the Ryan contract turn into something similar? Well, if the lefty breaks down, sure. But it’s not anywhere near comparable size; it’s like 13 per cent of the Jays’ target payroll and Delgado was eating up 30 per cent. But if this contract blows up in their faces in a couple of years, or if a multi- year deal for Burnett or some other big free agent does, it will be the next guy’s mess to clean up.
Ricciardi has had four years on the job and he’s not, he insists, a lifer. If these moves miss, someone else will be taking over with a new regime in a couple of years. If they hit, no one will ever question what he spent on Ryan or anyone else who helps them win. ON THE CORNER:
No one knows better than Shirley Cheek how much it would mean to her late husband Tomto be helping kids at Christmas. From Florida comes her $200 in Tom’s name for the
Jim Proudfoot Corner of the Star’s Santa Claus Fund to help buy gift boxes for 45,000 children around the GTA. Tom’s other friends and admirers keep showing up. John Lott of the Post and a pair of boulevardiers from the FAN, namely bossman Nelson Millman and baseball reporter Mike Wilner, each add $100 to the cause in Cheek’s memory. Dr. Irving Petroff mails $50 and his Two Dog Sports Club sends in $100 from its annual tennis tournament, both donations in Cheek’s memory. Let’s not forget, to vote Cheek on to the Hall of Fame ballot, go to www. baseballhalloffame. org and follow the links for the Ford Frick Award. Internet voting ends tomorrow. To help the kids, send a cheque payable to Jim Proudfoot Corner c/ o Dave Perkins, Toronto Star Sports Dept., One Yonge St., Toronto M5E 1E6.