Yapping So Much While Accomplishing So Little

• Admitting mistakes is not a sign of weakness:

With the way Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is treating a two week hot streak as a validation

of his handling of the organization, one would think he not only had two World Series titles in his trophy case, but that he was somehow treated unfairly on the road to those two titles. Now that the Blue Jays have secured a record above .500 for the season and Ricciardi's job has likely been spared (again), he's seen fit to start defending his record not in a matter-of-fact way, but by blustering and crowing about all the good things he's accomplished during his mediocre seven year run as the team's architect.
In an article on Canda.com----Link----Ricciardi isn't shy in crediting himself for the relatively few big league players his drafts have delivered; that the team hadn't "had to go the route [like] the Minnesotas or the Tampas, lose those 100, 90 [games]; eight, nine years of losing in a row" (as if that's some great accomplishment); and deflects the

blame for the team's relentless status as an also-ran by citing "circumstances" (whatever that means).
If the team had spent eight or nine years losing 100, 90 games, then Ricciardi would absolutely have reason to say that things are improving and the future is promising; but they haven't. This is the third year in a row in which they were expected to finally jump into contention and the third year in a row that they were an average team with an average record before a late-season hot streak made them appear as if they were on the rise. I'd say that it's a safe bet that the same thing's going to happen next year; the one question I keep asking is how long before the Blue Jays ownership wises up to this fact.
Perhaps Ricciardi's obvious and insistent attempts to depict himself as an alpha-male are preventing him from looking at the team and his mistakes objectively and saying that he screwed up, but it's no sign of strength to continually flap one's mouth without reason and expect those that know better to buy it. After seven years and repeated embarrassments and mistakes on and off the field, Ricciardi's still displaying an arrogance that is beyond comprehension; a record of 86-76 is not an accomplishment for someone who claims to have all the answers, it's a failure; what's worse, it's a failure that he repeats over and over again without anyone willing to pull the plug. And next year, with the Red Sox being as good as they are; the Yankees going to spend tons of money to fill their holes and the Rays still young and supremely talented, the Blue Jays aren't going to be in any better position than they're in now unless they make some drastic changes in the front office, but that's not going to happen because a bad start and solid finish only gives the illusion of success and it's an illusion that is going to happen again and again until the organization wakes up and sees it for what it is, much to their detriment.

• Marlins 8-Astros 1:

The Astros have a legitimate gripe with the way the hurricane-induced cancellations were handled essentially taking two home games away from them and sending them to Milwaukee

to face the Cubs in a stadium loaded with Cubs fans, but that can't account for them continuing to lose after they went to Florida to play the Marlins. Anger is one thing, but once the game starts, the players aren't in the batter's box or on the mound thinking about how they were wronged. Their hot streak that launched them back into contention had to end sooner or later and it just happened to end at a time in which they had a convenient scapegoat. The three losses to the blazing hot Marlins aren't accountable to anything that happened over the weekend.
Speaking of the Marlins, is Fredi Gonzalez going to steal the Manager of the Year award from other deserving candidates like Tony La Russa, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre as he leads the Marlins on this eight game win streak and onto the outskirts of contention? I don't see the Manager of the Year award as one in which the voters are doing too much deep thought, so La Russa's peformance in keeping the Cardinals in contention as

long as he did; Piniella's underappreciated work with the Cubs (every Lou Piniella team from the start of his managerial career has played the game the right way, advancing runners and performing the fundamentals----it's no accident); and Torre's calm leadership of the Dodgers, might be forgotten as the Marlins end over .500 with a bargain basement payroll. With each passing day, the job Gonzalez has done with the Marlins, along with the growing pains Joe Girardi is having with the Yankees and their $210 million payroll, diminishes Girardi's 2006 season all the more and lends credence to the Marlins claims about the organization being more responsible for their success than any manager could be. (I'd give the Manager of the Year to Piniella.)

The Marlins Have The Goods To Hang Around In The Playoff Race

• Marlins 5-Dodgers 4:
  

Each day the Marlins remain in contention with a $21 million payroll, they stick a finger in

the eye of every team that pays absurd amounts of money for no results. To put that into context, the Mariners just released Richie Sexson and are paying him $6 million to simply leave the premises. (I know the argument could be made that they were paying him for for nothing for the past year and a half as well.) The Dodgers are only paying $3 million less than that for Andruw Jones this year; the Yankees have paid Carl Pavano twice that for a level of production that they could likely receive from an pitcher from the Frontier League if that pitcher were capable of throwing strikes and being lucky. The Marlins success at finding young talent and discarded players is making a bigger and bolder statement than Moneyball ever could. If there's a team that should have their blueprint followed, it's the Marlins.
Now with that minuscule payroll the Marlins find themselves with the exact same record as the New York Mets ($136 million); 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies ($98 million); 5 games ahead of the reeling Atlanta Braves ($102 million); and 13 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Nationals ($54 million)----and that's just in their own division. They're rewriting the handbook on how to run a team effectively despite all the ridicule they receive after dumping players whenever their salaries or demands reach a certain point.
After all the credit that Joe Girardi received for his team's 78-84 finish with similar payroll

constraints in 2006, Fredi Gonzalez is producing even better results in 2008. While other teams are scrambling and giving up chunks of their future for rentals (the Brewers and C.C. Sabathia); or pitchers who are notoriously frequent residents of the disabled list (the Cubs and Rich Harden), the Marlins added a potential ace starting pitcher by simply waiting until he was healthy enough to pitch in Josh Johnson.
Last night was Johnson's first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year and while his pitching line isn't impressive on the surface----5 innings; 6 hits; 3 runs----he also struck out six; walked none; was clocked consistently in the mid-90s with his fastball and low-90s with his slider and looked primed for a big second half. Even with their reticence to add veteran players that are going to be costly and their repeated willingness to trade any player to whom they're going to have to dole out a large salary, the Marlins stay respectable and more.
It's becoming clear that it's more than a case of scouts mining other organizations for their

top prospects (Hanley Ramirez, Andrew Miller); picking up unappreciated or unknown talent for nothing (Dan Uggla, Cody Ross, Justin Miller); drafting well (Johnson, Scott Olsen, Jeremy Hermida); changing players' positions to get some use from them (Josh Willingham); or signing veterans from whom they've gotten unexpected production on and off the field (Mark Hendrickson, Jorge Cantu, Luis Gonzalez). This is a case of an organization that trusts their scouts and makes bold, decisive decisions based on what's best for the organization rather than what looks good in the newspapers or to the "experts".
The Marlins appear to have a simple philosophy of giving young players a chance to play without the pressure that has ruined many young players in more intense venues. There's not

the specter of a trip to the minors hanging over their heads if they struggle for a week; there's not the questioning of a player's ability if he goes into a slump. Part of that is due to the lack of interest in the team in Florida (except when they're in the World Series); part of it is due to the way the team is run from owner Jeffrey Loria on down.
The Marlins have been called "lucky", or have been seen to benefit from a watered down National League; but it may be time to stop trying to justify their success with caveats and see it for what it is: they're an organization that knows what they're doing and are consistently competitive no matter what. They might not make the playoffs, but that they're even in this position in July when they were expected to (again) lose close to 100 games is indicative of an organization that's got something figured out and isn't just haphazardly dumping salaries just for the sake of it; there are at least twenty other organizations that would be better off right now if they had the Marlins front office rather than their own. It's not a team's resources that defines their success, it's what they do with those resources and there's not a better organization at maximizing than the Florida Marlins whether their fans appreciate them or not.

• Mets 7-Giants 3:
  

I relentlessly ripped Fernando Tatis earlier this season, but the Mets have caught some unexpected lightning in the oft-released and unwanted Tatis. I still don't like the way he hits much of the time (he's too much of a hacker for my taste), but the Mets have gotten a few wins based on Tatis's contribution and that justifies his presence even if he provides nothing for the rest of the season.

• The Blue Jays ever-expanding injury ward:

It's hard to fault the Blue Jays for the injuries to their two young emerging star pitchers in Dustin McGowan (torn rotator cuff); and Shaun Marcum (sore

shoulder). McGowan has a rotator cuff tear----they're saying at least four weeks out at the minimum, which is very difficult to believe; considering their position in the standings, even if he's ready to pitch by late-August, early-September, maybe they'd better shut him down for the year.
I've unloaded on Blue Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg in the past----Correlation Between Coach And Injuries-6/10/06----but in looking at the gamelogs of the Blue Jays young pitchers, they're not unduly stressful. I'm trying to imagine what kind of tearing up and down would be delivered to the management of a

team in New York for example if they had two potential star pitchers who both came down with arm injuries within a month of each other.
In their current position, if the Blue Jays intend to replace GM J.P. Ricciardi, they'd better do it now and not allow him to make the decision as to what veterans to trade and what to ask for in return. They're likely to move A.J. Burnett, but I would seriously consider moving the likes of B.J. Ryan and David Eckstein, as well as Scott Rolen (although I don't know who'd take him), and trusting an under-fire Ricciardi to make those decisions is a potential disaster.