As part of a lengthy column answering readers’ questions Toronto Star sports reporter Geoff Baker pinpoints the time at which he believes Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi realized the Jays could not make the playoffs and decided against making any trades.
The flag actually came out more than three weeks ago, when Ricciardi ripped the Jays for their pathetic effort in the opener of a series in Kansas City. Ricciardi was savvy enough to see that the Jays had already frittered away the realistic part of their playoff hopes even back then. That's why his frustration boiled over to the point where he gave an unguarded interview that riled his players.
Baker gives his view of what Ricciardi was likely thinking.
The Jays were a half-dozen games behind the division-leading Boston Red Sox in the loss column by the all-star break. As we mentioned last week, that significant gap left them about a five per cent chance of making the playoffs.
To have narrowed that margin before the break, the Jays needed to go to Kansas City and take at least three or even all four of the games that series from the cellar-dwelling Royals. When the Jays lost the opener, the odds of that happening became slim and Ricciardi knew it. Once the second game of that series was dropped, it was clear.
And this was before the New York Yankees completed their three game sweep of the Jays.
Go Leafs?