J.P. Ricciardi

John Paul Ricciardi

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 155 lb.
• School Saint Leo University
• High School St. Peter-Marian High School

• Born September 26, 1959 in Worcester, MA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

J.P. Ricciardi was the General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2002 to 2009.

Ricciardi spent two seasons as a minor league player in the New York Mets organization in the early 1980s, playing alongside fellow GM Billy Beane.

After his playing career ended, Ricciardi was a minor league coach for the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers. In 1986, he joined the Oakland Athletics as a scout before moving to the front office where once again he worked alongside Beane. He was special assistant to the GM in 1998 and 2000, director of player personnel in 1999, and assistant GM in 2001. After the 2001 season, he was named GM of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ricciardi's tenure at the helm of the Blue Jays was quite stormy. He was originally considered one of the Moneyball, generation of executives, so-called after the best-selling book explaining the methods used by his mentor Billy Beane in Oakland, and some of his early moves were in that vein. These included firing most of the team's scouting staff, hiring a young internet-based writer, Keith Law, to serve as a sabermetrics advisor to the team, and installing an inexperienced manager, Buck Martinez, in the dugout (under the Moneyball philosophy, the manager is considered a disposable part, as the team's philosophy is set by the General Manager). Many of these moves were criticized in the media, and an early quip by by rookie 2B Orlando Hudson, who compared Ricciardi to a well-dressed pimp, added to his image difficulties. However, the Blue Jays began to move away from the low-cost philosophy they seemed to be espousing, offering large contracts to free agents such as A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan and Frank Thomas. The Jays improved, but never really threatened to catch up with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who were dominating the AL East standings throughout the decade of the 2000s.

Ricciardi was criticized for some of his drafting, chosing low-ceiling college players such as Russ Adams, in the amateur draft over more promising but younger prospects such as Troy Tulowitzki. However, his record as a developer of young talent was relatively good, with players like Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Ricky Romero and Travis Snider all becoming regulars under Ricciardi's watch. One problem was pitching injuries, to major leaguers such as Ryan, but mainly to youngsters like Gustavo Chacin, Dustin McGowan and numerous others who seemed to hurt their arms immediately after experiencing a bit of major league success. These constant injuries stalled whatever progress the Jays were trying to achieve by playing the free agent market.

The last two years of Ricciardi's tenure in Toronto were quite stormy. Early in 2008, he got into a public spat with DH Frank Thomas, who had been the team's best hitter in 2007, and released him early in the season amid accusations that his prime motivation was to avoid having to pay a vesting option for 2009 based on playing time. Later in the season, he fired John Gibbons, his third manager, and brought back Cito Gaston, manager for the franchise's World Series championships in the 1990s. Surprisingly, the team began to play very well under Gaston, and had one of the top records in all of MLB over the second half of the 2008 season. However, things did not look bright for 2009, with a number of pitchers sidelined by injuries and 18-game winner A.J. Burnett exercising an opt-out clause to sign with the Yankees. The Blue Jays began the year well, with the patched-up starting rotation, led by rock-solid Roy Halladay, holding up well and Hill and Lind leading the attack, with the help of scrap-heap pick-up Marco Scutaro and veteran Scott Rolen. Things began to unravel in late May, as the team tumbled from first place to fourth in the division, and played increasingly poorly. Around the All-Star break, rumors began to swirl that star pitcher Halladay was on the trading block, but the move never materialized - Rolen did however get traded, for young Edwin Encarnacion. In mid-August, Ricciardi stunned the baseball world by placing two-time All-Star OF Alex Rios on waivers, and he was picked up for free by the Chicago White Sox. It was clear that Ricciardi no longer had any financial margin of manoeuvre left, having had to absorb the expensive Ryan and Thomas contracts, as well as that of 3B Corey Koskie a couple of years earlier, and being hamstrung by a long-term deal with slumping OF Vernon Wells. Fans became increasingly disaffected, and in late September, the players were said to be in open revolt against Gaston and Ricciardi. On October 3rd, with a few days left in the season, Ricciardi was fired and replaced by young Canadian Alex Anthopoulos, ending an eight-season reign. He left with an eight-year record of 642-651 with the Jays.

Ricciardi moved to ESPN in March 2010 as an analyst for "Baseball Tonight". In November 2010, Ricciardi became a Special Assistant to New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson. He left at the end of Alderson's tenure, following the 2018 season. He was part of the group assuming the interim for Alderson when he had to take a leave of absence to fight cancer in July 2018.

Preceded by Gord Ash

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager 2002-2009

Succeeded by Alex Anthopoulos

Draft Picks

1st Round Picks

• 2002: 14th overall SS Russ Adams - University of North Carolina
• 2003: 13th overall SS Aaron Hill - Louisiana State University
• 2004: 16th overall P David Purcey - University of Oklahoma
• 2004: 32nd overall P Zach Jackson - Texas A&M University
• 2005: 6th overall P Ricardo Romero - California State University, Fullerton
• 2006: 14th overall OF Travis Snider - Jackson High School
• 2007: 16th overall SS Kevin Ahrens - Memorial High School
• 2007: 21st overall C J.P. Arencibia - University of Tennessee
• 2007: 38th overall P Brett Cecil - University of Maryland, College Park
• 2007: 45th overall SS Justin Jackson - T.C. Roberson High School
• 2007: 56th overall P Trystan Magnuson - University of Louisville

Other Notable Selections

• 2002: 2nd round (55th overall) P David Bush - Wake Forest University
• 2004: 3rd round (83rd overall) OF Adam Lind - University of South Alabama

Significant Trades

• December 7, 2001 traded Billy Koch to the Oakland A's for Eric Hinske and Justin Miller
• December 13, 2001 traded Paul Quantrill and Cesar Izturis to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Luke Prokopec and Chad Ricketts
• July 1, 2002 traded Raul Mondesi to the New York Yankees for Scott Wiggins
• December 15, 2002 as part of a 4 team trade sent Felipe Lopez to the Cincinnati Reds and received Jason Arnold from the Oakland A's
• July 16, 2003 traded Shannon Stewart and Dave Gassner to the Minnesota Twins for Bobby Kielty
• November 18, 2003 traded Bobby Kielty to the Oakland A's for Ted Lilly
• December 7, 2005 traded Gabe Gross, David Bush and Zach Jackson to the Milwaukee Brewers for Lyle Overbay and Ty Taubenheim
• December 27, 2005 traded Orlando Hudson and Miguel Batista to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos
• January 6, 2006 traded Corey Koskie to the Milwaukee Brewers for Brian Wolfe
• July 21, 2006 traded Shea Hillenbrand and Vinnie Chulk to the San Francisco Giants for Jeremy Accardo

Significant Signings

• December 14, 2004 signed Corey Koskie as a Free Agent from Minnesota Twins
• November 29, 2005 signed B.J. Ryan as a free agent from Baltimore Orioles
• December 7, 2005 signed A.J. Burnett as a free agent from Florida Marlins
• February 6, 2006 signed Bengie Molina as a free agent from Los Angeles Angels
• November 17, 2006 signed Frank Thomas as a free agent from Oakland A's

Related Sites

• An analysis of Ricciardi's tenure with the Blue Jays
• Toronto Star's review of his career