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Why allow J.P. Ricciardi to trade Roy Halladay at all?
Why not just fire the highly unpopular general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays now rather than have him charged with the responsibility of dealing away such a treasured asset?
Ricciardi and his Jays are where they always are -- nowhere -- which has been his condescending history on the job. Eight years of spinning his wheels, going nowhere, talking a better game than his team played. If Ricciardi isn't going to be around beyond this season -- and please, tell me why he should be? -- why not strip him of his powers now, rather than place him in a position to deal away Halladay and establish the template for the Blue Jays' future.
This is not unlike John Ferguson Jr.'s last year on the job with the Maple Leafs, although in fairness to Ricciardi, he is no Ferguson. He hasn't set this franchise back a decade, although he has signed enough questionable contracts along the way to do so.
If trading Halladay is deemed in the best interest of the Jays -- and that itself is open to debate -- then trade him. But don't have Ricciardi do it. His time has come and gone. He won't be here to see the prospects he picks up make it. Someone else be in his chair.
And that someone should be making this all-important transaction: Not a lame-duck general manager certainly on his way out.
THIS AND THAT: There is a rather simple reason why Major League Baseball played a taped version of the Canadian national anthem at its All-Star Game rather than bring in a singer to do so: It doesn't give a damn about us ... Nothing wrong with throwback jerseys in the Canadian Football League but it's nonsense to not put the players' names on the backs. We may want to see the old jerseys but we'd like to know who's playing the game also ... Best way to become a general manager in the National Hockey League: Be born in the right family. Five of the NHL's 30 GMs are a son or a son-in-law of a former GM ... This doesn't happen anywhere but in sports: Quarterback Matt Cassel comes out of nowhere to start his first National Football League games last season and signs a contract for $63 million US before his second season. Just one question: What if he's a one-year wonder?
SCENE AND HEARD: Keep hearing there is interest in more than Halladay: There is some big-league interest in Scott Rolen ... Steve Yzerman doesn't like to talk much about his future ambitions but he had hoped that if the Chicago Blackhawks were going to change general managers, he would be strongly considered ... I see where the Williams sisters have committed to play the Canadian Open this year: What they have yet to come up with is their annual excuse for pulling out ... Carl Yastrzemski became my favourite player as a kid when he won the Triple Crown in 1967, the first summer I ever paid attention to baseball. Since then, no one has even been close to a Triple Crown, except maybe, just maybe, Albert Pujols can pull it off this summer ... Another reason why MLB doesn't give a hoot about Canadians: The Blue Jays' average road attendance (25,915) is the lowest in the majors. And that's including the seven games played at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium ... The late Arturo Gatti wasn't the greatest fighter of his generation, only the most exciting.
AND ANOTHER THING: Thought of this as Joe Sakic announced his retirement from the NHL: Once upon a time, the Quebec Nordiques had Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin as their centres. Now two are retired and the third one is thinking about it ... There are almost 150 unsigned free agents in the NHL and all but three or four are players who could disappear without anyone ever noticing ... Cautionary tale for all of us from the shocking Steve McNair murder: He didn't have a will and now there are all kinds of claims coming in.
steve.simmons@sunmedia.ca