Of all that a general manager must sell, hope and belief have to be at the very top of any sporting list.
It is why we watch, why we care, why we buy tickets or turn on the television or talk about our teams endlessly. It so often is the centre of our grasp.
But somewhere in foggy time, hope disappeared and belief went with it. And for those very reasons -- more than eight seasons of spinning wheels, more than a lack of vision, more than his flim-flam ways, more than his back-weighted contracts, more than his "I don't live here" condescension, more than never being a contender -- J.P. Ricciardi must be fired as general manager of the Blue Jays.
He must be fired because if we ever did believe, we don't believe him or believe in him anymore.
He must be fired because we have come to learn there isn't always next year with the Jays. Too often next year feels like last year, which felt like this year, which felt like the year before that.
He must be fired because in the seasons in which the Jays could hit, they couldn't pitch; in the years they could pitch, they didn't hit. Sometimes they played defence, sometimes they didn't, depending on the mood or the manager or that particular moment in time.
That can be circumstantial over one season or two. Over eight seasons, it is an unhappy trend.
It is, to quote the lyrical Ken Dryden, time. Maybe overtime. There are so many reasons to let Ricciardi go, and in the big picture, I can't think of a single reason to keep him.
He must be fired upon conclusion of this MLB season. No need for a general manager to wrap up and give the annual state of the union address the Monday after the season ends. We have witnessed the union all summer long. The votes are in. We all have seen enough, heard enough, turned the channel so many evenings.
It is time to trade in this old car for a new model. Another coat of paint isn't going to change anything. Make the change on the first Monday of October. Start the off-season with the bolt of excitement that the second half of the baseball summer couldn't provide.
This is a troubled time for the Blue Jays, and their place in the standings is only a small indication of that. There is a need now to re-establish the Jays brand, both as team and destination, and as both entertainment product and topic of conversation. It is one thing to lose, another when the buzz goes silent. The Blue Jays have not become irrelevant in Toronto, but they are closer to that undefined place than ever before.
With that, there is a desperate need for a new face, a new voice, someone to hold on to, to believe in, someone to trust.
But all that has to begin with the departure or Ricciardi. He is the link to eight lost years, the only link to all these teams that rarely amazed, rarely surprised, rarely performed beyond expectations. Soon he must become the missing link. Eight years on the job and 1411/2 games out of first place is his epitaph. That is the Ricciardi resume. An average season of Ricciardi baseball and the Jays finish 17 games out of first place.
You are, in the end, what the numbers say you are.
And the only way to untangle the knots of broken promises and inconsistent strategies is to change the decision maker. The only way is to say goodbye, and thanks for leaving Aaron Hill and Adam Lind behind. Eight years is enough time to make a difference, define yourself, define your terms and your teams.
Eight years has been too long for J.P Ricciardi and the Blue Jays.
STEVE.SIMMONS@SUNMEDIA.CA
