Fired GM Ricciardi laid ground work for Blue Jays

At the 2008 winter meetings in Las Vegas, I spoke with a Blue Jays official, who shared his thoughts with me on the condition of anonymity. The Jays were about to lose A.J. Burnett to the Yankees, and the official offered his honest thoughts on the organization's future.

"We're going to take some knocks this coming year," he said, referring to 2009. "But then, in '10, we'll have Marcum back, and our other guys will be blossoming, and Doc [Roy Halladay] will be in his final year. And maybe we can make a run."

Shaun Marcum is back from his 2008 Tommy John surgery and pitching great. Halladay is also pitching great - but for the Phillies. Had Halladay stuck around, perhaps we could view Toronto, who entered Saturday night's action with a 25-19 record, as a more serious contender in the perilous American League East.

Halladay lost patience, however, and wanted out. "I don't blame Roy," said J.P. Ricciardi, whom the Blue Jays fired as their general manager upon the conclusion of last season. "I think what's happening is the same thing that happened when I was there. You could be a good club and not sniff the playoffs."

Yet Ricciardi - who is not the unnamed official mentioned above - does look good for what's happening with the Blue Jays. Internally developed players like Travis Snider, Adam Lind, Marcum and Ricky Romero have displayed real promise. New GM Alex Anthopoulos - whom Ricciardi recognized and promoted to his assistant - made smart moves in bringing aboard catcher John Buck and shortstop Alex Gonzalez on one-year deals.

The Jays have played just nine of 54 scheduled games against the Yankees (zero), Rays (three) and Red Sox (six), so it's not realistic to view them as a serious contender. Yet they've had a plan, and it's coming to fruition, if not precisely. And for that, Ricciardi deserves credit.

Keeping busy

Joe Nathan will miss the entire season due to Tommy John surgery, but he's contributing to the game in other ways. On Saturday, he appeared at his alma mater, SUNY-Stony Brook, for Baseball Alumni Day. Nathan went there with Bill Wilk, a college teammate and Lake Grove native who now serves as the executive director of Roberto Clemente Sports City in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The organization provides athletic opportunities and general guidance to Puerto Rican youths.

Nathan recently teamed up with New Balance to donate 30,000 baseball spikes, over $1 million in product, to Sports City. It represented the largest donation in the history of Sports City, which was established in 1974.

For his efforts, Nathan received the Roberto Clemente International Youth Award.

Not a simple man

Former outfielder and current ESPN commentator Doug Glanville has a new book out, "The Game From Where I Stand," which he calls "a panoramic view" of his nine seasons in the major leagues. It features his thoughts on what it's like to be traded to move your family on a moment's notice, and also on the issue of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Glanville spent five stints with a total of three teams (two stays each with the Phillies and Cubs), and in 2003, he played on the Rangers alongside Alex Rodriguez.

"I thought it was interesting to watch someone of his stature in the game be so affected by the doubts that plague pretty much any ballplayer," Glanville said, in a telephone interview. "He wanted to be a statesman in the game. He had that kind of aura. I appreciated that.

But he also was a little bit overwhelmed by it, and trying hard. Sometimes it came off as too hard to try and achieve that. It's certainly something I learned from day to day."

Seven years later, A-Rod looks eminently more comfortable, now that he isn't as interested in being a statesman.