A Tale of Three GMs; Part 1: Bryan Colangelo

First things first, I've got to thank Banu Turkoglu. If it wasn't for her, Hedo Turkoglu would likely be blazing trails out in Portland, and I probably wouldn't be writing this post. The Turkoglu family's decision to pick Toronto as their free agency destination of choice set off a chain of events last week, culminating yesterday in a new and improved Toronto Raptors roster. Gone are Anthony Parker, Shawn Marion, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai, and a 2016 second round draft pick. Bryan Colangelo got the man he wanted, a star in Turkoglo, and filled out his bench by acquiring Devean George, and Antoine Wright, whose contracts both expire after the 2009/2010 season.

The best part? Toronto comes out of the deal with money to burn; money nobody expected them to have. While I have no idea how he did it, or even what it really means, Colangelo's still got the mid-level cap exception of about $5.9 million, and the biannual exception of about $1.9 million, to spend. And the team is $12 million and change below the salary cap, with some of that loot reportedly headed former Raptors Carlos Delfino and Rasho Nesterovic's way.

Clearly Bryan Colangelo can have his cake, and eat it too. And he's not done yet.

All this only one day after locking up the future of the franchise, Andrea Bargnani. As we head into year four of Bargnani's five-year-plan, the Italian seems poised and ready to break out.

And here we all were, in the days after the Turkoglu signing was rumoured to only be a formality, wondering about the state of the Raptors' bench. Turns out, as Colangelo himself wrote over at RaptorBlog.com, we never had anything to worry about.

These certainly aren't Rob Babcock's Toronto Raptors. The conclusion, agreed upon by most: Colangelo's a genius. He gets what he wants. He wanted some Big Turk when he was running the show in Phoenix, and wasn't going to let him get away twice. Turkoglu's agent credited Colangelo's persistence, above all else (yes, above even our most wonderfully cosmopolitan and multicultural city), in getting the deal done.

I love the Turkoglu signing, if only for the fact that it raises the self-confidence of a city that isn't used to attracting big-name free agents on the basketball (and baseball) side of the coin. Too many Toronto Raptors have weaseled their way out of playing here. Fuck Vince Carter, I'm still upset about Antonio Davis and his quip about "O Canada" and the metric system. It's heartening to land Turkoglu; it feels like a coup. (Suck it, Portland.)

Is a five-year deal too long? Perhaps. The contract reminds me of the one the Leafs gave Jason Blake two summers ago; you either love it, or you hate it. This much is true: the 6'10 Turkoglu gives the Raptors another bona fide scoring option, especially late in games. Chris Bosh isn't exactly what the kids call "clutch," and I've got no problem with Turkoglu taking the rock with the game on the line. In fact, I'm all for it. And for a guy who played with a rebounding vacuum in Dwight Howard, 5.3 boards per game impresses me in a way it probably shouldn't.

Has there ever been a stronger starting five - Bargnani, Bosh, Turkoglu, DeMar DeRozan, and Jose Calderon - in Raptors history? A bench of George, Wright, Delfino, Nesterovic, Reggie Evans and Roko Ukic doesn't sound too bad, either. Playoffs!1

Just when it seemed like the lustre had worn off of Bryan Colangelo, he reminds us why he's one of the most creative minds in basketball. His work sends a message not only to Raptors fans, but also to Chris Bosh: a 33-win season will not be tolerated. Stick around, Mr. 20/10, the future is bright.

The Summer of Brian Burke? Not so fast. The Maple Leafs' general manager may have just been outdone by his MLSE counterpart. And if it's a competition, I'm all for it.

Bryan Colangelo's office: where amazing happens.

Coming up, part two: the plight of J.P. Ricciardi ...

Fly away ...

Wow, B.J. Ryan really is finished. Released, unconditionally, with a cheque for $15 million.

So long, Beej. Your fist pumps won't soon be forgotten.

OK, they might be. In all honesty, there isn't much time to reflect. The money budgeted towards Ryan in 2010 will go towards Roy Halladay, right? Right?!?!

Crazy times.

UPDATE: Listening to Prime Time Sports on TheFan right now, Jeff Blair's hosting, and following reactions on Twitter. J.P. Ricciardi is being roasted on the radio (by calllers), and online. Nope, none of this - the Doc trade talks, the releasing of B.J. Ryan - has anything to do with Rogers tightening the purse strings.

The haters just don't get it. They simply continue to hate.

I don't want to talk about it ...

And neither does The Ack. But, really, we're left with no choice.

It's not news that J.P. Ricciardi will listen to offers for Roy Halladay; that's his job, fools.

What is news, and worthy of a drink or seven, is the fact that Ricciardi has "spoken with [Doc] and prepared him for the possibility that he will bring trade possibilities to the pitcher in the weeks or months ahead."

Now that, that is fucked up.

I love Doc. With all my Blue Jays fandom being. In all my years, I've never seen anyone do it better. But if he won't sign a contract extension, and I completely understand him potentially not wanting to, Ricciardi's got to trade him. Period.

I found it ironic that on the night Halladay speculation hit the fan, Marc Rzepczynski, fresh from the minors (he's never had an ERA higher than 2.93, at any level), went out and threw a gem against a very tough, all-star riddled lineup. Can we keep him?

Look, all I know is that I can't deal with another superstar - especially Doc, THE superstar - leaving town and the Blue Jays receiving nothing in return, a la Carlos Delgado. I just can't. He's in the middle of the Sports And The City banner, for fuck's sake.

The chances of a trade are slim. But the lure of 2010 may not be enough to get Doc's signature on the dotted line. Basically, we're fucked. The team, the fans, the banner; everyone.

If Doc leaves, I trust in Ricciardi that the package coming north will be formidable. If Doc leaves, he'll also take a part of me with him. His new team will become my new team; team 1A, if you will. (First Mats, now Doc. This is some bullshit.)

There's nothing I want more than for Halladay to win the World Series. Because I know there's nothing Halladay wants more. In a perfect world, it happens in Toronto. But if I've learned anything over the years, it's that dreams of this nature don't come true.

It's not about the money for Doc. Never has been. He's the anti-A.J. Burnett. It's about giving himself the best odds to win, as the window closes, ever so slowly, year after year. And I can't be mad at him for that.

I will always root for Harry Leroy Halladay III. Whether in a Blue Jays uniform, or another.

In grief-stricken times such as these, I'm looking for positives. Any positives. Here's one, I think, from Blair Facts, which should be high atop your Monday morning reading list:

"After watching Roy Halladay's face following Johnny Damon's cheap homerun at the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday, I guess it's safe to scratch the Bronx as a possible future destination for Doc."
- Jeff Blair, GlobeSports

Thank God. Anywhere but New York, or Boston. Please.

Looks like I picked the right year to embark on Mission: Doc, a quest to watch every Halladay start at the Rog Mahal. It might be his last.

(I promised myself I wouldn't cry.)

UPDATE: If Rogers gives the green light, and that's a HUGE if, put a four-year $80 million extension in front of Doc. If he signs, and Rogers allows the payroll to balloon (I'm thinking $120 million) so the Jays can surround Doc with the necessary parts, end of story.

If Rogers doesn't give Ricciardi the green light to show Doc the money, or surround him with adequate talent, well, then he must be traded.

It's really up to Rogers, not Ricciardi.

Way too many ifs.

UPDATE #2: "Ricciardi acted on Doc's orders." The fuck? If that's the case, just keep it in mind, Ricciardi haters.

Oh, Doc.

UPDATE #3: From Joel Sherman, of the New York Post: "This is not a decision initiated by Halladay. In other words, Halladay did not come to Toronto and say, 'get me out of here, my baseball biological clock is ticking and I want to go some place I can win and get paid.'"

Not that I believed Doc was behind this, but it's still a relief.

However, as The Ack pointed out, the money quote, from J.P.:

"We have kept him from free agency twice and I don't think we ahve the resources to keep him from free agency a third time, so I have to investigate what is out there. But my gut feeling is no trade gets done because we value him as one of the five best players in the game, and I don't think people will meet the price tag for that kind of talent."

For now, that's the final word.

Noticed you noticing me ...

Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs are, as the kids say, the talk of the town.

The following is from Boob Gainey, a loyal and regular commenter over at the filthiest, and at the same time greatest, Montreal Canadiens blog of them all: Four Habs Fans ...

"We will definitely need [Gregory] Stewart and BGL [Big Georges Laraque] when we go into Toronto or Boston."

Yes. Yes you will. Actually, you'll probably need more than that.

Here's to truculence, yo, and it scaring the bejeezus out of the opposition.

Cheers; welcome to your Brian Burke years.

Who's on your blue line?

Brian Burke is spoiling us. Seriously.

After using the force to lure Mike Komisarek from the dark side, and acquiring cruncher Garnet Exelby, I figured the Francois Beauchemin ship had sailed past these parts.

Wrong. Wonderfully wrong.

Beauchemin has arrived. An already truculent defense core is now even more so. After valiantly enduring the John Ferguson Jr. era, Leafs fans are finally getting what they deserve from management: competence.

With 47 NHL-calibre defenseman now in tow, the rumour mill is a churning. Listen up: Tomas Kaberle isn't leaving town. Stop talking about him being traded, stop writing about him being traded, and stop tweeting about him being traded. It isn't happening. If it was, a deal would have been made by now. And don't bother bringing up Phil Kessel. That trade was based upon draft picks not yet selected; that dream, while certainly not mine, is dead.

Who, then, are the odd men out, you ask? Simple: Mike Van Ryn, and Jeff Finger.

Van Ryn, the ghost of Carlo Colaiacovo, obviously has a much easier contract to move; he'll be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Why keep him over Kaberle, who has two years left on his deal? Clearly the market for Tomas isn't what Burke thinks it should be, or he'd have dealt him by now. At this point, with the defense Burke's put together, I don't believe a top-six forward is a priority. Remember, it's not about scoring goals; it's about lowering the 293 goals the Leafs allowed last season. And I have no doubt that number is going to plummet.

Here's my six man rotation on defense, assuming the brittle Van Ryn will be traded:

Tomas Kaberle & Mike Komisarek

Luke Schenn & Francois Beauchemin

Garnet Exelby & Ian White

Finger and his $3.5 million dollar contract, along with Jonas Frogren and Anton Stralman, are the spare parts.

With four defensive defenseman making up the six, Kaberle would come in handy, especially on the power play. He could conceivably quarterback both units, for the entire two minutes.

There's also been some chatter as to having White play the wing, and Finger take a regular shift on defense. While I know it's ridiculous to sit a guy making $3.5 million, I think White's got a bright future on the Leafs, but only as a defenseman. He earned the trust of Wilson and co. last season with his solid play, and the admiration of us fans with his moustache.

According to Behind The Net, while playing five-on-five, White trailed only Luke Schenn in ice time per game (17:26 to 17:37). His 0.92 five-on-five Behind The Net rating was tops on the team by a healthy margin among regulars. And of all the regulars who played "defense" last season for Toronto, White's 2.74 GAON/60 (Goals Against On Ice, per 60 minutes) five-on-five rating was the lowest.

And this is the guy we should remove off the blue line? Fuhgeddaboudit!1

White's also young, and cheap. He takes priority over the Fingers, Van Ryns, Frogrens and Stralmans of the world.

Remember, last season, San Jose took Kyle McLaren and his $2.5 million cap hit and stuck him in the minors until they were able to trade him to Philadelphia. This is the reality of the new salary capped NHL. A reality Finger might have to accept.

A while back, I asked the ever-prescient Down Goes Brown for his thoughts on Jeff Finger, and, as usual, he hit the nail on the head:

"It's not that Finger is awful (he's not) or that he's overpaid (he is.) He's just not what the Leafs need. The focus in Toronto should be on finding young players and putting them in position to succeed. Signing a veteran minor-leaguer to a rich long-term contract to anchor the third defensive pairing isn't on that list.

"Finger isn't the disaster he's made out to be by some. He's just a bad fit - one that the Leafs will likely be stuck with for three more years."

I'm with DGB; just because we're stuck with Finger doesn't mean he should take precedence over Ian White, who was a more productive, versatile and useful defenseman for the Maple Leafs in 2008/2009.

Back to Beauchemin (this post is all over the fucking place); he's got people excited. Even Pension Plan Puppets' Chemmy, an advocate of "tank nation," is daring to dream:

"I'm going to say it just once, and probably deny it if you bring it up: PLAYOFFS!!!1"

Yes indeed, Jammies.

And Jonas Gustavsson is on the way officially a Maple Leaf.

It just keeps getting better.

"Something, perhaps, from above ..."

The baseball Gods were most definitely in the house that dirty Yankee money built on Monday afternoon. How else to explain John McDonald's home run? And three missed calls by the umpires in favour of the Blue Jays?

It was the baseball Gods' way of making up for some their recent douchebaggery, in respect to Toronto's injured arms. Try as the healthy arms might to blow a 7-1 lead, and Brandon League, Jeremy Accardo, and Jason "The Sausage King" Frasor really gave it their all, the Jays weren't leaving New York without a win.

While it certainly doesn't even the score, the efforts from above were certainly appreciated. With Marc Rzepczynski taking the ball tomorrow (who?), hopefully there's more where that came from.

Keeping with the appreciation vibe, I'm very thankful for Scott Rolen. Now at 23 games, I hope his hitting streak can outlast Shawn Green's team record of 28. After only a year and a half in Toronto, Rolen is already well-deserving of having some Jays history attached to his name. He's that fucking good. (GBOAT!!1)

Also: Ricky Romero. Sweet, sweet Ricky Romero. Believe that he could win Rookie of the Year.

UPDATE: It's rare, but sometimes the "Monkey Army" at Drunk Jays Fans is actually good for something. Case in point: one of them pointed out that Shaun Marcum took the hill for the Dunedin Blue Jays Monday night. Three innings pitched, two hits allowed, and one strikeout. In typical fashion, he retired six via groundout, and two via flyout. North of fucking Steeles! I can definitely drink to that.

Flightless

Back in 1999, the Toronto Blue Jays canned B.J. Birdie. (Is it "Birdie," or "Birdy"?) Ten years later, it seems the same fate awaits another flightless bird, B.J. Ryan.

Seriously, I can't imagine it's worth it for J.P. Ricciardi to use valuable Rogers daytime minutes to call another team about The Beej. He'd be laughed off the phone, time and time again.

As general manager of the Blue Jays, I think Ricciardi has done more good than bad over the years. But in hindsight, which is easy for me to use, pantless from my mother's basement, Ryan's signing might go down as J.P.'s worst.

It was tough to watch Ryan, the $12 million dollar once-dominant closer, come into yesterday's game in the fourth inning, the first man out of the bullpen to try and hold an 8-to-7 lead against New York. He failed. Miserably. Of the five relievers who tossed four-and-a-third innings of relief on Sunday, Ryan was the only one to allow any runs. The fact he walked two Yankees, his eleventh and twelfth walks in only nine innings pitched on the road (a 2.89 WHIP away from the SkyDome, egads!), was the tipping point.

The Beej is finished, yo.

I don't envy the person who had to give B.J. Birdie his walking papers back in the day. It couldn't have been easy. Ryan's remaining salary be damned, someone's eventually going to have to make the tough call on him, too. Delegate to your heart's content, Ricciardi.

The Yankees have had their way with the Jays, and Toronto's now seven games back. Worse yet, Cito's boys are only one game above .500. A game above water. Hard to believe, really. I thought all that .500 talk left town with John Gibbons.

After starting the season 27-and-14, the Jays have gone 15-and-27. From the highest high, to the lowest low, to right back where they started.

Half a season remains, and there's no reason to believe the Jays can't win 27 of their next 41 games. (Actually, that's not the case; there are a bevy of reasons, but fuck discussing them.) Sure, they'll have to do it against better quality opposition, using less experienced pitchers, and with a completely useless David Dellucci in left field, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

UPDATE: Oh yeah, the All-Star game. Doc and Aaron Hill are on their way. That's not news. We knew they were all-stars a month and a half ago. Scott Rolen and Marco Scutaro, while not officially, are all-stars in my books. Same with Scott Downs. And vote for Adam Lind. He'd vote for you.

Hanging on to hope ...

Well, fuck. If those standings don't have you reaching for a drink, your affinity with sobriety is a lot stronger than mine.

Roy Halladay went into Saturday's ball game in the Bronx having allowed seven home runs in 109 innings. In seven innings of work yesterday afternoon, he surrendered three long balls; one a fly ball to Johnny Damon. Nope, nothing strange about new Yankee Stadium. Nothing at all. (Fuck the Yankees, and their new ballpark.)

If I haven't yet developed a full-blown complex from supporting the Blue Jays while they play in the AL East, it can't be far off. I'm not sure how much more I can take - the Yankees and Red Sox and their deep pockets, and the Tampa Bay Rays finally doing what it took the Pittsburgh Penguins only a few years to do: tank their way to success. It's frustrating. Like you wouldn't believe.

Don't look now, but it's those devilish Rays with the division's best run differential (+78). The Jays led in that respect during the salad days of April and early May. All of a sudden, the Jays are seven games behind Boston, and six behind the Yankees for the Wild Card. If I could take solace in the fact that Toronto is better than Baltimore, I would. But that's like being proud of yourself for finishing the race ahead of the one-legged kid. Where's the God damn pride in that?

Now that divisional play has begun in earnest, I can't help but look back to June. Twelve wins and 14 losses; simply not good enough. To compound matters, Scott Richmond just hit the disabled list. It's unbelievable, really, the luck, or lack thereof, when it comes to Toronto's pitching staff. As if playing in the AL East wasn't hard enough. Fuck off, baseball Gods.

Oh yeah, Vernon Wells. As you know by now, The Cito finally - no, mercifully - moved him down in the lineup to the six-hole, and he's responded. Well, kind of. Three-for-eight, with two doubles, two runs scored, a walk, a home run, and one RBI. We remain at SEVERE on the Hatred Advisory System. Until Wells starts helping this team win some games, it's where we shall remain. Hard to believe that on July 5th, Wells and Alex Rios are batting sixth and seventh in the Blue Jays lineup. Overpaid idiots, the both of them. I can only hope they're taking notes when Scott Hoss Rolen, he of the 21-game hitting streak, steps up to the plate.

All that being said, there's still half a season to play. After the Jays took the loss in extras on Saturday, I immersed myself in Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance. I'm coming down the home stretch of the massive 748-page book, and came across a most apt quote on page 686:

"There is always hope - hope enough to balance our despair. Or we would be lost."

There is much baseball to be played. Fuck the AL East; when Toronto does make the playoffs, having overcome the odds will make it that much sweeter. Believe.

If not, there's always 2010. Am I rite?

Obsess much?

This one's a tad disturbing, but too good not to share. Enjoy ...

I'm not sure what's more pathetic: the fact that this clown is swearing at a t-shirt, the fact that he couldn't find a Komisarek jersey to burn, or the fact that Francais Ray Finkle actually videotaped his little exorcism.

Stay classy, Habs fans.

A one sentence post on DeMar DeRozan

Shut up. Just, shut up. You had me at "athletic wingman."

*H/T to the fellas at The Tao of Stieb, the best Toronto Blue Jays blog out there, for inspiring, and perfecting the art of, the one sentence post.