Robinson Diaz for Jose Bautista a bad move for the Jays

When the Jays acquired Jose Bautista last week from the Pittsburgh Pirates I was happy that Ricciardi made a move to pickup a serviceable third baseman who could help fill in with Scott Rolen on the DL. Today when I learned that Robinson Diaz was the player going the other way I was left dumbfounded by why Ricciardi would make such a deal. It is clear that Diaz has hit a bit of a roadblock in his development, his .242 average this year in AAA leaves much to be desired, but Diaz surely is more valuable to the organization than Bautista is. The Jays are pretty much finished this year if you ask me. Bautista is clearly not going to make the difference between making the playoffs, and a fourth place finish in the AL East this year. For the Jays to make the playoffs they will have to win around 25 of their remaining 32 games, that would give them 92 wins, and even that would not guarantee them the wildcard. It might be possible to make it in with less than 92 wins but that would require the Red Sox, Yankees, and Twins all taking major nosedives in the last month of the season.

With the Jays essentially playing the roll of spoilers for the rest of the season it makes no sense to trade a player like Robinson Diaz, who still has some limited upside, for a player like Jose Bautista who is at best a quality utility guy. It does not make much sense to fire Ricciardi this late in the season, but if it means keeping him from making any more bad moves before August 31st then I would cut him lose now. For two seasons in a row now Ricciardi has been saying that if not for some key injuries the Jays would make the playoffs. The reality is that Ricciardi has not drafted well, and the veterans that he has brought in have not produced well. The Jays should shut Scott Rolen down for the rest of the season and hope that he can heal completely over the off-season and have a decent 2009. Marcum should be given one more chance to show that he is over his arm strain, but if his command does not return then they should shut him down as well. Purcey, Parrish, and Richmond could all use some starts in September.

Like any good fan should, I will continue to hold out hope for the Blue Jays. I will watch them till the end of the season hoping that until they are mathematically eliminated, they will still make the playoffs. More likely, the Jays have the chance to keep both the Red Sox and the Yankees from reaching the post-season. It would be great to see the Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins make the playoffs with young, highly talented teams, with low payrolls rather than the payroll crazy Red Sox or Yankees.