Tosca acted like an amateur earlier this season when he suddenly annointed Terry Adams as the closer, based on Adams having thrown all of about 5 scoreless innings in a row. VERY PREMATURE, considering that Adams had been a closer only once - for half a season a few years ago - and he was just "okay". So of course once you put your foot in your mouth, the inevitable happened and Adams stunk almost from the get-go. Lightenberg has struggled to get lefty hitters out all his career, yet Tosca would use this guy like a set-up man - in the 8th inning when the other team will pinch-hit with all of their lefty hitters on the bench. Even Frasor was thrown into the closer fire way too quick, but that one worked out, mainly because the youngster seems to be one of those special players that comes through....(NOTE TO PREVIOUS POSTERS RE JOSH PHELPS: Frasor came through unlike Phelps...yes, Phelps may "wake up" and begin fulfilling his potential, but let's keep in mind that ALL rookies called up by major league teams have the potential to be stars...the trick is that some make it, and some don't...GM's need to make the judgement call eventually when a guy continues to underperform).
Bottom line is, Tosca managed "afraid" all year...but I don;t blame him for that, I blame Ricciardi. Let me explain: First, I think the jury is out on Ricciardi - we need to give him 2 more season.
But, I question Ricciardi's assessment of this year's Jays team - don;t tell me this group was capable of threatening for the wild card. Quite a few Jays hitters had career seasons last year...and Delgado carried the team for long stretches at a time. You also had Shannon Stewart for a majority of the season...a proven .300 hitter at the top of the lineup. Mike Bordick was stronger than what they have now; and Greg Myers had a HUGE season. For Ricciardi to think by acquiring some pitching that the hitting would remain at that high level was wishful thinking. I predicted this team was a .500 team...and, had it not been for the many injuries to so many key players, they would have achieved that. But no way is this a playoff team!
As for the future, Ricciardi's youngsters down in the minors hit a bit of a roadblock this year. Many from double A and A did not warrant getting promoted to triple A. And the few that did make it to Syracuse were at best mediocre - Gross, Jason Arnold, David Bush...and a couple suffered injuries (Dustin McGowan). So what this means is that next year will be another losing season, as they await the influx of Ricciardi's youth movement - which is the PLAN that he sold to Rogers when getting hired. So, Ricciardi cannot be judged until the youth make it to the majors - and that will happen in 2006.
So in the meantime, you need a manager that is able to relate to young players, is patient - does not let losses change his focus of developing the young players, and is a great teacher of the game.
