B.J. Ryan: Say It Ain’t So
I don’t usually devote main page posts to news about the trials and tribulations of long-lost Orioles, but this one feels worthy: Big League Stew checks in with news that former Oriole B.J. Ryan has been released by the Blue Jays.
I remember when Ryan came here in 1999. He was part of the trade that sent starter Juan Guzman to Cincinnati. When he blossomed into a competent closer, it turned that trade — otherwise forgettable — into a steal.
He left Baltimore after the 2005 season for a ridiculous contract in Toronto. I think most O’s fans knew it wouldn’t end well. He got way more money than he was worth, even if injuries didn’t factor.
Alas, they did. Ryan battled health throughout his years with the Jays, and now he’s out of a job.
I feel bad for the guy. He was an absolute bulldog when he was here, and there were moments when he made some of our worst seasons marginally more entertaining.
Somebody will probably take a flyer on him, considering that the Jays are on the hook for his exorbitant salary through 2010. Here’s hoping he can find a home and at least manage to eventually end his career on his own terms.
Perhaps I should also note: I don’t think his new home should be his old home, back here in Baltimore. Wouldn’t be a good fit, as much as I like him.
Agreed Neal, unless he agreed to a minor league deal.
And while we’re at it, let’s remember the halcyon days of 2005, when BJ Ryan struck out the side against the Yankees to preserve a 7-6 victory and beat Mike Mussina on the way to a three game sweep.
That’s how I’ll always remember BJ Ryan.
That’s a shame. I remember a lot of people getting up in arms because we didn’t offer him enough money. I think it was a solid decision in hindsight. Just say no to big contracts for relievers. I wouldn’t mind him kicking around our minor league system, though. After all, we don’t have a viable lefty specialist. But whatever.
Curious to see what people think about Luke Scott. I am continually surprised about Wayward O’s urge to trade him. For some reason, O doesn’t seem to believe in Luke, even going so far as to compare him to Jay Gibbons. To that I say, O I love you, but ????? To me, Luke is a veteran guy you build with, like Roberts. He’s what, 30? 31 tops? Perfectly suited to DH, play LF, and maybe a little 1B. Big power lefty. Good character and good teammate. Cheap as hell. Under our control for a long time. Can hit lefties better than we ever thought he would. I don’t see how trading him gets us anywhere when for so many years we lacked a legitimate power bat and we’re still unsure if Markakis, Jones, Reimold, and Wieters will have legitimate home run power. I guess if he nets you 2 young stud corner infielders or something, but that’s unlikely. I’d be more for trading Huff, who is older and more expensive, and arguably, less productive.
While my comment is awaiting moderation, I’d like to suggest that from now on we call Aubrey Huff simply, The Stache. That is all.
Dan, all I’m saying (if we can bring it all into one thread), is that it is extremely difficult to be a fly-ball pitcher who doesn’t strike guys out in the AL East. It’s not impossible, but it worries me.
Luke Scott turned 31 on June 25…so I can understand the desire to sell high, but it probably won’t hurt anyone to at least keep him around for another year.
I hear you – that worries me, too. He’ll be an interesting guy to watch to see if he starts bringing up those K numbers. I want to see the kids have another go round at our AL East rivals and see where we’re at.
There’s a good, if unsurprising to us die-hards article up by Kevin Goldstein on BP about Tillman, Matusz, Arrieta, Bergesen, Hernandez, and Patton (Berken didn’t make that cut either). Your money quote:
It’s not surprising, but it’s still exciting to ponder what we’ll all be thinking in one year…
BA has put out a mid-season update to their top 50 prospects (hat tip to mlbtraderumors…they’re the best, what else can you say?). The Big Three are the only Orioles, but all have moved up from preseason:
Chris Tillman #8 (previously 22)
Brian Matusz #9 (previously 25)
Jake Arrieta #29 (previously 67)
A lot of the advancement is due to the former top prospects getting promoted (at least 8 of the guys who were in front of Tillman are gone because of that, including all four of the previous top 4 – Wieters, Price, Rasmus, and Hanson), but there certainly has been stock improvement, too.
I should also mention that these are the pitchers on BA’s top 50 (in order):
Madison Bumgarner LHP
Chris Tillman RHP
Brian Matusz LHP
Jarrod Parker RHP
Neftali Feliz RHP
Wade Davis RHP
Kyle Drabek RHP
—————- (top 25 ends here)
Tim Alderson RHP
Jake Arrieta RHP
….many more
Mmmm…satisfying. If Matusz doesn’t come back to earth (and his 0% HR/FB despite 1.04 GO/AO and .190 BABIP suggest that he will, unfortunately), he could make quite the run at top pitcher prospect in baseball. Of course, Tillman could be removed from the list by the end of the year – and Bumgarner would need to hit a rough patch, but you never know…
Nice breakdown. This shit makes me smile. We have legitimate pitching prospects… now we wait (slightly nervously?) to see if they are legitimate major league pitchers. They’ve got a better shot than most, you would think.
Meanwhile, absolutely no news on the Pie/Salazar/Izturis thing. Methinks we won’t hear jack until tomorrow. It’ll most likely end up as not an impact trade, player-wise, but it’s one of the more interesting potential trade situations. Usually it’s, hey we’ve got a veteran, give us some kids. This is: we’ve got some bench talent and a guy with upside, we’re forced to move one or both due to a roster crunch and lack of options, but we like both of them and would prefer to keep both. It’s a little bizarre as far as trades go. If MacPhail manages to get any value in return and maintain the current bench setup, it figures to be a success.
Question: if he manages to trade both and get a decent, young, corner infield prospect/fringe major leaguer and we call up Gathright, is that an improvement?
@Miles – I remember the O’s had a lead on the Red Sox in ’05, and BJ gave up a walk-off homer to Big Sloppy
Man I just checked Snyder’s AAA numbers… not too pretty. .230/.266/.324, .590 OPS, 3BB/17K, 0HR, 13 RBI, 74 AB.
He’s only a hot streak away from turning all that around, but right now there’s no way we even see him in September, much less the beginning of next year. He was killing AA though, so you’d think he’s got a good chance of figuring out AAA sometime soon.
Although in his 17 hits at AAA, he’s got 13 RBI. So that’s kind of interesting – he’s making those hits count, at least.
Umm… why are Garrett Olson and Radhames Liz still on the Norfolktides.com banner at the top of the website? That’s pretty inexcusable if you ask me.
@Kevin – Funny, I’d forgotten that until you brought it up.
I have a tendency to remember closers for the games they finished, and not the ones they blew.
The Gregg Olsen I remember struck out Dave Parker, Dave Henderson and Mark McGuire in early 1989 with Uncle Charlie to preserve a win.
The Gregg Olsen I’ve blocked from my mind gave the Toronto Blue Jays the AL East pennant in the final weekend of the hallowed Why Not season.