Posted by basebal5 on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 8:58 am

The Blue Jays held their annual “State of the Franchise” gala for season's ticket holders at the Toronto Hilton on Wednesday, and both myself and fellow Baseball Digest Daily writer Pete Toms were on hand. The presentation was very slick and upscale- mostly it was just management calming the worries of fans for the upcoming season, but J.P. was rather direct at times and some new information came out, including one particularly controversial statement. Here's my take on what was said over the course of the evening:

First, the Jays announced that the box office will officially open to the public on March 2nd and on the same day City TV (a local station) will broadcast the Jays vs. Reds spring training game as well as the season's ticket holder's BBQ. Jennifer Valentine and Katherine Humphries will comprise an all-female broadcasting team, and work to make the fourth spring training game of the season “fun” and “different”. Who knows what to expect, but it's better than last season when only the very end of Spring against the Yankees was available for regular cable subscribers. Kudos to City TV for taking an interest in the Jays.

As has been suggested for some time, the team would like to see Casey Janssen move into the rotation, but that is dependent on B.J. Ryan being ready at the start of the season to solidify the bullpen in his place. Ricciardi stressed that Ryan would not be rushed (and that the team will err on the side of caution) but also that “all the medical people tell us that they'll be very dissapointed if he
doesn't start the season with us…right now we're
planning on opening day, and we'll see how he responds when we get down
there to throwing on back to back days.” 

The new/classic powder blue uniforms are apparently very popular with the team, even to the point that last season they were suggesting the Jays change to them on a permanent basis. On September 7th, Joe Carter will be back for a “Flashback Friday”, and Dan Plesac and Devon White will be appearing at some point during the year, in addition to other players returning.

When asked about the “demotion” of Ernie Whitt from bench coach to third base, J.P. downplayed its significance, but suggested it was John Gibbon's call. He said:

Well, I don't know if he was demoted. I think Brian Butterfield is probably closer to John Gibbons from a standpoint of friendship as far as they go back a little bit further. And I think Gibby felt a little more comfortable having Butter on the bench and having Marty coach third base and Ernie coach first base. Ernie continues to do the same things, he works with our catchers, and I think it makes us a better staff.

According to Ricciardi, Travis Snider, the Blue Jays top prospect, is expected to start in Dunedin (high-A) for the season, despite speculation he might start in AA after a torrid campaign in the Arizona Fall League. “Hopefully he gets to double A and gets his feet wet. We think he has a chance to come real quick, but we're not going to put a lot of pressure on him, he's still a young kid,” he said.

But probably the most controversial statement of the night came in response to the last question when J.P. was asked if he had 'seriously considered' trading Rios for Lincecum despite his violent delivery. J.P. replied:

I think it's our job to explore every possible option that's out there…when you see the Santana's of the world getting 150 million dollar and the Zitos' of the world getting 120 million dollars, you realize the value of getting pitching and how tough it is. When we were
presented with that, we thought long and hard. And obviously we value
Rios more than we valued the other guy, and that's why he's still here.

That seems to state in direct terms that the Jays were offered Lincecum for Rios and turned it down. While possible, that is not what was portrayed in the media. Numerous publications painted the picture that the idea was mutually considered, and while Giants fans went absolutely bezerk, it was left on the table by the Blue Jays and officially scrapped once the Giants acquired Aaron Rowand. Brian Sabean even sounded rather apologetic that the deal was ever considered, saying that it was just his job to consider all options, in much the same way that J.P. was defending himself here. It all sounds rather doubtful- but as Jays fans know, it's not a lie if we know the truth…