Former Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi says two interesting things - MLB

I was never a fan of J.P. Ricciardi the general manager, but I think I can get behind J.P. the talking head. He was on WEEI today, and said a couple of interesting things. First, on PEDs:

We had a suspicion of who all of a sudden got bigger, who got stronger, I
mean I could name you 10 players, I won’t, but name you 10 players that
we had that all of a sudden, wow. In a three-month offseason a guy
gained that much weight, got that much muscle, got that much stronger
and not only on our team, but on other teams and vice versa . . . We were all guilty of it. Every single one of us signed a player or got
involved with a player that we bought into what he was doing at 32 and
33 and then found out after we got him for a couple years that obviously
the testing came in and we saw the repercussions of it.

I’ve heard some executives talk about the clubs’ complicity in PED-use, but I don’t recall any of them putting it so starkly. The other thing he said involved transactions. Specifically, he was asked to talk about a deal he was a part of that we as fans never heard about:

I had a trade done a couple of years ago where the trade was
finalized, I won’t mention the players, but a pretty prominent player.
Had him traded, everything was all set, told the president this is what
we are trying to do, kept him in the loop. I went back, already signed
off with the team, I said, I’ll just get right back to finalize, let me
run it by my president.

I went and told the president and the president told me, You know
what, I’m a really big fan of that guy, and I think the fans are, too. I
think if we trade him, we’re really going to catch it. And I said, OK,
it’s your call. I said I recommend we do this, but he said no, and we
didn’t trade him and the guy we could have traded him for is absolutely
tearing it up right now.

Based on stuff I’ve heard in the past about how it was Toronto’s ownership who insisted that the Jays first hold on to and then sign the guy, every fiber of my being wants to believe that this was Vernon Wells. I wish Ricciardi would say who the players really were though, because this is stuff that we want to know, isn’t it?

TAMPA, Fla. — Anthony Volpe grew up watching Derek Jeter star at shortstop for the New York Yankees.

Now, the 21-year-old is getting the chance to be the Yankees’ opening day shortstop against the San Francisco Giants.

The team announced after a 6-2 win over Toronto in spring training that Volpe had won the spot. New York manager Aaron Boone called the kid into his office to deliver the news.

“My heart was beating pretty hard,” said Volpe, rated one of baseball’s best prospects. “Incredible. I’m just so excited. It’s hard for me to even put into words.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, hitting coach Dillon Lawson and bench coach Carlos Mendoza were also present.

Volpe was able to share the news with his parents and other family members near the Yankees’ dugout and said it is something he will never forget.

“It was pretty emotional,” Volpe said. “It was just an unbelievable moment to share with them.”

Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan, lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to New Jersey. Jeter was his favorite player.

“It’s very surreal,” Volpe said. “I’ve only ever been to games at Yankee Stadium and for the most part only watched him play there.”

Volpe is hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 Grapefruit League games. He has just 22 games of experience at Triple-A.

Spring training started with Volpe, Oswald Peraza and holdover Isiah Kiner-Falefa competing for the everyday shortstop job. Kiner-Falefa was shifted into a utility role midway through camp, and Peraza was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday evening.

“While certainly the performance was there, he killed it between the lines,” Boone said of Volpe. “All the other things that we’ve been hearing about showed up. There’s an energy he plays the game with, and an instinct that he has that is evident. He really checked every box that we could have had for him. Absolutely kicked the door in and earned his opportunity.”

Volpe arrived in Florida in December to work out at the Yankees’ minor league complex.

“He’s earned the right to take that spot, and we’re excited for him and excited for us,” Cashman said. “He just dominated all sides of the ball during February and March, and that bodes well obviously for him as we move forward.”

Volpe was selected out of high school with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft from Delbarton School in New Jersey. He passed up a college commitment to Vanderbilt to sign with the Yankees.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get into the organization,” Volpe said. “This day, this feeling, this moment was kind of what I’ve worked my whole life for when I made that big decision.”

“Right now it’s crazy,” he added. “I don’t even know what lies ahead but Thursday I just want to go out and play, and have fun.”