Ricciardi on the Hot Seat

According to Tim Dierkes at mlbtraderumors.com, J.P. Ricciardi, the Toronto GM, is on the hot seat. Now, I don't agree with what he said about Adam Dunn, but I don't think he should be fired. I doubt that he would be fired based solely on what he said or else he'd probably be gone by now (unless the Blue Jays are like the Mets and want to make a long, drawn-out ordeal of this). He'll probably be fired because the Jays are in last place. However, let's look at a few things. First, the Blue Jays have the best record of any last place team, and at 35-41, a six-game winning streak puts them at .500. Second, he put together a great pitching staff that has given up the third fewest runs in the AL, and with the youth of Marcum, McGowan, and Litsch, they should be good for awhile. Third, this season is really Vernon Wells' fault. After signing a 7 year/ $126 million deal, he has not been the same. He only hit 16 HR with 80 RBI last season after hitting 32 with 106 in '06 and 28 and 97 the year before. At age 29, he should be in his prime as a hitter, and with him, he should be a great four or three hitter. However, this season he only has 7 HR and 28 RBI as this offense has really struggled. Sure, Ricciardi needed to add more offense, but everyone figured Alex Rios and Wells would be a formidable duo in the middle of the order. Fourth, they have been over .500 the past two seasons. $92 million is a lot of money, but if you are going to compete with the Red Sox and Yankees, you need more money. If you want to throw the Rays in my face, all other GM's would be fired because few have that farm system (stop pointing out the Angels and Rangers; I get it already; let me finish ... geez). Ricciardi hasn't been the best GM in baseball, but he really doesn't deserve to be fired. He could use Burnett to get a good offensive player (assuming Burnett can improve and have some trade value, but because he is a pitcher, he should have quite a bit anyway) and trade Overbay for a couple good offensive players. They need some offense, so maybe they should trade for Dunn. Wouldn't that be a fun press conference?