Ned gets his first matchup in the Bucs Dugout worst GM tournament, taking on JP Riccardi in the quarterfinals. I really urge you to go over there and vote for Riccardi. I’ve made my feelings on Ned pretty well known, but he is learning at least. He hasn’t done anything boneheaded since the Proctor trade, and while nine months without a bad move doesn’t seem all that great, it’s better than the monthly blockheaded boner that we were treated to at the beginning of his tenure.

After releasing Frank Thomas to make sure Shannon Stewart gets more play time/avoiding paying his salary, I’m pretty convinced that Riccardi is the worst GM in baseball now, and it would be a shame to not see him recognized as such. He embodies pretty much every negative trait about sabermetrics mainly drafting low ceiling college guys, and filling his team up with players based on how good they are for the dollar instead of being good. Combine this with arrogance that lead him to ignore his advisors and take Ricky Romero over Troy Tulowitski and you have a GM who looks great if you want to win 84 games a year. Oh, and the closest thing the team has to a difference maker that Riccardi acquired himself is Aaron Hill, or maybe A.J. Burnett on the off chance he's healthy. After seven years on the job, Riccardi has failed to build anything that would have any hope of competiting the the AL East. I'd much rather have Nned than that.