Last month in the Baseball Evolution Fan Forum, I chastised the Toronto Blue Jays for signing Reed Johnson to a $750,000 contract in the spring, then releasing him without trying to trade him very aggressively.  There's no debating that this was a poor financial decision by JP Ricciardi and company, but as we all know, $750,000 amounts to little more than chump change to a Major League Baseball Club.

But today, we are seeing the Toronto Blue Jays organization make the same error on a grander scale.  Frank Thomas was due $8 million this year and $10 million in 2009 if he made 376 plate appearances this season.  He had no trade protection on his contract, but rather than trade the man after he hit three homers in the first week of the season, the team waited for him to hit a slump, benched him, and bought out his contract while receiving nothing in return.

Thomas led the Blue Jays in both RBI and OBP last year, but there are good reasons for the club not to have wanted him to clinch that $10 million contract for 2009.  24-year old prospect Adam Lind currently owns a 1.051 OPS at Triple-A right now.  Travis Snider is just 20 years old, but his Jeff Bagwell-like plate balance has me thinking he could be ready for the show by next year.  With Vernon Wells and Alexis Rios already locked into their outfield through 2014, the Big Hurt's presence on the 2009 roster might have been superfluous.

That does not mean he should have been released.

Frank Thomas has always had an attitude problem, so it's not surprising that he didn't take the news of his benching well.  In this case, Thomas' gripe is justified.  By benching him, the Blue Jays sent a signal that winning in 2008 was not that important to the club.  Sure, Thomas has had a rough couple of weeks, but it isn't as though Lyle Overbay and Matt Stairs have played so well that impatience with Thomas is merited.  And even if the club was somehow convinced that he would not re-discover his swing this year, there's no reason that another club wouldn't want to take a chance on him - at least, not until the Blue Jays ruined their trade leverage by benching him.

Granted, his being a designated hitter limits the number of teams that would be interested, but even if they could only get another team to take $1 million of the better-than $7 million left on his contract, that would have helped.  Even if all they got in return was a middling prospect, that would have been something.

The ironic part of all this is that JP Ricciardi had been profiled in Moneyball as an executive who could get good results wit ha low budget.  It appears that when presented with a big bankroll, he throws away money as foolishly as any other general manager in the game.