QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 09:51 PM)
Good God almighty. This is the exact same crap that was said about Jose Contreras right after the Loiaza deal was made. Can we give it a season at least before declaring him a bust?
+1000
Rios doesn't suck. At this point, he had a bad season. He throws down a .600 OPS again next year, and we can say he sucks. At this point, however, it's more likely he has a good season than a bad one. He's a multi-year all-star in his prime. Personally, if he plays top-notch CF and clocks in around his .775 career OPS, then he's just a slightly overpaid star player. Far from a bust (yet).
Same thing with CQ. We know he still has it; he showed in the last month of 2009. This lineup is missing a couple key pieces, but it's a very talented group. We're not the Yankees, we can't just buy all the free agents. We have to put a talented, capable team on the field and hope that most of them perform close to their potential.
As for KW, the guy denies EVERYTHING. We never know what he's going to do. He makes mistakes occasionally, but for the most part he's looking at creative ways to get the tools we need and he's absolutely committed to winning. I have faith in him.
Beckham, CQ, Alexei, Rios are in their prime and we have no reason to believe they won't play well. PK and AJ are reliable veteran bats that are aging but far from out of it. Teahen is, let's be honest, likely better than Getz. KILLER starting pitching staff and a bullpen with maybe a hole or two max. Pretty solid for a mid-market team in a weak division.