Joe Cowley says our season is over: do you agree?

[iamshack]

Scenario, I can understand your difference in philosophy...

 

But please recognize that most of that difference comes from our Manager, not our General Manager.

 

Kenny wanted Thome back. Kenny wanted Damon.

 

I think Teahan was Kenny's player, so I won't speak for that move.

 

But the overall offensive philosophy is Ozzie's, not Kenny's.

 

And maybe that is Kenny's big, big mistake - trusting Ozzie - but I think that decision was made with Jerry as well.

 

In the end, I really don't think it would matter a whole lot right now. We might be 2-3 games better with those different offensive players and this same crappy SP rotation?

[caulfield12]

I disagree.

 

A few comments...

You say I'm ignoring each and every one of the real issues? Why? Because I don't agree with you?

The majority of comparisons you make for run production to team salary are for team in the NL.

I don't think dumping Quentin or Beckham has anything to do with improving this team. The problem is that for the most part we simply built a mediocre offense around them and hoped they'd be better than they are.

 

Bottom Line: I think this is a poorly designed offensive team (average, obp, and slugging). We could have had people who would have made this a MUCH better offensive team in all categories without breaking the bank. And if we had, it is unlikely we'd be in the position we are now.

 

For example:

If I was in charge... (this is not revisionary history. It reflects what I would have done at the time, not as a result of looking in the rear view mirror.)

I wouldn't have traded for Pierre or Teahen. I think both are highly flawed offensive players who do not add quality to our lineup and therefore were bad decisions.

I would have left Beckham at 3B for this year (and avoided screwing up his head with another position move)...

I would have gone after Orlando Hudson to play 2B...

I would have gone after Damon and put him in left.

And I probably would have re-signed Thome.

 

Hudson, Damon, and Thome were better 'risks' than the guys we bet on.

The likelihood of them providing offensive consistency to what has been a terribly inconsistent lineup is high.

The net salary difference involved would not have been significant.

And the net impact on our lineup, IMO, would have been.

 

Instead we rolled the dice... and ended up with mediocrity which has hurt us since other guys we were depending on are struggling and there's been no one to pick them up.

 

You want to disagree... fine.

But don't expect me to agree that I'm "harping on a minor issue".

We are a bad offensive ballclub by design. That is NOT a minor issue.

 

 

Agree 100%.

 

I must have started 10 threads alone this offseason about our offensive problems coming into the season, same as Thunderbolt...with all the various possible line-up permutations and their resulting OPS/OBP outcomes.

 

I was also in the Hudson camp, and have been against Teahen from Day 1.

 

Yes, Teahen's better than Getz or Fields, I get that. But he's not good enough to be more than a spare part unless he's on a very good or great offensive team.

 

Whether Beckham really belongs at 2B over 3B long-term (that's not the point for 2010), our team would have been much better with him remaining there and bringing in a versatile, athletic 2B like Hudson to add something different to the line-up. Our defense would have been significantly better, that much is not debatable.

 

And with Ramirez, he's done exactly as predicted. His OPS since June 1st is nearly 800. I can't come close to putting him in the same camp as AJ, Beckham and Quentin (whose overall numbers look a bit deceiving). He's a very cheap SS in the prime of his career making peanuts compared to pitchers in the starting rotation.

 

Jenks was unquestionably a concern coming into the season, and that hasn't changed.

 

I guess from the very beginning of the offseason, I never felt good about this team. I was super-excited by the ending of 2008 and going into 2009, but this last off-season I didn't even really care that much about the team because I knew with Peavy and Rios onboard that KW would only make his "tinkering" moves that have been pretty bad (except for Jones and Putz).

 

He pulled the trigger too early and got stuck with a declining Pierre...and gave up a useful piece in Ely to boot. Damon, Thome and Hudson added to this offense changes the composition quite a bit and makes us at worst, average.

 

The Teahen trade and extension was absolutely unnecessary and the worst move of the offseason to me.

 

Peavy remains a valuable asset but obviously he's underperforming his huge salary, same with Buehrle and clearly Floyd as well.

 

Gavin is sort of like the pitching version of Alexei Ramirez. An All-Star for stretches, an enigma the rest of the time. Too intriguing and cheap to trade away easily, not reliable or consistent enough to count on, and both guys have gotten labels for being "mentally weak."

 

I'm just waiting for something to happen, and a reason to be interested in the season again.

Edited June 8, 2010 by caulfield12