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BigRapidsJackass · 04-27-2008, 11:23 AM

You hit the nail on the head (as usual), HF.

Giving up on a guy like Ramon Ramirez is, in and of itself, not so ridiculous. Time was running out on him.

But giving up on him to make roster room for Micah Bowie? Mark Redman? Giving up on him to make room to make sure you have roster space to spend $7 million on Kip Wells and Luis Vizcaino? That's ridiculous. Particularly when you still have a gaping hole to fill at 2B.

So once again, we've dug ourselves a deep hole before April is even done. Nix looks like a complete write-off. Guys like Barmes (and Quintanilla) have moved ahead of him in the depth chart. The only reason he's still around is O'Dowd's other ridiculous tendency: the refusal to give up on his "prospects" when their prospect status has long since disappeared. Jeff Baker is 27, can't hit enough to play a corner position, and is at most a utility man who can't play SS. Nix? Nothing to indicate he's a big leaguer since 2004. Both are out of options, so both fill roster spots that are desperately needed for productive players. Both have essentially zero trade value. Yet O'Dowd exhibits that strange psychological disorder that causes him to overvalue his own possessions even though the world thinks they're basically worthless.

So here's where it's going: rotation will be Francis-Cook-Redman (for another month or so till they pull the plug on him)-Wells-Towers/de la Rosa/Hirsh.

Barmes will play 2B for another month or so until his numbers return to a Barmes-like bottom.

Torrealba and Taveras will continue to suck up 80% of the combined C-CF plate appearances even though everyone will have to agree that the club's best chance to improve immediately is to reverse that and give Iannetta-Spilly the majority of PAs.

The only fortunate thing is that other than the D'backs (who really are good, but not this good) nobody else in the NL West has started strong. But it was an offseason that was based on staying competitive for the next several years, and not one that was centered on really trying to win anything this year.

04-27-2008, 11:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
BigRapidsJackass Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,146	You hit the nail on the head (as usual), HF. Giving up on a guy like Ramon Ramirez is, in and of itself, not so ridiculous. Time was running out on him. But giving up on him to make roster room for Micah Bowie? Mark Redman? Giving up on him to make room to make sure you have roster space to spend $7 million on Kip Wells and Luis Vizcaino? That's ridiculous. Particularly when you still have a gaping hole to fill at 2B. So once again, we've dug ourselves a deep hole before April is even done. Nix looks like a complete write-off. Guys like Barmes (and Quintanilla) have moved ahead of him in the depth chart. The only reason he's still around is O'Dowd's other ridiculous tendency: the refusal to give up on his "prospects" when their prospect status has long since disappeared. Jeff Baker is 27, can't hit enough to play a corner position, and is at most a utility man who can't play SS. Nix? Nothing to indicate he's a big leaguer since 2004. Both are out of options, so both fill roster spots that are desperately needed for productive players. Both have essentially zero trade value. Yet O'Dowd exhibits that strange psychological disorder that causes him to overvalue his own possessions even though the world thinks they're basically worthless. So here's where it's going: rotation will be Francis-Cook-Redman (for another month or so till they pull the plug on him)-Wells-Towers/de la Rosa/Hirsh. Barmes will play 2B for another month or so until his numbers return to a Barmes-like bottom. Torrealba and Taveras will continue to suck up 80% of the combined C-CF plate appearances even though everyone will have to agree that the club's best chance to improve immediately is to reverse that and give Iannetta-Spilly the majority of PAs. The only fortunate thing is that other than the D'backs (who really are good, but not this good) nobody else in the NL West has started strong. But it was an offseason that was based on staying competitive for the next several years, and not one that was centered on really trying to win anything this year.