Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Three game losing streak? Hold a pre-game team meeting. While Alex Rodriguez's slump continues, the Yankees scrapped and rallied to defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 on Saturday evening in front of more than 50,000 at the Rogers Centre, gaining a game back on the Red Sox who lost earlier in the day (the Yanks trail by two-and-a-half). Jorge Posada, the Bronx version of "Captain Red Ass," tripled (?!?) after objecting to a high offering by Ted Lilly which came close to his noggin, Bernie Williams hit a two-run homer, Jason Giambi had a clutch pinch-hit (he walked in his second at bat and was pinch run for by Jaret Wright!), and Derek Jeter drew a walk with the bases loaded, scoring what would be the game-winning run. For the second straight start Chien-Ming Wang was far from electric, but he was good enough while the Yankee bullpen was dynamite: Scott Proctor struck out the side in the seventh, ditto for Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth, and Mariano Rivera--who is way too cool for strikeouts by now--sent the Jays down, 1-2-3 in the ninth on two ground balls to Jeter and a pop fly to Rodriguez at third.
Rodriguez, who was taking ground balls five hours before the game began with coaches Larry Bowa and Don Mattingly, was the DH and only played the field in the ninth inning. Rodriguez struck out four times for the first time since 1995. Even more troubling was that Rodriguez swung through or fouled off at least four fat pitches in his last two at bats. It wasn't so much a case of the pitcher beating him as it was him beating himself. Rodriguez's troubles have gotten worse over the past week. What I find fascinating is that the cause of his fielding woes is his arm--something that has long been his strength defensively. I mean, his arm is that last thing I've ever worried about. (Perhaps the Yankees' next stop--in Texas to play the Rangers--will bring some comfort to Rodriguez.)
It's painful for everyone involved--from the fans to Rodriguez himself of course--watching the Yankees' superduper star struggle so mightly. The situation is intensified by the fact that the Yankee offense desperately needs his power. My girlfriend never cared much for Rodriguez until he became the target of the fans' ire. This morning, she released the following statement:
"There's no question that he will rebound from this slump. I'm patient until he does. And I wish everyone would just shut-up and leave him alone and give him the room to breath and continuing helping the Yankees win as he always has. Which is what the fans want...right?!"
For what it is worth, I have every bit of confidence that Rodriguez will be just fine. According to Tyler Kepner in The New York Times:
In the clubhouse Saturday, after cuddling with his 20-month-old daughter, Natasha, Rodriguez was asked if he felt pressure mounting on the field. Appearances aside, he insisted he did not."Not at all," Rodriguez said. "You wish you could be hitting .340 with 35 home runs — and Big Papi has, what, 95 R.B.I.?," he added, referring to Ortiz, who leads the majors with 92. "But, guys, this is a human being. You guys screw up sometimes. I'm sure sometimes when you guys write, you misspell a word. That's life, we're human beings.
"I wish we were perfect. But I feel very comfortable and very confident."
And Reggie Jackson tells Mike Lupica:
"I hear people say (A-Rod) might not be tough enough for this," Jackson said. "He's more than tough enough. You don't do what he's done in this game without being tough enough. I see it on his face every night. I see that he knows what every player knows, whether they're as great as he is or not: What a hard, humbling game this really is. You know why he'll play through this? Because he has to. He'll do what he's always done, and show up every day and go to work with a toolbox that has more in it than anybody else playing. More than (Albert) Pujols, more than anybody else you want to talk about."I signed the biggest contract once, and I knew when I did what I was taking on. And you better believe I knew that it was one more thing that I was going to have to carry up the hill with me. Alex is going up that same hill now. And it's like I just said: He'll make it because he has to, because we've got more than 60 home runs and 200 RBI on the bench (Matsui, Sheffield) and because he's as great as he is and because he just has to.
"It's like I told Jeter that time when he was 0-for-32: Figure it out because you ain't going anywhere. There ain't no place to hide. You never get hurt. You're not sitting down. You're gonna be there every day and you're Derek Jeter. Same way with Alex. He's Alex Rodriguez.
..."I wish they didn't boo him," he said. "I wish they didn't boo me. But I always respect the fans and love them and in the end, they aren't really a part of this, even if you know they want to love him. This isn't about whether you think the boos are justified or unjustified. It isn't about the media. This is about him. The guy has all that talent.
"You take on a lot of things when you take the money and come here and tough times are part of it. He'll get through this and he'll be better for it."
The Yanks will need Rodriguez's pop today, what with Bonzone on the hill for the Yanks. Here's hoping the Yanks can out-pound the Jays and come away with a split.
Torre said he's thinking of DHing Damon today, to spare his foot from the hard turf. Which means Giambi at 1B and Andy on the bench.
I loved that double steal, too. Even if the balk hadn't been called, it would have worked.
While I do enjoy watching Andy play, the truth is his numbers say he has the lowest OPS of any qualified 1B-man in MLB. Not average, but the worst.
And while his D helps a lot, Giambi, while he is still producing HRs, his BA has nosedived since DHing on a regular basis.
We are getting close to NO power from 3 traditional power spots: LF; RF and 1B.
We are 7th of 14 in HRs.
Andy needs to sit. If we can't get an OF'er, lets at least get a one-dimensional BAT to DH, with giambi at first.
We have lost NINE games where the opponent scored 4 runs or less.
We have lost SEVEN games where the opponent scored 5 runs.
This is why we need a BAT. Not because we have some bad pitching days when we give up a ton of runs, or the BP blows a lead, but because of the MANY well to decent pitched games we have had, our weak offense has let many of them get away.
How many of those 16 games above should we have won? With Shefsui, I'll bet half.
16 games for the taking, that we lost.
Look at the bottom 4 of our lineup.
What if we lose Damon, ARod, Jetes, Posada of Giambi for a few weeks? Damon and Posada both need more days off.
We have better pitching Stats then both the Red and White Sox.
We have a worst team BA, HRs and OPS then
both the Red and White Sox.
If you don't believe your eyes, then check out the numbers above.
We need a BAT.
If ARod goes on a rampage, that will help.
Singlehandedly, he can turn around a number of games. Conversely, if Giambi slumps (like in the last 3 games we just lost), we are cooked.
It's a tough market.
But I have faith in Cashman.
There must be AT LEAST an impact DH we can buy.
I think there are two causes for Jason's low BA average right now. One is the reason he himself gives: he's trying to take some of the pressure off A-Rod. He's swinging at pitches he would usually let go by, because he wants to drive in runs so A-Rod won't have to.
The other is the "Ortiz shift." It can't take away homeruns, but it does take away other hits. So his BA is lower, while his homeruns are still up there. It's the same for Big Papi this year.
On another note, I think the Yankees should call up Carlos Pena (I know he hasn't been great, but the Yankees are struggling offensively, and he could be an improvement over Phillips), DFA Green, and use Phillips as the back up at 2B and 3B.
Johnny Damon DH
Derek Jeter SS
Jason Giambi 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Bernie Williams RF
Melky Cabrera LF
Nick Green 2B
Bubba Crosby CF
Andy is not that strong on defense. That's the reason he was moved to 1B.
When he's hot, he's certainly better on offense than Miggy...but right now, he's not hot.
I'd rather have a mediocre defender at 2B with poor offense like Cairo than a mediocre hitter with poor defense like I'll ASSume Phillips would be at 2B
There is an extreme difference between having Sheffield protect you and having Posada or even Bernie protect you.
Philips' flexibility in the shield should make him as valuable as Cairo. There is no reason to Cairo, Philips, and Green on the roster at the same time. If Cairo is going to start until Cano gets back, fine. Then dump Green and make Philips a super-sub back-up and RH PH. Or, make Philips the starter at 2B and dump either Cairo or Green, the survivor becomes a defensive replacement.
I trust Philips AAA success more than Cairo's proven bad hitting + hot July. But I can go either way. I'm just tired of seeing the team waste roster spots on redundant, bad players.
He'll probably go on a tear now. Seems like every time I think Joe's given up on him, he gets hot again. :)
12 I want A-Rod in the two-hole. It worked his first year here. Took some of the pressure off, encouraging him to just make contact rather than swing for the fences.
We saw it yesterday. Andy was at 2B for what, two innings? Before being moved back to 1B.
Jaret Wright pinch-running is definitely an emergency. ;-)
OK, JD!
Funny how Ponson has kind of slipped under the radar with the A-Rod who-ha and other things...
They closed the roof. Should be good for Bernie, anyway. Joe thinks Bernie sees the ball a lot better indoors.
While Melkdud is not much on OPS, his OBP is decent at .350. Since the bottom of our lineup is so weak, I would suggest:
JD
MelkDud
Jetes
ARod
Giambi
Posada
any
any
any
When ARod heats up, put Giambi back in front of ARod.
Also, as GOB has the best BA and OBP of the 'anys', how about batting him 9th as a 'lead off' before Damon?
Did anyone else catch the Sox on Fox yesterday when the announcers were trashing Manny? Good stuff.
Bernie's bat is hot. And like I said, Joe thinks he sees the ball really well indoors.
Oh right, Bernie and Cairo are 'hot' right now. What a way to construct a line-up.
I like Cairo, though. Last time I checked, his defensive numbers at 2B were actually better than Cano's.
I think Ponson's improving. He only gave up 2 runs in the first inning. Last time, it was 3.
(in the lineup, that is; those guys can't do it alone)
Kay: But isn't it weird to see Tino Martinez's number on a pitcher?
Leiter: ::audible sigh:: yeah
ha.
The same with Guiel and Bubba. Play Guiel against RH (platooning with Bernie), or get rid of him if you feel that you must keep defensive OF/PR Bubba. There just isn't the room on the roster for so much dead wood (especially with a 12 or 13 man pitching staff).
Andy is part of the problem. Joe can't DH Bernie when Andy's playing 1B.
Whatever we do, I foresee a logjam at DH in our future.
After 2 innings we have 3 hits. Not horrible.
After 2 innings, Sir Toad has an ERA of 4.5
A 'Quality Start', 3 runs in 6 innings, equals an ERA of 4.5
Is this pretty close to league average?
We paid nothing for Ponson, our #5 starter. If his ERA is less then 5, I'm happy. Or content at least.
"OK, I'm hitting like .400, I hit the ball to the right side, which on this turf is almost always a hit, and the Speedy Damon is on 1B, so I should waste an out here and 'move him over.'"
That was a great pitch. Really moved down and in.
He's carrying the team this year, I swear...
Webgem!
But sadly, We're down 4-3 on a Glaus HR.
Robinson Cano took batting practice on the field yesterday in Tampa as well as ground balls at second base. However, he didn't run the bases and there isn't a set date for him to test his hamstring injury with that important activity . . .
He expected that hit to be a lot deeper than it was.
And it's Kris Wilson. Oy.
Shawn Chacon may yet get his job back...
anyone still think we need a bat?
Go Mariners! Go Rangers!
His last start, he allowed only one run in seven innings.
Strange, when we give OUR pitchers big leads, they suck and walk the ballpark and almost blow the lead. If a crappy douche like Marcum can pitch with a huge lead, why can't guys like Mussina and Randy Johnson do that? That angers me so much.
Umm, yeah, we don't have any players worth a damn, we quit. See you guys in a week.
Sorry, I guess things are so bad some might have taken that seriously. Yes it's a joke.
C'mon, Yanks!
Good Lord - please let Boston lose again!
Ugly game today. The only question I have is why do we have Wilson and Chacon in the pen? Both worthless, both remain. It's time to jettison one of them and bring Smith back up.
It's certainly difficult to blame Alex for anything that happened today. The bottom line is that we can't score runs, and that glows red hot for all to see when our 4 and 5 guys are on the mound. The Jay's scored what, 13 today? The reality is a team need only score 5 or 6 to beat us. This is why we absolutely cannot shoot ourselves in the foot and blow wins when we get good pitching performances from Johnson, Moose, and Wang. I said it the other day. If we continue to lose games like the one RJ pitched in his last start, that will be why we miss the playoffs, not because of Chacon, Ponson, Wilson, Matsui, Sheffield, Cano or Rodriguez!
That is what playoff teams do. They win the ganes that they are supposed to win.
The stage is set for Manny and Ortiz.
I love Harold Reynolds, but even he has joined the Stupid Club with Phillips. Apparently, Phillips' incompetence has rubbed off on Harold.
At least, Kruk is making sense by saying that A-Rod will come out of this situation.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I just don't get it. I see it over and over. Varitek having an off year, bat speed slowing, Putz throwing 99 MPH, and he throws him an 88 MPH Hanging Slider? What catcher would call for that?
After the game, Torre said they're going to give Ponson at least one more chance. And keep Wilson around.
Sounds like Torre is convinced they need pitching more than a bat now. Which is kind of hard to deny after today. Scoring five runs is decent. Giving up 13 isn't.
Tell me about it. But I am seeing it more and more. I think they are trying to "fool" hitters, but don't know the difference between doing it to a veteran and doing it to a youngster. You aren't going to fool good veteran players. If you can throw 99 MPH, than throw 99 MPH and work on location. Sheesh!
I agree with Joe about Ponson. What I don't agree with is carrying Ponson, Chacon, and Wilson. It makes no sense when we have Smith and others rotting in the minors and/or we could call up another bench player. This carrying 12-13 pitchers stuff is silly, I don't care how many teams are doing it.
Stevie boy is just upset because his player, Bonilla, got booed. Bonilla's problem, however, is that he was finished when he got to the Mets (IIRC).
I have a feeling if they do bring up someone from Columbus right now, it will be Aaron Small.
I could not agree less with Torre on that one. You carry three bums for a position you don't even need? We don't need to carry three guys to have a 5th starter! We need to carry 4 and a long man who gets the start when we need a number 5, given our depth. It's not rocket science. They are wasting two valuable roster spots and if it continues, we will get exactly what we deserve. We can call up Smith and Beam, and when our number 5 gets shelled we have Villone, Smith, Beam et. al. to clean up the mess. I could understand keeping two of them if Wilson or Chacon had showed any promise, but they haven't. We could have Smith and Beam up, or Smith and another bench player, what they are doing is boneheaded.
Smith is a reliever because that is the role he is in now. I would give him a shot at a start, when Ponson, Wison, and Chacon are the other options.
I can understand giving Chacon and Ponson some leeway. Ponson looked to be a future star at only a few years ago, and if he's really beaten his alcohol problem, maybe he can be good. Chacon is the kind of pitcher who needs to pitch regularly to keep his edge, and like Cliff, I think they pulled the plug on him too early.
But I don't think we can carry both of them for too long. Chacon doesn't pitch well out of the pen. He's a starter. Ponson was fired from his last job because he refused to move to the pen. Someone's got to go.
They're good kids with a lot of talent, but I think they still need to develop more. I wouldn't want to rely on them. I don't think it would be good for them or us.
I also agree with you guys about pulling the plug on Chacon. However, they did pull the plug, so keeping him and Wilson and Ponson makes no sense unless they are going to give Chacon a shot. If not, then dump him, package him in a trade, but do something. Wilson is a no-brainer. He should be sent down for Smith. Oh wait, is that too many lefty's for Joe's notebook. You keep pitchers in your bullpen who get hitters out, not because of their handedness! Sheesh, I give up, clearly the powers that be believe the 5th spot is worth carrying three bums and lessening your bench by one player. This is why so many teams are hiring young managers, because for some reason, they are more apt to do things the way they should be done, partly the way it used to be, than the old guys.
In fact, it sounded to me like Joe thought the fifth starter would mostly likely be Chacon in the end.
Eight days and counting 'till the deadline. If Cashman can pull off a deal for Lieber, there's our #4. Wright becomes five. Chacon spot and long relief.
Should be a tense week for a number of reasons...
It's up to Cashman, I guess....
Damon
ARod
Jeter
Giambi
Posada
Phillips
Williams/Guiel
Cabrera
Cairo
ARod will probably hit better with the perceived lower pressure position in the lineup.
Runs per Game - batting orders 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5.670 -
D. Jeter A. Rodriguez J. Damon J. Giambi J. Posada A. Phillips A. Guiel M. Cairo M. Cabrera
5.668 -
D. Jeter J. Posada J. Damon J. Giambi A. Rodriguez A. Phillips A. Guiel M. Cairo M. Cabrera
5.665 -
D. Jeter J. Giambi J. Damon A. Rodriguez J. Posada A. Phillips A. Guiel M. Cairo M. Cabrera
5.663 -
D. Jeter A. Rodriguez J. Posada J. Giambi J. Damon A. Phillips A. Guiel M. Cairo M. Cabrera
5.661 -
D. Jeter A. Rodriguez J. Damon J. Giambi J. Posada A. Guiel A. Phillips M. Cairo M. Cabrera
Batting A-Rod second with Jeter leading off is what the stats say is the optimal lineup. I think Damon could use the move to compliment A-Rod and Jeter's fresh legs stealing bases and sing his own praises as a slugger moving down in the lineup. It would defuse a tense situation and it makes practical sense. Batting Jeter leadoff is what all the optimal lineups say is best for the team anyway and most say bat Damon third. So why not let A-Rod steal some bases up in the 2 slot and take some control of his situation and make his own good luck?
See Baseball Musings link to for the lineup generator.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py
Hopefully in 2 weeks we add Cano, 3-4 weeks MatsZilla, and Iron Sheff by Sept 1.
No trade for Sori, please. We can sign him in the off season without losing any top propects.
They have become the Jerry Springer show. Is there nothing they won't say in order to gain viewers?
I don't know whether this team needs a bat or an arm more. But I still think that it should be easier to get good value by going for just a replacement level OF--peferrably one who is allowed also to DH or even play 1B. I really fear that they will overpay for another crappy pitcher, who will take up another roster spot.
Thank God for the Information Age.
Hmm. I wish I could offer some alternative to the redundancy in the dugout. However, I don't know how it can be helped. If Matsui, Sheffield, and Cano are healthy, then Green, Guiel, and Melky or Bubba aren't there, so I might offer a pass to Joe and Brian on that one. The decision wasn't made early that we would need a bona fide hitter sooner rather than later and we are paying the price. That being said, I'm not sure that there was anything out there that would have been worthwhile for us. I resigned myself a while ago that we would suffer with a hodge podge lineup until Mats, and now Cano, get back.
The handling of the pitching on the other hand has been unforgiveable. Keeping three guys who blow in order to fill a relatively unimportant role is ridiculous. At the very least, bump Wilson to get Smith up, or bring up KT. Just because you HAVE carried 12 or 13 pitchers, doesn't mean you HAVE TO continue to do so.
We wouldn't even have Ponson if we weren't the Yankees. No matter what happens there, Cash gets no credit. There is a case to be made that not much can be done with the present lineup (6 of 1, half dozen of another with most of the guys, even in the minors), and that not much will be available on the trade market, but the handling of the bullpen, Wilson, and Chacon has been horrible. At the very least it opens up a bench spot. Joe Joe Joe.
But then the injuries came. the inflexible benchers were forced into the line-up, and their spots wer replaced by...redundant benchers.
Just think of the possibilities. If they managed to sign Piazza, they would have a back-up C, starting DH, back-up C, potent RH bat off the bench. OK, that's an extreme eample. But even if they had a halfway decent back-up OF who can hit near league average and play some defense (rather than use two players Bernie and Bubba to do the same).
And you are soooo right about the 12/13 pitcher staffs. If you carry only, say, 11 pitchers the extra roster spot(s) can be filled by boutique players, like a speedy PR/defense guy, or lefty slugger guy, etc.
"When Jeter went 1-for-April a couple years ago, how long did it take people to actually boo him?" Mussina said. "And even then, it was a smattering. It wasn't lethal booing."
http://tinyurl.com/km3zm
Good for Moose. At least when the fans boo him it sounds like Mooo-se! My solution to the whole problem is to start calling A-Rod by his middle name, Emmanuel. Ma-nuuuuu is close enough to Booooo that maybe he won't notice.
I agree with you for the most part. I was concerned at the beginning of the season with regard to our basically impotent bench players. However, we did go into the season without a real DH. So long as the DH is in place, a money rich tam has to treat DH just like any other position, get the best player you can, and the Yankees didn't do that. We basically entered the season with Bernie as our DH platooning with Giambi's defensive replacement at 1st and replacement outfielders. It would have been nice to sign Piazza, as you said, he would fill two crucial roles on the club.
I can only imagine what some Pittsburgh fan might think to read our analysis and critiques in here, considering the lineup we began the season with was so far superior on papaer to any other in MLB, bar none. I just can't see an argument that we didn't have the best lineup in the league. That being said, even with Damon, Jeter, Giambi, Rodriguez, Posada, Cano, Williams, with decent pitching I would expect the Yankees to win a lot of games, not 116 games, but enough to compete for a playoff spot. And that is exactly what they are doing. What Matsui and Sheffield give you complete what "should" be, a "shock and awe" type of offense. We just weren't prepared for this scenario going into the season, plain and simple. If your suggestion is that they were operating under a "best case scenario" way of thinking, not really going out and getting those "what if" players, and carrying too many questionable pitchers, has bit us in the ass, then I totally agree.
I'm not sure who to blame, whether the media, hell, I don't like chicken and egg problems. However, lately, the fans have adopted a "look how much money they make, perform at all costs" approach which is generally bad for sports. Fans are forgetting that baseball is supposed to be fun most of the time. The fans should have fun too, not simply breathe bad energy. We have a lot of guys making well above average salaries by today's standards, but they are still human beings. What would Jeter get today if he were negotiating at the same age he negotiated his big extension, maybe 12-14 per. for 7 years? Our guys negotiated contracts at just the right moment in time on just the right team (well, with Arod it was more just timing) in the middle of a run, and they hit huge, un-heard of pay days. They were at the nexus of the baseball money binge during the nineties.
Although the above is true. They are still just ball players, so fans, at least lighten up on the guys at home. We can't control SportsCenter. There is a time for booing, but this isn't the time.
But in any case, quotes like this reinforce my belief that Torre has no idea how to manage a BP:
"Asked why he did not use the left-hander Ron Villone to face Hinske, Torre said: "I'd rather have the other pitchers try to get through the early innings. The pressure innings are where I want Villone — the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. We couldn't make it through the third."
Hey Joe, it doesn't matter if you save Villone for the later innings when the craptastic guys you put in in these "non-pressure" situations allow 13 runs!
Fans and players exchangung barbs, that can't be good. I support Moose, but ugh, the tone of all of this is a little scary and has been blown widely out of propotion. I will however never support any comment that pits one player against another, no matter what the subject. So, I guess I am dissapointed in the language of the comments, not the sentiment. It's getting to the point where they will need a All Arod All The Time cable channel. I was too young for Reggie, was it this bad?
Although Jeter did come out of his slump. If the slump had continued, the booing would have as well. However, this Arod booing seems to have taken on an angry frightening tone, no doubt a contingent of those folks who will just never accept the guy, and those brainwashed by the media. Whatever it is, it's embarassing.
Moose must mean what he said I suppose, chastising fans in a contract year.
Like we were saying above, we have far too many slugs in the bullpen. That has as much to do with this game than anything. Maybe Beam and Smith get shelled, maybe they don't.
I'm 37 and grew up thinking the Yankees won every year (pennants 76-78, 2 WS). Then I thought '79-81 was some kind of some kind of odd mistake because the Yankees are SUPPOSED to win. Then it was basically rooting for Don Mattingly like he was Ernie Banks for over a decade. I learned that winning 6 out of 10 games is a very hard thing to do in the major leagues. There is an entire generation of Yankee fans that don't know it's hard to win.
The thing that bothers me about the booing of A-Rod isn't A-Rod getting booed. A-Rod is a big boy. I'm bothered because it makes Yankee fans look incredibly stupid. Yankee fans used to be the smartest fans and most in tune with the game. Clapping with two strikes for the home pitcher to get the K doesn't happen in most ballparks because most fans don't know the count in other cities. It was invented in NY (mostly for Guidry). Now they think A-Rod is a failure because he doesn't hit a home run in every at-bat.
.313/.354/.517
.277/.379/.499
.323/.372/.511
That's Vlad, A-Rod, and Tejada. A-Rod's having an awful year? He's still on pace to score 114 runs and drive in 121. I'll bet A-Rod is in the top 5 in both by the end of the year. Giambi's hitting .258, a former MVP and makes $20M. Where are his boos? It's a free country but the boo-birds just look stupid, as does ESPN for covering one man's down year like it's the Middle East peace crisis.
They think we're a bunch of spoiled brats. A friend of mine who's a Pirates fan got tired of me kvetching about the Yankees bench, and reminded me that many of the Yankees bench players would be starting on another team.
I can't really complain about Green, Guiel, etc. They were added due to injury, picked off the trash heap. Sure, it would be better to get stars like Hunter or Abreu, but we weren't going to get them. Not without paying through the nose.
What I wish they'd do is make a decision and stick to it. It worked with Melky. They stuck with him despite his struggles, and it's paid off. He may not be a superstar, but he's solid enough. The revolving door lineup we had last year came back to bite us in the ALDS, and I think we're risking that again. It's very stressful for players to come in every day not knowing if they're starting or what, and that's got to be affecting their play.
That said...the rule of thumb is that if a team is consistent, the problem is the pitching. That certainly seems to be the case here. They need to get the starting rotation nailed down, one way or another.
And speaking of backup catchers...Widger and Fasano were both DFA'd over the weekend. Might be worth a look, if only for depth's sake.
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