Brendan, you throw the baby out with the bathwater, distracted by something shiny, Hannah Montana loving, Change we can believe in reactionary. (I re-wrote that ten times, I simply cannot compete with the Lionel Ritchie burn but, luckily, I am the editor so, I can put your face on Lionel’s body as payback…boom). Why go to the kids before we know what we already have?
Sure Desmond Jennings is slaying it at AAA, and yes, Jake McGee appears to be pitching better than he was during his Major-League cameo at the start of the season, but how do we know that performance will translate to the big leagues? Remember Bobby Smith? He is one of the greatest AAA players of all time (every time Chuck LaMar fell in love with Bobby’s performance at AAA we’d call him up and he’d boot a ball at third and look at two third strikes…it was brutal but you could set your watch to it). Remember Dan Johnson? That guy hit like .976 at AAA. How’d they work out?
Here’s what we do know. We know we have an underutilized middle infielder in Sean Rodriguez already on the big league roster. Why are we going to prospects before we know if S-Rod can cut it every day? We know that Ruggiano has shown signs of life and we know Sam Fuld has proven to be a plus defender. Why go to Jennings (who was totally underwhelming last September…as most rookies are) before we know if the Ruggiano/Fuld monster can keep us in the hunt? (Did I really just defend Justin Ruggiano? What the hell is going on? How many questions can I use in a row without making a statement?).
In the end, the jump from AAA to the Majors is gargantuan. Ultimately, some of these prospects are going to work out and some are not going to work out. But, I don’t think the time to find out is while we have a fighting chance to win this division or the wild card. The roster as currently constituted is hanging around. Let’s say we get through the next 11 games without disaster and even make up a few games in the standings on Boston or New York. That is the perfect opportunity to test one prospect at a time. Maybe you start with Jennings, because leftfield is the biggest liability. Then, if you can stand the temperature of the pool, you come back with Gas Can McGee. By then, we’ll know where this season is heading anyway.
Stay away from fads and prospects until you’re sure. Otherwise, you’re going to be showing up to the yard looking like an Abercrombie just threw up on you. (Is Abercrombie still hip? Am I old because I don’t know? Am I old because I just said hip? Am I closing in on the record for rhetorical questions? Isn’t this annoying?).
I agree with the fact that the current roster is letting us hang around, but Ruggs over Dez? C’mon. We have moved past the Super 2 issue, so there is no qualms there. Rugs is hitting; credit where credit is due, but Jennings and Guyer are the future.
Management must want these guys playing everyday. Even if McGee was brought up, how much would he pitch?? Dez should up sooner rather than later, but I think Guyer is the one who’ll be getting the short end of the stick until we trade BJ
This is a CBA year. This is a year where we may find out if the SLK6 stays together or the band breaks up. And this is a year where we not only were loaded with high draft picks, but look like we might actually sign most of them.
So, until after this season, there’s no way of knowing what the Arb-FA playbook for the coming years will look like. Something’s going to give with Rays ownership. What that is remains to be seen. But, the stream of stories about Andy Friedman and the Astros haven’t simply died for a reason.
The Rays overall approach is pretty simple…pitching, speed, defense and fresh arms & legs. As much as any Manager in Baseball, Joe Maddon knows that 162 Games is a long season. He knows that the Rays play their best ball against their top division rivals and he knows that those division rivals don’t have the huge stable of fresh arms & legs the rays have. And he knows that September is basically free.
In many ways 2011 is a holding pattern season. Why not wait until you have to before parking guys on a full bench when they can be getting more seasoning and playing time? As well as time to let a few of these other issues get settled so the look at the future has some more clarity?
All good points.
The Friedman rumors won’t die for two reasons. Either (1) neither side has a reason to dispel them because both benefit, the Astros get some non-poor performance publicity and Friedman gets a bargaining chip with Rays management; or (2) he is really interested. Might be a little of both but, the rumors don’t necessarily mean he’s leaving, he has plenty of reason to let them swirl even if he wants to stay.
As for a holding pattern, before this weekend the Rays were just a few games back with 70 to play. That is no reason to “hold.” Position players, unlike pitchers, don’t get burned out in the bigs. This was the hardest counterpoint argument I’ve had to write because, outside of DJ’s broken finger, there isn’t a lot of reasons both Guyer and DJ shouldn’t be in the bigs replacing Fuld and Ruggiano.