NBA All-Star weekend is the perfect time to re-examine the sporting world’s obsession with “the next.” 
Remember Harold Miner? Remember that black-and-white Nike Ad where Harold Miner said “…they say I am the next Michael Jordan, but I just want to be the first Harold Miner.” Well, Harold got his wish.
This morning’s St. Pete Times has a nice piece on Juan Cruz. In sum, he has good stuff and good Major League experience. But, the Times asks the wrong question. The Times doesn’t ask whether Cruz is the right fit for the Rays’ 2011 bullpen. It asks whether Cruz is the next Joaquin Benoit.
This is Harold Miner all over again. (Please note, I am not intentionally comparing Joaquin Benoit to Michael Jordan, it just kind of happened). Who cares if Juan Cruz is the next Joaquin Benoit? The 2011 Rays do not need Juan Cruz, or Adam Russell, or Matt Bush, or Cesar Cabral, to be lightning in a bottle. They just need a few of them to be solid, Major League relievers that can get 1-3 hitters out.
Just because the Rays used a breakout comeback reliever to win the East in 2010 doesn’t mean they have to use one every year thereafter. Friedman and Maddon turned this franchise around by eschewing blueprints and conventional thinking. Their strongest suit is taking each group of players as they are and figuring out what makes that group great. Not attempting to squeeze a group of 25 players into a pre-made mold.
So, I say forget about Joaquin Benoit. Just be Harold Miner. (Well, be better than Harold Miner, but you get what I mean.)
You’ve hit that right on the head. The focus should be on the specific player and the specific situation, not on bogus analogies. But it is an easy hook to link players because of a superficial similarity, so every rehabbing pitcher “might” be the next Benoit (Isringhausen?), and every converted starter might be Howell (McClung? Stokes?), and every scrap heap signing might be Pena (Choi?) and every trade will bring us the next Joyce (Joel Guzman?).
All I want is for Cruz to be the good Juan Cruz.
That was a horrifying trip down Devil Rays memory lane. I suppose, the positive we can take from all this, is that our recent success allows writers to look for the next success instead of the next over-hyped bust. Right? I haven’t thought of Joel Guzman in a long time.
Action rueqreis knowledge, and now I can act!
It does not, however, require spell check. If your whole deal is to post fake comments, wouldn’t you spend part of that time proofreading those comments?