Hey, I know! Let's try Newman at 2B again! :D
Hey, I know! Let's try Frazier in LF! :D
Hey, I know! Let's put Tucker in RF now that we dealt Dyson to open CF for him! :D
Hey, I know! Let's try Martin in CF! :D
Hey, I know! Let's keep Bell at 1B instead of DH! :D
Hey, I know! Let's put Polanco at DH instead of the bench! :D
Hey, I know! Let's keep playing Riddle! He's so awesome!
I think I am one of the few here who is still giving Shelton and Cherington the benefit of the doubt, but the lineups. . . I don't understand.
[highlight]The upcoming off season and next year will show us what kind of GM BC is.[/highlight] This year was messed up from the start with his late hiring, a new mgr, no ST, pandemic, mini-season, no minor leagues, etc. But no excuses next year.
But while BC was limited in the players he could provide his manager, Shelton has been horrible in utilizing them. Best case scenario is that Shelton just wrote this season off as a training exercise and really intends to manage them next year. I hope that's what is going on because the alternative explanation is that Shelton is clueless.
I'm assuming that you've been following the club for a long time- probably close, and maybe even longer than I have been.
Not asking to be "smart." I'd like your gut reaction. Is there any reason why you think that Cherington will go about his business with this club any differently than Huntingtdon did- which is to say that, in most off-seasons, not much was done of any great significance?
I might allow that the "names" might be different, but the long and short of it is- I wouldn't expect any player(s) of magnitude to be brought to the major league club, and anything less than that are tehe "gambles" for a future that never arrives in The Burgh.
I will allow that Cherington could do things better than Huntington at other times of the year. In the off-season, I highly doubt it.
What say you?
I don't think things will be too much different. Like those before him, BC won't be allowed to spend money. IMHO, the best we can hope for is that he drafts better, oversees an organization that recognizes talent or lack thereof better, is better at bringing out the talent of their prospects instead of having them muddle along until they go to another team and reach their potential, and when dumpster diving, he brings in better players than NH. So far he has not been any better at that but this is a truly messed up year for so many reasons. So we'll see how it goes next year and beyond.
But like his predecessors, BC will not be allowed to trade for productive players who come with contracts appropriate for their level of production and he will not be allowed to spend significant money for productive free agents. (Not that any would want to come to this organization anyway.)
Nutting is not going to change his spending philosophy (he has none) just because he brought in new people to run the team. The only difference BC can make is to be better at the things that don't cost a lot than NH was. If the idea is to build from within, NH was terrible at it. Maybe BC can do better. That would appear to be the only reason for the change. Not to usher in a brand new spending philosophy, which we all know will not happen as long as the GM answers to Nutting.
It's one thing if he isn't allowed to acquire external talent. That's bad enough.
IMO, if he's not permitted to keep the best talent that he brings on board, that will spell the end of baseball, as we know it, in The Burgh.
I surely hope that's not the case. I'm concerned that it might prove to be.