OnlyBucs

173A37262130276764550 wrote: Polanco's HR was hit first hit since his HR last Sunday. Maybe he should only play on Sundays.


There's still time to pull the wool over some unsuspecting GM's eyes, but Polanco's going to have to manage to hit five HRs in just four at bats today.

Oh boy, Kyle Crick is back. Let the walks begin!

Erik Gonzalez with another walk today. What did he do, read a bio of Ferris Fain?

Pirates tried to prevent themselves from scoring but umps wouldn't let them. Replay showed Frazier tagged out at 3B for 3rd out before Gonzalez scored. But it counted anyway. Bad base running.

Anyone watching this game it's just ridiculous that Riddle is on this team. He's made 1 throwing errors and failed to make 2 other plays he has done nothing hitting why isn't Hayes up, why are we wasting time with this guy. No one is going to take him off our hands, the more we see of him the worse he looks.

230E03121504135350610 wrote: McShelton at play:



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?

Anyone watching this game it's just ridiculous that Riddle is on this team. He's made 1 throwing errors and failed to make 2 other plays he has done nothing hitting why isn't Hayes up, why are we wasting time with this guy. No one is going to take him off our hands, the more we see of him the worse he looks.

4C796E6E655C6E6E65626E0B0 wrote: McShelton at play:



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 would say Cherington has limited options, his most impact will come through the draft and evaluating talent. Certainly he will have to be much better than NH, we should be able to see that shortly. Further we have to get these players up quickly so we can evaluate whether he is drafting wisely. They can't stay in the minors 3 to 4 years before bringing them up if that's the case he has failed. Under that scenario like NH you're 6 years before you can judge his abilities as a GM and that's to long to decide he's a bad GM. I'm very skeptical about his choice of manager, Shelton just seems to be all over the place about who to play where and not putting the best team on the field.

5065727279407272797E72170 wrote: McShelton at play:



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.

455D5F58584F5E59444553360 wrote: McShelton at play:



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 would say Cherington has limited options, his most impact will come through the draft and evaluating talent.  Certainly he will have to be much better than NH, we should be able to see that shortly.  Further we have to get these players up quickly so we can evaluate whether he is drafting wisely.  They can't stay in the minors 3 to 4 years before bringing them up if that's the case he has failed.  Under that scenario like NH you're 6 years before you can judge his abilities as a GM and that's to long to decide he's a bad GM.  I'm very skeptical about his choice of manager, Shelton just seems to be all over the place about who to play where and not putting the best team on the field.


IMO, that's maybe 1/2 of what it takes. That's the part that people seem to focus on, and if he's better than Huntington at that and "dumpster diviing," then we can rebound better.



The other half is what I've found fewer people thinking of- keeping enough of the best guys long enough to have a contending roster.



Huntington was better at that than some folks remember, but still not good enough. Arguably, a lot of that has to do with things beyond his or Cherington's control- like money.



We have the guys for their first number of years. It's what happens after it that makes the difference.