This team isn't going to give up on the season in May. I also doubt the team is so bad by July that they give up then so I think this is pointless, at least at this point.
A new GM needs to be brought in. AA failed to improve the team in the off season even though he probably knows where the holes are. It seems he's too afraid of getting killed in another trade. A new GM could come in and quickly address 2B and improve the bench. He could also make decisions on the long relievers and get on with it.
The team has roster issues, we all know it, but the bullpen has blown like 5 games and it's not because they're tired. And Gibby has f***ed up several times already, not giving him a pass.
They have middle relief help in Wagner, but they refuse to make a decision on the long relievers. John Stilson had a good 2013 and ST, but has struggled in the 1st month at Buffalo. However, he's another middle relief option.
Stroman should certainly stay as a starter and he will.
Also, Redmond hasn't been terrible. He can get through an inning if the other guys are tired. Gibbons let Wagner throw 45+ pitches in an outing just before he got optioned, that doesn't help matters.
I don't agree that they're tired. Santos pitched on Apr-23rd against the O's, on the 26th against the Red Sox, on the 29th against the Royals and today.
Gibbons has also been less than great in his bullpen management.
Yeah, that's true. What makes it so frustrating is that he clearly recognized they needed to upgrade at 2B, SP, C, bench and he only ended up addressing one.
At least the StroShow should begin in June!
Let's not forget that whole story in ST where Gibbons said he thought McGowan should be in the BP only to backtrack the next day and claim he never said he preferred him as a reliever. That always seemed fishy to me. I think AA made him backtrack and go along with the McGowan to the rotation plan.
They've certainly weakened the short-reliever corps by giving McGowan a shot at starting. They've compounded the problem by optioning Wagner.
Regardless though, Santos has really f***ed the team over.
AA's inertia makes me think he's very fearful of getting screwed in another trade. The only positive here is that he may have realized he did get screwed in the 2012 off season. The negative is that he's hurting a decent team by it.
One thing on positioning that needs to be taken into account is that the pitcher also has to hit his spots. A couple of the groundballs that got through up the middle were on pitches that were supposed to be inside on the hitters, but Morrow left them on the outside half so the batter was able to put a better swing on it.
The team is actually showing some good signs and has all season. If they stick with it, they could string a few wins together. They could actually be 16-13 right now. Good thing is that everyone is bunched up in the East, unlike last year.
I think Reyes was positioned towards 3B because of Francisco today and Lawrie towards 2b which is why he was closer to getting to the groundballs up the middle than Reyes. Lawrie's positioning also helped them on one of the DP's as Mercer hit a hard groundball close to the 2B bag and Lawrie was right there. When Mercer hit it, I thought it was a single.
So when is someone in the media going to call out AA on lying to everyone when he said in ST that they would bring the best team north, regardless of options?
Probably never. Anyway...
As much as we all agree that the team's 2b and bench situations are horrible, the fact remains that the bullpen has blown like 5 games. The team has played pretty well, the blowpen has really screwed them.