This Boxcar guy and Laika dude don't know no s***!
If you think McKinney, Fisher, Drury, or Hernandez deserve ABs over Alford, you have no idea how asset management works. He's the odd man out right now. The rest are still going to get opportunities next year. It's a fact. Shitkins are high on them because they/them acquired said players.
If you have a very solid defensive player with below average offensive tools, you can still have a valuable player (ie. Dyson). That would be a much more valuable 4th outfielder than f***ing McKinney or Fisher (I stopped playing at 13 and could still make catches he's not making).
Laika implies how a swing change is meaningless in being hopeful of a turn around. Bautista, Donaldson, and Martinez says hi. Plus, look how many people broke out and had career years this year.
So let's break this down: best case scenario, he has great defense and was able to make enough of an adjustment to be a slightly below average offensive player, making him valuable. Worst case scenario, he proves he's s*** in a year that's meaningless, and he's cut next year. OR, in between the two scenarios, like I said, he has a very strong month (even s*** players have them) and gets the attention of some team who's willing to do a Gose/Travis type trade and hope for a player that can turn into something. What's to lose? It's all about the asset management, in this case.