Smith Remains Reluctant to Dump Young Talent; Newspapermen and Fans Cry Foul
Tom Powers has normally been pretty good over the last year-plus … but I think he might be getting cabin fever given the slow offseason:
Smith does not want to trade one of those starters. No how, no way. And he also didn’t sound particularly eager to part with an outfielder. Meanwhile, Smith said that all he’s been offered so far are “one-year Band-Aids.” But you have to give something to get something.His latest article recommends trading one of our valuable young starting pitchers for a one year rental of a veteran reliever.
That’s not giving up something to get something. That’s giving up something to get nothing, and it’s the exact reason Bill Smith says:
“No, I’m not going to catch hell,” he insisted. “We’ve been working hard all season, and we just can’t get anything done.”and
“We’re looking at a lot of options, a lot of possibilities,” he said. “We’re trying. But the deals have to make us better.”I’m going to call this one a win for Smith. In this winter of “hope,” fans want hope for the future of the team and that’s traditionally found in new acquisitions. In this winter of doom for the newspapers, writers want a scoop; they want a big story. That’s traditionally found when the team makes big moves, regardless of their efficacy in making the team better — actually, it can often be better for the writers if the team makes bad moves. That’s easier to write about.
I continue to be glad Smith doesn’t throw away one of our starters and/or outfielders just for the sake of making a move, or sell someone off for pennies on the dollar just because we have a lot of young talent and lack our traditional crappy old veterans this year.
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I agree. While non-activity can be frustrating, its better than making lots of baffling moves that I know won’t help the team. Some argue that we “missed” out on DeRosa, Blake, Wigginton, etc., but those people will be hard pressed to prove that one of those aging veterans will be a quantifiable upgrade over a platoon of Buscher/Harris. Joe Crede piques my interest but only on a 1 or 2 year deal. Ideally incentive laden. Signing type A free agents or trading away young talent is not this team’s strength. I’d prefer they waste money before they waste prospects or draft picks.
Spot on. The available third basemen are older and WORSE than the Buscher/Harris monster we have sitting there now. And they actually cost real money. What’s the advantage again?
And we haven’t technically missed out on Wigginton. He’s still available if we want him. I imagine we won’t call again unless he falls into the 1/$3M range, in which case he’d be quite a steal and fit nicely into a brand new Buscher/Wigginton platoon, leaving Harris to share the SS/UI duties with Punto. But I don’t see it happening.
I know it’s January, and there’s nothing good going on anywhere in the universe. For the next month or so anyway, when Spring Training starts. But we all have to relax and be patient. Baseball will return, and life will be good.
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