AZZenny
Registered User
Now - I have always been bad at math - so when the Repulsive says the team thinks "just a few additions and a few subtractions" to the roster will make the team competitive, leaves me scratching my head. (Actually, leaves me glazed with dread - they STILL DON'T GET IT!!) He then gives his remarkably lame, tame ideas - 10 ways not to lose 100 - things like resign Sexson at any cost, sign Drew and put him in at SS already (!?), bring back Finley, make Mark Grace manager, get a genuine second starter, etc. - much of it couched as an attempt at wit. 
So it seems to me we here could come up with a much better list and one that might actually help. Here's my start -
#1 still is - get a new GM. Get Billy Beane, get someone, but get a GM who understands stats and budgets, and who doesn't sign guys out of sentiment or delusion.
#2 Don't throw $15-$18 MILLION at complete uncertainty - no Drew, no Sexson. Put the money towards:
#3 You blew it so badly with Schilling, that alone demands A NEW GM! (Oh, sorry - did that one already) Get TWO solid, competent front/middle of the rotation starters. RJ, #2, #3, Webb, Gosling, maybe? No Fossum, no Randolph, no Jeckyl-and-Hyde guys.
#4 We desperately need an entirely new bench - no more Baerga, Colby, Zinter nonsense. No one talks about how unbelievably cruddy this bench is! Randolph can hit and run - could he be a back-up OF/emergency pitcher?
#5 Subtract a lot of creaky veterans and some incapable youth. LOOK AT THEIR NUMBERS! No more attempts to rehab old careers, no more imagining some kid will miraculously develop defense or plate discipline or a change-up. They've either got it or they don't.
#6 NOT Mark Grace, and definitely not AlP - get a new manager, someone tough, disciplined, and fair; get several new coaches, too, of course. (Matt Williams for Bench Coach? Get a REAL hitting coach? I still like the idea of Wally Backman for manager - hope the Mets don't nab him.)
#7 New radio team. My God, Ken Phelps sucks!
#8 Hopefully the 2005 Draft will be our chance of a lifetime, and we never get to pick first again. We could have 2 or 3 picks in the first 40 next year - put some serious bonus money aside, and let Rizzo have at it.
#9 Overhaul the Minors so that defense, OBP, and game-sense get reinforced.
#10 New grounds crew - the grass looks terrible this year. The ballpark is looking dirty. Lets at least try to look presentable, not shopworn.
So it seems to me we here could come up with a much better list and one that might actually help. Here's my start -
#1 still is - get a new GM. Get Billy Beane, get someone, but get a GM who understands stats and budgets, and who doesn't sign guys out of sentiment or delusion.
#2 Don't throw $15-$18 MILLION at complete uncertainty - no Drew, no Sexson. Put the money towards:
#3 You blew it so badly with Schilling, that alone demands A NEW GM! (Oh, sorry - did that one already) Get TWO solid, competent front/middle of the rotation starters. RJ, #2, #3, Webb, Gosling, maybe? No Fossum, no Randolph, no Jeckyl-and-Hyde guys.
#4 We desperately need an entirely new bench - no more Baerga, Colby, Zinter nonsense. No one talks about how unbelievably cruddy this bench is! Randolph can hit and run - could he be a back-up OF/emergency pitcher?
#5 Subtract a lot of creaky veterans and some incapable youth. LOOK AT THEIR NUMBERS! No more attempts to rehab old careers, no more imagining some kid will miraculously develop defense or plate discipline or a change-up. They've either got it or they don't.
#6 NOT Mark Grace, and definitely not AlP - get a new manager, someone tough, disciplined, and fair; get several new coaches, too, of course. (Matt Williams for Bench Coach? Get a REAL hitting coach? I still like the idea of Wally Backman for manager - hope the Mets don't nab him.)
#7 New radio team. My God, Ken Phelps sucks!
#8 Hopefully the 2005 Draft will be our chance of a lifetime, and we never get to pick first again. We could have 2 or 3 picks in the first 40 next year - put some serious bonus money aside, and let Rizzo have at it.
#9 Overhaul the Minors so that defense, OBP, and game-sense get reinforced.
#10 New grounds crew - the grass looks terrible this year. The ballpark is looking dirty. Lets at least try to look presentable, not shopworn.
