AZZenny said:Speaking only for myself, I am distressed by the offseason thus far because:
We have a so-so pitcher with some questions about his health signed to an overly-rich, overly long contract.
We have a potential slugger with significant injury history signed to an overly rich, overly long contract.
We have a fan-favorite infielder with declining speed and skills signed to an overly rich, overly long contract.
We have a light-hitting defensively-useless veteran catcher signed - for some reason that escapes me.
We are shipping out the greatest lefty starter alive, and reportedly we are saving his salary to invest in really good young players.
But wait - we are spending that 'saved' salary on a decent-hitting but at this point grotesquely overpaid outfielder on the downside of his career. (Shawn Green is not as 'youthful' as Finley, for sure.) We will apparently offer that OF a lucrative contract extension - if you think Green is going to take a big pay cut to come here, think again. (By domino effect, I look for Gonzo to seek a similar contract/extension by mid-season if he's at all healthy.)
We are getting an arbitration-eligible pitcher we once traded away, who thus far remains more potential than realization, and who has an unusual arm injury doctors aren't even sure how to evaluate or treat. (I bet they'll sign him to a multi-year deal before ST is over.)
So rather than seeing inflated payroll moved off the books in 2005/2006 so we can slim down and go after real young talent, we will have a load of payroll tied up over the next 4 years on guys who were not our first choices, several on the declining side of their careers, and three of whom have known serious injury histories.
Maybe we'll be lucky - But if we're unlucky at all, we've once again strapped ourselves down financially so it'll be hard to recover from our mistakes.
Oh yeah - we have a defensively sound, light-hitting infielder signed to an appropriate contract. If the Royce Clayton signing is the best deal cut thus far, we're not doing that well.
You don't just see our glass half empty, you see it scattered in shards on the kitchen floor. My unsolicited advice? Get a new glass, fill it up w/ Guiness, and hope for the best.