Rob over at 6-4-2 was good enough to link to the reasons to breathe post (via SoSG, thanks guys) and takes some offense to at least the first 5 items.
That’s a preemptive blockade of front office criticism, and quite frankly, wrongheaded. Do we flinch recognizing that Luis Gonzalez was a late-career wonder, that his regression will be just as fast and hard, and that Matt Kemp would be a better choice over the duration of Gonzo’s contract? Was there any justification whatsoever for the Juan Pierre signing?
All of these are answered by #6, which he left off his post:
If our outfield on opening day was, say, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Jason Repko, we’d be one injury or slump away from the 2005 season. You remember 2005, right?
Of course Gonzo will most likely regress over the course of this season, and might very well do so at really inopportune times as the season wears on. As will Juan Pierre[1], whom I referred to obliquely as being dependably mediocre. This is not necessarily the worst possible thing to happen.
From the perspective of the front office, having that insurance policy at the beginning of the season was worth whatever fall off there will be due to regression, injury, or bad juju later in the season.
What I didn’t add into the Top 9 reasons was that the insurance policy works in reverse as well — those kids are available to step in when all the crap goes down. That is the key: it’s all about depth.
Do I personally think Gonzo and Juan Pierre were the best choices for those roles? Probably not, but they were the best the front office could or felt they could get.
Finally, as far as this being a “blockade,” my post wasn’t called the “Top 9 Reasons To STFU”: breathing, relaxation, and quietude was the goal, not stifling of dissent, criticism, or other folderol.
Anyhow, thanks for the link, Rob! I enjoy your blog on a daily basis.
[1] The hysteria about the Pierre signing presumes that he will be on the Dodgers for the length of his contract. This is not necessarily the case, particularly since the front office has shown a willingness to both turn over personnel and correct its mistakes in the past.
The “best the front office could get”? Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Ichiro, Mike Cameron, Milton Bradley, and Aaron Rowand will all be free agent center fielders this off- season. I would rather have had Kenny Lofton on a one-year deal, then sign Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez. Jesus Christ, the idiots in the front office put together a pretty decent pitching staff, and I don’t think the offense can score enough runs and the defense behind them can’t prevent enough runs. With Jeff Kent in the last year of his deal, and with Furcal having one more left on his, the Dodgers should try to sign Alex Rodriguez to play shortstop(Furcal can move to second base) if he opts out of his Yankee contract.