=== Every Breath You Take, Dept. ===

... every move you make

Every step you take

Every single day

Every word you say

Every game you play

Every single day ...

.........

PHX Terry sez,

Serious question - Doc: It appears to me that generally you have been a supporter of Wedge and his decision-making. If I am mistaken in that regard, I apologize.

However, if I am correct and we total up: 1) Wedge's refusal to play Jaso at the beginning of the season despite Jaso's demonstrated credentials as a strong platoon hitter against RH pitching, 2) His refusal to play Wells at the beginning of the year despite Wells' solid major league hitting record and superior defense, 3) His obstinate man-love for Olivo despite Olivo's high CERA, woeful hitting, and terrible base-running at the expense of Jaso and Montero, and 4) Wedge's refusal to give Ichiro a single day off for the first 2 months of the season, despite Ichiro's advanced age of 38 & his worsening platoon split against LHP ----

What is your current view of Wedge's player evaluation capability and line-up decision-making?  Thank you - Terry

Props first off for ... Mr. PHX90.  Style, substance and timing all yield the coveted cyber-burn.  The question rates four-and-a-half soaked T-shirts from Dr. D.  

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=== Full Disclosure, Dept. ===

Yes, Dr. D is generally a supporter of Sgt. Wedge as a concept.  And as a person.  And as a dugout manager.  As to the phrase "and his decision-making," Dr. D is a bit more hesitant to commit himself.

SSI doesn't believe in Eric Wedge the way it believes, say, "Kyle Seager is one of the fine young players in the American League," or the way it believes "James Paxton is, growing pains notwithstanding, a Grade A+ pitching prospect."  But if Howard Lincoln went on a drunken bender, phoned Dr. D, and told him that Wedge's life was in SSI's hands ... yes, I'd re-up Wedge for this year and next.  Seems to me that the Wedge hire showed a truly profound insight on Jack Zduriencik's part.

Without any question, you could identify some items that Dr. D feels have been clear miscalculations on the Sgt's part.  For example, it says here that the Olivo bias -- not the Olivo playing time as such, but the Olivo bias -- is based on a basic misunderstanding of sports.  It ain't like SSI is afraid to call 'em as it sees 'em, on rich sports personalities that it generally supports.

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=== The Laundry List ===

Terry asks about four things:  Jaso, Wells, Olivo, and Ichiro's rest time.  We'll assume that Terry isn't really talking about those four guys as such:  rather, the question seems to be "Do these four examples convince you that, on balance, Zduriencik must shed Wedge at this point?"

My considered reply is:  "Those four examples, in the scheme of things, don't prove much.  Even if you presume that Wedge misjudged those things, you could compile a much longer list for him and for other managers, such as Ron Washington and Jim Leyland."

My wife, as a bank teller, once lost $500 in the workplace.  They tore the bank to shreds looking for it.  Turned out not to be her fault, but .... suppose that Steve Jobs made a mistake that lost $500 for Apple Inc.?  All mistakes have to be lined up within a long list of debits and credits.

I'm not trying to be a wise acre, and not trying to minimize those four issues.  Especially annoying is the Olivo bias.  But my sense of proportion would be that the above four examples don't, by themselves, mean that much.  So:  let's have so more, or let's see whether those decisions represent a poor decisionmaking process.

That isn't to say that maybe Wedge isn't piling up the rocks.  I'm wide open to somebody making a case that he is.

............

Also let's ping-pong a question back to the bleachers:  How eager are baseball fans to line up the CREDITS in that managerial discussion?  When's the last time somebody said, "Wow, Eric Wedge sure got Chone Figgins out of there with a lot less bloodshed than Don Wakamatsu did, eh?"

But that's the nature of the game.  MLB managers bank some serious jack, and they listen to some serious flack.  I'm in the mood for a Consumer Confidence Poll on Sgt. Wedge too.  'ave at thee...