.
Bear in mind that a noted Tweeter told us to "buckle up" for the rest of this week. But here's the offseason as it stands. You think Jerry DiPoto ain't glad to be out from under Sosh and Arte?
.
IF THEY RE-SIGN IWAKUMA they have nicely upgraded their rotation. So here are the deltas. The runs column is not mathematically sound. (Of course, neither is Dr. D's mind.) This is a white board with a seated Brad Pitt lobbing name-plate magnets at it, from a distance of 7 feet.
.
| POS | NEW | OLD | REMARK | runs |
| C | Iannetta? | Zunino | would "legitimize" the ballclub | +30 offensively. Defensively ... |
| 1B | (Trumbo) | (Trumbo/LoMo) | Slides runs from defense to offense. (??) | |
| 2B | ||||
| SS | ||||
| 3B | ||||
| LF | ||||
| CF | Leonydas | AJax & Logo | Slides runs from offense to defense | -10 |
| RF | ||||
| DH | ||||
| SP1 | ||||
| SP2 | ||||
| SP3 | ||||
| SP4 | ||||
| SP5 | Karns | Elias, Monty & Co. | What a cool add for zero diner-o | +20 |
| CL | Benoit | small but very hot trash can fire | +20 | |
| RP | ||||
| RP | ||||
| RP #7 | Bass | Ramirezes, Kensings, etc | Also adds crispness and subtracts BBs | +10 |
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OR IF THEY DO NOT RE-SIGN IWAKUMA they have nicely downgraded their rotation but set up DiPoto's Cheney Carousel.
.
| POS | NEW | OLD | REMARK | runs |
| C | Iannetta? | Zunino | would "legitimize" the ballclub | +30 offensively. Defensively ... |
| 1B | (Trumbo) | (Trumbo/LoMo) | Slides runs from defense to offense. (??) | |
| 2B | ||||
| SS | ||||
| 3B | ||||
| LF | ||||
| CF | Leonydas | AJax & Logo | Slides runs from offense to defense | -10 |
| RF | ||||
| DH | ||||
| SP1 | ||||
| SP2 | Karns | Iwakuma | YOWCH. But of course you have $16M/yr | |
| SP3 | ||||
| SP4 | ||||
| SP5 | ||||
| CL | Benoit | small but very hot trash can fire | +20 | |
| RP | ||||
| RP | ||||
| RP #7 | Bass | Ramirezes, Kensings, etc | Also adds crispness and subtracts BBs | +10 |
.
In the first table you could add those runs, with eyes clenched, wincing, and hoping for Chris Iannetta. And you might get +50 to +70 runs based on a CATCHER, a CLOSER, and a #3 STARTER.
But that's not really the point. The point is to get back to 2014, when the M's were playing crisply, when this same talent level already was producing a playoff-worthy run differential.
Know what we don't have on there? The manager, bench manager, coaching staff, hitting coach, and general Febreze in the air. I mean, in any previous regime Tim Bogar would have been the blogs' ideal for manager - but here Bogar is merely the "buffer." Well, that's what a bench coach was in Yogi Berra's day. Bogar will also be the uniformed Young Paul DePodesta with the laptop in the meetings, and will be the designated Leonys Martin cheerer-upper. Seems to Dr. D that these sergeants and lieutenants might well have had the Marines popping tall whether or not there were changes to the 25-man roster.
On paper, I'm not impressed with the change in CF, considering that (so far) Leonydas is all the position-player delta that we have to show for an entire paradigm we announced. But the three new pitchers are plus, and the leaders are plus, and it's Nov. 18.
Enjoy,
Dr D
I disagree that Martin's it so far. What I think is going to happen is this: RFer to play half the time in RF and wean Cruz off the idea that he needs to be an OFer.
I think we even now have the roster to do this, with Powell and Robertson. Robertson can do it if Powell's not ready, and bump down to 5th OFer if he is.
Anyway, that's just my suspicions, could be wrong.