To add to that, though... we need to be (more) agile about swapping out players. When the Angels had Kotchman and Morales, they punted Kotchman off the reservation to the shock of many (though keep in mind, it took Morales parts of THREE seasons before he came up full-time - back to that patience thing and those decrying the demotion of Ackley as some kind of wrong committed against the laws of nature and rebuilding).
With Franklin able to replace Ackley and Miller able to replace Ryan, with Abe Almonte and Stefen Romero promoted to AAA in the OF and Morban (maybe) on the way soon, we don't need to wait for 2 years to see how a player is working out. In fact, we won't be able to. The 40 man will clog up and force a trade so that we don't lose good players for nothing.
So don't be afraid to trade Ackley or Smoak if you have their replacement sitting in AAA. Smoak's replacement is still about a year away from AAA, but still - gotta stay fluid. If 3 out of 10 good prospects make it in the bigs, then we need to find those three. It'll hurt to trade the wrong guy... unless you found a guy as good in the process.
That's what's going to make or break us - which of these talented players to keep and buy into, and which to trade.
Rebuilding doesn't get simpler with more talent in the pipeline, funnily enough. And it's never easy.
~G
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