*Clooney is obsessing over the perfect number of players for absolute victory*
"Ten oughtta do it don't you think? You think we need one more? ...You think we need one more. All right, we'll get one more."
*Brad Pitt stares off into space, head on the bar with a martini glass by his elbow, weary of the back and forth*
I think we need one more - and I think it needs to be a bat.
I don't think Smoak + Ackley + scrubs gets it done. It requires the staff to both be perfect and to stay healthy. Sometimes that happens. A lot of times it won't.
Smoak + Ackley + Fielder is a slam-dunk lineup with this staff. Shore up the pen a bit and call it a day. Odds of it happening are about 5%, but it would instantly make us a contender.
Ethier, Kemp, Pence are all interesting possibilities. Sizemore might be a buy-low situation for a homecoming. Kubel might be an Ibanez-level add, though many wouldn't consider him a star - his salary would require him to be one.
I just don't think we can realistically compete with a two-man MOTO, even if our pitching is fabulous.
Maybe with a Hultzen addition our staff is so Genghis Khan that no one can stand before us, but the Phillies and the Red Sox have both offense AND pitching, and pitching is a strength in the whole division, not just on our team.
We need one more...hitter.
~G