You're still not hearing me, Doc. The 2011 season was lost (to the bulk of the fans) before it started. NOTHING the club did in April was going to change that. Oh, if Bradley had hit .900 and Saunders .800 ... and the club was 18-10 instead of 13-15 at the end of April, there would've been a little buzz. But, "most" fans would shrug and say ... "I'll believe it when they're up 5 games in August."
As for the rest ... The choice on Pineda was based on a simple reality ... you need 5 SPs in modern baseball. Coming into 2011, the Ms had a pitching situation that was ... difficult. They brought in a number of desperation reclamation arms into camp. They *ALL* failed. Pineda wasn't on the opening day roster due to a hope of winning THIS year. He was there because he beat the living crap out of every other rotation candidate the club auditioned.
Cust was brought in right after Bradley got arrested. And then Guti went on the DL. So, Bradley ended up playing a grand total of ONE (1) game at DH. If Guti is around, no way is THAT happening. If you ask me, the reason Cust wasn't DFAed along with Bradley and Langerhans is because the club is waiting to get comfortable with the idea that Guti is going to be playing regularly this year. The Guti injury *FORCED* the club to do a number of things in April that I am certain were not in the original design.
Wouldn't surprise me to see Guti and Ackley arrive in the same car.
But, I'm not under the delusion that the club is under the delusion they have a shot at winning anything THIS year. I think their moves have been primarily about what is best for the prospects. I think the Peguero maneuver is interesting, in that he was up, then down, then up again so quickly. I suspect he admitted to being a bit overwhelmed the first time around - (which seemed to happen to Leuke, also). It's not unusual for a kid to be a little awestruck during their first taste of the bigs - (which is why the September callups are standard - it mitigates the 'first time jitter' stage for many of these kids). I expect Lueke will return shortly, also.
I suspect when Ackley comes up, he's as likely to put up a near clone of Cust's slashline for 6 weeks before he settles in.
I would argue that (when Cust goes - and he WILL go soon) - that the club will have in short order gotten rid of its 3rd, 4th and 5th best bats on the team. The concept that it is reasonable to assess dumping your 3/4/5 best bats ... on a team with an 85 OPS+ ... (while retaining the rookie with the 40 OPS+ and recalling the rookie with the -6 OPS+) is because you're trying to win *NOW* ... strikes me as ... I'm sorry, I cannot come up with a word that wouldn't come across as insulting.
I stated weeks ago that Ryan is continuing to play short because Jack Wilson has been a dead man walking all season. The club knew REGARDLESS OF PERFORMANCE that Jack Wilson was going to be the victim when Ackley comes up in Spring Training ... and therefore, any idea of playing Wilson at short (outside of an emergency) were pointless, regardless of what impact it had on the 2011 record.
I look at the team and see every move in a context of ... "what is best for the prospect?" I see the injuries forcing the hand of the club down paths it would've rather not gone. But, even there I see 'long term' over short term decisions.
I think a (very minor) factor in Pineda up is that offense is weakest in April. Let the kid get in some innings when the air is heavy and the hitters haven't locked in their timing. Let the kid bats find their timing in Tacoma ... no pressure ... take your time.
I see them 'trying' to stagger the rookie callups - (influenced by injury, though), so they can concentrate on one newbie at a time.
I think the Mike Wilson move was a reward for being a consumate organizational guy ... (just like the club rewarded Tui with a week on the bench after a stellar ST when Ichiro got hurt).
SOMETIMES, you reward guys, not because you expect them to succeed, but because it is the right thing to do, and it builds a sense of community. And when Wilson goes back down, (and he will go back down), he can tell all the AAA players it was the best couple of weeks of his life.
The thing is - you've GOT to fill your 25-man roster, regardless of what is best for your prospects. So, you rent your Kennedys and Langerhanses until the time is right for your prospects. And you develop your prospects as "best you can" ... not knowing ahead of time how quickly player X or player Y will adapt. I think the "slow" moves tend to be DFAs, simply because there is no recovery if/when the prospects tank. You can juggle optionable players, but once Bradley or Jack Wilson or Cust is "cut" -- you cannot unring that bell. So, those moves tend to happen slower than fans would like.
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