his bosses have stuck him with the last guy's mistakes, slashed his payroll and forbid him to even utter the word "Rebuild".
True enough. Those are the constraints I mentioned. All I'm pointing out is that if undue pressure put on players that were not up to the task is understood as a prime contributing factor to the offensive collapse of 2010, why would the same consideration not be a huge concern for 2011. And if we're pinning our future hopes on guys like Smoak and Ackley (and we ARE), then how can you put so much lineup pressure on them and risk their development unnecessarily? To put it succinctly, which I NEVER do, if you're re-building, why risk breaking the bricks that are going to be your foundation.
To me this is the fundamental contradiction of what seems to be the new "Grand Design" de jour by Lincoln/Armstrong, the one they conceived of, interviewed GM's around, and hired Z to execute (in hindsight this seems clear). Rebuild while significantly reducing payroll. Squeezing payroll too much might actually hinder the development of the very cheap young stars you want to build around.
That's an AWFUL LOT OF WEIGHT you are asking Smoak and Ackley to pull (carry the lineup) while you are also asking them to figure out how to survive and then thrive in MLB. Are they blue-chippers? Sure. By if you are rich (and the M's ARE rich), why not maintain enough payroll to design your team in such a way as to let these guys break in without having to carry the offense?