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...Wakamatsu's players *LOVE* him.  I wondered if there was the possibility that Wakamatsu's "belief system" paradigm this spring might turn the club soft...too many guys being given too many chances to foster a system of trust in the clubhouse and get guys to like him.  Instead, we saw Yuniesky Betancourt powerflushed because he wouldn't play hard, we saw time and time again, pitchers arrive, succeed once through the league, gets their butts kicked thereafter and get demoted.  We saw Carlos Silva - a man who gets a lot of BS thrown at him because his contract was unwise (I believe him to be a basically decent human being, much-maligned for his lack of physical trim, but a guy who really does want to do well for his team) - get handed only 5 starts before bieng power-flushed.  We saw the explosively popular Ryan Rowland-Smith axed after *ONE* start when it was clear he didn't have the stuff (and then, and only then, did RRS admit that his arm hurt...LOL)
How did Wakamatsu DO that??  How did he play Mr. Nice guy and then make roster moves like a hard-ass??