Acuna did get the one run-producing hit with Riley getting a base hit ahead of him, but sometimes I wonder if the two of them have a side bet on who will achieve the most strikeouts for the year.
Let's say this season is another one in which we wind up out of the playoffs after the first two or three games (depending on whichever series, and if we get a bye or not). If that is the case, do you think we run it back with the same team again?
I know last year there was a lot of talk about how you just can't run it back, that you have to go make some changes. But as time went on, we realized we weren't making any changes—what we had was what we had, and they were going to run it back anyway. Then we thought for sure they would have to get some pitching because we came out of spring training with so many injuries, and we also had the money from Profar. We thought, "Oh, they'll certainly use the Profar money at the trade deadline."
Yet here we sit, almost to Labor Day, talking about how we're going to arrange 27 outs, somehow get the offense going, and try to patch up a problem we've had at shortstop since Dansby Swanson left in free agency.
To me, it seems like the same thing over and over again. It is:
• A lack of making deals and spending dollars to assemble players
• A lack of creativity and relationships to trade players and assemble talent.
• A lack of resources to develop minor league talent, knowing when to trade, and knowing when to bring up youngsters (basically, the Tampa Bay way)
There is a lot that goes back to Alex Anthopoulos.
Imagine if, after two or three losses in October and considering the various contract status, we just go to running it back: seeing what Schwellenbach and Smith-Shawver can do, hoping another year of J.R. Ritchie can provide a strong potential starter, and wondering about Fuentes.
It seems like we're going around in a circle as an organization. Yeah, you could do a whole lot worse, but it's not very interesting as it is.
I know it's not going to happen, but it's time to get somebody who can bring a fresh approach.
If you think about having to replace Acuña, along with the situations we have with pitching and other key positions, this ain't going to get any better. Ownership is not going to invest a lot of money. It goes against their conservative grain. And this goes back to John Schuerholz when he traded Kevin Millwood, and when he didn't sign Greg Maddux. He just wasn't going to pay a lot of money for these players.
Continuing to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, is insanity.
Jake and I have discussed this a bit, but I do imagine that there is more aggressive changes made (and plenty of heat on AA) if they don't have some success this October. It's hard to point to the injuries for a third consecutive season to explain playoff disappointment.
It just seems like the margin for error for this team is tissue paper thin right now. Philly swept the Twins scoring 7, 9 and 7 runs in the three game series over the weekend. We struggled to score 2 runs last night. The offense isn't taking any walks and when we don't hit the ball out of the park, we struggle to score runs which puts an incredible amount of pressure on the starting rotation (who, after Sale, we all think is average at best).
We need offense. A righty was throwing. Why not have an additional left hand bat in there in lieu of giving Acuna yet another half-day off? Which is more important? Kissing Acuna's .245 batting avg, non-hustling, IR ridden butt? Or winning games? Smith should have been DH last night, without question. So, why not, Weiss?
Acuna did get the one run-producing hit with Riley getting a base hit ahead of him, but sometimes I wonder if the two of them have a side bet on who will achieve the most strikeouts for the year.
Nothing really to say, same ole offense
Let's say this season is another one in which we wind up out of the playoffs after the first two or three games (depending on whichever series, and if we get a bye or not). If that is the case, do you think we run it back with the same team again?
I know last year there was a lot of talk about how you just can't run it back, that you have to go make some changes. But as time went on, we realized we weren't making any changes—what we had was what we had, and they were going to run it back anyway. Then we thought for sure they would have to get some pitching because we came out of spring training with so many injuries, and we also had the money from Profar. We thought, "Oh, they'll certainly use the Profar money at the trade deadline."
Yet here we sit, almost to Labor Day, talking about how we're going to arrange 27 outs, somehow get the offense going, and try to patch up a problem we've had at shortstop since Dansby Swanson left in free agency.
To me, it seems like the same thing over and over again. It is:
• A lack of making deals and spending dollars to assemble players
• A lack of creativity and relationships to trade players and assemble talent.
• A lack of resources to develop minor league talent, knowing when to trade, and knowing when to bring up youngsters (basically, the Tampa Bay way)
There is a lot that goes back to Alex Anthopoulos.
Imagine if, after two or three losses in October and considering the various contract status, we just go to running it back: seeing what Schwellenbach and Smith-Shawver can do, hoping another year of J.R. Ritchie can provide a strong potential starter, and wondering about Fuentes.
It seems like we're going around in a circle as an organization. Yeah, you could do a whole lot worse, but it's not very interesting as it is.
I know it's not going to happen, but it's time to get somebody who can bring a fresh approach.
If you think about having to replace Acuña, along with the situations we have with pitching and other key positions, this ain't going to get any better. Ownership is not going to invest a lot of money. It goes against their conservative grain. And this goes back to John Schuerholz when he traded Kevin Millwood, and when he didn't sign Greg Maddux. He just wasn't going to pay a lot of money for these players.
Continuing to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, is insanity.
Jake and I have discussed this a bit, but I do imagine that there is more aggressive changes made (and plenty of heat on AA) if they don't have some success this October. It's hard to point to the injuries for a third consecutive season to explain playoff disappointment.
It just seems like the margin for error for this team is tissue paper thin right now. Philly swept the Twins scoring 7, 9 and 7 runs in the three game series over the weekend. We struggled to score 2 runs last night. The offense isn't taking any walks and when we don't hit the ball out of the park, we struggle to score runs which puts an incredible amount of pressure on the starting rotation (who, after Sale, we all think is average at best).
We need offense. A righty was throwing. Why not have an additional left hand bat in there in lieu of giving Acuna yet another half-day off? Which is more important? Kissing Acuna's .245 batting avg, non-hustling, IR ridden butt? Or winning games? Smith should have been DH last night, without question. So, why not, Weiss?