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Lake Shore Drive
Your retarted
Or so as the title goes.
I feel confident in saying that it's pretty much universally agreed the Good Guys have the makings of not only a championship caliber team, but also one that can finally, once and for all, make consecutive postseason runs. We're not there yet, but fortunately, Hahn and co are well aware of our present shortcomings. IMHO, the following must be addressed in order to truly compete with the big dawgs and do so on an annual basis:
1. Shore up our rotation
2. Obtain a quality, preferably lefty bat for RF, who would either be a full time starter or at least platoon with the ever improving Engel
3. Get better production from the DH
Far and away the #1 priority is the rotation. Despite the "potential" from our youngins, we simply don't have enough proven arms from 1-5 that would carry us deep into any playoff scenario. Maybe in a couple of years, but in '21? '22? Not so sure. Therefore, Hahn must acquire a proven veteran arm, possibly two, for us to make a serious run next season.
#2 & #3 are interchangeable with respect to importance, altho combined don't equate with #1. As some of us feared from the outset, the Mazara trade turned out to be pretty much worthless. I love Engel, but I'm not comfortable having him exclusively holding down the fort in right - defensively yes, that's a no brainer. But stick-wise, while he's improved a lot since first joining the team, it doesn't scream every day worthiness. As far as DH goes, note I said productivity. While it's possible this can be filled internally, my guess is Hahn will search outside. Had there been a full minor league season this year, I probably would be predicting the promotion of Vaughn to the parent roster. And who knows, he may kill it in ST to prove he belongs. But I'm suspecting at least part of next year, if not the entire, he'll be playing for Charlotte.
Could we improve the pen and/or the bench? Of course, but I don't see an urgency in either category here that equals the importance of the top three needs. What sayeth my fellow diehards?

I feel confident in saying that it's pretty much universally agreed the Good Guys have the makings of not only a championship caliber team, but also one that can finally, once and for all, make consecutive postseason runs. We're not there yet, but fortunately, Hahn and co are well aware of our present shortcomings. IMHO, the following must be addressed in order to truly compete with the big dawgs and do so on an annual basis:
1. Shore up our rotation
2. Obtain a quality, preferably lefty bat for RF, who would either be a full time starter or at least platoon with the ever improving Engel
3. Get better production from the DH
Far and away the #1 priority is the rotation. Despite the "potential" from our youngins, we simply don't have enough proven arms from 1-5 that would carry us deep into any playoff scenario. Maybe in a couple of years, but in '21? '22? Not so sure. Therefore, Hahn must acquire a proven veteran arm, possibly two, for us to make a serious run next season.
#2 & #3 are interchangeable with respect to importance, altho combined don't equate with #1. As some of us feared from the outset, the Mazara trade turned out to be pretty much worthless. I love Engel, but I'm not comfortable having him exclusively holding down the fort in right - defensively yes, that's a no brainer. But stick-wise, while he's improved a lot since first joining the team, it doesn't scream every day worthiness. As far as DH goes, note I said productivity. While it's possible this can be filled internally, my guess is Hahn will search outside. Had there been a full minor league season this year, I probably would be predicting the promotion of Vaughn to the parent roster. And who knows, he may kill it in ST to prove he belongs. But I'm suspecting at least part of next year, if not the entire, he'll be playing for Charlotte.
Could we improve the pen and/or the bench? Of course, but I don't see an urgency in either category here that equals the importance of the top three needs. What sayeth my fellow diehards?