Concerns up and down the lineup

[johnfree63]

i thought it was a mediocre signing, and there were quite a few who thought the same on espn if i remember right. figgins's success was all as a leadoff hitter, and we already had one of the greatest of all time who made it clear he never wanted to be taken out of that spot in the lineup because he wanted to break records for base hits.

nobody could have exprected figgins to be the cancerous turd he became, but leadoff is a psychological thing. when he was put elsewhere in the order and struggled mightily, and he started whining to the press about his troubles saying "i'm a leadoff hitter", that's when we knew it was going to be pretty bad.

It was pretty split on the ESPN board from what I remember. Half thought it was the best signing ever cause what could be better then 2 lead off hitters! The other half was just like you and thought, okay this is a good signing, he can get on base but who's going to drive him in? The answer of coarse was Milton Bradley!!

 

[octagondd]

Things are getting more interesting. I know we all want major moves and right away, but sometimes you have to wait things out. Hard to judge until all the final cuts of Spring Training are done, and even then things change. I think the M's are headed in the right direction. Will it be enough? Not sure. Plenty of question marks still.

 

[NWinAZ]

true, true.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Yep agree still plenty of places that could be upgraded. Would like more competition in the OF and at 1st. Also still would like a middle of the rotation starter but I dont see us doing that.

 

[EVille3]

Lots of time is right. We could get lucky with the middle rotation spot again. Didn't we pick up young from waivers a week before the season last year?

 

[NWinAZ]

We did, but that is a once in a decade signing that worked, but even Jack knows it was a one year miracle.

If you are going to be a playoff team, you need 3 SP's who will be highly counted on to win in the playoffs for you. Right now you have Felix, a no-brainer, Kuma, hasn't pitched a full season little alone post season, and then Paxton most likely who like Walker or Elias hasn't pitched nowhere near 200 innings. Would love Shields, but not happening.

 

[SeattleCoug]

I don't consider Young middle of the rotation. Granted he became that last year because of our rotation issues last year but yea a guy like Shields was who I was getting at. Pipe dream yea but its what would shore things up.
Would have been ok with a guy like Liriano, Volquez or Santana but they are off the board. At this point its probably going to be guys like Randy Wolf, Scott Baker, etc. brought in for AAA depth

 

[dude82]

Things are getting more interesting. I know we all want major moves and right away, but sometimes you have to wait things out. Hard to judge until all the final cuts of Spring Training are done, and even then things change. I think the M's are headed in the right direction. Will it be enough? Not sure. Plenty of question marks still.

This is the attitude I tend to take into every season. I underreact... if that's even a thing.

 

[NWinAZ]

If you were to keep a scorecard over the last decade of overreacters vs underreacters, overreacters would be winning like 8-2.

Here is to hoping it becomes 8-3.

 

[wazzu31]

i agree with you about nothing most of the time

except this

he's going to go down as one of the top defensive catchers of the decade, and as soon as he gets to the same number of professional (minor and major league) at bats as the average position player, i truly believe he'll end up being a league average to above average hitter. oower is a hot commodity, and it's already there for this kid. in short, for a catcher, he's gold.

pretending jackson and figgins were the only disastrous signings is fucking stupid, though. in one year, Zintendo spent $20+ million on equally terrible turds. nobody remembers them because they're no longer with the organization.

Wasn't saying they weren't the only disasters as obviously Jack's tenure has a ton of disasters but Figgins was a disaster because they signed him and he was a focal point for the success of the season just as the deal for Jackson last year was suppose to help put their offense over the top to get them into the postseason. Figgins IMO is in his own category especially Jack is suppose to know baseball that you can't spend that much money on a guy who's entire offensive game is changed because of Ichiro, let alone sign him then switch your all star 2B to 3B.

 

[NWinAZ]

Going back to my crusade of still needing a better 1B, Morrison ranked 21st in WAR for 1B's last year at 1.4.

 

[Anointed One]

Going back to my crusade of still needing a better 1B, Morrison ranked 21st in WAR for 1B's last year at 1.4.

Definitely agree with this... Morrison is a nice story but he's a career backup guy in MLB... He's great at spot duty but that's about it... He definitely shouldn't be our starting, everyday 1B going into the season...

Word is that Montero has been working very hard this offseason and has shaved 30-35 lbs while working at 1B....First time i've actually seen him committed since he's been in MLB

 

[Anointed One]

Seth Smith should be our new starting RF...

 

[wazzu31]

Going back to my crusade of still needing a better 1B, Morrison ranked 21st in WAR for 1B's last year at 1.4.

I'm ignorant on WAR, but does it break it down specifically with him just playing 1B? I don't think he is the answer at 1B but it would be nice if they actually let him and other players have a defined role.

 

[NWinAZ]

I'm ignorant on WAR, but does it break it down specifically with him just playing 1B? I don't think he is the answer at 1B but it would be nice if they actually let him and other players have a defined role.

You probably can break it down that way, but the WAR was his total WAR so it was a comparison of 1B that played at least 200 AB's at that position.