Maybe, but Tek did his homework, he has the respect of the players, and being manager doesn't require a lot of smarts or ability. That being said, I would make Lovullo the manager and Tek the bench coach.
Do people think that Swihart is going to make a big league career with us at another position? If so, at which position? If not, wouldn't it be best for him and the Red Sox to trade him to fill a need if Vasquez is the future at catcher?
He is going to be a backup on our team, unless he converts to another position. And the question is whether he hits enough to convert him to another position. Also, do we have a need for him to convert to another position. He is still a highly valued trade chip as a catcher. That will have a limited shelf life. It is quite possible that this value will not be there in 2 years if he remains in our minor leagues.
He is going to pitch more games against the jays than the Braves. That is context too. I hope that he pitches to a 3.5 ERA, but realistically I am not holding my breath.
If the Red Sox commit to Vasquez as their catcher of the future despite his offensive limitations, they have made a very definite judgment regarding the limits on Swihart's potential at the position. Neither of us is going to convince the other, so let's move on. Swihart is one of our most valuable trade chips right now and he is a redundancy. He can be used to get pitching -- something we need. Prospect value can evaporate quickly. I just want them to maximize his value.
I don't think the organization has any shortage of position players with bigger upsides offensively. I don't see the value in converting him to another position, unless they are much higher on his offensive potential than I am.
Steve Young was the successor plan for an aging QB. It is not the same situation as having two 22 year olds and relegating one to be a backup in your organization. By making that decision, you have just made a major judgment about his potential. That can't help his trade value. No one wants to pay a premium for someone elses excess baggage. His exposure last year and this year as a substandard defender has probably already impacted his value.
It's not the same thing with prospects. A big part of their value is their potential. A Porsche is a Porsche. It doesn't have the potential to be anything else.
Yep, that is what I am saying. If our opinion of him is not high enough for him to be anything but our backup it establishes a ceiling for him -- the guy's potential now has a limit that wasn't there before. That could only hurt his value.