a700hitter

I am getting tired of hearing and reading the excuse for XB that most guys his age are in AA. The truth is that he has played like a AA player. He has been completely overwhelmed. That's no rap on him. The FO should have recognized the fact that he was out of his league and sent him back to AAA for more seasoning. Contrary to what others have posted, he has not proved everything he needed to prove in the minors. Let him dominate at AAA and learn how to play SS. He didn't dominate at AAA.

Excellent point. Ben is going to have to do more than walk and chew gum at the same time.

Very weird line up.

I'd get him and sign him now. He's not going to be a high profile FA. I think that he could be locked down now.

The Skanks are reportedly interested in Willingham. He is a potent bat. I wouldn't mind seeing him in LF for us for the next 2 or 3 years. Ben shouldn't let a guy like him slip through his fingers while he is in sell mode. You need to be building while selling. It's not that hard to do both at the same time. It's like walking while chewing gum.

it was a pretty reasonable hunch in light of how long it took Drew to find some timing at the plate when he came back. Drew's progress was very slow. While I didn't expect Victorino's progress to be as glacial as Drew's, I didn't expect Drew to come out of the box smokin hot. We have Victorino for another season and hopefully he can stay healthy, because he is a key to the team. Since there will be a lot of work for the FO to do just to be competitive, they need to acquire an OFer for the longer term. Even if Betts and Bradley hold down two of the OFer positions, we will need a big stick out there.

We are engaging in pipedreams.

i was out of the country at the end of May and missed his hot streak. The rest of the season has been terrible. He has been an offensive nonentity.

XB has been a huge disappointment. He hasn't even shown flashes of brilliance-- not in the field or at bat. The season has been a huge zero for him. The kid is not going to be a star. As for Bradley...just plain yuk. He' s a defensive replacement, and there is no room on today's pitching heavy rosters for such players.

XB batting 3 rd is a little optimistic.

People will not fill expensive seats to see AAA prospects making rookie mistakes and losing more than they win. The need a professional level competitive product to get premium prices. They know it and will act accordingly.

Agreed.

Webster is starting this weekend? What about Workman or even Doubront.

Three rookies in the starting rotation? If that happens, make vacation plans for October, because our season will be over by June. The growing pains from three starters will sink the staff and kill the bullpen. I will take any bets that if those three guys break camp as starters that we will finish under .500. Does anyone remember when the Yankees broke camp with 2 very highly rated and accomplished prospects - Kennendy and Hughes in 2008. I never count out the Yankees, but that year I threw dirt on them by the end of May. If Rubby gets some good experience the rest of the way in 2014 and works out the growing pains now then we can get away with adding one of the other guys, but not both.

Of those guys, one maybe 2 will be worked in at the major league level. If all those guys are added in with Bradley, XB, Vasquez, Rubby And Workman, they will be at the bottom of the standings again. It ain't gonna happen.

I don't think they will work in more than half of those guys next year, because they know that would result in sub .500 last place team. They will not let that happen. Why are people fixated on us getting Joc Pederson? Are we negotiating to get him? Also, Webster is not major league material. He doesn't have the command. There will be new veterans on the team next season. You can bank on that.

Ben is doing a great job!

I don't know what point you are trying to make. We are debating future strategy. Precisely, because this FO knows how to field a winner and understands the importance of winning, I am convinced that they will not opt to go the route of a total youth movement, because that would be a recipe for years of losing.

He's the best prospect that we have, but I didn't mention him because he is more than a year away. One guy is not a staff, and I am not seeing the talent in our system to fill a rotation in the next couple of years.

Have there been rumors about them selling the team?

And when will any of these guys be producing for us at the major league level. If we are looking to turn this around using the talent in our system, it will take at least a couple of years even if they live up to expectations. They need to pull themselves out of the cellar and field a consistently competitive team sooner than that. If they are prepared to go for a total youth movement, they had better be prepared to finish 4 the or last for a couple or three more years, and they had better be prepared to have ticket marketing deals like 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs and 4 soft drinks for $40. This are the kind of promotions are offered by last place teams. Maybe they can have a Bark at the Park game where we can bring our dogs. That's a popular promotion for losers.

The FO managed to build such a bad team that Diehard loyalists like us are disgusted. All they needed was a .500 team and fans like us would be walking around wearing our 2013 Championship shirts and hats with our chests puffed out. Crazy fans like us will always be with them, but a lot have headed for the hills. Look at this site as an example. Posters come and go over time, but we have had an exodus. This place has had less fights and acrimony lately than anytime I can remember. They checked out because a lot of people don't want to watch a losing team, because it just isn't fun. Pete, you and I just love baseball. If the major leaguers went on strike, I'd watch the minor leaguers. We are in the minority. Many other fans will just find other ways to spend their time, and they will not be that easy to win back. No matter what people think of our FO, they are all good businessmen and they know what they seriously screwed up.

The World Championship gives Ben a mulligan. Had Will Myers caught the flyball and the Rays had knocked us out of the playoffs in the first round, Ben would be getting his resume ready after his 2 nd sub .500 last place year in 3 years. He'll get another shot next year to right the ship, and he will have freed up payroll to spend. If he makes some good moves, he can turn things around, but I am not buying into this "right path" stuff. I don't have a lot of faith in the long term strategy or capability of the management group. WMB has lost his luster almost entirely and XB and Bradley are not looking like future stars. Maybe they are having growing pains and each of them will be productive players in a year or two, but i think that it is doubtful that Bradley will be a star. I hold out some hope for XB to be a star because he is still very young. I like Vasquez. However, I don't see any core of offensive stars coming anytime soon other than possibly Betts. Do we have a good power hitter in the organization? That is missing, and the Boston Red Sox need a some power to be successful. They will have to go outside for that. Finally, I am not a big believer in the kid starters. I am curious about Renaudo, but if he is going to be a star in the majors, it is going to have to happen soon. They have a lot of work to do, but s***ing up things this badly doesn't give me a lot of faith that their strategy is on track.

Only the farcical 1997 Marlins finished in last place the year before and after their World Championship. Let's not sugar coat this. It is historically bad.

He was a terrible manager in Toronto, but last year he was magic.