The word desperation has been tossed around quite a bit this year. If the reasons they moved him up were that they thought he was ready and that he would improve the team and that they would really like to make the playoffs, does that add up to desperation?
His record on trades and FA's with the Cubs has been outstanding:
Arrieta, Lester, Lackey, Rizzo, Zobrist, Fowler.
Heyward has been a bust so far but it's early.
I still think Theo is pretty good in spite of the failed signings. I think Theo even said himself that if you are 55% successful on FA signings you're doing well.
Bumgarner is an interesting guy to watch. He doesn't look like that much at first, but he is moving the ball all over the place with great command/control...a guy who really knows what he's doing.
To be exact:
Mookie's BA with 2 outs and RISP is .500, in 36 at-bats.
Mookie's BA with RISP is .376, in 85 at-bats.
All the more reason I want him at the plate as much as possible!
moon, why don't you give some examples of these 'strategic signings of mid level FAs to short term deals to fill the gaps' that you like. Because all you've done is list signings of all types that you didn't like.
So I guess what you're saying is, don't sign anybody!
Unless, of course, you know you're going to get full value from them.
Yes that should work.
I wonder why Theo Ben & DD haven't followed that simple rule.
I agree with you that the benefits of the opt-out all rest with the player. My only point to Dewey is that there is a possible scenario where the Red Sox could essentially 'get lucky' and have the opt-out work in their favor, but all things being equal, they would be much better off without the opt-out.