Quote:
Originally Posted by Palaaemon
Bird,
Questions for you here and a suggestion. Questions first. 1. Who appears to be shaping up to be your true competitors this season? Is Oklahoma City and Charlotte legit or just pretenders? 2. What is happening with Los Angeles and Brooklyn? Injuries? Slow starts? Combination and more?
Suggestion - I have been watching this situation about Jorge Gonzalez since you started becoming concerned around spring training I believe. I have been leaning towards advising you to move him, but after seeing the post with his personality index and the bench coach email, I have made up my mind to tell you to trade him as soon as you can find a deal to get him out of the organization. Preferably you want as good a deal as you can get (pair him with another player to move). In a case like this with him, keeping him in the majors will do no good because he won't play (and I saw you sent him down) and sending him down will play havoc (especially if the team is not doing well or cannot handle him) so move him for what you can get is my advice. Maybe see if you can get another outfielder that can help in left field for the rest of the season. Then this next off season perhaps you can find a FA outfielder to take over LF or some combination.
Anyway that's all I have for tonight. Have a great one!
Palaaemon
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Not quite sure about the answer to #1 yet, but I still think Brooklyn is the team to beat. Aaron McNally isn't off to his usual start and that has probably hurt them. Then again, their other ace starter, Chris Justice, is off to a very good start. They are a strong, balanced team, and I'll just have to take a bit of closer look tomorrow to see if there are any indications why they are struggling.
I thought L.A. wasn't as good as they played last season so I'm not surprised to see them playing uninspired baseball. They are without the services of great veteran starting pitcher Jose Santos. But they've had great contributions from new starter Eduardo Obando. They no longer have Mike Stagner (then again, he's horrible so far for S.F.) or veteran superstar Travis Johnson. They aren't horrible but I don't see them as very good either.
I'll have to take a closer look at Oklahoma City and Charlotte but I can say that we just played OKC and we don't match up very well with them. They could hang in there. I expect Charlotte to be closer to middle of the pack but they could surprise.
As for your advice, well, I had pretty much decided I needed to do this anyway. I noticed earlier that veteran outfielder Brad Tesh is still without a team and I offered him a minor league contract. If he signs up (and I could still see offering him a big league deal if his demand isn't too unreasonable), there is a good chance he will be joining the big league club soon (probably would send Guzman back down.) Tesh is 33 and not a very good contact hitter, but still has great speed, good power, good plate discipline, and a decent glove (great arm). As I've mentioned earlier here, he is a quiet HOF candidate, is on the cusp of some pretty big milestones (300 HR's, 350 stolen bases, IIRC) and he's a great clubhouse guy. One of the biggest reasons to keep Gonzalez around is that he was the best option in center field should Joe McPhillips go down with injury again (always a decent possibility.) But Tesh is a natural center fielder, (even if not with as great range as he used to possess) and his addition would make it even easier to part with Gonzalez.
But yes, I think Gonzalez days in a Brewers uniform are likely pretty much over.