Explain this to me Joe, please.
Saturday, 2. May 2009
It’s been a while, but who cares. As I sit and watch my favorite teams in the time that I get in the middle of my hectic weeks, I have decided to finally post something and it will be directed at Joe Maddon. The Rays are struggling in the early part of the season and that’s not really shocking, but I find something about the lineups that get run out everyday extremely troubling. What does it take to lose or win a job on this team? Seriously, what does it take?
The constant days off for regulars has always troubled me, but I get it. What puzzles me is constantly running guys out who are clearly struggling. Let’s start with the fat catcher. Navarro looks bad in every sense of the word right now. He is not the same guy we saw last year, this is the mope we saw the year before. Weak stick, bad at bats and lazy catching. There is a problem with Navarro and we don’t know what it is. Now I’m not saying TFC needs to lose his job to Michel Hernandez, but wouldn’t it send a nice message to TFC and the rest of the team if you gave Hernandez another start after his performance on Thursday? It would be a nice reward for a guy that has clearly busted his butt for a long time and may be the wake up call that Navarro needs. Leave him in til TFC proves he wants it back.
This same thing goes for Upton. Why do we need to watch these at bats that look as if he’s allergic to swinging? Why do we need to see him argue over CALLED third stikes at least once a night? Why not toss Zobrist out there for a couple days and let Upton prove he wants to be out there? Again, I’m not saying he loses his job, just let him know that this crap won’t be tolerated.
Speaking of Zobrist, what does this guy have to do to prove that he should be manning RF on a daily basis before you take action? The Gabe platoon has looked as bad as I anticipated and Zobrist continues to go out and hit. He is no worse in right than Gross or Kapler (especially with the genius defensive alignments) and continues to prove he belongs with the stick.
Look Joe, I’m trying to be objective and I’m trying to be more patient with you than I have been in the past, but please help me figure this out. What kind of message does this send to the young guys trying to fight and claw their way to the show? On a team that is relying on developing youth to remain competitive wouldn’t it send a great message to guys like Matt Joyce, John Jaso, Fernando Perez, Desmond Jennings, Tim Beckham and so on that you have to show and prove to get and KEEP a job?! If there is something that I’m missing here I need to know. I realize that you think you are the smartest person to ever be around baseball now so it should be pretty easy to explain.
I’m waiting.
