Elian arrived in the majors with the ability to work the
count much better than most major leaguers. Switch hitter. Can play almost
every position well. He was the guy that was going to force Ned to DFA one of
the relics that could no longer produce.
But then Elian played himself back to the minors. When the
pitchers started throwing him strikes until they got the count their way, Elian
had to make an adjustment. It’s a lot easier to take a hack when the count is
full and you know what’s coming. If it doesn’t come then just take it. Good
times.
But now Elian had to start making contact on the pitcher’s
terms. His swing remained hackish. He needed to tighten it up and hit the ball
the other way. He didn’t do it. Or couldn’t do it. (I'm still rooting for you Elian. You're a great story.)
So here we are.
The Dodger Bloggers had all warned their constituents well
in advance that they should prepare for Elian’s departure. Meaning mostly that
Uribe/Kennedy were staying.
When the Dodgers didn’t announce the roster moves until
right before the game Friday everyone was confused. It could have been there
was a trade in the works. And depending how it went different people might be
coming and going. Then it didn’t happen.
The more likely scenario was a decision by committee that
included Stan Kasten. If I’m Ned and my job is hanging by a thread I’m
probably not going to go out on the limb all by myself. It’s going to be a
group decision. Maybe there was a disagreement. I’m pretty sure that Ned does not have
the authority to do anything with the roster without Kasten’s blessing. That’s
just how these things work. Still it’s just a theory.
Worse yet Elian has allowed them to keep both Uribe and
Kennedy now until at least Dee Gordon comes back. Back up shortstop, left
handed hitting 3B and all that sort of semi legitimate stuff.
Kasten can make the argument that the baseball guys realize that Uribe/Kennedy is not a good option but currently it’s our best chance of
winning. I believe Kasten had the final word. And if he did it’s a gutless
decision.
That’s not how you rebuild a leaking ship left to you by the
hated Frank McCourt. Instead you make courageous decisions that the fan base
can get behind. He’s slapping the fan base in the face by keeping Uribe around.
It’s quite possible that Don Baseball is the culprit here and Stan is just
backing up his management team.
But make no mistake, blaming Ned is pointless for this and
future decisions. He doesn’t have the final say. And he’s not coming up with
any moves independently.
Kasten knows as well as anyone that Uribe is a morale buster for the players, the coaches, the fans, the ushers, the
announcers, any aliens visiting the planet. I hope he doesn’t play things this
safe going forward or it’s going to take a long time for the Dodgers to rebuild
the team. Anything that happens or doesn’t happen now is on Stan. And so far it's been very WEAK.
Damn it Elian. Was cutting down your swing and going the
other way that hard to do?
p.s. As I’ve said before Juan Uribe is trying to make an
adjustment. Even though he still isn’t hitting his At Bats look 100 percent
better. No I’m not kidding. He’s taking pitches he was swinging wildly at
before. He’s actually going deep in the count a fair amount. That’s doesn’t
make up for his horrible fundamentals. But it’s not nothing.
p.s.s. VietnamDodger how hard can it be to use the comment
function. The stat kids managed it. You’re a doctor for gawd’s sake. Sober up
and try it again. But don’t be mad if I don’t publish it because you know how
you get.
p.s.s.s. Wow that Yasiel Puig picture. He could have been the
poster boy for the steroid era
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