Monday, May 21, 2007

Rookies Will Save Ca$hman's Hide

There's a reason Ca$hman hasn't gone the veteran route with all his pitching woes. First off, who's available? Brian Lawrence? Chan Ho Park? Joe Mays? If you can get someone decent, fine. But the Scott Ericksons of the world are never any good, unless you have a Dave Duncan or Leo Mazzone (perhaps Rick Peterson) who can turn these guys around a la Jeff Weaver, but the Junkees went the PR route in hiring Ron Guidry, who like Mel Stottlemye, never made a decent pitcher good, so getting journeymen arms is a waste.

But the bigger reason is that by using rookies, Ca$hman has given himself the perfect out. "We're building for the future, we didn't want to deviate from the plan, so even though we missed the playoffs in '07, we're in better shape for '08."

If he gets some stinker 35 year old, what can he say then? He looks bad. He got lousy players. If his AAA guys mess up, what can you expect? It's a learning process!

So let's suppose this happens. These guys better turn out decent! I know Sterling and Waldman fawn over every single one of them, but if they all turn out to be busts -- which is a very strong possibility -- then Ca$hman is out of excuses.

But that's what this supposed youth movement is about. Ca$hman covering his fanny. Make no mistake about it.

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