Grading Terry Ryan

[ThePuck]

Yeah, I'm bending the argument by saying that it's worth the Twins' time to talk to Johnson to see if he's willing to come back to the city where he was born and play for the Twins.

 

I didn't say they would sign him. I didn't say that he'd listen. I merely said that the Twins have an "in" with Johnson that they don't have with most other players, some of which can't find Minnesota on a map even though they've pitched in Target Field.

 

At the end of the day, money matters more than anything and the offer has to be competitive. But if you have a leg up on acquiring a guy for any reason, you pursue that avenue to see if it bears fruit.

 

What if he has no desire at all the return to Minnesota. I'm from California and I can't imagine a scenario where I'd return. You figure it's an in with him, but what if it's not or even the opposite?

 

Look, I'm all for trying to get him. I'm all for trying to get any quality player at any time we can.

[Brock Beauchamp]

What if he has no desire at all the return to Minnesota. I'm from California and I can't imagine a scenario where I'd return. You figure it's an in with him, but what if it's not or even the opposite?

 

Look, I'm all for trying to get him. I'm all for trying to get any quality player at any time we can.

 

I'm basing it on the idea that I have some kind of emotional attachment to nearly every place I've lived in the past (and I've lived in five different states).

 

Maybe he has no family here. Maybe he doesn't care. Those are absolutely possibilities.

 

But at the very least, it's a starting point to talk to the guy to find out what he's thinking. As I pointed out earlier, right now the Twins have almost nothing going for them in the free agency market. They're not a winner. They're not a prime market so endorsements aren't going to pour in and supplement income. They're not an iconic franchise with a fantastic fanbase like the Cardinals. For many, Minnesota is nothing more than fly-over country.

 

For some, it's about nothing other than money. For others, the decision might involve more than cash and if there is some sort of connection to the area with a player, that opportunity should be explored because it's not guaranteed that a Clayton Kershaw will come to Minnesota under any circumstances. The farther you go up the free agency food chain, the more suitors a player will have and let's be frank about it... Many of those markets are more appealing to an outsider than quiet, folksy, cold Minnesota.

[Kwak]

Why are the Twins in this predicament in the first place? Ryan can't be exonerated because he was GM during the time frame when this team's core players could/should have originated. GM's write a complete player/team evaluation every year, and Ryan would have written his prior to his "retirement". The Twins believed they were "flush" in staeting pitching at the end of 2007--so much so the approached Tampa Bay to "take their pick" in order to make a trade for Delmon Young (apparently the evaluation included a strong need for OFers). Where are those pitchers today, and how much career success did those guys have from 2008-present? It's safe to say that at best only one (Garza--the guy traded!?) could be evaluated as in or at least close to top 30 starting pitchers. Further, of these young pitchers, only one is still with the Twins (Perkins) and he has had to ressurect his career as a relief pitcher. Why? I think that the team philosophy (which comes from the top) did not develop them to be top starting pitchers--they wee developed to hit bats! Point: Unless Ryan is changing team philosophy to develop dominant-type SPs [now] the very best he can accomplish is a repeat of 2008/2009 of winning a weak division (eventually DET will fall apart) and then get clobbered in the post-season by an opponent who saw the need for dominant pitching and developed and/or acquired it. Grade Ryan on that basis and not on his ability to sign bargain basement veterans and trade them for "hopefuls".

[Brock Beauchamp]

Why are the Twins in this predicament in the first place? Ryan can't be exonerated because he was GM during the time frame when this team's core players could/should have originated. GM's write a complete player/team evaluation every year, and Ryan would have written his prior to his "retirement". The Twins believed they were "flush" in staeting pitching at the end of 2007--so much so the approached Tampa Bay to "take their pick" in order to make a trade for Delmon Young (apparently the evaluation included a strong need for OFers). Where are those pitchers today, and how much career success did those guys have from 2008-present? It's safe to say that at best only one (Garza--the guy traded!?) could be evaluated as in or at least close to top 30 starting pitchers. Further, of these young pitchers, only one is still with the Twins (Perkins) and he has had to ressurect his career as a relief pitcher. Why? I think that the team philosophy (which comes from the top) did not develop them to be top starting pitchers--they wee developed to hit bats! Point: Unless Ryan is changing team philosophy to develop dominant-type SPs [now] the very best he can accomplish is a repeat of 2008/2009 of winning a weak division (eventually DET will fall apart) and then get clobbered in the post-season by an opponent who saw the need for dominant pitching and developed and/or acquired it. Grade Ryan on that basis and not on his ability to sign bargain basement veterans and trade them for "hopefuls".

 

It turns out that Ryan actually drafted moderately well during the mid-2000s, which didn't look to be the case just 12 months ago. Since that time, Perkins has turned completely dominant. Plouffe is turning into a pretty solid player. Parmelee might pan out as an everyday player. Ben Revere is... eh, well, he's Ben Revere. A decent stop-gap at the very least.

 

Pitching wasn't great, for sure... But Ryan can't be blamed for that idiotic Garza trade. That didn't happen on his watch and considering how Ryan never trades pitching, it's doubtful that would have happened with him in the big chair.

 

On the other hand, the Twins spent an entire decade picking in the bottom half of the draft and it looks like they've gotten something of quality from most of the drafts of the mid-2000s. That's no mean feat and while we'd all like to see better results, it's looking more and more as if JR didn't do all that bad during what was thought to be an absolutely atrocious streak of drafting players.

[Dman]

Could the Twins have gotten Sanchez? Maybe for $100 Million and 6 years but that is a steep price to pay if he breaks down anytime in the first three years. Could the Twins afford the failure given their current payroll I would have to say yes. Should they have done it? I don't think so but I probably don't have what it takes to make that kind of gamble.

 

When Sanchez was on the market the following teams were interested in him. "In addition to the Tigers, the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers are known to have interest in Sanchez, sources say. It’s not clear if any will meet the $90 million price tag."

 

None of those teams felt he was worth the money for the risk involved for how he would pitch in the future and if he would remain fairly injury free and those are teams typically willing to take risk for pitching. I think most GM's felt he had a good run in the playoffs but might regress to more pedestrian numbers or someone would have offered more. Even the Tiger's didn't want him for the original 6 years and $90 Million. If I had to guess they figured they could get three solid years maybe four and were willing to eat the rest but they are ready to win now and it is the right kind of risk for them to take.

 

I don't see how you can beat TR up over Sanchez? It just isn't the right time to make a move like that in my opinion and based on who was interested other GM's would agree with TR.

 

On another note I will say this. The Twins are building this team backward. They should have focused on Pitching before position players like the A's did. The pitching needs to be in place at some point or you will never compete for a WS. Pitching other than lucking into Radke and Santana has been the Twins Achilles heal. If they can't buy it or develop it when everyone is in place it will be another a few years of respectability and back to rebuilding.

[ThePuck]

The GM doesn't draft players. Ryan himself said he lets the scouting department do their thing during the draft. We need to stop giving credit or bashing the GM for drafts, unless we're praising/bashing who they hired to do the scouting.

[ThePuck]

It's also my opinion that if Ryan was still GM, Garza would have been traded in the same offseason he was traded by Smith. Garza clashed with the coaching staff on how he was going to pitch and he was too, um, animated for the Twins taste. He was going to be gone anyway, IMO.

 

Also, it's not like Ryan disappeared. he handpicked Smith and was an adviser. You don't think he was especially involved in Smith's first offseason as first time GM?

[chopper0080]

Here is my take on the matter for what it is worth.

 

One, when free agents coming looking, they look for winning, money and market. Right now we offer none of those. Even if we did offer up money, we would most likely have to overpay for those free agents because Minnesota isn't a huge market and the Twins aren't a winning team. The best we can really hope for is that we can offer money and winning, but at this rate, we aren't offering both of those in 2014 and 2015.

 

Two, pitching is either home grown through the minors or purchased through free agency, and free ageny only offers 28 or older players. So, if you aren't growing your own front line pitchers (like we aren't) than you have to spend on them and assume some financial risk.

 

Three, in regards to Sanchez, I doubt he would have signed here as we offer very little to free agents right now. But, as a Major League team, you can't just depend on growing your prospects and then spending when they seem to be knocking on the door. There is no reason the Twins can't field a compeititive team while their minor league system is developing prospects. While Sanchez might not have the difference between us and the playoffs this year, he still would have made the team better which should be the end goal. Yes, you can't fill your roster with pricey free agents, but a few high priced contracts have yet to cripple an organization that is dedicated to winning.

 

In the end, I guess I just demand more from this team than some of you do. I don't see the downside of a few calculated risks like signing a Sanchez level player even if your team isn't a World Series contender. Where I know you fail at the Major League level is by using your money to sign only the Correia's, Pelfrey's, and Doumit's of the free agent world and hoping your minor league system develops. That plan leads you to multiple 90 loss seasons.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It's also my opinion that if Ryan was still GM, Garza would have been traded in the same offseason he was traded by Smith. Garza clashed with the coaching staff on how he was going to pitch and he was too, um, animated for the Twins taste. He was going to be gone anyway, IMO.

 

Also, it's not like Ryan disappeared. he handpicked Smith and was an adviser. You don't think he was especially involved in Smith's first offseason as first time GM?

 

Is there another situation in the history of Ryan's tenure where he traded a young pitcher before he even hit arbitration, much less a good young pitcher who hadn't hit arbitration?

 

Terry Ryan has a pretty solid track record of valuing starting pitching above all else. He traded a position player for Rick Reed when the Twins offense was... lackluster, to put it nicely. He traded Eric Milton for more pitching when Milton was on the verge of FA. The only pitcher I remember him trading was Kyle Lohse, who was flat-out awful in his last season with the team and was also on the verge of FA. He refused to trade Radke when most of baseball was salivating to get their hands on the guy at the trade deadline.

 

The Twins were on the cusp of losing their ace pitcher when they traded away their best young pitcher the same offseason. Given Ryan's record, I have a hard time believing he was the one who orchestrated that move. It doesn't make sense given the previous 6-7 seasons of how the guy managed the franchise, where he zealously held on to Twins starting pitching, sometimes to a fault (Joe Mays, anyone?).

 

And the "Garza was too wild and uncoachable" line is more than a little ridiculous considering that the Twins traded him for Delmon-freaking-Young, a guy who spends his free time hitting people with bats and making anti-Semetic remarks. Matt Garza is the patron saint of friendliness compared to that dude.

[Riverbrian]

I just struggle to hang a GM over Free Agent's that he should have signed. We have no idea if the Twins made overtures for Sanchez. We have no idea what Sanchez thought about everything.

 

I also notice... Not much talk about Edwin Jackson or Dan Haren right now. Deduno is matching Greinke right now... We seem to be focusing on the one guy who is working out.

 

30 Teams in the league... Free Will for the players. We just don't know.

 

It may seem like shopping at the supermarket but these cans of Tomato Sauce can decide if they are jumping into your cart.

 

If you decide to entice the Tomato Sauce to jump into your cart by paying 20 dollars for it. You change the market for the prices of all Tomato Sauce and Lipton Ice Tea for everybody.

 

We also don't know if the current recipe being cooked up by Terry Ryan calls for Tomato sauce.

[ThePuck]

I just struggle to hang a GM over Free Agent's that he should have signed. We have no idea if the Twins made overtures for Sanchez. We have no idea what Sanchez thought about everything.

 

I also notice... Not much talk about Edwin Jackson or Dan Haren right now. Deduno is matching Greinke right now... We seem to be focusing on the one guy who is working out.

 

30 Teams in the league... Free Will for the players. We just don't know.

 

It may seem like shopping at the supermarket but these cans of Tomato Sauce can decide if they are jumping into your cart.

 

If you decide to entice the Tomato Sauce to jump into your cart by paying 20 dollars for it. You change the market for the prices of all Tomato Sauce and Lipton Ice Tea for everybody.

 

We also don't know if the current recipe being cooked up by Terry Ryan calls for Tomato sauce.

 

I think the argument has much more to do with whether or not signing a player LIKE Sanchez would have been a smart move or not. He just happens to be the example.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I think the argument has much more to do with whether or not signing a player LIKE Sanchez would have been a smart move or not. He just happens to be the example.

 

But several of us were advocating the pursuit of Jackson, which makes us all look kinda stupid in retrospect. Still a lot of time on that contract to turn it around but hoooooo boy, he looks bad with the Cubbies.

 

I backed off wanting him once the price was announced but still, that deal looks like a dud at almost any price.

[Guest USAFChief]

So maybe the answer to making a solid pitching staff isn't through free agency? Maybe the team should draft well, make some strong trades and build up through a core? Sort of like what the GM is clearly doing?

 

If the best argument against Ryan's plan is "pay a lot of money and hope" I'm ok with the GMs plan.

 

IMO the GMs plan seems to be "not pay a lot of money and hope."

 

I don't see how that's better than "pay a lot of money and hope."

 

In the former case, you hope that your minor leagues and trade assets provide everything you need for a championship caliber pitching staff.

 

In the latter case, you hope that you minor leagues, trade assets, AND FA PICKUPS provide everything you need for a championship caliber pitching staff.

[nicksaviking]

I just struggle to hang a GM over Free Agent's that he should have signed. We have no idea if the Twins made overtures for Sanchez. We have no idea what Sanchez thought about everything.

 

I also notice... Not much talk about Edwin Jackson or Dan Haren right now. Deduno is matching Greinke right now... We seem to be focusing on the one guy who is working out.

 

30 Teams in the league... Free Will for the players. We just don't know.

 

It may seem like shopping at the supermarket but these cans of Tomato Sauce can decide if they are jumping into your cart.

If you decide to entice the Tomato Sauce to jump into your cart by paying 20 dollars for it. You change the market for the prices of all Tomato Sauce and Lipton Ice Tea for everybody.

 

We also don't know if the current recipe being cooked up by Terry Ryan calls for Tomato sauce.

 

It's a fair arguement, but I'm still OK with going after better caliber pitchers even at the risk that they'll turn out to be an Edwin Jackson or Dan Haren. There is financial risk, but all it is really doing is limiting the ability to sign the future Carrolls, Pelreys and Correias. Those guys are easily replacable with AAA players and, while I'm not trying to be harsh, they are the true source of wasted payroll. Free agent money should be spent on upgrades, not depth. Thats what the minor leagues and waivers are for.

 

As for changing the market; good. Why shouldn't the Twins be the team adjusting the market as opposed to the team that gets adjusted by the market. I've had enough of this team being reactive instead of proactive.

[drjim]

I think the argument has much more to do with whether or not signing a player LIKE Sanchez would have been a smart move or not. He just happens to be the example.

 

This is extremely disingenuous. It is only fair to judge on players who actually exist not complain about hypothetical signings of players that aren't there. It was Sanchez, Greinke or the assorted leftover slop.

 

Part of what is not acknowledged is that a signing like this is agreeable in theory but is much more difficult to execute in practice, mostly because of a lack of supply of free agent pitchers of that quality.

 

The only way to acquire a pitcher like this in free agency is a massive overpay at a cost that franchises with more resources and closer to competing this season chose to pass on. I would think that would give some pause as to the wisdom of the Twins outbidding the Tigers for Sanchez.

[LaBombo]

But several of us were advocating the pursuit of Jackson, which makes us all look kinda stupid in retrospect. Still a lot of time on that contract to turn it around but hoooooo boy, he looks bad with the Cubbies.

 

I backed off wanting him once the price was announced but still, that deal looks like a dud at almost any price.

 

His peripherals are virtually identical to last season, with the exception of a high babip and low strand rate. Unless he gets hurt or falls apart in the second half, he'll have roughly double Correia's war value for about 3 million more than twice the seasonal price.

[drjim]

His peripherals are virtually identical to last season, with the exception of a high babip and low strand rate. Unless he gets hurt or falls apart in the second half, he'll have a bit more than twice Correia's war value for about 3 million more than twice the seasonal price.

 

That last line made me chuckle.

[ThePuck]

This is extremely disingenuous. It is only fair to judge on players who actually exist not complain about hypothetical signings of players that aren't there. It was Sanchez, Greinke or the assorted leftover slop.

 

Part of what is not acknowledged is that a signing like this is agreeable in theory but is much more difficult to execute in practice, mostly because of a lack of supply of free agent pitchers of that quality.

 

The only way to acquire a pitcher like this in free agency is a massive overpay at a cost that franchises with more resources and closer to competing this season chose to pass on. I would think that would give some pause as to the wisdom of the Twins outbidding the Tigers for Sanchez.

 

No, we're arguing the scenario, the scenario being whether or not signing a quality pitcher for 5 years for a high annual salary when we aren't competitive now is a good idea (with other factors thrown in, of course, like age, possible digression of skills). Nothing disingenuous about it. You not understanding the debate doesn't make it disingenuous.

[Riverbrian]

I think the argument has much more to do with whether or not signing a player LIKE Sanchez would have been a smart move or not. He just happens to be the example.

 

I get that... No Question... Signing a player like Sanchez would be wonderful for any organization... no matter where they are in the building process... (For this year at least).

 

Sanchez is pitching well... He'd look great in a Twins uniform.

 

However... if the conversation is that Terry Ryan isn't doing his job because he didn't sign a player like Sanchez... You have to include all of his options and Edwin Jackson has to become part of the discussion... Because they were 2A and 2B during the off season.

 

I just don't know what Terry Ryan is cooking. I assume it's going to be wonderful and I assume it isn't Microwave speed. I also don't know if the recipe includes a player like Sanchez in 2013.

 

Maybe the Sanchez type player is supposed to be added to the recipe later instead of now.

 

Maybe the recipe calls for a Alex Meyer type player later.

 

The job isn't done... We are still losing. Grading Terry Ryan right now is going to look bad because we are losing.

 

It's quite possible that we are looking into the pot of soup that isn't finished cooking and saying... I don't like it...

 

It's just possible that it ain't done yet. I don't know.

[ThePuck]

I just don't know what Terry Ryan is cooking. I assume it's going to be wonderful and I assume it isn't Microwave speed.

 

LOVE that line. Kudos, my friend!

[Kwak]

Is there another situation in the history of Ryan's tenure where he traded a young pitcher before he even hit arbitration, much less a good young pitcher who hadn't hit arbitration?

 

Terry Ryan has a pretty solid track record of valuing starting pitching above all else. He traded a position player for Rick Reed when the Twins offense was... lackluster, to put it nicely. He traded Eric Milton for more pitching when Milton was on the verge of FA. The only pitcher I remember him trading was Kyle Lohse, who was flat-out awful in his last season with the team and was also on the verge of FA. He refused to trade Radke when most of baseball was salivating to get their hands on the guy at the trade deadline.

 

The Twins were on the cusp of losing their ace pitcher when they traded away their best young pitcher the same offseason. Given Ryan's record, I have a hard time believing he was the one who orchestrated that move. It doesn't make sense given the previous 6-7 seasons of how the guy managed the franchise, where he zealously held on to Twins starting pitching, sometimes to a fault (Joe Mays, anyone?).

 

And the "Garza was too wild and uncoachable" line is more than a little ridiculous considering that the Twins traded him for Delmon-freaking-Young, a guy who spends his free time hitting people with bats and making anti-Semetic remarks. Matt Garza is the patron saint of friendliness compared to that dude.

 

Oh, he had a hand, probably both! His final GM team player evaluations would have formed the basis of the '07 trades. Add to that his aversion to free agents. The Twins wanted OFers--good ones, no Rondell Whites! Every off-season there are oodles of OF available--but the good ones are expensive and demand lengthy contracts. The entire organization carried the philosophy of FA = "overpay", and Smith and the rest of them would have that philosophy flowing in their veins.

So how do they get good OFers if they can't buy them?--they trade for them! SP were in excess and by golly the OF problem would be solved by trading pitching--Santana and whoever (it turned out to be Garza). Yes, Ryan was involved, his disciples had the Twins' [his] philosophy and acted accordingly. Recall, that Ryan said [in '07] he wasn't completely gone, he had a "consulting role".

[Brock Beauchamp]

His peripherals are virtually identical to last season, with the exception of a high babip and low strand rate. Unless he gets hurt or falls apart in the second half, he'll have roughly double Correia's war value for about 3 million more than twice the seasonal price.

 

Heh. I hadn't looked into his peripherals too closely, only the ugliness that is his ERA.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Oh, he had a hand, probably both! His final GM team player evaluations would have formed the basis of the '07 trades. Add to that his aversion to free agents. The Twins wanted OFers--good ones, no Rondell Whites! Every off-season there are oodles of OF available--but the good ones are expensive and demand lengthy contracts. The entire organization carried the philosophy of FA = "overpay", and Smith and the rest of them would have that philosophy flowing in their veins.

So how do they get good OFers if they can't buy them?--they trade for them! SP were in excess and by golly the OF problem would be solved by trading pitching--Santana and whoever (it turned out to be Garza). Yes, Ryan was involved, his disciples had the Twins' [his] philosophy and acted accordingly. Recall, that Ryan said [in '07] he wasn't completely gone, he had a "consulting role".

 

That only makes sense if you ignore the obvious fact that trading for outfielders (one of the easier things to find in baseball) opened a giant hole in the starting rotation (much harder to find in baseball).

 

Ryan was the GM of this team for a long time. I posted multiple situations showing how he handled the starting staff before he left. His history involved basically zero instances of him trading a young starting pitcher, much less a very good starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.00 in his first real season with the team.

 

Ryan spent a decade hoarding his pitchers and pitching prospects yet the moment he left, the two best starters on the team were traded. Yet people still think Ryan was the man pulling the strings on those deals. How on earth does that make sense? If anything, I think it pretty clearly shows the exact opposite. He may have been a consultant but there's also a good chance that Smith flat-out didn't listen to him.

 

Now that Ryan is GM again, he's gobbling up pitching at every opportunity. Whenever he's in the GM chair, the Twins accumulate pitching and don't let go of it. The moment he leaves, they trade it away... But logic around these parts believe Ryan is still the one who told Billy Boy to make those trades.

 

Damn, Terry Ryan must have really hated Bill Smith because he basically consulted him out of a job.

 

edit: I think Ryan would have traded Santana. His history with Lohse and Milton show that to be the case... But I think he would have demanded pitching in return had he been GM. Also, Ryan deserves a lot of fault for leaving Smith in a really crappy situation with Hunter and Santana. But given Ryan's history, I can't see a situation where he trades Johan and Garza in the same offseason. That was utter madness.

[drjim]

No, we're arguing the scenario, the scenario being whether or not signing a quality pitcher for 5 years for a high annual salary when we aren't competitive now is a good idea (with other factors thrown in, of course, like age, possible digression of skills). Nothing disingenuous about it. You not understanding the debate doesn't make it disingenuous.

 

Fair enough. I mistakingly thought a thread analyzing Ryan and his (lack of) moves would have been more concerned with moves he actually could have made involving players that actually exist.

 

If the question is whether the Twins hypothetically should sign a good pitcher to a five year deal then I could hypothetically be on board. Just not Sanchez at that contract.

[ThePuck]

Fair enough. I mistakingly thought a thread analyzing Ryan and his (lack of) moves would have been more concerned with moves he actually could have made involving players that actually exist.

 

If the question is whether the Twins hypothetically should sign a good pitcher to a five year deal then I could hypothetically be on board. Just not Sanchez at that contract.

 

In the end, it isn't about whether or not he signed specific player. It's about whether or not signing a player like Sanchez for a certain amount of time and money based on where this team is in it's development is a good idea or not.

 

I'm not slamming him for not signing Sanchez. Some are saying signing a player like him, if Ryan could, would have been a good idea. People are arguing against that saying that signing a guy like him, at what it took to get him in years and money, wouldn't have been a good idea based on where we are currently.

 

It's pretty straight forward. In most instances one could go back and take out the name Sanchez and put player X and it'd still mean the same. The debate on whether or not to try and sign him is a good idea still happens. Except, of course, when one points to a shoulder injury that hadn't even occurred until the season to tilt the debate, which my crystal ball didn't show me in the offseason.

 

Now, just about Sanchez...based on Fangraphs value rankings, says he was worth what he got in FA. I would have had no problem making that move, but again, not slamming Ryan for not doing it. He may have tried, though I doubt it.

[jokin]

That last line made me chuckle.

 

That last line made me cry...

[pierre75275]

Chili Davis?

[LaBombo]

Heh. I hadn't looked into his peripherals too closely, only the ugliness that is his ERA.

I doubt that even saber-inclined Cubby fans are looking much past that ERA, and it might even be starting to test the patience of a James disciple like Epstein. Just brought it up because, like his fellow FA Sean Marcum, he's not quite the outright bust that he appears to be at first glance.

[jokin]

So maybe the answer to making a solid pitching staff isn't through free agency? Maybe the team should draft well, make some strong trades and build up through a core? Sort of like what the GM is clearly doing?

 

If the best argument against Ryan's plan is "pay a lot of money and hope" I'm ok with the GMs plan.

 

Conversely, if the best argument for Ryan's plan is "dumpster dive for FA replacements, cut payroll further and hope", I'm not OK with the GM's plan.

 

The draft for TR has thus far yielded 2 18 year old pitchers, which means probably 6 years of development- and then you probably will have a natural 50% washout rate. The 2 most recent AA acquisitions were made from a "position of strength", not many of the strength pillars left to trade from at the ML level, are there? And of the 3 acquisitions (counting Worley), the jury is still out, injury and inconsistency are currently plaguing the reality of this route coming to full fruition.

[jokin]

I doubt that even saber-inclined Cubby fans are looking much past that ERA, and it might even be starting to test the patience of a James disciple like Epstein. Just brought it up because, like his fellow FA Sean Marcum, he's not quite the outright bust that he appears to be at first glance.

 

Thanks for the Marcum mention, both he and Jackson have to a large extent, been victims of circumstances. According to Fangraphs, Marcum has already represented $6.3M worth of value, far outstripping his contract, while Jackson still has a good chance in coming close to matching his contract value.