As Tyler mentioned below, Rich “Veteran Presence” Aurilia is complaining about playing time:
“I’ve never been at a place where you’ve been judged after 92, 94 or 96 at-bats,” he said. “If that’s what was done here, well, then I saw something new. But, you know, for me to come back now and swing the bat well, if anything, it’s good for my own psyche.”
Can we please get rid of this guy now?
I’m so tired of Aurilia. Can he even conceive of the fact that he’s simply not as good a player as Felipe Lopez?
And that’s not based on 90-some odd at-bats; it’s based on the last few years, and the fact that Lopez is a decade and a half younger than he.
Rich Aurilia needs to hold Dave Miley’s hand on their way out the door.
Aurillia has got to jump back into reality. At this point in his career, a “veteran presence” is what he is, not an everyday player.
After this year, I’m not so sure Aurilia has a baseball career. His stats have been on a downward trend for several years. He’s out of his mind if he thinks he’s still a starter. I’d have to ask Aurilia, (when he goes off on another of his tirades about not being given a fair shot) to name a MLB team, he could start for.
Apparently, we need to get on Aurilia more often.
I’m glad we kept him for this game. I’m not against keeping a guy like Aurilia for a utility player, but he’s not going to want that. With Freel and Lopez how can he expect to start?
I think Aurilia’s recent hot streak keeps him a Red for the rest of the year, unfortunately.
I liked the signing originally, because I figured it would light a fire under Lopez a bit (and I think it did) and he would be a decent veteran utility guy, but he’s obviously in the Larkin category of ex-starters who aren’t ready to accept that they’re backup players.
I guess we’ll see what happens when Machado comes off the DL.
Eric
Olmedo and Machado just don’t do it for me. I’d like to see some hitting out of those two. They’ve got gloves there’s not doubt about that, but we’ve already got Luis Lopez on the roster.
Greg, Now I get it. I think after Olmedo, or Machado get the call, Aurilia really learns what it means to be a veteran prescence on the bench. Either that or he waits until Bowa loses the XM radio job.