In the Enquirer today, John Fay asks, if you were GM of this team what would you do, within reason.
I would trade Casey, Randa, and Aurilia to playoff contenders. Each player has value for a playoff team, but none of them are a long term solution here. I don’t know what other GMs value enough to know what we could get for any of these players. I would move Ortiz to the bullpen where he flourished for the Angels last year. I would bring up Bergolla until Freel is ready.
Rotation
Claussen
Harang
Belisle
Hudson
Milton
Lineup EVERYDAY
SS Lopez L .365 OBP
LF Kearns R To get him lots of ABs
1B Dunn L .950 OPS
RF Pena R .622 SLG
CF Griffey L .508 SLG
3B Encarnacion R the future
C LaRue coming around .441 SLG
2b Bergolla (Freel when ready)
Not really anything to complain about there. The SRLRLR pattern for the 1-6 hitters should make Narron happy. I might consider dropping Lopez down to the #2 hole (he’s a switch hitter, no?) to take more advantage of his power and putting someone like Encarnacion or Bergolla (or certainly Freel) in the leadoff spot. I’d be happy with Kearns hitting in the #7 slot until he comes around…I still have a lot of faith in that guy. -JinAZ
I had Lopez up in the leadoff spot to give him more ABs. He is our 2nd best hitter, I want him hitting early and often. I don’t want bergolla anywhere near the top of the order until his OBP approaches .350. Freel definetly belongs at the top, but not over Lopez in my opinoin.
I don’t agree with LRL thing, but my dumbass manager does, so to make him happy I put that in there.
I would make one change. Since Casey already bats right before Griffey right now (two lefties in a row), I wouldn’t think there would be much problem batting Dunn then Griffey then Pena.
I would also try to get rid of Milton, but I don’t see that happening.
I didn’t dump Milton, cause I wanted it to be realistic. If its at all possible I drop him in a heartbeat.
As far as Pena-Griffey switch. I was throwing my manager a bone. I wouldn’t have a problem having two lefties together.
I agree that Casey, Randa and Aurilia should all be moved, and I’d add Mercker and/or Weathers to that list as well depending on the return that they could generate. I’d rather keep them both and have a stable bullpen, but if either could fetch a decent pitching prospect in return, I’m willing to part with either or both of them.
As for the lineup, I’d prefer to see Kearns in RF and Pena in LF, and I’d go with:
Freel – 2B
Lopez – SS
Kearns – RF
Dunn – 1B
Griffey – CF
Pena – LF
Encarnacion – 3B
Larue – C