MacPhail:"this week we would put the finishing touches on" the roster."

[Hank Scorpio]

Everyone seems to be assuming Crede will be signed - with Tejada as the only fallback - and ignoring this AM quote in Zrebiec's article:

I'd be shocked if Delgado could hold down 1st base.

[EL_Coyote]

I'd be shocked if Delgado could hold down 1st base.

I agree. I thought they were looking to trade Luke Scott for a young positional prospect. Then adding someone like Delgado could have made some sense as a DH.

Yes, I stopped playing the lottery a while back.

[Frobby]

To be clear, I agree with everything I've read from Frobby in this thread -- I've just been heavy-handed with some of my critiques this off-season so I'm trying to be clear that I'll give the FO the benefit of the doubt until it actually blows up in their face. But I tend to think the odds of failure are better than the odds of success if we are talking about an Atkins/Crede 1b/3b...

For my part, I just want to be on record so nobody will accuse me of second-guessing when I am critical later in the season if the situation blows up. However, I would rather be proven wrong on this one. If Atkins and anyone else we acquire do the job, I will be the first to admit I was wrong.

[RShack]

How on earth could they have even come up with that idea?

There is one way it makes sense: If they think that one or both of Snyder and Bell are gonna be here soon. If they think that, then the only disagreement is about how much money to pour down the toilet between now and then.

Unless of course you believe it's easy to "flip" guys who nobody else wants much, which you do and I don't.

Possible scenario: Let's say Snyder is expected to show up before long (which isn't crazy since AM already said out loud that he expects him to be here sometime this year). Then, they've got however long until that happens is to see which of Atkins and Whoever they wanna keep at 3B until Bell shows up. If Crow has Atkins knocking the cover off the ball, they keep him; if he's not, then they have a cab take Atkins to Jay Gibbon's house and they keep the other guy.

Here is my completely unsubstantiated guess, which I had before and which this news is consistent with: AM expects to see Snyder in the first half, and Bell in the second half. If that's what he thinks, then I think it makes sense in a dispassionate kind of way. Now, since you believe in having no loyalty to any player and treating them all like pieces of meat, then I would expect you would appreciate that kind of dispassionate thinking. But I guess not...

[Sports Guy]

There is one way it makes sense: If they think that one or both of Snyder and Bell are gonna be here soon. If they think that, then the only disagreement is about how much money to pour down the toilet between now and then.

Unless of course you believe it's easy to "flip" guys who nobody else wants much, which you do and I don't.

Possible scenario: Let's say Snyder is expected to show up before long (which isn't crazy since AM already said out loud that he expects him to be here sometime this year). Then, they've got however long until that happens is to see which of Atkins and Whoever they wanna keep at 3B until Bell shows up. If Crow has Atkins knocking the cover off the ball, they keep him; if he's not, then they have a cab take Atkins to Jay Gibbon's house and they keep the other guy.

Here is my completely unsubstantiated guess, which I had before and which this news is consistent with: AM expects to see Snyder in the first half, and Bell in the second half. If that's what he thinks, then I think it makes sense in a dispassionate kind of way. Now, since you believe in having no loyalty to any player and treating them all like pieces of meat, then I would expect you would appreciate that kind of dispassionate thinking. But I guess not...

If you think they are going to come up soon, you go with what you have right now, make sure Reimold and Pie get enough at bats and leave it at that.

There is no justification for this move unless Scott is being traded.

And the bolded sentence just shows you how pathetic and clueless you continue to be. I feel very sorry for those who have to interact with you on a daily basis.

[RShack]

Well, MacPhail is not clear, of course, but I am not connecting the Bedard and Hendrickson situations. I think Bedard is someone he wants on an incentive contract with and option for 2011. I think he is looking at him as a starter. Whoever is not pitching well when Bedard is ready gets sent to the pen or to AAA.

The Hendrickson thing is probably because he has an offer or offers out to trade Scott and the trade involves a lefthanded reliever in return as part of the deal. He is probably telling the other GM(s) that they have to decide in the next week to 10 days or he will sign Hendrickson.

Holy moly. You're better at intangible jigsaw puzzles than me.

You could be right, I don't know what AM's doing. But this seems like it has a lot of moving parts.

I think it's just as likely that it's Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with the Candlestick ;-)

[RShack]

If you think they are going to come up soon, you go with what you have right now, make sure Reimold and Pie get enough at bats and leave it at that.

No, that's not covering your butt. There's a diff between expecting it and counting on it 100%. This gives him more wiggle room.

[mcgraw238]

There is one way it makes sense: If they think that one or both of Snyder and Bell are gonna be here soon. If they think that, then the only disagreement is about how much money to pour down the toilet between now and then.

Unless of course you believe it's easy to "flip" guys who nobody else wants much, which you do and I don't.

Possible scenario: Let's say Snyder is expected to show up before long (which isn't crazy since AM already said out loud that he expects him to be here sometime this year). Then, they've got however long until that happens is to see which of Atkins and Whoever they wanna keep at 3B until Bell shows up. If Crow has Atkins knocking the cover off the ball, they keep him; if he's not, then they have a cab take Atkins to Jay Gibbon's house and they keep the other guy.

Here is my completely unsubstantiated guess, which I had before and which this news is consistent with: AM expects to see Snyder in the first half, and Bell in the second half. If that's what he thinks, then I think it makes sense in a dispassionate kind of way. Now, since you believe in having no loyalty to any player and treating them all like pieces of meat, then I would expect you would appreciate that kind of dispassionate thinking. But I guess not...

That is my take as well. Its clear that a path to first and third is out there for Snyder and Bell, respectively. Thus, you find stop gaps, hopefully with some upside, in the mean time. Atkins and Crede/Tejada fit that description.

[Sports Guy]

No, that's not covering your butt. There's a diff between expecting it and counting on it 100%. This gives him more wiggle room.

You would have Wiggy, Scott, Atkins and one of Moore or Aubrey to cover your butt...plus the guys in the minors.

Of course, if AM signed Leo Gomez, you would be on your knees worshipping his existence, so whatever. You are a sheep.

[RShack]

First of all, Pie isn't going to DH.

Secondly, you are also assuming DT can pull this off and will pull this off...which is a HUGE assumption. You are going to have to rely on injuries.

Oh, jeez, it's not hard or complicated.

And what is going to happen with Pie? He will play once a week and people will go back to crying about how poor he looks...while ignoring the sporadic at bats. And then we will have the uneducated opinions about him being thrown around here and within the media again.

DT already said he's thinking that Pie should bat 2nd vs. RH-SP'ing. Now, we can argue about where Pie should bat, but that's not the point. The point is that DT has already said more about Pie getting steady PT than anything he ever said about the guy before.

You're making this sound harder than it really is. AM is not being a dope about expecting 3 OF'ers to stay healthy all season, especially in the aftermath of having 2 of them not do it last year. I bet DT is glad to have plenty of honest-to-God OF'ers. This way, even if 1 of them goes down, then Luke means he's still got 4 left without bringing up somebody from AAA who otherwise wouldn't be good enough to be in the Bigs. When Scott is #3 on your chart at LF, it means you're stacked.

Look, there's nothing wrong with the O's being stacked. Being stacked is what we want. Face it, AM has things well stocked at every place except the IF. We don't know how the kid-P's are gonna do, but he's arranged to have a long line of guys both at P and in the OF. That mean s 2 out of 3 basic areas are now areas of significant strength, which is way better than the 0 of of 3 that we had not long ago. Plus, we're more stacked at those 2 places going forward than are The Competition. And if he's right that Snyder and Bell are gonna work, then this is just a matter of letting the cake bake until it's done, instead of screwing things up or pouring money down the drain for no good reason.

[Stotle]

Oh, jeez, it's not hard or complicated.

DT already said he's thinking that Pie should bat 2nd vs. RH-SP'ing. Now, we can argue about where Pie should bat, but that's not the point. The point is that DT has already said more about Pie getting steady PT than anything he ever said about the guy before.

You're making this sound harder than it really is. AM is not being a dope about expecting 3 OF'ers to stay healthy all season, especially in the aftermath of having 2 of them not do it last year. I bet DT is glad to have plenty of honest-to-God OF'ers. This way, even if 1 of them goes down, then Luke means he's still got 4 left without bringing up somebody from AAA who otherwise wouldn't be good enough to be in the Bigs. When Scott is #3 on your chart at LF, it means you're stacked.

Look, there's nothing wrong with the O's being stacked. Being stacked is what we want. Face it, AM has things well stocked at every place except the IF. We don't know how the kid-P's are gonna do, but he's arranged to have a long line of guys both at P and in the OF. That mean s 2 out of 3 basic areas are now areas of significant strength, which is way better than the 0 of of 3 that we had not long ago. Plus, we're more stacked at those 2 places going forward than are The Competition. And if he's right that Snyder and Bell are gonna work, then this is just a matter of letting the cake bake until it's done, instead of screwing things up or pouring money down the drain for no good reason.

Just funny sounding. After all, "infield" does equate to 44% of the players in the game, at any given time.

[RShack]

You would have Wiggy, Scott, Atkins and one of Moore or Aubrey to cover your butt...plus the guys in the minors.

Well, I agree about Luke, and I don't understand why he can't play 1B. I'm not agreeing with them about it, I'm just recognizing that that's how they think about it. I don't know why they do, but they do. As for Scott Moore, apparently they don't think much of him. I don't know what they're gonna do with Wiggy.

As for Aubrey, weren't you just yelling at somebody for even suggesting that? Didn't you say that he shouldn;t even be allowed to have a chance in ST? But now you're saying they should count on him in case Snyder goes slow? Make up your mind.

You are a sheep.

You like sheep. You just want sheep who agree with you.

[Sports Guy]

As for Aubrey, weren't you just yelling at somebody for even suggesting that? Didn't you say that he shouldn;t even be allowed to have a chance in ST? But now you're saying they should count on him in case Snyder goes slow? Make up your mind.

He can be depth if Wiggy, Atkins and Scott all fall through...And since your theory is Snyder will be up soon, it doesn't matter.

Aubrey shouldn't be starting but he can be depth for a few weeks if needs be...Sorry if you can;t understand the difference there although I am not surprised you can't.

[RShack]

Just funny sounding. After all, "infield" does equate to 44% of the players in the game, at any given time.

Ha! You're right. But that's not really what I meant. And I agree that IF is 4 different kinds of guys, not different flavors of similar guys like the OF and the P'ing is.

Here's what I meant: We gotta count on some kid-P's coming thru, or else we're screwed regardless. If we do count on that, then we're looking good for both the P'ing and the OF. We're covered up the middle and at the corner-OF spots too. The 2 big holes are at CI, and AM seems to think he's got that covered with Snyder and Bell. So, it's just a matter of timing, like the P'ing is.

Here's what we know: As-is, we're very likely to be noticeably better at W's than last year, and we're on the verge of being way, way better. The only thing we're arguing about, really, is how much we should invest in temp spare parts before our CI's show up. Now, it's fine to argue about that, I'm not saying we shouldn't argue about it. But let's at least admit that that's all we're really arguing about...

[wildcard]

Holy moly. You're better at intangible jigsaw puzzles than me.

You could be right, I don't know what AM's doing. But this seems like it has a lot of moving parts.

I think it's just as likely that it's Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with the Candlestick ;-)

Candlestick is in San Francisco. At least it was.