Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Another loss
Let's get this straight. The Expos are not a good team. They are a team constructed with a shoe string budget and no real direction thanks to MLB. It should be obvious to anyone that they are not playing to win right now. There is no benefit to finishing the season if they won all the remaining games. It simply does not matter. They can't even reach .500.
With this in mind it should be obvious that this time should be used to evaluate minor league talent, to see who, if anyone will be useful next year. Since August 21st, the Expos have called up 4 position players and only 1, Macier Izturis, is getting signifcant playing time. But even he is getting this time at a position he will most likely not be playing next year. This is simply unacceptable.
I know they'd like to evaluate Endy Chavez, Termell Sledge, and Juan Rivera more, as they are as much prospects as anyone that was called up. But they have played 130+ games, conclusions can be drawn. Their conitnued everyday play basically tells me they have no interest in seeing whether Ryan Church or Val Pascucci will be productive major leaguers. This is a crowded area but something can be worked out here so everyone could be playing at least half the games.
The lack of playing time for Brendan Harris is even more perplexing because he is not getting crowded out by other "young" talent. He is not playing so Tony Batista and Alex Gonzalez can get at bats. This is utterly ridiculous. Neither of these players should be on the team next year which almost guarantees Harris will be playing next year or at least seriously looked at as a starter, so why not do it now?
I'm not sure if this is Frank's decision or Omar's edict, but either way it does not fill me with hope for next year.
With this in mind it should be obvious that this time should be used to evaluate minor league talent, to see who, if anyone will be useful next year. Since August 21st, the Expos have called up 4 position players and only 1, Macier Izturis, is getting signifcant playing time. But even he is getting this time at a position he will most likely not be playing next year. This is simply unacceptable.
I know they'd like to evaluate Endy Chavez, Termell Sledge, and Juan Rivera more, as they are as much prospects as anyone that was called up. But they have played 130+ games, conclusions can be drawn. Their conitnued everyday play basically tells me they have no interest in seeing whether Ryan Church or Val Pascucci will be productive major leaguers. This is a crowded area but something can be worked out here so everyone could be playing at least half the games.
The lack of playing time for Brendan Harris is even more perplexing because he is not getting crowded out by other "young" talent. He is not playing so Tony Batista and Alex Gonzalez can get at bats. This is utterly ridiculous. Neither of these players should be on the team next year which almost guarantees Harris will be playing next year or at least seriously looked at as a starter, so why not do it now?
I'm not sure if this is Frank's decision or Omar's edict, but either way it does not fill me with hope for next year.
