Stones

It took some stones. They keep showin’ em, and for some reason, I keep being surprised. I’ve written in this space before about the calculated risks the Texas front office takes. One of the things I haven’t yet addressed is the stones they show sometimes, too. The Darvish signing? Stones. Promoting a 20 year old shortstop and moving the face of the franchise regardless of his wishes? Stones. Swooping in, literally in the last minutes of the trade deadline to snap up the last remaining, viable, starting pitcher? Stones. Aggressively promoting your 19 year old Curacao Kid with preternatural ability? Stones. And the latest, may be the greatest. Bringing up a slugging prospect whose rather clear MO will be to play first base and provide relief at third while lumbering some righthanded wood in the lineup. It may be the greatest because, too often front offices in sports, while armed with exponentially more information than any of us, lack the chutzpah to make the difficult moves. We see it all the time. We see it directly across the parking lot from RBiA.  We’ve all seen the regression from the 35 year old, super utility/DH. Some have near violent reactions to his continued inclusion in the lineup. But I don’t think many of us thought they’d actually do something about it this quickly. Well, they did. I’m not necessarily one who is either prone to, nor loathe, to heap praise on the actions of a front office. I admit, most fans vastly underestimate a front office’s collective intelligence and ability, however most fans properly size most FO’s desire to rock the boat, or to do what is necessary. People are involved, and allegiances, and families, and loyalties. But in the current professional sports universe, the successful organizations seem to be the ones unafraid of having difficult conversations and even less afraid of making difficult moves. [he types as Bill Belichick goes stomping across his television screen] I’m not sure why the Rangers’ front office’s moves to do what they feel puts the team in the best position to win, continues to surprise me. But it won’t anymore. Michael Young is struggling mightily, there is a better alternative. Period. Call him up. Put him in the lineup. It’ll be fine. It’ll be better.

This won’t last forever. Nothing does. But it’s pretty cool right now. Stones. Big ones, as a matter of fact. Purrettty big stones.

As Always, Enjoy Baseball.

Love Ya!

Your Friend,

Tepid

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