Oy. I've got some doozies here today that I'm not sure how to touch, so let me start off with a little tidbit from Baseball Musings on Jeff Baker. Sweet.
Okay. Now let's go on: Woody Paige. Alright, I know many of you agree on the re-signings of O'Dowd and Hurdle being terrible things, but you don't have a very good ally in Paige. I know many of you feel the same about Hawkins and Taveras, but it's just one frickin' game so far. How much better did 2006 Rockies MVP Garrett Atkins look at the plate yesterday? How much better did All-Star Matt Holliday? Shouldn't we be expecting more of them than Taveras? What about Aaron Cook? He wasn't exactly superior to Hawkins his first inning yesterday, either. Wait people. Don't rush to judgement just yet. It's okay to remain skeptical, but let's let the thing play out for a month. Well, okay, we could do less than a month if we're really really bad, but it doesn't look to me like that's the case.
We've got options. Brian Lawrence is begging for a chance to pitch. Manny Corpas has looked nigh unhittable most of the Spring, Hawkins can be bumped down as the season progresses if he continues to flail. One game and already Woody is raging around with the panic button. And what was all that about him trying to pretend the game yesterday wasn't a sellout. Yeah, okay. Several hundred empties in right is an indication that the franchise is doomed.
He's also looking for an accomplishment of O'Dowd's, and he and I both know that one need look no further than the bottom line of the Rockies payroll chart this year (or the last three) for that. This team is streamlined, and yet still talented enough to knock around the reigning Cy Young winner. If I was an owner and he did this for my pocketbook, I'd extend him too. Hurdle, not so much.
Anyway, my point is that it's too early to put Willy T on the bench, too early to say that LaTroy is doomed to screw up our season, and too early for proclaiming that Kaz is back to Japan Kaz, for that matter. We can't tell yet. Let's file this away as a strike for or against them, and move on to today.