Of course if we knew we’d be paying guys to help lose baseball games while at the same time undermining our future teams chances we wouldn’t have made those moves. Maybe we’d have made other one’s like Lackey, Figgins, Dunn, Silva, Sorriano or Milton Bradley but the fact is it’s someone’s job to fully evaluate the pros and cons of the decisions made. Properly evaluate the risk and reward and balance the present vs. the future.

If it was your money manager who came back with these results year after year would you tell him “that’s alright Brent, don’t worry about it I know you were trying. I’m not going to 2nd guess you, I’ll just live on beans and toast for the next 10 years and take on 3 or 4 extra part time jobs.”

The currency for MLB teams are their prospects just like cash is for us. If you have no cash in your wallet for a slice or two does that mean you should be putting lobster on your credit card or finding a way to get some money in your pocket?

We’ve been going the lobster route, still have an empty belly and now the credit cards maxed out and what little cash we do have on the way, is just that……….on the way, but at the moment we’re still starving.

When we re-acquired Cedeno we spent a 3rd round draft choice, same year we spent a #2 on David Weathers. Among the players available after the pick we gave the Cubs for Weathers were Jon Lester (next pick) Jonathon Broxton, Brian McCann, Jesse Crain and Curtis Granderson.

What makes you think we would have had to select the guy the Cubs did? Or anyone else for that matter?

Josh Johnson was available with the pick we lost on Cedeno. We didn’t have the chance to draft him.

Think any of those guys wouldn’t have been better than two more in a long, long list of salary dumps?

How long was a 34 year old Roberto Alomar supposed to play well for? Forever? Our top prospect for a 34 year old 2nd basemen? Hey maybe Phillips recognized that Escobar was never going to control the strike zone and got off him. More power to him if he did but considering how many future All Stars (Mora, Izzy, Bay, Cruz, Burnett) he did trade away, not to mention those he tried to (Reyes and Wright) I highly doubt his thought process was anything more than just trying to patch a rust bucket.

Appier cost a #1 pick and was then cashed in for two years of Mo Vaughn. You call that a success?

Bonilla cost a 2nd rounder that had Todd Helton and Jason Giambi on the board.

Ventura was a good fit and did have have a great year, two mediocre ones and became a salary dump. Brian Roberts could have been taken with that pick.

Zeile’s 1st rounder could have been Wainwright or Kelly Johnson.

Floyd’s 2nd rounder could have been Scott Baker or Andre Either.

Alou’s first rounder could have been Travis d’Anaurd, Mike Stanton or Freddie Freeman.

K-Rods first rounder could have been Mike Trout or Tyler Skaggs.

The point isn’t that we would have drafted any or all of these guys, the point is these are the types of guys we haven’t given ourselves a chance to get. With just one more bat in the lineup 2006, 2007 and 2008 could have been MUCH different not to mention if Wainwright had been on our team.

We haven’t given ourselves a chance to get this kind of talent on our roster and all too frequently the guys we’ve given that chance up for have sucked, plain and simple; and then become salary dumps and it has been hurting our teams chances for years now and will continue to do so for many more years to come and is a big part of the reason we have four 1st basemen in our starting lineup……..again.

Even just lucking out on two late 2nd rounders like McCann and Either would have made a HUGE difference for this team and solved area’s where we’ve sucked for 7-25 years respectively and might continue to for years to come.

Castillo, Perez, Cedeno and Coleman and bonilla were just head scratching moves, but every time has them agee, stop this nonsense, i showed you yesterday the picks we got for signing alou, here’s the players we lost due to the signing of Players you often cry about:

For Bonilla the pirates got Danny clayburn… A F’IN BUM!!!!!
For Coleman the cardinals got Brian Barber… Another BUM!!!!!!
For Ventura the White sox got Matt Ginter… Another BUM!!!!!!!!
For Aaron Sele the Rangers got Scott Heard…. Yet Another BUM!!!!!
For Kevin Apier the A’s got Jeremy Bonderman… Do the Math…
For David Weathers the CUbs got Brian Dopirak.. Never even Made it..
For Cliff Floyd the Red Sox got Abe Alvarez… Another one…
For Tom Glavine the Braves got Jake Stevens… Never even Made it..
For Pedro Martinez the Red Sox got John Egan.. Never Made it…
For Beltran the Astros got Tommy Manzella… Another one who never even sniffed..
For Billy Wagner the Phillies got Kyle Drabek.. Book still out, but did get them halladay so..

The CORE begs you to please once and for all you stop complaining about what we could’ve had, we could’ve ended up with all those bums as well… the CORE is pleased to help you be quiet about draft picks and how the signing we did prevented us from drafting such and such.. we could’ve ended up with all those bums… all of them…

First off K-Rod had a limited no-trade clause. Only real difference is K-Rod got to pick what teams he could be traded to, His problem is he never submitted a list!

Second if Bay is not hitting well by the end of this year he will be platooning and never get that many PAs to vest!

The Ace is the most difficult piece to produce so if you have to go out and get one that’s one thing. Johan and Pedro were good ideas. The problem was that we had to go FA twice for closers, twice for LF, CF, 2B, a #3 SP, and trade for two 1B, 4 RFers, and two catchers and a set up man. The only constants were SS and 3B. that was the problem, not the ace.

LF could have easily been solved with a combination of Evans and Chavez or a platoon of two non tenders or something like that. LF is the easiest position to take care of and considering that the 2009 pitching staff was the 2nd worst one since 1966, if you were going to spend money………

The problem we had was that we had to go FA for two aces, a #3 starter, two closers, a 2B, CF, LFer twice and trade for a catcher, set up man, three RFers and two 1B.

The only constants were SS and 3B.

Piazza’s last top year was at 33 and Keith Hernandez at 32. Not saying those guys were useless after but just that players don’t get better or even stay at their age 31 year level very long. Bay is no Piazza or Hernandez and his first year here BEGAN at age 31 exactly the age you want to let the guy go.

Look at which free agents we’ve signed have been both healthy and productive. Beltran (28-33) and K-Rod (27-29) vs which ones haven’t. Alou (40), Pedro (33-36), Castillo (32-35) Bay (31-35). Delgado’s best years were from 28-31 by far and then again at age 33. Not saying he wasn’t a useful hitter but he was never the same guy with us that he was for Toronto or even the Marlins the one year they had him.

The only reason we went after Bay in the first place is because he was one of two guys “who were available.” Not that he was the right fit for the team, lineup or especially the park. Citi field is difficult to hit HR’s so lets go get a HR hitter who’s entering his decline years. Good thinking. Imagine people are actually getting paid to make decisions like this. Hard to F-ing believe.

Citi Field, at least back in 2010, required jaguars, not giraffes. If the right guys not “available” don’t sign the wrong guy and hope he’s the exception and anyone should have been able to see that 162 strikeouts in Fenway isn’t a killer because of the monster but at Citi would be because of the expanse, not to mention the difference in both teams lineups.

Boston themselves didn’t want him going forward and either did anyone else.

PS the steroid era ended (for the most part) in 2004, right when we started loading up on senior citizens.

I think that Bay’s D is much better than advertised and while he’s not a GG’er, he plays a very good LF. Also, despite his power numbers being weak his first year, he was on place to have a decent (still below par) RBI total for the year. Sadly last year was the real disappointing year, instead of rebounding, he got worse.

I believe that Bay has handled himself very well, he hasn’t moped or put blame in other places. He’s owned it and still played his @ss off anyways. The big mistake I believe he’s made is the constant tinkering at the plate. I believe that is the reason for his poor production more than anything else.

I do believe that Bay isn’t done. He may never reach the numbers he put up in Boston, but I think he came reach 30HRs and 100RBI. Going back to his old approach and moving the fences should help him get past the mental block he has been struggling with.

We’ll never get back the money lost the first two years, but I think there is a realistic chance he’ll come close to earning the rest of his contract.

Also, I don’t see too many people who get pissy over Pedro. Even t agee has expressed approval of that deal.

Also, it only compares to Santana if Pedro pitched well enough to win a lot mroe games but was let down by the rest of the team.

That is why pitcher wins is an inaccurate way to rate their performance.