It is generally my firm conviction that when your team needs to establish something positive, there is simply nothing quite like seeing the Kansas City Royals on the schedule.
Watch that come back to bite me....
Anyway, I was reading Keith Law's ESPN chat last week. Keith's a bright guy who knows all sorts of things I don't know. But this gave me pause:
Randy (Toronto)
Any reason to be worried about Snider's slow start? He has nothing left to prove in AAA so what would you do if you where Cito?
Klaw (12:43 PM)
He gets 500 AB in the majors this year. Period. If they don't do that, they're not serious about developing their own talent.
Sorry, Keith. It's just not that simple.
Here's the difference between Lyle Overbay's struggles and Travis Snider's. Overbay has accomplished a thing or two in the major leagues - he has earned a chance to work his way through his current difficulties. Snider has accomplished nothing remotely comparable - he is being given that opportunity. As he should. But there are limits. If he's still flirting with the Mendoza Line in June, there will be trouble. It's not just that you're announcing to the other 24 guys on the team that you're not serious about winning, and that the manager isn't making out the lineup card. Both of these things are bad enough and will, I promise, create big, big problems.
The real problem comes from giving special treatment to a player who hasn't done anything to deserve it. Vernon Wells, who was drafted much higher than Snider by the way, certainly didn't get this kind of treatment when he was coming up. What is he supposed to think? He'll never actually say anything - that's not his style - but he'll certainly notice. And what Vernon Wells thinks matters enormously on this team: because of the type of person he is, because of what he's accomplished in the game, and because of the money he makes (while fans may lament his contract, rest assured that his teammates admire him because of it.)
I trust everything will work out fine. Right now I think Snider's main problem is that he's been hitting balls right at people. His attitude seems fine, his manager seems to be supporting him. I think the hits will start to fall in. But they are going to have to. You simply can't give him 500 at bats otherwise, not if you're serious about running a ball club. Which is slightly more complicated than simply developing young talent.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20100418200828225