It begins with irrelevant song lyrics and a meandering prologue, but eventually, Peter Gammons gets around to a good look at the junior circuit in his latest column on ESPN. His most interesting observations include this summary of the A's philosophy:
Beane believes that the season comes in three parts: the first two months, when you figure out what you have; the next two months, when you take care of what you need; and the final two months, when you get into the passing lane and floor it.
It looks like Gammons took some time with this one, after a series of typos and non-sequiturs lately. He has some concerns about the Red Sox:
Meanwhile, for the last five weeks the self-absorbed Calvinists of Red Sox nation have bemoaned GM Theo Epstein's reluctance to trade Casey Fossum for one year of either Kevin Millwood or Colon. Never mind that the Boston farm system Epstein inherited is so pitiful that the Red Sox did not have a minor league pitcher win 10 games (or, for that matter, hit 20 homers) and that from the outset of his administration he has preached that the only way the Red Sox can beat a Brian Cashman team with George Steinbrenner revenues is through making this a "$100M developmental machine."
Nitpickers will say, "it's no surprise their minor-league pitchers didn't hit 20 HR," but we know what he means -- the cupboard is bare. P.G. surprisingly rates the White Sox almost neck-and-neck with the Twins, ahead of Boston and Seattle, and after cautioning that Stewart and Escobar won't be around much longer, has this to say about the "transitional" 2003 Jays:
This season is the time to develop Eric Hinske, Orlando Hudson and Chris Woodward in the infield, Vernon Wells in center, Josh Phelps at DH, Kevin Cash at catcher and, in time, Jayson Werth in right field.
True enough, but none of those guys is starting completely from scratch, and they could all contribute a lot this year. If Lidle and Sturtze pitch just a little better than Petey expects, there could be some meaningful Toronto games in September for the first time in five years and just the second in a decade.
Beane believes that the season comes in three parts: the first two months, when you figure out what you have; the next two months, when you take care of what you need; and the final two months, when you get into the passing lane and floor it.
It looks like Gammons took some time with this one, after a series of typos and non-sequiturs lately. He has some concerns about the Red Sox:
Meanwhile, for the last five weeks the self-absorbed Calvinists of Red Sox nation have bemoaned GM Theo Epstein's reluctance to trade Casey Fossum for one year of either Kevin Millwood or Colon. Never mind that the Boston farm system Epstein inherited is so pitiful that the Red Sox did not have a minor league pitcher win 10 games (or, for that matter, hit 20 homers) and that from the outset of his administration he has preached that the only way the Red Sox can beat a Brian Cashman team with George Steinbrenner revenues is through making this a "$100M developmental machine."
Nitpickers will say, "it's no surprise their minor-league pitchers didn't hit 20 HR," but we know what he means -- the cupboard is bare. P.G. surprisingly rates the White Sox almost neck-and-neck with the Twins, ahead of Boston and Seattle, and after cautioning that Stewart and Escobar won't be around much longer, has this to say about the "transitional" 2003 Jays:
This season is the time to develop Eric Hinske, Orlando Hudson and Chris Woodward in the infield, Vernon Wells in center, Josh Phelps at DH, Kevin Cash at catcher and, in time, Jayson Werth in right field.
True enough, but none of those guys is starting completely from scratch, and they could all contribute a lot this year. If Lidle and Sturtze pitch just a little better than Petey expects, there could be some meaningful Toronto games in September for the first time in five years and just the second in a decade.
