Jarvisgate?
The recent stories confirming what many of us feared- that Jarvis was on the roster due to idiotic upper management problems- is reason to question Melvin's management skills, or the gall of the front office.
We can now confidently say that Jarvis was on the roster for completely non-baseball reasons. The M's didn't want to eat the salary, so they foolishly forced the coach and staff to keep a player they didn't want. This is idiot move #1
We can only imagine the eruption that would occur if Mt. Piniella was still active in the NW. The closest scenario I can think of quickly would be when Luis Ugueto was forced on Lou as a Rule-5 project.
But Lou's not here, so let's put ourselves in Melvin's shoes for a second. You know Jarvis stinks, you know the person who signs your paycheck is telling you to play him, and you are in the final guaranteed year of your contract. (I think at this point we all know why the M's didn't hire Dusty Baker.) Melvin, being the perfect company man, took it in the tailpipe and went into opening day with Jarvis in the 'pen.
Now if we were in Melvin's shoes, what would WE do with Jarvis?
The answer is very straightforward. You bury him so deep on your bench he only sees time in hopeless games, and at the first sign of trouble you yank him. He is the LAST person who sees quality pitching time.
But is this what Melvin did? No, he played him regularly, and he was often the first long reliever off the bench. Remember the 3 home runs Jarvis gave up? He gave up huge runs in key games preventing possible comebacks in the first weekend of the season!! IMO, Julio Mateo was an outstanding reliever last year. Yet Jarvis logged more innings than Mateo. How in the world can Melvin justify playing Jarvis over Mateo??? Idiot move #2
So is Melvin a terrible manager, or is the front office not only telling the coaching staff who plays, BUT WHEN??
Either way, how likely is a turnaround this season with either a bad manager, a bad front office, or both??
And how will players react when they hear the front office was willing to sacrifice games early over some ego in the front office surrounding the Cirillo situation??
This situation stinks, M's fans. There is no way around it, and if you're not fired up over it you have even less passion than what we're seeing on the field.
The recent stories confirming what many of us feared- that Jarvis was on the roster due to idiotic upper management problems- is reason to question Melvin's management skills, or the gall of the front office.
We can now confidently say that Jarvis was on the roster for completely non-baseball reasons. The M's didn't want to eat the salary, so they foolishly forced the coach and staff to keep a player they didn't want. This is idiot move #1
We can only imagine the eruption that would occur if Mt. Piniella was still active in the NW. The closest scenario I can think of quickly would be when Luis Ugueto was forced on Lou as a Rule-5 project.
But Lou's not here, so let's put ourselves in Melvin's shoes for a second. You know Jarvis stinks, you know the person who signs your paycheck is telling you to play him, and you are in the final guaranteed year of your contract. (I think at this point we all know why the M's didn't hire Dusty Baker.) Melvin, being the perfect company man, took it in the tailpipe and went into opening day with Jarvis in the 'pen.
Now if we were in Melvin's shoes, what would WE do with Jarvis?
The answer is very straightforward. You bury him so deep on your bench he only sees time in hopeless games, and at the first sign of trouble you yank him. He is the LAST person who sees quality pitching time.
But is this what Melvin did? No, he played him regularly, and he was often the first long reliever off the bench. Remember the 3 home runs Jarvis gave up? He gave up huge runs in key games preventing possible comebacks in the first weekend of the season!! IMO, Julio Mateo was an outstanding reliever last year. Yet Jarvis logged more innings than Mateo. How in the world can Melvin justify playing Jarvis over Mateo??? Idiot move #2
So is Melvin a terrible manager, or is the front office not only telling the coaching staff who plays, BUT WHEN??
Either way, how likely is a turnaround this season with either a bad manager, a bad front office, or both??
And how will players react when they hear the front office was willing to sacrifice games early over some ego in the front office surrounding the Cirillo situation??
This situation stinks, M's fans. There is no way around it, and if you're not fired up over it you have even less passion than what we're seeing on the field.
posted by Tom at
2:23 PM
