Level Headed?
We want to be fair with Josh Byrnes, if only because his typically "level headed" quotes lack the oily residue of self interest dripping from his colleagues' pronouncements. Josh has made mistakes, but that's fine. Everyone's entitled to a few, provided one doesnt reflexively deny, or worse, blame others for, the screw ups.
It's in that context we heard the Arizona GM comparing his squad to some other young, very successful, teams of the past. The 1966 Baltimore Orioles, mid 70's Dodgers, mid 80's Tigers and early 90's Pirates. To be fair, Byrnes was hardly equating his squad, but using the earlier teams to a) illustrate that a young nucleus isnt resigned to lose and can, in fact, win - and b) draw some connection between those teams and the 2007 Dbacks.
Josh, armed with his handy qualifiers, makes it all seem so reasonable...so innocuous. Problem #1 is that when you examine these wunderkind rosters a little closer, some pretty big differences become apparent. They each had a handful of young players like the currrent Dbacks, but they had a bunch of other assets as well. 
The 1966 Orioles, for example, had a HOFer in his prime at third base, and their right fielder hit 49 homers in a pitcher's park in a dead ball era, which in today's context is about 75 home runs. His name happened to be Frank Robinson, but in 1966, his Triple Crown year, he might as well have been Babe Ruth. The Dodgers and Tigers had better rotations than the Dbacks and were each led by HOF managers. Big, big difference there. Jim Leyland's Pirates had biennial MVP Barry Bonds.
Problem #2 is that Josh Byrnes knows all this. It's not like he threw out these comparisons not appreciating who Frank Robinson was. Which begs the question, Why is he even bringing these comparisons up? Is he overstepping in a rather desperate defense of his strategy to "go young" before a weary fan base, or cynically, mechanically drumming up enthusiasm for the coming campaign?
Diamondhacks hopes the Joshster has a third motivation. That is, he has every intention of molding this team into those earlier success stories but he just hinted at " his plans" a little too soon. He's not calling Sparky Anderson or Jim Leyland, but we all learned only yesterday that he chatted up the Yanks about acquiring Alex Rodriguez. This news floored some people.
Not us. We've been saying since August that Chad Tracy's future with the club is on tenuous ground. At 26, Chad's a poor fielder who has never never hit lefthanders worth a hoot. Second, as we've been saying since the 2004 Richie Sexson injury, the Diamondbacks are in dire need of a big bat. Short on cash, Arizona boasts a bevy of valuable prospects to barter for an older, immediate impact, hitter. Conor Jackson, anyone? We'll throw in Chad Tracy or Eric Byrnes, take your pick.
One certainly gets the impression that the Arizona Reds 40 man roster is relatively settled but I wouldnt be so sure. J Byrnes doesnt appear thrilled playing E Byrnes in left and is clearly less enamored with the prospect of starting Scott Hairston. As Jeff DaVanon recovers, be prepared for some Dback position players to be moved in return for a crusher in left - or possibly at a corner IF position.
Pray tell, why isn't J Byrnes
thrilled playing E Byrnes in left field? Eric would prefer center, where he's got the run of the place, but unless J Byrnes sees the sense of trading Chris Young for Dontrelle Willis, that's not going to happen very often.
I could see not being thrilled at playing Eric in right field, because he doesn't have the rifle arm that a RF needs, and which Carlos Quentin has. But Left Field?
DaVanon, BTW, is a terrible left fielder, and far less of a power hitter than Eric is. But yeah, BoMel loves him best.
Who would the D'Backs give the Yankees for A-Rod? They don't need Eric and he doesn't need them. If Chad Tracy can't handle the hot corner in AZ he sire isn't going to do it in the circus atmosphere of New York.
Perhaps Conor Jackson, with Tracy moving back to first?
That would be an answer to the Yanks first base woes.
And some pitching prospects because you are not going to trade A-Rod for Jackson straight up.
ByrnesBlogger1
Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes
Report any abuse or spam
EByrnes for Gonzo can be considered progress(on paper) by the "cheaper, younger, better" measure. What I meant by "not thrilled" is that the Dbacks didnt get very good production last year from the guys projected to play the two least demanding defensive positions(1st and LF) this year; namely Conor Jackson and Byrnsie. And while know it alls project improvement for the youthful Jackson, the kneejerk consensus on Byrnes seems to be that he topped out with a "career year".
EB's certainly an excellent runner and better than average defensive LFer, but as LF is a relatively easy position to fill defensively, really strong hitters tend to congregate there.
One aside on the "career year" which I'm sure you think can be duplicated or even exceeded. Although I dont think that's the most likely scenario, I agree that it's not unreasonable to expect some improvement from Byrnsie. His 03/04 numbers, in a pitcher's park, are at least as impressive as his more publicized 06, perhaps moreso IMO.
Report any abuse or spam