Quote:
Originally Posted by Rams Fan
Ah shit, I was talking out of my ass on the timeline. I couldn't remember if his performance declined during 2007 or 2008. You're right about that. And when did I say the contracts Lohse and Westbrook have were smart moves?
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My point is that you have 3 alternatives.
1) You can develop a horde of young arms. That's obviously the ideal but is extremely difficult and unreasonable to expect. Frankly, even if you try this, you're likely to fail. In that case you're left with the remaining 2 avenues for player procurement.
2) You can pay retail prices for mediocre pitchers like Lohse or Westbrook. This will lead you to being unable to pay for legitimate difference makers. Whitey Herzog is correct - it's not the price of superstars that hurts you, it's the high price of mediocrity.
3) You can bring on guys that have "sucked" in the recent past but have the tools to succeed in the right situation with the right approach. You can pay those guys significantly less than the guys in scenario 2 and you're likely to get a much greater return on them.
In the 'glory years' of about 2000 - 2006 (i.e. the Jocketty era), this was the approach we took. We made moves for guys like Williams, Carpenter, etc... and coaxed strong years out of them at discount prices. Under Moe we've done that once - Lohse; who we proceeded to wildly overpay for and make a good situation bad. Otherwise the front office has been irresponsible and abdicated its responsibilities to build a deep, dangerous team on a mid-market payroll.
If this were 5 years ago, Aaron Harang would've absolutely been a Cardinal and Duncan would've taught him to take that intimidating size and power arsenal and use it down in the zone. He'd give us a legitimate #2 pitcher this season.
Instead we're praying that Westbrook can keep his ERA below 5.00 and Lohse can give us 4 seasons that might total the $12 million in value he 'earns' annually.