It is a question I've been asking myself. I mean, I'm still totally amazed by the Vernon Wells trade. David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear has nothing on Alex Anthopoulos making Vernon Wells' contract disappear. And I like getting Brett Lawrie for Shaun Marcum. And it seems like our bullpen will be at least as good as last year's.
But then, we won 86 games last year, and suddenly our outfield looks like it will have Rajai Davis and Juan Rivera in it every day. Neither seem like guys I really want to watch play a lot. Edwin as DH doesn't excite me much either. We seem very thin at every position, other than pitcher. If an infielder gets hurt, it is as likely as not that John McDonald will be filling in. An outfielder gets hurt and, if nothing much changes, Corey Patterson may be the guy playing. Does anyone want to see that? I'm glad J.P. Arencibia will be getting a good chance to play, but Jose Molina isn't someone I want to see get a lot of playing time.
The future does look bright. In two or three years we could have a team that is in a spot to compete every year. And I'm not thinking, like Griffin is, that we have a 60 win team on our hands. Our pitching staff is too good and I'm expecting good seasons from Snider, Lind, Escobar, Bautista and Hill. The others should be ok, as long as we don't have many injuries.
But why aren't we going for it this year. The Yankees don't really remind me of world beaters. The Rays have had a fair amount of turnover. The Red Sox do look better than last year, but maybe not that much better. It doesn't seem to be the right year, at least to me, to laying back.
I know there is 53 days left until opening day and Alex likely will be doing a few things before then. But I find myself fantasizing that Brett Lawrie, Darin Mastroianni and Eric Thames have terrific springs and make me think we have some depth on the team. I know it is too much to ask for, but if Thames or Lawrie could make the team, I'd feel so much better with Rivera on the bench or traded somewhere.
Let's have a poll: