Dave’s Diamond Blog: Is a message being sent to CY?
Feb 21, 2012, 5:10 AM | Updated: Feb 27, 2012, 11:52 pm
This may surprise you but sometimes, we in the media, make
a
really big deal out of a really small detail. For example,
Nick
Piecoro’s
note about Gerardo Parra getting time in centerfield.
It’s
likely nothing more than Kirk Gibson’s attempt to get
Parra as many
at bats as possible, in particular against righties that
Young
struggles against. Any other theory is probably just a lot
of media
blahblahblah.
However……
Is it totally unreasonable to suggest that some sort of
mind game
to push Young is being staged here? After all, this is a
front office
that entertained offers for Justin Upton last year and a
manager
who waited until the end of spring to formally anoint Joe
Saunders a
part of his starting rotation. Young hit .193 in the second half of the
season and
.216 away from home. Despite his status as a superior
defensive centerfielder in a ballpark that demands such a
skill, is
the perceived threat of competition their way of pushing
him to be
better? Likely this idea is more media blahblahblah than
anything
else, but while you could certainly accuse the previous
regime for
their delicate coddling of their players, one cannot say
the same
about Gibson or Kevin Towers.
• Two respected national baseball writers chimed in with
their “top
stories of the spring columns”. Both Jeff Passan of Yahoo! and Tom Verducci of SI think Albert Pujols’
new
address is topic number one. Passan thinks Bryce Harper is
#2 while
Verducci thinks it’s trying to identify this year’s
turnaround team in
the mold of the D-backs a year ago. I want to do a little
homework
before I pick that turnaround team though I admit to being
intrigued by the Rockies. Anyway, my #2 story this spring
is Yu
Darvish of the Rangers; he has the potential to be a game-
changer.
Passan has him 9th.
• The next couple of weeks are going to be really
interesting for
former D-backs manager Bob Melvin. Evaluating the $36
million
dollar international man of mystery Yoenis Cespedes,
managing the
player who virtually single-handedly crushed the D-backs
hopes of
a 2008 division title in Manny Ramirez and putting up with
all of
the stories of Oscar night with his boss
Billy
Beane, Brad and Angie. Here’s hoping that whoever plays
BoMel in
the sequel Moneyball 2: Mannyball is a little more suave
and savvy
than Phillip Seymour Hoffman.