Armchair GM - Session 1

Another tough loss last night... I don't have the energy to rehash, so instead I'm going to focus on something else. Yesterday on WFAN, Jerry Manuel had his weekly spot with Mike Francesa. I'm not a Francesa fan - I think he's arrogant and a borderline bully. But Jerry made some comments last night that I thought were interesting and sparked a little Armchair GM in me.

Comment #1: "We haven't gelled as an offense yet."
Well, maybe that's because the line up that Jerry has opted to put on the field has not been maximizing the talent that we have. I'm tired of "splitting up the righties" with Mike Jacobs - what good is splitting up the righties when you have a lefty like Jacobs in between? Who would pitch to Wright or Bay when they know that Jacobs is a strike out machine? Additionally, Gary Matthews has been awful. I don't think Angel Pagan is a starter... but he not only outplayed Matthews in spring training, he has outplayed him in what little playing time he has had since the season started. And with Beltran out, shouldn't we really be doing everything we can to compensate?

Comment #2 (RE: John Maine and his awful starts): "I don't think two starts is enough time to make a decision like that."
Ok, fine... but it hasn't been two starts. The writing has been on the wall with Maine for the past two years. He's been able to escape some criticism because of injuries, but now he's healthy for the first time in awhile. He got lit up during spring training, and like I said - it's not as if Opening Day flips a switch and turns these guys into something special. Jerry made it clear that Maine will get his next start. After that, I suppose some decisions will have to be made.

Comment #3 (on Minaya's decision to leave Ike Davis at AAA): "I'm gonna leave that one alone."
I'm taking this to mean that Manuel disagrees with the decision. Who can blame him... Davis is producing more by himself at AAA than both of the guys currently platooning at first at the major league level. Also, I know you can't always cater to the fan base, but Davis is someone we can at least get excited about. Did you see the attendance at the Nationals weekend series? Citi Field is going to be empty if they don't do something to inspire some confidence or at least hope in the fans.

So here is my Armchair GM analysis. If you want to leave Ike Davis at AAA, fine. Cut Jacobs and give Chris Carter, who killed the ball all spring, a shot. If Jerry is really sold on Jacobs, and he seems to be, then put Kelvim Escobar on the 60 day DL (retroactive to March) and open up the roster spot that way. Give Ruben Tejada more starts at second base, because I don't care that Luis Castillo is making $6 million this year, I'm tired of seeing him bunt and hit slap shots to the middle infielders. See what Fernando Nieve can do in the rotation because 1. he can't be worse than anything we have right now and 2. If Maine gets shelled in his next start, he should be put on the 30 day DL to buy some time to work things out in the minors. (as a side note - did anyone else see Nelson Figueroa's line from last night's Phillies/Nationals game? He is not necessarily a game changer, but I bet Jerry Manuel is missing him in the bullpen right about now given that his starters are lucky to get to the sixth inning.) That's my take on the first 8 games. Notice how that number keeps going up... pretty soon we won't be able to say "it's still early."