Shaking up the Talentless Talons 2001-2

[Fat Nige]

I could tell as soon as I entered the GM’s office that this franchise had been unloved for some time. Everywhere smelt musty, everywhere was dust and signs of abandonment.

I looked through the organisational charts and the same signs flowed through them. The depth charts were missing and it pretty much looked as if the farm teams had gone their own ways without any guidance from the parent club. Triple-A was full of old has-beens drinking their pay check away and even Double-A seemed to have half their roster belonging on a poor MBBA team. Geez! No wonder this lot hadn’t had a winning season in the last seven!

I didn’t dare examine the lower reaches of the organisation at the moment, that could wait till the off-season. I did notice though that all the farm won their divisions except for the A-ball boys who still had a healthy record above .500 so perhaps there was a few diamonds to be extracted somewhere.

A lot of these old age pensioners would have to be packed off to the retirement home. It was no point packing the roster with thirty-somethings, surely seven losing seasons should point that out. A quick glance at the Talentless Talons was all it took to decide the first zimmer frame merchants out the door.

I buzzed my secretary and asked her to round up Pat Listach, Junior Felix, Beck Campbell and Erubiel Martinez. None of them were too expensive or too abysmal but they were over thirty and just didn’t excite. I needed their 40-man roster spots to promote some guys who were now entering the last chance saloon – show me in the last dying embers of the 2001 season that there’s some hope for you or you’ll be joining the unlucky four.

The four weren’t too happy about getting their release especially Listach but I told him to impress me and two hits in seven games just isn’t good enough. They kept on about small sample size but I told them straight, you’re just not the direction I see the Talons going in. If we were going to lose consistently we might as well lose with young guys who had a chance of improving. I pointed out young Sam Brewington who had seized his chance by hitting 4 homers and .394 in his eight games since my trials had begun.

I didn’t think the fans would be too bothered about the loss of these four but they won’t be happy when they find out that it’s Mack Randall's last season in Phoenix as there’s no way I’m signing off the three year $45m+ contract he’s demanding and worse still Mike Rebhan won’t listen to my pleas about helping the club turn it round and is set on free agency. That was a real blow to me, I saw him leading the pitching staff for the next few years at least.

Maybe I was being too harsh on them but the Talons had to be turned round and if that was to be with replacement level players they might as well be young keen ones who at least ran round providing some defence even if they weren’t setting the world alight

[scottsdale_joe]

Your work is cut out for you.
That said, rebuilding is fun, especially when you see results from year to year.
Good luck with your newest MBBA venture.

[recte44]

Look for Brewington to emerge as one of the MBBA's top catchers next year and beyond.

[Fat Nige]

Your work is cut out for you.
That said, rebuilding is fun, especially when you see results from year to year.
Good luck with your newest MBBA venture.

I am actually looking forward to shaking it all up, it'll be a few more losing seasons yet though