And what’s funny about that 2003 team – their weak hitters came up empty. Exactly as they did in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Nah, this is all new to Cashman.

Great, so once every four years there’s a championship club with a weak OF. Those aren’t odds I want, especially not with a $200 million payroll.

@ 60

Since neither Damon nor Swisher have ever slugged .500, I don’t consider that legit, no, especially not when their career average is .438 and .456 respectively.

The weak OF is a horrible way to give back runs after getting them from the infield. esp when outfield bats are so cheap.

A: Four words…

[Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash]

I hope Hinske can catch, because the “paper boys” didn’t last two months prior to a lengthy trip to the DL for both of them. And they didn’t get hurt catching. They got hurt running! And now they are expected to catch for the last three months of the season splitting time the way they did this spring during the hottest time of the year and into the stretch run?

Sure… if you say so…

Q: How tragic will it be if their three best catchers get hurt between now and September, if they send Cervelli down to “play full time in AAA?”

A: Real

2003 Marlins, over a 2003 Yankees team without a single .500+ SLG OF.

Great, three years. The time before that?

And there you have it. That was also a place for Duncan.

If they scored 10 more runs from his 100 ABs, that’s two games in the standings.

Instead they’ve had a horrid bench. For $200 million.

But how many times did Pena and Berroa play together? Just explaining the idiocy doesn’t make it any better. Carrying two BIFs, even with A-Rod, is idiocy.

And yeah, Duncan could have played two or three times a week subbing Damon and Matsui. That’s almost 100 ABs by now. That doesn’t mean he would have done anything with those ABs. Just that have a need and a solution. Instead they traded for another lefty bat.

@ 47

Damon’s not legit. Not for the first time at 35.

Apologies around!

Now seriously, I have to make dinner.

“As the rhetoric ratchets up, the arguments slide more into irrationality”

Or the converse.

The converse would be: “as the arguments slide more into irrationality, the rhetoric ratchets up.” If you prefer that your posts be characterized as such, I will not argue.

In fact, I’m done with this. Off to make dinner. Enjoy the game.

He *could* have gotten some playing time at DH, I suppose, on days when Matsui rested. Or perhaps in LF (yikes) when Damon rested. But then, he would be largely displacing Melky/Gardner to the bench.

Sorry, I just don’t see the grave injustice here.

You seem really angry that Duncan has not gotten more of a shot–I agree with you to apoint. You seem cheesed off about Ransom. Neither one of these issues seems to have much to do with Hinske, who appears to improve the roster ever so slightly.

Nooooooo! Just because some unexpected positions are above average doesn’t mean you can afford mediocrity elsewhere. Decent corner OF bats are easy to find. Look at the market this off-season.