10. Every time a player who is older than 24 starts to show consistent productivity, they trade him away for future prospects. That is painful for the fans — but seems like a proven strategy for teams in our rebuilding stage.
9. They operate with the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball. Meanwhile the value of the team continues to appreciate. Excuses are offered such as the financial hit from the COVID pandemic, but the reality is that the ownership does not want to invest money yet. They certainly avoid making any significant expenditures on the free agent market. At least they have started to make some significant investments in international scouting and development.
8. They are content to use journeymen utility players to fill their key infield roles until they can develop some of their younger talent. When they find a cheaper alternative (e.g. like they just did for Yolmer Sanchez) they quickly kick the more expensive player to the curb. That is why we didn’t keep Hanser Alberto and Jose Iglesias, despite their productivity. Now in 2021 we are starting over with lesser talent. We have tried to fill this void with some infield talent in the minors but the jury is still out on whether we have future stars in the pipeline.
7. Their starting pitching staff usually features seasoned “inning-eaters” who equate to older arms that are trying to get by with guile and slow stuff since their fastball has long since dipped under 85 mph. It will be exciting to see some of the younger arms start to emerge.
6. They are content to provide a home for Rule 5 players who take up critical roster spots in hope that they will be a valuable addition in future years. (Nothing I have against that approach for a team that is in rebuilding mode – but it is just another indicator that we are not ready to compete now.)
5. The fan base can’t excited about such an inferior product and allows the Red Sox and Yankee games to be attended by the out-of-town spectators. Hopefully we will be able to quickly recover our hometown fan base when we start to compete for playoff berths.
4. They don’t even bother to broadcast most of their exhibition games on TV. They also restrict their games to the team-owned MASN network when it would be nice to allow viewers occasional access on regular TV.
3. They keep switching up their broadcasting teams – employing what amounts to a JV squad rather than paying for top flight talent with name recognition and industry pedigree. Their coaching staff also shows a lot of turnover and still seems to be in the formative stage.
2. They are slow-playing their highest rated prospects – keeping them for a prolonged time in the minors so that they can control their major league options and bring them up to the majors when it is time to compete.
1. They have yet to jettison Chris Davis = synonymous with losing. At least they have removed him from the active roster for the first couple of months via the injury designation.
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On the other hand, they are committed to the rebuilding process and plan to be competitive at some time in the near future. They have executives with experience in this process and a history of some success so the fanbase can continue to look to the future with optimism. Many of the above measures probably make sense from a long range perspective. Hopefully they spend the necessary money in free agency when that time arrives. Until then, we hope for a bunch of overachievers and track the development of the younger talent.