Well, Jake wanted more of what he calls "actual posts" from me, so I'll give him one. It concerns the recent callup of Durham righthander Dewon Brazelton. The St. Petersburg Times reported that him and 1B Eric Munson were the most likely players to be called up when rosters expand. The previously unconfirmed report was given credence by Lou, who said "Brazelton and Munson is not a guess," he added. "That's who's coming up. That's what I've been told."
Now, "That's what I've been told." That is the most interesting part of that comment. Lou sounds like he is a bit irritated with the prospect of Braz coming back up, and I also read into it that it was not his decision, and it is being sprung on him. Now, one would think this decision would then have to have been made by somebody in baseball operations. And for a decision concerning that ML roster, it has to be none other then "Chuckles the Clown" LaMar.
This decision got on my nerves more than anything he has done all year, and possibly more than the Gaudin-Cash trade. This is just downright inexcusable. I know we didn't have to sacrafice anyone to bring Braz up, and while he is not as bad of a person as his going AWOl suggests, this guy should not be up with the ballclub, for performance alone, much less his antics three months ago. Has the DRO brain trust ever heard of the phrase "Addition by Subtraction"? Well, that is what happens every time Braz gets sent down.
Hopefully Lou has the authority to sit Braz down on the bench and let him sit. I mean, if he can let a half-decent pitcher like Corcoran rot, why can Braz not sit? The good news is that we have until Sept. 6th, when the Rays begin a three game set in New York, until Braz is added to the roster. But I haven't gotten the rant out of my system. The Rays just cannot seem to grasp the fact that the more they call the guy up, the more of a message Braz gets that his stuff can actually get by in the majors. Calling him up from Montgomery incensed me after only three innings of work there, but Fool Me Once..., and it looks luck Chuckles has been fooled again.
What has he done to deserve to be here. He has been given every chance to be half-decent in the bigs, and has put up a 6.85 ERA in the process. But wait, it gets worse. Listen to this little tidbit from the article:
"The 25-year-old right-hander could move into the starting rotation as needed, too."
Is this some kind of cruel joke? This is the reason you guys are being thrown out to pasture under new management. Because you are all completely ignorant fools. Fis=rst off, the Rays have four decent starters and a fifth who should either stay there because he is better than Braz, or wil be replaced by Chris Seddon in September. Hopefully this is just the Rays beat writer going off on a non-sensical thought track, but I swear to god, if I hear Braz is starting, I will throw my computer halfway across the the driveway.
Sure, you might argue, a 3.76 ERA at Montgomery and Durham is surely good enough to warrant a September callup? No. Look deeper. He has only pitched 26.1 innings there, and has still given up almost a hit per inning. For every two strikeouts, he walks a batter, and he has a somewhat higher 4.24 ERA in Durham. One bad start easily turns his Durham stint as brown as a rotting vegatable. So why are we calling him up again? Do we want to send a message that we will not tolerate poor performance, unless you were a first round draft pick? If you are going to call up a poor player, at least call up Rob Bell, who has handled his troubles this year with class.
This is just an inexcusable move by the DRO, and if Braz gets significant work through the end of the season, I think I'm gonna upchuck. Shame on the DRO for backing down and being weak in the face of a decision in which the easily could have made the right move and sent a message.