Pent up stuff

What has there been to say over the past month of listless baseball known as "playing out the string."?

Ian Desmond has made a case as a major leaguer or as Chuck Knoblauch V 2.0 (minus the felony charge!)

I ask you this: when Elijah Dukes was 5 minutes late for a game because he stayed to greet every little league player it was a national story about a malcontent who doesn't play the right way. Aside from starring as a Web Gem, who is talking about his full speed game-saving catch? Lot of gritty pros would have a) not had the athleticism to get within 20 feet of that shot and/or b) decided that slamming into a wall in pursuit of a game saving catch was too high a price to pay when it meant the difference between 108 losses or 107. Dukes hit the wall. Enough said about his place.

Have we found out anything about the pitching staff? Not really. Have J.D. Martin, Garrett Mock or Ross Detweiler earned a rotation spot in '10? If Eddie Bonine can start maybe the most important regular season game this season then maybe so. But would anyone feel confident that they could significantly improve their performance next season? Detweiler maybe since he's still young but the other two are what they are.

So it Lannen, Strasburg, Vet Free agent A, and two of the other in house candidates. With the quality of Vet FA starters out there, there is almost no chance of Vet free agent A being a difference maker. Now 8**couch cough John Lackey***cough maybe but do any of us really believe they are going to pony up for the only decent bet? Think more like Carl Pavano (last seen giving up a laser to Mags Ordonez to put the final nail in the coffin for the Twins '09 season).

The message I hope they take out of last night's walk off finish is: 3 years and $37 million doesn't mean no blown saves. Spend wisely in the pen please.

I have to say this: The Twins. The tiny market Twins get the top Dominician prospect for a little over $3m? Really. Couldn't find $3.2 million underneath the mountain of revenue sharing checks? And I notice a strange silence when it comes to Aroldis Chapman. Or the Japanese high schooler who's name escapes me who is thinking about coming over so he doesn't get caught up in the whole posting system stuff. Gents: your current '10 payroll in near $40m. You have that in the bank before you sell ONE TICKET!

And I don't want to hear about debt service and understanding the finances of a baseball team. The Safeway guy who built the Giants new park financed it himself. And it did hold down his payroll having to pay back interest and principle. That didn't mean the Giants went cheapskate. Oh by the way, the Giants media market, split with the Oakland A's isn't nearly as large as the Washington metro area.

Aren't the Lerner's billionaires? Didn't the team cost roughly $400 million. Are you telling me the Lerner's got a Jumbo loan or an Alt-A subprime to buy the team and now the resetting is killing them? Not likely.

Can't they understand that from a fan's point of view all we've seen in terms of trying to get better in the long run is the $15m for Strasburg and the 2007/08 draft spending. That is peanuts compared to the profits from the last two years. You have the budget and if you say you don't you are lying. Prove me wrong Stan.