Checking In…

Can’t really call this an update, as there’s no real news peg. The AFL starts up tomorrow, which means it’s another two days until there is one for sure.

I think most of us are simply hoping that the games will show that the guys who’ve been hurt are getting healthy again. This probably applies the most to Jackson Rutledge, who I hope is eager to put down the beer he’s been holding for Jake Johansen and give it back to Mason Denaburg as the biggest top-pick miss of the past 10 years or so. Expectations are probably low enough that just making 4-5 starts of three or four innings without getting blasted would count as a success.

At the big-league level, much has been made about the departure of Kevin Long and the “demotions” of Randy Knorr and Bobby Send..er, Henley. I can’t speak to Long, though I struggle to think of any hitter who went from marginal to acceptable (i.e. the primary measuring stick). Knorr and Sendley are holdovers from when the franchise was in Montreal.

I put demotions in quotes because it’s never made sense to me why the Nats insist on “promoting” managers and coaches by the classification. The focus should be on finding teachers at the lower levels and motivators at higher levels. Mario Lisson, for example, has a different set of challenges at Low-A (e.g., acclimating players to full-season ball) than Matt LeCroy has (e.g., keeping veteran players motivated) at AAA.

Instead, they move them up like players regardless of their strengths. Taking a quick peek at other organizations, there does seem to be a lot more coaches at the lower levels, even in organizations as dysfunctional as the Mets.

Something to complain think about.