Yossarian said:
I know this isn't an original point, but looking at lifetime's "to-do list" really underscores just how good a job Cherington did in terms of overall organizational strength, depth, developing and integrating talented young players, etc. It's only because he failed so spectacularly at the higher-priced add-ons to that organizational depth that he's out of a job. The disconnect between his strengths and weaknesses (or, more charitably, the bets that haven't worked out) is not something I think I've ever seen before in a personnel guy.
I agree with you. The failures were certainly not Ben's alone.
Who decided that sight unseen HRam could play LF?
Now that Castillo and JBJ are looking like very competent outfielders, was it Farrell or someone else who favored vets over them to relegate them to the minors for half the season?
Despite the hand-wringing over trading for Kelly/Craig, the deal could still look good next year if Kelly continues pitching well. At this point, the Craig portion looks like a total waste.
It is just a lot of things went wrong for the RS in the 1st half
Some on scouting, some on Ben, some on Farrell, some on just plan bad luck and some on unexpected poor performance.
I think Ben deserves criticism for (at least from what we can guess was done in his name --- who really knows who pushed for the moves) :
HRam - going along with any SS can play LF. But if he can play 1B and hit like he did the 1st month, this could work out to be ok (it will never be a great move - since the 1st yr is already a complete failure)
Porcello - premature signing. Even if he does well, the signing should have waited until he pitched for a month or so. This is probably an over-reaction for failing to sign Lester the prior year before he put up great numbers in 2014.
Panda - hard to imagine this deal will be anything more than marginal.
BP - I never understood the 2 year signing of Koji and then for the same AAV, not signing Miller. I would much rather have taken the extra 2 year gamble on Miller. Of course, Koji has been fine, but Miller is exactly the type of BP pitcher the RS needed. The 4 @ 40 deal never seemed out of line to me either. Breslow - I didn't quite get that signing, but it was not for multiple yrs or huge $
Deals that looked terrible 2 months ago, could still work out well
Craig/Kelly - Kelly alone could make this deal a good one.
Castillo signing
Moves (nontrades) that look very good
JBJ - not trading him
Miley - very reasonably-priced innings eater
ERod trade
And we should always be indebted to Ben for somehow pulling off a miracle reset button with the Punto trade.
In retrospect, it is just too much to ask to be a competitive team when you have changed 4/5ths of your rotation from the previous last place finish + your very reliable 8th inning pitcher and 2/3rds of the middle of the lineup. Players have to settle in and you are bound to get surprises - some good and some bad.