Quote:
Originally Posted by 757690
Jocketty was the first GM to have the patience to sit tight, keep all the team's prospects, and rebuild the foundation for long term success.
I have no doubt that if Jocketty wasn't the GM in 2008-9, some combination of Votto, Cueto, Bruce and Bailey, would have been traded for mediocre middle relief and starting pitching. Seriously, no trades or moves could have been made in those years to make the team a contender, and Jocketty was smart enough to understand that.
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Excellent way to say it.
Before Walt Jocketty, we had a series of GMs that were basically "churners".
Well, other than DanO, who did absolutely nothing.
Bowden figured a lot of HR and good relief pitching would lead to a lot of exciting, come from behind victories that would sell tickets (and he was successful at constructing some teams like that, and to his credit, sold tickets)
Wayne figured that if you audition enough pitchers, eventually you'd get a group that would work. Defense wasn't that important. Dunn and a few other hitters was a "Good enough" offense.
Both Bowden and Wayne made tons of dumpster dive moves and churned through a lot of bodies, but other than Bowdens' early years (mid 90's) no progress made. Isn't it wonderful to come into spring training not having to hope the Jimmy Anderson, Jason Bere, and Steve Avery will suddenly find the success that has eluded them for years? (Acutally Anderson never really had success). Isn't it great that Dave Williams is not being pimped as a possible #2 starter? Isn't it great that our big offseason move is not signing Stanton to a 3 year deal? Isn't it nice to hold on to our best hitters instead of trading them for a AAA lottery ticket?
A lot of credit goes to Cast for bringing in the right people to run this franchise.
He got a lot of flack for his "The losing stops now" comment, but he's really put his month where his mouth is.