Chronicles of the Lads

ADDING IT ALL UP
So they had a press conference and everything. It's for real. Let's take a look at the regular lineup, and how the Win Shares would shape up if we had this year's lineup in 2004:

         2004                    2005

Pos  Player      WS     Pos  Player      WS

C    Molinas     16     C    Molinas     16

1B   4-3/Kotch   17     1B   4-3/Kotch   17

3B   Figgins     20     3B   McPherson    1

MIF  Kennedy     13     MIF  Eckstein     9

MIF  Eckstein     9     MIF  Figgins     20

LF   Guillen     21     LF   Anderson    15

CF   Anderson    15     CF   Father Time 18 

RF   Guerrero    29     RF   Guerrero    29

DH   Glaus/Fish  12     DH   DaVanon     10

IF   Quinlan      8     IF   Quinlan      8

OF   DaVanon     10     OF   Rivera      14 

     TOTAL      170          TOTAL      157

Okay, so McPherson should be good for more than 1 Win Share. And Kennedy will hopefully return in time to improve the middle infield picture. But as bad as this signing is, as long as McPherson does all right and everyone can stay reasonably healthy, the team shouldn't be too much worse off.

Of course, whether or not Finley can really put up 18 WS again is a matter of debate. If he declines just a bit, maybe Garret Anderson can bounce back and pick up some of that slack.

The real wild card is, of course, Kendry Morales. There are many "if"'s and "whether"'s involved.

Well, I'm just trying to take a look at the bright side. If I had my druthers, the opening lineup would be:

1. Figgins, SS
2. Eckstein, 2B
3. Vlad, RF
4. Garret, DH
5. Father Time, LF
6. Kotchman, 1B
7. McPherson, 3B
8. Molinas, C
9. Erstad, CF

So if Morales tears up spring training, I don't know what I would do. Maybe he gets the first base job and Kotch gets traded. And I'm not so sure a LF platoon of DaVanon and Rivera wouldn't outperform Finley with the bat and glove ... or maybe Morales would DH and Garret would go to LF. This is, of course, in my fantasy world where Finley doesn't have to start.

That's what I hate about the Finley signing the most, probably. It blocks a lot of spots, but does so with a guy who, all evidence indicates, can't even handle his purported position very well anymore.

Anyway, as this will never happen, if the roster doesn't change at all, I predict:

1. Figgins, MIF
2. Erstad, 1B
3. Garret, LF
4. Vlad, RF
5. Father Time, CF
6. DaVanon/Rivera/Morales, DH
7. McPherson, 3B
8. Molinas, C
9. Eckstein, MIF

Oh, well, it could be a lot worse ...