MLB Batting Splits Define "filler", since 1Bs hit .264/.350/.452/.802 in MLB last season. If you think Nady will get back to his career splits of being good against LHPs, then a platoon partner who can handle RHPs pretty well could give you reasonable production from 1B. The problem with Nick Johnson is that his career splits trend more towards hitting LHPs well rather than RHPs. He hits both pretty well, but if you're bringing him in to hit RHPs, you'd be banking on him to play a lot of games. Would you want to take that chance?
Apparently, it took a trade to Texas to get Bochy to play Posey regularly; Buster was a September callup last year and essentially got no playing time. He also started the year down in AAA, despite prognosticators saying he was ready (although, apparently his defense needed some fine-tuning). Plus, there was the utterly bizarre trade for Jose Guillen and subsequent playing time he got which really hurt their offense. Bochy had a weird thing for veterans. Their pitching was phenomenal, but their offense was pretty middling throughout the season and managed to catch fire at the right time.
Assuming Lee is gone, Feliz and Holland should get moved to the rotation. The AL West should be winnable next year for the Rangers, even if their rotation takes a step back.
I like this. Listach and Quade know the players in the Cubs system better than anyone. If Ricketts is going toward a "build from within mode" as he appears to be, he's got no better people then those two. Has Listach coached anybody in the Cubs sytem? He knows Soto, but who else? Of the guys on the 40 Man: Sean Marshall, Randy Wells, Justin Berg, Carlos Marmol, Jeff Samardzija, Robinson Chirinos, Koyie Hill, Micah Hoffpauir, Tyler Colvin, Sam Fuld Oddly enough, he never managed Soto.
I got Mozart. Beat that. Still got John Savage, Elvis Costello, Tim Burton, and Claudia Schiffer. Mine are all alive ;-). Patton Oswalt, Bridget Fonda, Cris Collinsworth, AND Keith Olbermann.
Starlin Castro worked a good deal on his infield defense with Trammell, plus he apparently had a good relationship with Trammell. Other Cubs infielders seemed to enjoy working with him. He's replaceable, but he seemed to have done a good enough job to merit staying on board another season.