No More Tire Kicking!

As Spring Training hits its stride and the Regular Season gets closer, the scrap heap pile starts to overflow. Naturally, every general manager in the league is doing their best American Pickers imitation and sifting through the rubble for some rusty gold. In the past, the Phillies have had a lot of success turning trash into treasure (see Werth, Jayson). And every year there's a story of a guy no one wanted who makes the league minimum but comes through with a big hit or makes a glorious comeback.

There are three scenarios when it comes to kicking the tires on trades and waiver claims.

1. The other team balks/The player wants too much and no deal gets done
2. You manage to get a deal together, but the guy plays like Adam Eaton
3. You manage to get a deal together and you get yourself a Pedro Martinez

I'm here to say, RELAX Rube... You can only have 25 cars in your driveway and you already have 27 lined up along the street. There's a couple Ferraris, a nice BMW or two, and a handful of Chevy Impalas. But they're all far more reliable than the Pintos and Fairlines that you're kicking tires on with hopes of restoring. 

While Michael Young is a nice option to plug the hole at 2nd base, he's like replacing a 2005 Honda Civic with a 2000 Jaguar XJ. It looks like a nicer car and it'll certainly get you more chicks, but it's expensive and really not practical should your other Jaguar come back from the repair shop. Plus the other owner doesn't really want to sell. Moving down the line you find Jon Jay who is the equivalent of trading in a 1999 Ford Explorer for a 2000. Sure, they may have fixed the kinks and that dreaded rollover problem, but is it really any better. Neither of them have gotten daily use so do you really know they aren't lemons? Why not stick with the one you have and avoid the messy paperwork? Lastly is Luis Castillo. Your late 90s Ford Taurus may not be the prettiest thing, but it gets the job done. It doesn't have much power under the hood, but damn is she reliable. Meanwhile your neighbor just threw his Camaro on the trash. He still has $6M worth of payments left on it, so even if you can have it for pennies, you have to be a little suspicious. It's a loud car that probably won't mix with your collection of professional, well oiled vehicles so you should probably leave it on the curb.

Let it be, lets roll into the season with Ben Francisco-John Mayberry & Wilson Valdez-Josh Barfield and see how it goes. Ruben should know better than anyone that a team can get to a World Series with a platoon in the outfield and middle infield (Incaviglia-Thompson & Morandini-Duncan). Leave the Hyundais and Kias on the lot and roll with what we already have.