Tracy and other thoughts

USA Today reports Tracy now the favorite. Perrotto agrees.

Not sure what Perrotto means by "a move straight out of high school" - any idea? It refers to Littlefield opening all the coaching positions.

I had a lot of good moves in high school, but that was not one of them.

Other random thoughts:

I wonder if the Bucs would target Chad Tracy if they hire Jim.

Zach Duke's VORP, 32.7, blows away the top NL position player, Ryan Howard, who finished at 17.9. VORP is not the be-all and end-all, but hopefully that number will encourage the beat writers to look closely at just how great Zach was in his rookie year. He deserves a ton of votes.

Lately I wonder if we don't want to bring back Kip Wells as a fifth starter. Or, if Redman re-signs, maybe we trade Wells to Seattle for Jamie Moyer.

Removing Wells from the situation would certainly make life easier for the next pitching coach.

I was surprised that Spin was let go, until I realized that both starters we relied upon the most, Kip Wells and Oliver Perez, failed us badly. While that's not Spin's fault, you have to work with what you have. Perhaps it's not a question of getting better coaches so much as it's a question of getting coaches that better fit the team of misfits they'll mentor.