Jim Tracy tells Dejan Kovacevic in this morning's paper:
"We need Oliver Perez. We need him to be a good pitcher for us. I'm not going to sit here and suggest he has his head in a guillotine. We need to get him straightened out."
When Littlefield took over the job, he used to talk about "flexibility" and the need for the team to adapt as plans fail. Now it's all about, "We can only win if our #1 starter is left-handed and throws 95. We can only win if our clean-up hitter is a left-handed power hitter who can get the ball into PNC's short porch. We can only win if our leadoff hitter is Omar Moreno Jr. We can only win if Mike Gonzalez develops into Eric Gagne. We can only win with good infield defense."
They have been too wedded to a plan with too many details. Enough with the ultimatums, and go back, I say, to the emphasis on flexibility. Maybe the Pirates can only win the 2006 World Series if Oliver Perez becomes Randy Johnson. I can understand looking at the team this way in January or February. You place your bets, you go for broke, whatever. But guess what: it's May. The team has yet to win its tenth game. And Oliver Perez did not become Randy Johnson. Time to scrap the inflexible thinking and more freely shuffle the deck. Why does Oliver Perez deserve such special treatment? It's demoralizing and dysfunctional to keep talking like he's the future of the team.
Right now, the Bucs must find five or six starters worth building around. Oliver Perez looks like he couldn't get outs at AAA. Time to demote him and move on. Don't make a big deal about it; just do it. The train has to leave the station at some point. Hasta luego, Ollie.
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