balfanman

Linebrink was much younger in his San Diego days though. Didn't Linebrink say something to the effect within the last year that his shoulder was not 100%, nor was it ever going to be. I'm thinking that Linebrink can still be an effective reliever, I might even say a key reliever, if Ozzie picks his spots with a little more stinginess.

I understand that the hitting coach is important. I just don't think that the difference between Walker, Jaramillo, or whoever is going to be that great. It just seems to me that with all of the problems that we had running the bases the last few seasons the base running coach, whoever that may be, should come under just as much, if not more scrutiny than the hitting coach.

Personally, I think that we're wasting time talking about a hitting coach. With all of the speed that the team seems to be going to in the line up I think that money might be better spent on a quality base running instructor. I have no idea who this person would be, and quite frankly I have no idea who the base running "guru" is in the organization. Did anyone ever replace Tim Raines?

Hello everyone; This is my first post (please be gentle) although I have visited this site for years. Let me first state that overall I like Ozzie as a manager and think that he does a good job. That being said, this is one of my "bones to pick". Linebrink is a great example of a reliever that Ozzie goes to much too often, especially early in the year. I realize that games in April and May count just as much as games in August and September, but I think that you need to use your entire bullpen, especially early in the season to not only find out what each reliever is capable of in game situations, but more importantly to pace your top relievers so that they can be effective later on in the season. It seems to me that there are too many games early in the season when we see the same 2 or 3 relievers. Could it be that guys like Linebrink , with their limited physical health are worn down by the time crunch time comes? I know that it would help if you had other quality arms to turn to, but what good is burning out your good arms early.