This Indecision's Bugging Me. Episode II

Great response to our opening episode, folks!

Alphonso cut right to the root of the matter, as usual:  to give the musical answer from Cindy Lauper, what they have we couldn't keep.  And they're not giving it back.

The Warbler, of course, gets extra points for quoting "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"—once beloved by sportswriters for the line, "he stoppeth one of three."

But let's get right to the breaking news that Vampifella brings us:  Didi Gregorius will miss at least part of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery.

If you say that you are mine
I'll be here to the end of time...

Sir Didi:  No, of course we don't want to get rid of the beloved Didi, and even if we did, his injury would make this impossible.  But the question arises:  what do we do now?

Option 1:  Sign Manny.  The upside?  Manny is just 25, actually younger than Didi, and a terrific all-around player.  At that age, even some dangerously long contract gets a lot less dangerous.  With a 10-year deal, he would still be "only" 35 at the end of it.

The downside?  It would be another dangerously long contract.  And Manny seems to be a much better fielder at third than he is at short.

And it would shift us more than ever to being a right-handed team in a ballpark now tailored to left-handed hitters.  It would probably force us to sign Harper as well—something we should probably do anyway—to offset that, and thereby give us still more long-range exposure to catastrophe.

Finally, Manny seems to be somewhat injury prone—but then, so is everyone we seem to acquire.

Option 2:  We move The Gleyber, El Conquistador, to shortstop, his original position, and acquire somebody else to play second.  This could work very well—and make Torres feel more at home in the field.

Anyone know what second basemen might be at large?

Option 3:  We move The Gleyber to shortstop...and re-sign Neil Walker.

For this we give another musical answer, from the Cole Porter musical, Can Can:  If you love me truly/ Then you would not, should not, could not do that to me.

Si no me quieres, líbrame

El Matador:  Losing Miguel Andujar becomes all the more unlikely due to Didi's injury.  For which we can only go on our knees to say that the ways of the JuJu gods are wise and good, however harsh they may seem.

Miggy was fingered for removal during the Sox playoff series as surely as a mobster given the kiss of death by a rival capo.  First, a steady drumbeat in the press about how awful El Matador's fielding was—He has no concept of a glove!   He was blowing into it! —followed by that absurd and self-destructive benching during Game Four.

I can well-remember Old George, the Mad King trying to win the 1981 World Series while benching both Reggie Jackson and Jerry Mumphrey, whom he had come to loathe for some reason.

But really, Cashman/Boone trying to win that series with their best hitter on the bench was no less absurd.  I think the skids were clearly being greased for what could not help but have been a ludicrous move that would have haunted us for years.  El Matador dealt away for another of Cashman's "great young arms"—Weaver, Vazquez, Wright, ad nauseam.

But...now we're free of that.

It looks like Miggy stays.  So...do we try to take advantage of his excellent arm and move him to left?  Install him at first?  Or just try to make him into a better third baseman?

Hell, if Toby Harrah could play the position, El Matador can!

To be continued...