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| Johnny Giavotella hit .338 with 9 HR and 72 RBIs in 110 games for Omaha this season. (File photo: Brad Williams Photography) |
They currently lead the PCL American North Division by five games with 17 games remaining in the regular season. And of those remaining 17 games, 12 are against NL affiliates (Omaha is 61-38 against those teams) and just five are against American League affiliates (Omaha is 10-17 against those teams).
But the truth is, with the latest round of call ups that included Salvador Perez and Johnny Giavotella, the Chasers lineup is extremely thin with guys like Lance Zawadzki (.242 average), Joaquin Arias (.212 average) and Kurt Mertins (.242 average) seeing so much playing time. Yamaico Navarro (.196 avearge) is not exactly tearing up the PCL either.
Throw in the fact that light-hitting Cody Clark is now the starting catcher and he’s being backed up by Ryan Jenkins who has spent the entire season in Rookie and A-ball (where he has hit a combined .241) – and the fact that half the roster (12 of the 24 players) is currently pitchers, which means manager Mike Jirschele rarely has pinch hit or pinch run options late in the game, and you have to wonder if this team is set up to make a real run at the PCL championship.
They continue to find ways to win, so maybe Jirschele can continue to press all the right buttons during the playoffs and bring a championship home to Omaha. But it would be nice to see him given more options. The funny thing is, as much as Jirschele would like to win this title, he knows his job is more about preparing guys to play in the big leagues. Last week I asked him how he will piece together the roster during the stretch run and here’s what he said:
“You just keep going, you know.” Jirschele said. “What you have is what you can put out there. One good thing is, KK is ready to go so he’ll be back in there tomorrow. So hopefully he can help us out a little bit offensively and defensively.
“But you’ve just got to keep going. That’s what those guys are here for. Hopefully they get to be good enough and they can move along.”
No doubt, Giavotella deserved to be called up to Kansas City. But with this organization talking so much about keeping guys together in the minor leagues so they get a taste of winning together – something Dayton Moore affirmed to me last May, it didn’t make a lot of sense to bring Giavotella up to Kansas City with just five or six weeks left in Omaha’s season to play for a team that is twenty games below .500 when they could have waited until the playoffs were over and brought him up during September call ups.
Giavotella played on the NW Arkansas team last season that won the Texas League championship. And a number of other players, including Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Manny Pina, Clint Robinson, Danny Duffy, Mike Montgomery and Brandon Sisk also spent time together in NW Arkansas last season.
Again, if the goal is to keep this nucleus together in the minor leagues so they can help to change the culture of losing at the big league level, why bring so many of these guys up to play for a big league team that is suffering through yet another dreadful season?
Fans in Kansas City are understandably anxious to see guys like Giavotella and Perez at the big league level. They’ve waited too long to see even mediocre baseball, let alone a roster than can contend for a playoff spot. But how much more exciting might Spring Training 2012 be if several of the guys who are now playing for Kansas City would have been left in Omaha to help them win the PCL championship? Those guys would have won a championship in Double-A in 2010, and a championship in Triple-A in 2011.
Of course, you can never presume a championship. Round Rock and Sacramento both have better records than Omaha and they lead their respective divisions. And both teams are stacked full of talent. But nothing is lost by giving Jirschele the tools he needs to attempt to win the championship. Even if the team were to fall short, they would have made it to the playoffs and then been vaulted to the major leagues in September.
I’m not arguing for putting the needs of the Triple-A team ahead of the needs of Kansas City. Omaha exists to train and supply Kansas City with talent. Instead I’m arguing for a solid roster in Omaha over the final month of the season for the good of the franchise overall.
But the truth is, with the latest round of call ups that included Salvador Perez and Johnny Giavotella, the Chasers lineup is extremely thin with guys like Lance Zawadzki (.242 average), Joaquin Arias (.212 average) and Kurt Mertins (.242 average) seeing so much playing time. Yamaico Navarro (.196 avearge) is not exactly tearing up the PCL either.
Throw in the fact that light-hitting Cody Clark is now the starting catcher and he’s being backed up by Ryan Jenkins who has spent the entire season in Rookie and A-ball (where he has hit a combined .241) – and the fact that half the roster (12 of the 24 players) is currently pitchers, which means manager Mike Jirschele rarely has pinch hit or pinch run options late in the game, and you have to wonder if this team is set up to make a real run at the PCL championship.
They continue to find ways to win, so maybe Jirschele can continue to press all the right buttons during the playoffs and bring a championship home to Omaha. But it would be nice to see him given more options. The funny thing is, as much as Jirschele would like to win this title, he knows his job is more about preparing guys to play in the big leagues. Last week I asked him how he will piece together the roster during the stretch run and here’s what he said:
“You just keep going, you know.” Jirschele said. “What you have is what you can put out there. One good thing is, KK is ready to go so he’ll be back in there tomorrow. So hopefully he can help us out a little bit offensively and defensively.
“But you’ve just got to keep going. That’s what those guys are here for. Hopefully they get to be good enough and they can move along.”
No doubt, Giavotella deserved to be called up to Kansas City. But with this organization talking so much about keeping guys together in the minor leagues so they get a taste of winning together – something Dayton Moore affirmed to me last May, it didn’t make a lot of sense to bring Giavotella up to Kansas City with just five or six weeks left in Omaha’s season to play for a team that is twenty games below .500 when they could have waited until the playoffs were over and brought him up during September call ups.
Giavotella played on the NW Arkansas team last season that won the Texas League championship. And a number of other players, including Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Manny Pina, Clint Robinson, Danny Duffy, Mike Montgomery and Brandon Sisk also spent time together in NW Arkansas last season.
Again, if the goal is to keep this nucleus together in the minor leagues so they can help to change the culture of losing at the big league level, why bring so many of these guys up to play for a big league team that is suffering through yet another dreadful season?
Fans in Kansas City are understandably anxious to see guys like Giavotella and Perez at the big league level. They’ve waited too long to see even mediocre baseball, let alone a roster than can contend for a playoff spot. But how much more exciting might Spring Training 2012 be if several of the guys who are now playing for Kansas City would have been left in Omaha to help them win the PCL championship? Those guys would have won a championship in Double-A in 2010, and a championship in Triple-A in 2011.
Of course, you can never presume a championship. Round Rock and Sacramento both have better records than Omaha and they lead their respective divisions. And both teams are stacked full of talent. But nothing is lost by giving Jirschele the tools he needs to attempt to win the championship. Even if the team were to fall short, they would have made it to the playoffs and then been vaulted to the major leagues in September.
I’m not arguing for putting the needs of the Triple-A team ahead of the needs of Kansas City. Omaha exists to train and supply Kansas City with talent. Instead I’m arguing for a solid roster in Omaha over the final month of the season for the good of the franchise overall.
