The outright of Adam Lind is not a surprising maneuver. His salary to statistical production was to big of a risk for another team to take the bait on, and Alex Anthopulous knew it. I believe will see Lind return to the big leagues this year, in September at the absolute latest. Probably before that because he’ll have earned the promotion by finding his swing again in the far less scrutinized realm of Triple A. It’s tough make adjustments in the show, where every failed fix gets added to your permanent record. And, after you sign a big contract, and inherit big expectations to live up to, those failures become a much larger burden to bear.
Dealing with expectations at the top is hard, just ask Ricky Romero. I don’t blame him for getting angry at the Twitterverse. But I do think it was an extension of the anger and frustration he was feeling with himself. He’s a competitor. As such it’s fine when the other team beats you. It’s not fine, however, when you beat yourself; when your body doesn’t cooperate; when skills you’ve never had to question the loyalty of suddenly betray you. People ask if players even notice the rumblings of the fan base around them. Short answer, of course. We are social creatures. The rumblings of the people we are supposed to play entertainer, hero, or role model too impact us. It factors into how we view ourself, which is in no small part related to who we feel others view us.
Of course, as a professional athlete and entertainer, we have to learn who best to deal with the anger directed at us from those who really know nothing more of us than what they’ve seen on television. Raging on social media with rap style lyrics of disgust for haters is not the best solution. But it’s not a completely senseless one for a person who feels like everything they’ve known is suddenly wrong. I think he learned a lot from it. Well, at least I hope he did—mainly because it’s such a useful lesson to learn at the top—where the game ends and you begin. If his most recent outing is any indicator, then mission accomplished.
This is also why I think Lind’s demotion to the minors was a little late. Lind has been pressing for several months to get back to the production he had in 2009. Most recently he’s been dealing with physical issues that I believe have impacted his production. Still, he presses on. I know giving a guy that makes millions despite getting his average under the Mendoza line is an over played song, but I contest, as a former player, that the worst injuries aren’t the ones that take you out of the line up, but allow you to continue playing while you sink slowly into numerical doom. I’m talking about the hamstringing, thorn in your side stuff that robs you of your edge, but doesn’t take you off the field.
This too has a lot to do with expectations. You feel healthy enough to play, so, of course, you should play. One of the first things players learn in organized sport is to “Man up”. If it doesn’t hurt bad enough to debilitate you, then you’re not really hurt. Unfortunately, playing through pain can impact the prime directive of the bigs: production is king. It’s a bit of quagmire for young talent to be hurt while making oodles—but not hurt enough to not play, just hurt enough to fall into bad habits that will drag out a production drought far longer than necessary. For this type of player, Triple A is a good reset button. A back to square one, get healthy, no pressure, you’re-getting-paid-to-much-to-stay-here-forever, reset button.
It’s also a chance for some young talent to get it’s feet wet in the show. To face the exposure of life in the only league that matters. The more talent available in triple A that isn’t Show-Shocked on arrival, the better. Depth isn’t just about talent in the minors, it’s also about having guys who are psychologically ready to answer the call of the bigs when it comes. I’ve always liked the Jays because they go to their back-up leagues frequently. They build value by getting youngsters auditions. Coello will benefit from this opportunity, as will the Jays, if not in the short term, then at least in the long term when they start wheeling and dealing. It’s nice to have guys with big league samples out on the trade block. If a player even has one outing in the show, that means all the clubs have access to video, scouting reports, and splits of said player. Hope for Coello to do well (though I doubt he’ll pitch much considering he was recalled on the pretense of covering the exhausted pen) because even if he doesn’t blossom into a permanent member of the Jay’s staff, he could become a useful bargaining chip going forward.
I’m also excited to see Coello’s forkball, which I hear is really good.