The Roster is finalized

The last cut was just announced: Matt Tolbert is going to Rochester and Brian Buscher won the last spot. Gardy is going with a 12-man pen.

Do I think that it was a good decision? No. Let me count the ways:

• First and foremost, they did not have to send Tolbert to Rochester, until April 10th, when Dickey is projected to make his first start: Keep an extra player who might be useful in some situation, instead of wasting a roster spot on a guy will will not see any work in 4 games. This is exactly what the Mets are doing with Livan Hernandez, their fifth starter; he will be added to the roster the day he has to pitch, so the team can have an extra player. No-brainer. Earth to Bill Smith: you gotta to act smarter to hold that office for long


• By adding Buscher, you got a singles bat from the left side, who is better suited to be a pinch hitter. Last time I checked, there were 4 more powerful LH bats in the lineup (based on 2008 isoP: ) Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, Denard Span, and (surprise) Nick Punto. As a matter of fact, Tolbert has higher isoP in the majors than Buscher (and he is more than a year younger.) And can an American League team with only 4 bench spots, really afford a leftie pinch hitter taking one of those spots?


• You bring Buscher up north, Gardy will put him on the field. This is begging for a repeat of the Anaheim disaster last season, while Buscher's two errors in the third, that allowed 3 runs to score, singlehandedly cost the (4-6) game for Nick Blackburn and the Twins


• Tolbert would have provided more flexibility in case one of the injury-prone middle infielders and outfielders got hurt and were in a day-to-day situation. That said, he did make a huge gaffe on the bases today, costing the Twins the game and was probably the final nail on his coffin. Tolbert would not have been a perfect solution to the problem (I was hoping that Steve Tolleson was given a more than an 11 AB chance to show what he has this spring training, but anything that would have kept Buscher off the field would have been a plus)

that's how I feel about it. And I am wishing Buscher the best and hope he turns into a star overnight now that he made the team. However, I hope that the person who made that decision is held accountable (for once) if it does not work out.

What do you think?

And here is a scouting report for Brian Buscher from his Norwich Navigator days with the Giants:
"Stocky player who is going wrong direc. Body is getting worse. Dumpy lower 1/2. Low energy. Barrel chested. Sets up open and off plate. Short arms make it hard for him to cover plate. Swinging off his back ft. Very slow bat. Swings like he's in a swimming pool. Makes contact and clean contact but ball goes absolutely no where. Must've raked w/aluminum. Takes some of the worst swings in the league. Rolls over lots of balls. Can't go the other way with authority, in fact he can't pull the ball with any authority. Gd feel for bat head allows him to make contact against soft stuff but power is essentially nonexistent for such a big strong guy playing a premium offensive position. Gets blown away by gd stuff. Don't see much in the way of offense @ upper levels. Mediocre raw power. Defense seems to have gone backwards as well. Not likely to be able to stay @ 3B @ upper levels. 2B is out of the question with slow ft. Basically looking at a guy who belongs @ 1B from a defensive standpoint. Bat won't play anywhere. Should get back to AA next yr but can't see him moving any higher. Don't see org. value."

Have enough things changed in 3 years? Time will tell.