Decisiveness

Sometimes it seems to me that Dave Littlefield has caused more problems with his inability to make decisions than the decisions that he has actually made. Craig Wilson is, of course, example #1A in this exhibit. Wilson's been mashing the ball in Pittsburgh since Littlefield arrived and he's failed to find him a firm position and an assured spot in the starting lineup. His inability to commit to Humberto Cota and unnamed minor league catcher last spring lead us to the brief and much maligned Benito Santiago era. His inability to commit to Bobby Hill and Freddy Sanchez lead to Chris Stynes and Joe Randa. His inability to decide on trade offers invariably leads to him accepting a lesser offer that is the only one left on the table. His inability to make roster decisions lead to the Rule 5 fiasco of two years ago. This is a problem because Littlefield is facing some big decisions to make in the coming months. It's true that we don't have prospects like the Marlins have prospects, as Dejan points out at the end of today's Q&A (which is, as usual, worth checking out if you've got the time) but we do have some players up that may at least end up being good major leaguers, which is more than we could say in the past. It's like DL needs one of those dichotomous keys that they put in sixth grade science books. Let's look at some choices that need to be made:

• Jose Bautista, outfielder or third baseman?
• If Bautista is a third baseman, a decision needs to be made between Sanchez and Castillo at second. When I hear people talk about Castillo, I feel like I'm watching the NBA draft, upside this, potential that, etc. Will he realize that here, or will he be our Wily Mo Pena? Given the paucity of immediate help in the minors, one of these two may be a decent trade candidate.
  
• If Bautista is an outfielder, what is Doumit? His bat is too potent to be a backup catcher/utility guy. We can't go the Craig Wilson path with another guy. Is Paulino a starting catcher? If yes, is Doumit better than Eldred? Is Eldred anything at all? Will Doumit become a better hitter if he doesn't have to focus on catching? If Paulino isn't good enough to justify moving Doumit, he would certainly seem good enough to start somewhere. What can you get for him?
  
• Are McLouth and Duffy any more than fourth outfielders (is Duffy even a fourth outfielder?), or are we better off with Bautista in center?
  
• Do we need to beg Craig Wilson to stick around? If no, what can we get for him on the trade market?
  

I'm not suggesting there are easy answers to these questions, or even necessarily right answers to all of them, but they are questions that need to be answered by the end of this regular season, and they're questions that cannot be answered by Sean Casey, Joe Randa, Jeromy Burnitz, and Jose Hernandez. The Reds messed around with a bunch of talented outfielders for a number of years without making any decisions. This offseason they brought in a new GM, made some decisions, swung a couple popular guys for parts they needed, and appear to be greatly improved over last year (admittedly, this argument would've worked a lot better last week before the Reds started slumping). I'm not suggesting that making any of the decisions laid out above will make the Pirates contenders next year, but it will at least start us in the right direction. If we go into 2007 with most of those questions unanswered, I'm afraid that 2006 will be a waste in more ways than the win/loss column.