Greg Dobbs, on Fernando Vina:
"I've never seen hands like that before."
Now, the subject header may be a little unfair, since Dobbs might actually know what he's talking about here, but come on - the last thing this team needs is for people to start saying good things about Fernando Vina (particularly his on-field ability). That sort of thing doesn't help anybody. If you absolutely have to compliment the guy, better to mention things that won't improve his chances of making the roster, like his immaculate chin tickler, or the way he's always keeping Matt Thornton on edge by planting pictures of angry clowns all over the locker room and parking lot. At least that way you aren't putting the entire organization at risk.
I can't stress enough how little performance upside there is in handing Vina the starting job at second base. There's just nothing there. He doesn't hit for power, he doesn't walk, he doesn't run (at least, not anymore), and he doesn't hit for average - it's like a bigger-picture golden sombrero. If I'm Jose Lopez, and this is supposed to be the competition for my job that motivates me to elevate my game, I'm going out there totally blitzed every morning, because, why not? Any smart organization's going to see that all Vina can do anymore is play himself out of a job, and - wait a second. Uh ohs...