A little late...

[Jeff_Conine]

....but the Niner is an O again! I no longer lurk around this forums as on O fan w/ a Marlins' players name.

By the way, Leo Mazzone will mold Bedard, Cabrera, Benson, Lopez and Chen into the greatest staff ever....

[BGarrett7]

Re: A little late...

Leo Mazzone will mold ... Chen ...

He couldn't do it before 2000 and I doubt he'll be able to do it now.

[Tomahawk]

Re: A little late...

Anna Benson has just as good of chance of molding them into the greatest staff ever........ reminds me of an old coach saying, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap" .......the O's have some talent, but not the greatest staff ever talent.

[mjb2124]

Re: A little late...

By the way, Leo Mazzone will mold Bedard, Cabrera, Benson, Lopez and Chen into the greatest staff ever....

Gotta disagree here. Bedard, Cabrera and Lopez could turn into better pitchers under Mazzone. I think he could work wonders with Cabrera.

However, Benson and Chen have little chance. As BGarrett7 mentioned, Chen has already pitched for Mazzone and never became the star that he was predicted to be. Benson is one of the most overrated pitchers in baseball. For a guy who was the #1 overrall pick, he's accomplished nothing and showed very little that would make one think he was anything more than an average pitcher.

Greatest staff ever? Not even close. They aren't even one of the best staffs in baseball this year let alone ever.

[SPTO]

Re: A little late...

Bedard has a good shot at being a true #1 starter. He has all the stuff you'd want from one. It's just that he hasn't gotten it together for a full season. You'd see stretches where he was dominant but most of the time he's so-so.

I think Mazzone will have the most success with him.

[Jeff_Conine]

Re: A little late...

Greatest staff ever? Not even close. They aren't even one of the best staffs in baseball this year let alone ever.

Sadly, I agree. My late friday night mixture of pre-ST optimism and alcohol let that hyberbolic statement slip.

But, I do look for at least one of D-Cab and Bedard to establish themselves as elite starters. Chen and Lopez are reliable members of the staff, and Benson could provide great things under Mazzone. I really like the staff this year, and we didn't sacrifice any young arms to get it.

A key factor is how good of a defense we can put behind them ( the possibility of Gibbons and Niner in the outfield scares me).