From the USA Today article MassHaas linked to in post #40... "If you don't make right decision," Melvin says, "it can really cost you. And in our division, where we think it can be won or lost by one to three games, that's an important thing." Pretty sad to say, I think Melvin actually believes that Mark Kotsay is a good addition. Why else do you give an un-sought-after older player a guaranteed contract? It's just so frustrating. I hope somehow my assumption is proven wrong, but at this point I'm just assuming Kotsay is going to be 'in ur dugout, killing ur team' Yeah, it's really unfortunate. Kotsay is really of no use to this club. He can't play the field well, and we really don't need him to just sit there as a pinch-hitter. We have plenty of other people to do that, and we have Counsell for veteran leadership. Plus, Counsell can actually contribute and play the field well. It was a dumb signing to begin with, and to keep him over someone like Boggs or Reed just seems stupid to me. Boggs and Reed can both play every position in the outfield, and hit just as well. Plus, Boggs adds versatility by being a switch-hitter. Melvin can do great things like trading for Greinke and Marcum, but then he can go and do stupid things like giving Kotsay a guaranteed contract. I just don't get it sometimes, and probably never will.