This rant isn't directed at anyone specifically. I just boggle sometimes at certain positions.
Gallardo was a predictable fizzle, no question about it, but the *direction* DiPoto wanted to go was one in which the OF got more athletic and glove-y. Smith doesn't provide *anything* in that regard, so a 20% draw at a bounce-back season from Gallardo didn't seem like a bad idea to me.
The idea of spaghetti-against-the-wall-with-reckless-abandon only works--I mean REALLY, TRULY WORKS--if even the Entitled Vets are demonstrated to be On The Block at all times. Bringing in a guy like Gallardo, using him in ST to get the most out of the youngsters--and out of Gallardo's own self--before, if said youngsters work out, dropping him like a bad habit makes all kinds of sense to me. Obviously things might not play out that way, and we might be looking at a 3-7, 5.20 ERA performance out of Gallardo midway through the season (at which point none of us would have much hair left) but if he's used as a catalyst to get the most out of the rest of the spaghetti, that's a par-bordering-on-birdie Stars & Scrubs move if ever I've seen one.