I guess my first thought if someone had to go from the rotation would be Holmes. Why Holmes? Well, first it's such a good situation to be in when the decision is difficult of picking one, which is an indication everyone has been doing their jobs well. Second, and probably the most important, is you hate picking Holmes or Elder as both of these guys at least met or exceeded the expectations given them earlier this year. Lastly, and I think this applies to Elder more than Holmes, the thing we don't want to see is a change in the overall progression and improvement due to the demotion, yes, demotion, which is exactly what it is. I have been the biggest critic of Elder and now taking a few minutes and reviewing his stats, he has really enhanced his play and left egg on all our faces. A perfect pitcher? Far from it. However, he has definitely been an asset to the club. I hope the move down doesn't mess with his head too much. I would have sent Montero down, and Holmes to the bullpen, and left Elder in the rotation.
I think my ultimate configuration would be getting rid of Montero as well, although it's important to point out that you can't option him, you can only DFA him
The last Montero outing was what the Braves hoped they were getting, but that performance has been the exception, not the rule. If the only option would be to DFA Montero, then it should have been DFA time. Instead, it was "Hey, great job Elder, but we are not using any of your good performance in determining you are being demoted!" Lets face it, it took a while to get Elder back somwhat like his All Star year. I just hope it doesn't sour him as he had successfully flipped from being a liability to an asset to the club. Hopefully someone did a good job of cheerleading when informing him. It does kind of suck though.
I guess my first thought if someone had to go from the rotation would be Holmes. Why Holmes? Well, first it's such a good situation to be in when the decision is difficult of picking one, which is an indication everyone has been doing their jobs well. Second, and probably the most important, is you hate picking Holmes or Elder as both of these guys at least met or exceeded the expectations given them earlier this year. Lastly, and I think this applies to Elder more than Holmes, the thing we don't want to see is a change in the overall progression and improvement due to the demotion, yes, demotion, which is exactly what it is. I have been the biggest critic of Elder and now taking a few minutes and reviewing his stats, he has really enhanced his play and left egg on all our faces. A perfect pitcher? Far from it. However, he has definitely been an asset to the club. I hope the move down doesn't mess with his head too much. I would have sent Montero down, and Holmes to the bullpen, and left Elder in the rotation.
I think my ultimate configuration would be getting rid of Montero as well, although it's important to point out that you can't option him, you can only DFA him
The last Montero outing was what the Braves hoped they were getting, but that performance has been the exception, not the rule. If the only option would be to DFA Montero, then it should have been DFA time. Instead, it was "Hey, great job Elder, but we are not using any of your good performance in determining you are being demoted!" Lets face it, it took a while to get Elder back somwhat like his All Star year. I just hope it doesn't sour him as he had successfully flipped from being a liability to an asset to the club. Hopefully someone did a good job of cheerleading when informing him. It does kind of suck though.