In their first year, the Straphangers went for a "build-for-the-future" type of strategy, ignoring the 2007 standings. The only problem was, they were competing for last against the Las Vegas Rat Pack, who had written off 2007 much sooner than the Sardines.What went right: I guess you can point to Raul Ibanez and Gary Matthews having good seasons as a positive. The truth is it didn't really matter much what they did. The club wasn't going to win in 2007 and the team knew it. The team did actually have a pretty decent bullpen, despite trading away B.J. Ryan. Akinori Otsuka, in particular, stood out. The club was successful in amassing a roster of young prospects and draft picks to build around for 2008.
What went wrong: The team did have the worst offense in the league by far, but given their strategy, it's hard to point to that as something that went wrong. In fact, it'll probably take a year or two to really figure out if any of their future plans went wrong or right. The only thing that could possibly be viewed as a negative is the high asking price for B.J. Ryan early on in the season may have scared off some clubs from negotiating for the reliever and Sardine City had to settle for a fifth round pick.
The Sardines sacrificed the 2007 season in hopes of a brighter future, so the score on their report card remains an incomplete until we can see if any of the seeds they planted will actually bloom in '08.
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