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Given that I lost the guy who led baseball in All-Star voting over a month ago and I go into the break with a 2 game lead on KC and 3 over the A's, we are very happy with the team.
I fired our 3rd base coach about a month ago and since then, our base running has improved quite a bit and our staff cohesion has improved. That is one thing our owner wanted me to work on.
My pre-season pickup of Rodney Scott off waivers has paid off as he as gone .302/.338 with 18 steals as he has played 20 games at 2b, 17 at SS and 5 at 3b. I also picked up Bake McBride as a minor league signing as cover in case of injuries and when I lost Fred Lynn, I called him up and he has been great going .341/.370/.405 with 11 steals as he has played left, right and DH. Our worlds McBride had been a career .280 hitter before dropping to .240 over the last 2 years and gathered no interest as a 31-year old coming off a -1.1 WAR. But he has been huge for us.
Lynn was voted a starter in the ASG, and the AL will also miss Tony Pena the starting catcher and Andre Dawson the CF due to injuries. We also had Reggie Smith and Mike Brandt named to the team and of course, Blyleven was named the AL starter.
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