Maybe I'm just feeling glass-half-full today, but I'm really ok, excited even, either way. If we sign Prince, that's obviously huge news and I'd be fully onboard and as excited as anyone. But if we don't sign him, there's a lot to look forward to too. And I think that's more in keeping with what the long-term plan has been. As lots of folks have pointed out, Boswell and others, getting Prince now creates a logjam at 1B and the corner outfield spots, while leaving the hole in center long term. If we don't sign him, we can go hard after Bourn next year (another Boras client of course), have LaRoche or Morse at first, and sign Zimmerman long-term. Assuming Espy moves to SS and Lombo or someone else can fill 2B, that looks awfully good to me. (If I had my druthers, I would have signed Reyes at SS, which would have set the infield and taken care of leadoff.) Before the offseason, the front office said the priorities were a veteran leader-type starting pitcher, and a CF. It seems like we're resigned to waiting on CF until next year, but that does seem like the best course at this point. As for the SP, I love the Gio trade, and it gives us the great young core (and corps), but we still don't have that legit veteran presence. I would love to see a short (1 or 2 year) Oswalt deal if we don't get Prince. We'd have plenty of money for it, and then he'd be off the books before new deals for Zimn and Zimnn come due. So, bottom line, I think even without Prince, we can be competitive and fun to watch next year, and really poised to be great starting in '13, which is probably the best course.
All that said, I'll still be jumping for joy if we sign Prince, because good now is always more fun than good later.
