Hoyer Learning to Love the Sludge

Jed Hoyer’s predecessor, Kevin Towers, was known as “The Sludge Merchant” for his ability (born out of necessity) to pick up discarded scraps and turn them into functioning parts. Claiming Scott Linebrink off waivers and flipping him for Joe Thatcher after five great seasons, stealing Heath Bell from the Mets, signing Brian Sikorski from Japan and trading him for Mike Adams are but a few examples of Towers’ creativity in player personnel moves. Towers had this down to an art. And like many artists, he excelled by embracing the constraints placed upon him by circumstance. Rather than complain about the color of his paint, he set out to make something beautiful with what he had. He is doing it again this year in Arizona, as Hoyer did last year in San Diego. This year, Hoyer’s moves haven’t worked so well. Where Jerry Hairston Jr. and Yorvit Torrealba became surprisingly useful cogs in a surprisingly productive machine, Brad Hawpe and Jorge Cantu did...