[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Lanny...I (me) havent bought into anything.

Well, when you trot out the PPG angle to find an equivalency to justify paying certain players similar money I can only assume you've bout into the madness. I'm glad to hear you have not.

I know you dont like what Francis did in the ED, but he has set himself up brilliantly to play that game moving forward IMO. Now he has to execute a couple things to make it pay off, but he certainly has all the weaponry to do so.

I think his strategy is stupid and very short sighted.

Vegas will be a powerhouse for years to come because they made deals to give them extra picks, they grabbed players they knew they could trade and get extra picks, and they built a team that had potential down the line. Because of the stockpile of assets they had built up they were able to make some trades for top end talent which drew the attention of others. When you do things right, have a team with a good base, and a war chest of assets, you're going to be on the right path to success. Vegas did it right.

Francis was a fool because he didn't make any side deals to accrue extra picks. He didn't go out of his way to pick young players that will become a long-term foundation. He didn't take players he knew he could trade and get some good return. He looked past this and appeared to be only concerned with having a bunch of cap space. Well, cap space is only worth while if you can use it. If you were a prospective player hoping to be competitive and chase the cup, would you look at Seattle's roster and say, "yup, that's a team with a future and will be competitive for years to come!" Not a chance. It's a weak roster with nothing in the pipe to back it. Francis has Seattle's draft picks to work with as trade capital, and that's about it. That is a terrible foundation and not one that top players should be looking at unless they only care about the Benjamins.

really thats all Im pointing out...and Im not even sure its the right way to go, but it was sure A way to go.

It's one way to go, and its usually a way to failure. I've cleaned up a few companies that had management who thought they could just throw money at problems and things would be okay. No coherent philosophy. No planning, let alone succession planning. No discipline in building a long-term strategy. Just spend, spend, spend. This is what Francis appears to have in mind, and its unlikely to work. All that house of cards needs is one over-priced contract to not perform, and the whole things comes crashing down. You can't spend you way to success.

I have a feeling there is going to be pure chaos over the next little while...and its going to be both fascinating and fun to watch.

Tonight may end up a little anti-climatic but the next 10 days or so? I predict mayhem.

I agree with you there. Free agency is going to be a mess. At a time when salaries should flattening, along comes an inflation agent. The players may love this short term spend, but it won't lead to long-term success.