It's always, always about the pitching

If you have mediocre pitching you're going to get mediocre results. Baseball, the one constant. If you have good pitching you're always in the game. Without it, you're forced to score a lot of runs. Without run producers, that's just too much stress. I suggest they reallocate 70% of their payroll toward high end pitching(starters and bullpen) then fill in with the young guys like Winn, Baker, Walker, Scott etc. Get some fast young guys, teach them how to steal and let them run.