Was Basham a hit or a miss in the draft? Sticking with a miss longer than you should is compounding a mistake, if you can even call a draft pick a mistake. I'd say the drafting is the easy part. The development of these guys and the subsequent roster management is the harder part IMO. That's when the sausage gets made.
I don't know how anyone can be too critical of Beane/McDermott, based only on the results while they've been here. Getting Buffalo to 12-13 wins is, quite honestly, remarkable. How fortunate are we to be whining about 12 win seasons? It means we've had decent play, at a minimum, at every position IMO.
To get over the next hill, requires some player management of some of these kids that have brought us to this place. It's hard. It feels unloyal, right?
Many of you have read the book, or heard this said before. The most common reason a person, or in this case a team, can't get from "good" to "great" is the fact that you're good. Good is hard to let go of, it's harder to change. But you have to give up good to get to great.
I continue to trust Beane & McDermott.