Brett the only one apparently new to the game is you sir. Not only have I followed the game for near on 4 decades I also played for nearly half that. The fact you think Adam Dunn was a decent player says it all. He was absolute garbage and up to this point Engel has been as well. If Engel can't get better than .235 for a season he'll be a late inning defensive replacement for the entirety of his short career, as he should be.
One half of a season is not a trend. Hitting abysmally for the entirety of two seasons is becoming one though, and that's what Engel has done so far in his short career. Jay isn't a waste of money. Leury Garcia should never be starting for any major league team. At worst he'll play the first month in left and then he shifts to center once Jimenez comes up. He can play any outfield position just fine. If somehow Engel decides that striking out 129 times is a bad thing and actually finds his bat, they only signed Jay for one year for peanuts for a vet. It works out great no matter what.
The trade for Alonso makes less sense than signing Jay. What the hell do we do with Palka now since Abreu's staying?
I'm in my fourth decade as well.
Engel did start batting better, his second half numbers show that and that is what you want to see out of a player that needs to earn more playing time. He did exactly that.
Yes second half numbers is enough of a trend. And right now he's better than Jay. It's a mistake. I hope things go well for Jay, but well for Jay is at best below average. Using k's as your argument instead of standard things like slash lines kinda says it all.
As for Alonso, you have WAY too much faith in Palka. First off, he makes Schwarber look like a GG in the Outfield. Secondly whose to say that Palka can repeat? It's never been part of his pedigree. I'd love to be wrong, but getting Alonso does several things. Adds a guy at first, adds a nice bat for the lineup, helps relieve pressure off of Abreu, comes cheap and might land us Machado. Yes, the move for Alonso >>>>>>>>> Jay