Well....let the Hinching begin

I'm a bit skeptical as the A.J. Hinch era officially began tonight at Chase Field. I think Hinch may end up getting the job done, but signing him to a contract through 2012 seems absolutely absurd. I mean...based on what? Sounds like a whole lot of wishful thinking going on in the upstairs of Chase.

While I certainly agree that this team has underperformed tremendously over the past year, I'm still not sold on the fact that sacking BoMel was the right call here. A change was certainly necessary here as the team has clearly stagnated since the start of the year.

But could effective change have been accomplished with Melvin still at the helm?

Yes, and here's how it could have happened:

1.) Fire the hitting coach, Rick Schu.

2.) Send Chris Young and Conor Jackson down to Reno for a couple of weeks, minimum. It would clearly send a message to the rest of the team that it's time to put up or realize that your major league career is in serious jeopardy.

3.) Hope and pray.

For the sake of this team and the fans, let's hope the Josh Byrnes/A.J. Hinch marriage works out. I'll evaluate after a month and see where we are.

Bob Melvin was an incredibly classy guy and will be missed by many, including myself. Good luck BoMel.