They sit at .500 two months into the season. They have lost seven consecutive series and 16 of their last 22 games. They haven’t won back-to-back games during May.
Shuffling the batting order didn’t stir change and neither did a players’ meeting.
He landed the emerging David Freese for the faded Jim Edmonds. He sent middling prospects to Oakland for Matt Holliday. He swapped moping Colby Rasmus for critical pitching help during the 2011 title run. He secured John Lackey (and his friendly contract) while ditching the Ghost of Allen Craig. He got Jedd Gyorko for Jon Jay and John Gant for Jaime Garcia.