Most of you have seen the following situation at least once at work. There is a lackluster performer, call him Joe, who sometimes meets normal standards of work productivity, and sometimes doesn't. Management gets on his case and gives him a warning, and a second, and a third.
Finally, Joe gets the message and starts to shape up. But management has "had it" with him, and sends him to a subsidiary in the boondocks. On the day he is demoted, he is at least an average performer.
So what happens in the boondocks? Joe starts to shine by any objective measure. But management isn't paying attention, and fires him based on his "old" record, not his recent performance. Joe naturally signs on with a competitor, fortunately not in the same "league," and continues his winning ways.
"Joe" in this case, is Jose Bautista, formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates, now with the Toronto Blue Jays, as a utility player, and strong in that role. And yes, he was a lackluster player during most of his time with the Pirates. But he was one who, unlilke catcher Ronnie Paulino, took management's criticisms to heart and was mending his ways when he was demoted to AAA Indianapolis. And yes, he was a star there, but management didn't notice, so he is now part of Toronto's, not Pittsburgh's, future.
Even it if was originally the employee's fault, it behooves management to keep on top of what was obvious even to an outsider, that their erstwhile "goof-off" was on a steep upcurve.
This is particularly true when management has as few options as that of the Pittsburgh Pirates. So Pittsburgh's loss of Bautista, and Jason Bay (who was traded in part for a Bautista replacement), is now the gain of Toronto, in Bautista's case, and Boston, in Bay's.
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