Going into the season last year, they elected to promote a guy from AA to Opening Day lead-off CF. He had an up-and-down record in the minors, repeating levels and having clunker years. It could have worked--he could have excelled immediately. But it could have very conceivably failed, leaving them with the option of admitting error and demoting him, or digging their heels in and sticking with him. Alternatively, by starting him at AAA, there were no bad options. If he did well, he could be promoted (and saved a FA year in the process.). If he failed, the move would have shown he needed time in AAA. I don't know what strategy game is the right analogy, but choosing a path very likely to leave you with no good options over a path with only good options/outcomes seems pretty bad. Not to mention the fact that the decision seemed to fly in the face of the recognition of where the team was in terms of it's point in the rebuilding process.