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Churchill agrees, suggesting Gutierrez be relegated to a platoon starter against LHP. In that role, he would be expensive next year based on his ~$6M option.
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Q. Is Franklin Gutierrez ever going to be healthy?
A. It's like you buy a used car and first the tranny goes out, and then the suspension, and then the head gasket blows… I doubt that his bowel disease caused his pulled hamstring today. You do realize that some people are just not durable.
You're probably too young to remember Eric Davis. He used to slug .550, steal 50, 80 bases, walk about that many times, play a great center field… Maybe the best player in baseball when he could ever get out there.
The Reds, Dodgers, and Tigers spent about six years chasing him. Some years he played like 30 games. Finally in 1996 he got back on the field and was a great player again. He did the same in 1997. He did the same in 1998. Six years of chasing the dream, and then suddenly he delivered for three years.
I don't think there's any way to ever know when Franklin Gutierrez is going to be able to produce.
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Q. What do you do with a guy like this?
A. I think you have to treat him as a deluxe #4 outfielder. You need three starters, plus him. If he's healthy, put him in there for one of the starters, and it's all gravy.
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He is slugging .537 from center field. There are a few Mariners who are not.
His OPS+ is 131. He's leading the Mariners in RBI (10) and almost leading them in R (8) ... and he's only got 2/3 the at-bats of some of the regulars.
At this point, I put him firmly in the category of a part-time player. It's weird to have a part-time player who gets precedence over the regulars, but that's how you treat him, I think.
Which raises a question. Who do you consider the Mariners' CF? Saunders, or Chavez?
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Comments
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And I think there's no reason for them to be stingy with it at that level.
I think Saunders is the CF, he played there most of last season (111 Games) and had his best OPS from that position (.745 vs. .738 overall). At least for the 15 days (hopefully only 15) Saunders should be okay with Chavez spelling him.
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What I don't get is why it took some peope, Churchill evidently, so long to come around to the fact that Guti is a 4th OF.
He's a pure platoon guy....and capital F fragile.
We should have entered this season with the idea that he started against all lefties and played defense beyond that.
I would pay him the $6M to do that.....because he would do it so well.
But we entered this year with the assumption (hope) that he was a fulltime guy.
Saunders in CF for me, btw.
moe
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Assuming Smoak continues to fail, its looks to me as if Morse is the 2014 first baseman (assuming Morales is either traded mid-year of goes elsewhere in free agency). In that situation, the M's would need to find 2 starting OFers to play with Saunders. Gutierrez as 4th OFer then. Surplus pitching and middle infielder talent would be dangled. My biggest hope is that Ackley hits enough to stay at second base to remove that particular uncertainty.
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There's your two OFers. ;-) Well, Morrison is gonna be playing a lot more first base because of his knees going forward, I expect, but he and Morse can share time there and in the OF.
It'd cost us probably Walker / Maurer / Franklin / Capps / somebody, depending on Morrison's health and Stanton's performance and emotional investment in a Marlins team that is rocketing to the basement. We'd also have to outbid the likes of Texas, so don't be surprised if the price goes up from that.
You do that?
~G
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We seem to be able to develop/find pitching talent but not OFers. So yes, I make that trade. This plugs the gapping holes in our OF. 2014 starting rotation of Felix, Kuma, E-Ram, Hultzen, random #5 starter, Beavan #6 starter/long relief. Pen anchored by Wilhelmsen, Pryor, Perez (signed to anothe extension), Furbush. This assumes Paxton still in AAA trying to get the kinks out.