Problem: who backs up CF? I like Jones, but do we really want to rely on on him? If Rasmus is a no-go, I guess Ackley *should* be able to back up CF, as his defense in the OF has improved. But do we want to mess with his possible breakout? Can Ethier still play CF in a pinch? Who backs up 1B? Cruz could, but do we really want him to learn that job on the fly? I guess Morse could get ABs between DH, 1B, "RF" and "LF" spelling Morrison, Ackley, and Miller occasionally, hopefully without crashing the OF D too much. Sign Morse (send him a gift basket apology note about 2013) and trade for Ethier/cash? Or Morse/Aoki? Could we get both in 1 year deals?
Or maybe it would be best to see what shakes out with our pitching, and then see who gets into a desparate pitching position in ST. Maybe someone would be willing to move a valuable piece for Happ at that time.
Sure would be nice to still have the Condor + Masterson on the roster vs Happ + Barney.
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Greg Johns at MLB.com with a list of 21 (count them) creative options. As you know, we live to serve. Your Mainframe results arere scarier than Benihana's "Font DOV," and on as many levels. For me, at least.
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JUSTIN UPTON - At this point, everybody in the stadium knows that:
- Colin Kaepernick can't throw a deep out to save the tats under his wallet
- Colin Kaepernick can't escape a Wagner/Wright "edge" on a jet ski
- Benihana speaks softly and carries a wicked bad roll-up keyboard
- Dr. D has truly gone 'round the bend and disintegrated the Shtick City train-stop barricade at 65 MPH
- The Mariners ain't giving up K-Pax or Taijuan for Justin Upton
The Braves aren't even hoping for this last any more. I'll guarantee you.
So we can confidently predict, the M's will go all Fernando Rodney on Atlanta's backside. They'll go into Spring Training sneaking glances at Upton, whereupon the Braves will naturally deal him somewhere else for half the return.
Lizard Brains indeed, Melky.
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DAYAN VICIEDO - Sox are "in discussion" about trading him "for a Mariner reliever." Presumably, Mike Timlin.
Admittedly, Viciedo's flyball trend (29 to 31 to 34 to 37%) could mean that this age-26-with-experience Cuban could be ready to hit the cash register for Shandler's 30 HR's. Ka-ching! Whoops, what is 26 in Cuban years, and what is 30 in platoon homers. Either way, if it gets the Logo onto the billboard, I'm good.
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MICHAEL MORSE - Would cost the M's about the same as would Brad Miller. If acceleration is the derivative of velocity, would Morse be the derivative of "fallback option"?
His skills are flatline stable, but he ain't a platoon guy. He can blast line-shot, one-hop 6-3 outs off any kind of pitcher. Dr. D has absolutely nothing against platooning him with the Logo, were this in any way feasible. It isn't.
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ALEX RIOS - Did you know you can use a crayon as a survival candle? Break the tip off and light the paper. Carrying exactly the same state of mind, you could use Alex Rios' 4.2 RC/27 and melancholy D in right field, if you platooned it with Brad Miller.
Somehow we doubt the M's will land Rios by promising him 250 AB's. An announcement of this signing had better be followed by an announcement that "he'll mix in for us." Instanter.
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BRAD MILLER, LH - Would cost you the same as Morse would. Am reallllly warming up to this.
I bet you Jack Zduriencik has also been talked into it. Not by his crack saber staff, but by the 16 other GM's who mumble Miller's name while shiftily refusing to look Zduriencik in the eyes. When the other poker player is trying to pull his aura in, watch out. He's got Aces Full and all he wants to do is cut your guts out with a spoon.
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JOHNNY GOMES - the original lefty-masher. A free agent. It says here that the operative word is "original." He looks done from here. And that's a horsefeathers name pronunciation, too, Gohms.
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ICHIRO, not really LH - Historically the M's have *loved* this kind of play. And in 2015, Ichiro could still hit .280, run VERY well, and play good defense; I'd rather have him as a 4th OF than Alex Rios. (He is still 6 years short of Rickey, kiddies.)
You could see the press conference at which the M's announced that he was here to teach the kiddies, like Sweeney and Griffey did.
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COLBY RASMUS, LH - for the last 5 years, he's toggled between seasons with 6+ runs per game and seasons with 3+ runs per game. Something that hasn't toggled: his EYE ratio. It has the slope of the diamond fields at Crystal Mountain. Pass-a-deena.
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ALLEN CRAIG, RH - In this SSI article a month ago, we moshed off Moe Dawg's and Bill James' thoughts on Craig. Short version: good hitter, a single train-wreck year at 29, and we'd be hoping for the Jermaine Dye, Darrell Evans, Victor Martinez (!), Tony Phillips, etc etc etc path to worm-burner-itis recovery.
No word on whether Safeco Field offers a 12-step program for groundball drunks.
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ANDRE ETHIER, LH - tell you what. Press the bar and we'll give you a Detect-O-Vision.com pellet. How's that for square. Did you forget you're in the Lab? Check Beni's new graphic at the 3rd site.
Chicago Mariner warns us that it's tough to talk people into two mouse-clicks. Very true. Also, at the AMC theater the other night they asked me to turn off my cell phone and then said "thank you for being so incredibly awesome," quote unquote. For thumbing a button. There's awesome, and then there's "incredibly" awesome. No word on what you call it, if somebody goes out into the hall to text her friend.
You do wonder if today's kids work quite as hard as they used to in the Dust Bowl. Grandma, aged 9, reached over at 5:30 a.m. and put a wisp of cotton into her 6-foot burlap sack. "THANK YOU FOR BEING SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME!!" bellowed the sharecropper landlord, from behind.
Ethier wants some work, too, says his problems start when he can't get in rhythm. I'm okay with that attitude.
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MELKY - In the post-Cruz winter warmup, the M's have still been chasing Kemp, then Upton, then Melky, and if they don't do something they're going to leave $25 of their $260 roto budget on the table. Very poor form.
You bail it out with an Ian Desmond-type move, maybe? Bah HUM!bug. There have GOT to be any number of salary dumps and rentals out there, you can waste a year's worth of money on. Shane Victorino? Ben Zobrist? Mike Napoli? Carlos Gonzalez? Drew Stubbs? Percy Harvin?
What the hey. Deal for Jordan Zimmerman, let the Logo play, and call it good. I like the M's offense already.
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D.J. PETERSON - Plays at 1B in a RF/DH/1B rotation of Logan Morrison, Nelson Cruz, Brad Miller and all other DH's. The Mainframe groks that when Zduriencik says "We may have to get creative," he means "We may have to do something we wouldn't usually do." It further groks this to mean, "We're going to promote our most ML-ready right hand hitter. Our own players ain't chopped liver, you know."
And, yeah. If Steven Souza is worth giving up Roenis Elias for, at that point don't you just go with D.J.?
"We're in a pretty good spot already," sez Jay-Z. Um, yeah.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
Would pay to see that.
the trade of Michael Saunders will look even stranger. He was a capable CF backup and a perfect platoon man for RF. Water under the bridge, and apparently it was going to happen no matter what else did this offseason.
Weirdly, Adam Jones has a better slash line against righties than lefties, even as a right-handed batter. For their careers:
Jones, vs RHP: .285/.320/.475/.795, .20 EYE, 19% K rate
Rasmus, vs. RHP: .255/.325/.465/.790, .35 EYE (.20 in 2014), 25% K rate (33% in 2014)
Jones has a .750 OPS against lefties while Rasmus has a .650, otherwise they're basically the same as far as productivity. Jones hits better at home, Rasmus hits better away, but neither guy is abominable in either place.
Adam Jones had almost 700 plate appearances last year and walked 19 times. NINETEEN. He relies completely on HBP to raise his OBP.
Rasmus doesn't do that nearly as well, so he has to walk a bit more. Which he did... until the last year or two. I dunno if his spiking Ks and flatlining walks can be reversed with a different hitting coach. Rasmus is not really a guy who seems to like being coached.
I dunno how he'd respond to being strictly platooned.
But now that Melky's off the market, and especially if we're looking at guys who can cover centerfield, I'd take the guy who hits like Adam Jones for 400 plate appearances a season even if he won't help our OBP at all.
He and Viciedo (if we're forced to go that way) would be okay. Aoki would be nicer at the top of the order as far as plating runs, but we don't seem to be looking that way, and he definitely seems to be catching a ride on the age curve.
*shrugs* we'll have to figure something out. I'd rather give Kivlehan and DJ most of a season in AAA before throwing them at big-league pitching. Maybe the Ms feel differently. Viciedo + Miller in RF would NOT be how I draw up a perfect offseason, but ya never now.
I know I've said I thought the pre-Boras Rios was inevitable, but I'm now on a new tack.
What would be more creative than to bring back Franklin Gutierrez on a minors contract and NOT signing anybody else, and seeing how Spring Training goes? A SS-RF 3-to-make-2 of Guti-Miller-Taylor with Jones at Tacoma (learning and adjusting) just in case? And Guti's upside as a RH hitter is as good as anyone's above and he is FAR better in the OF. I could warm to this very quickly - and, though Guti has to continue to show health in the winter leagues, I would like him as a part-timer on a pennant-chasing team better than, say, Ichiro, because I think his battles have made him accept his role and will co-operate with McClendon riding the hot hand.
As for a backup to Morrison - this is like the emergency catcher debate. A few innings of Willie or Ackley one day, and then Montero or Choi or Peterson will come up from Tacoma the next. And if Jones is on the Ms bench rather than Tacoma, he could get the call. He played 1B in college when he wasn't pitching and has played some games there in the minors, but, reportedly the M's braintrust feels using him at 1B is a waste of his major talent - speed; which it is, but he's also got the wingspan of an albatross (>Condor) and the athleticism to be the emergency guy. He wouldn't hit enough to make it worthwhile long-term, but I could see using him if Morrison got hurt.
To me, an even bigger problem than "Is Jones ready?" would be "Where do you put a backup CF on the roster with 2.5 bullpens?"
Cruz at 1B? LoMo in RF? Can Miller play the OF at all, and even if he can, what if Taylor has a lousy March? Lots of Q's and the M's like for max position interchangeability.
Tried to make a quip about it, to go where the 'post-Condor' subscript is, but how do you joke about England and baseball?
Ah! Shoulda thought of that. World's biggest cricket superstar for CF/RF. Wonder who that is...
That's exactly the skill set they'd need with the Logo in RF, isn't it?
Always loved Guti's swing against lefties. And there's a variation where he outplays AJax, "buffering" any continued woes there in a jobshare.
I used to like Rasmus really well ... now we're down to asking whether he can get it done in a platoon role, or not... maybe the guy's makeup wound up holding him back?
Rasmus would be pretty depressing for me, simply because he is so Apples-to-Apples with the Condor. And you put 'em next to each other, there's one of 'em who doesn't look too good...
The best part of bringing Guti back on a minors + invite deal would be the attitude he'd bring of trying to do anything to help the team - even if last year it was not to play. He's the most potent RH bat + fielding combo we could find (if he's managing his health OK), but wouldn't be a pain about playing time as much as a Craig or Rios might be. They're trying to prove themselves somewhere; I think Guti would come in happy for the opportunity to play on a contender in a good situation for him. And then McClendon could get creative in how he manages the lineups depending on matchups, etc.
Great point about his being an org spear carrier now. No idea how his GI tract is holding up ...
That's the wait and see part. We have to see how he does in Winter Ball. He's only had a few PAs so far (but hit a HR in his first!). But I'd be fine at this point with waiting and watching until Spring Training, given the fit he'd make on this young club as a part-timer and mentor. And if he gets his timing back in Winter Ball, he may come to ST raring to go and give the Ms the RH power against LHers they need.
But if his AS is under control, I can see him starting against all LH starters at the least, and being a dandy late inning PH OR defensive replacement - none of the other possibilities either can or would be willing to do both. That gets him to about 300 PAs, I'd expect, spaced out a bit to avoid fatigue (which is a problem with the meds used for auto-immune diseases). It's a risk to wait, but maybe the reward would be worth it? And by mid-year, maybe other possibilities will become available (Patrick, make the most of your Tacoma time!).
Yep. Forgot about Guti. Healthy Guti last year = playoffs (even if he were limited to DH and very occasional 5th OFer duty). I'd be willing to roll with Guti, Aoki, and Logo.
Franklin is so smooth and graceful. I have wondered, more than once, how a person, with his grace and athletic ability, could have a body that crashes and burns on him in so many weird ways. If he has finally gotten control of his illness problems, then he'd be the perfect compliment in the OF. Unfortunately, with his history, that is a big if. I would love to see it, though.
The Saunders deal is starting to look like a massive mistake again. Ms need a starting RF AND a 4th OF. I don't trust them when they get creative, but we'll see.
/promote
But if you sign Rasmus you end up with an extra Happ!
Well, it's something. If we did innk Rasmus I would lobby hard for a kiddy in the DH/1B/RF role. Romero to start then Kivlehan or Deej.
Rasmus solves our CF dilemma, too.
But Miller coulddo all that if you write him off as a SS.
4 starting IF's and 2 catchers = 6. Cruz makes 7. Two C's = 9. 3 OF = 12.
You've only got one more role. That next guy better be able to play CF and 1B....or one of your starting OF's plays 1B, too.
If Taylor is at SS and Miller is aCOF/Zobrist...then you're done.
So a RF is, as it has been for a while, a big stinking deal for us right now.