.
BTW, it was interesting too, hearing Capt Jack say of Saunders, Moore and Tui, that “When you’re putting your team together in the offseason, you don’t count on them, you consider them potential big league players."
Which, if this attitude means an Adam Dunn hauled in this winter, that's okay with me :- ) but how literally could Capt Jack mean it? I'm not sure it's much of an option to not count on Adam Moore, is it?
....
Phillippe Aumont. Just saying his name is melancholy for me, a #8 overall pick blown on a setup reliever.
Still, Grifol points out that if Aumont came to camp and hit spots in the strike zone, he would be ready to dominate in the majors right then and there.
The M's have funnelled huge, huge resources into bullpen inventory. :shrug: you'd think that pretty soon here, the Aumont-Fields era would start providing some consolation for what might have been.
....
Nick Hill. Here's a non-heralded guy who is getting the kind of consistent attention that Doug Fister did right before he was thrown into the Safeco rotation from out of nowhere.
Grifol's thing is that if you can retire lefties consistently, you've got a job in the majors. It so happens that the Mariners need this very thing. So Hill's probably one of the safest bets for a "surprise" job next year.
...
Tyson Gillies. Wow. You wonder if you read them right.
Saunders ain't guaranteed a job, and if the 20-year-old Gillies shows Mark McLemore-type OBP toughness, well, "His defense is special" per Wakamatsu.
Saunders in LF is exciting, but if Gillies were ready to do a Brett Butler trick, a .360+ OBP with tons of SB's and the fleet CF glove, that would be interesting too.
I'm not super high on Gillies, 'cause not sure yet that his skills translate higher up the ladder, but Wak is. So, huh.
...
Carlos Triunfel. Not likely to make the Mariners out of camp but, per Grifol, could be called up to Safeco during the 2010 season.
Has "taken ownership of his career" at 19. In director-speak that means "carries himself like a major leaguer right now, and I could see him in the clubhouse any time."
Hired a nutritionist :- ) and, as we've talked about, the Mariners apparently are still looking at him for SS.
Called up to the Mariners when, IceX? About the time that Wilson misses his 40th game?
...
Ezequiel Carrera, Matty's adopt-a-player. Here's a guy I really wonder whether his skills will translate even at the next level, much less MLB. We'll see.
He's credited with "spectacular" defense and small-ball skills. That doesn't do a lot for me, but here they are talking about him competing to make the M's next year, so okay.
...
Of course, they coulda just been rattling off some names of players they like. But the context is pretty clearly, which guys are the Mariners going to be watching in Arizona in March 2010, and the names that get mentioned here are the guys with the inside tracks.
I was very interested to hear Tyson Gillies in there. That's a guy I could see.
Cheers,
Dr D
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