Thursday Afternoon Tazoberry

=== Mike Sweeney ===

Two doubles off the best reliever in the AL, other than Brandon League. :- ) I seriously doubt that you could hit two doubles off Naftali Feliz. I also seriously doubt whether any other Mariner could do so, except Ichiro.

Seriously. Do you think Ryan Garko or Franklin Gutierrez could double twice in the same game off that animal?

............

It's not about a spring hot streak. It's about Mike Sweeney being a special hitter. Even in 2009, Sweeney was quick at the plate, quick and strong, with a real good eye.

We've been talking about the ability to hit the ball up the middle -- to let the ball get deep in the zone -- to slow the game down. Compare Sweeney to my hero Griff. Junior's gorgeous swing has always taken an extra tick to get to the baseball, and he'd tell you that. He often did say that, in his prime, that hitting was harder for him than for Frank Thomas or Jim Thome.

:FKey7: Sweeney might still be the M's best hitter other than Ichiro, which kinda poses a problemo.

I'd be just fine with this:

11 pitchers
Strict LH/RH platoon at DH, Griffey-Sweeney
Unstrict LH/RH platoon at 1B, Kotchman-Garko
Bradley in LF, if he's hurt he's hurt

And then every blinkin' ace pitcher that we go against, faces a custom-made lineup stacked against him. You level Griff, Bradley, Ichiro etc against Jered Weaver, and you've got Mike Sweeney, Eric Byrnes, Ryan Garko against Scott Kazmir.

You reply, that's too much of a logjam. I refer you to this Milton Bradley team, which had four (4) bat-only players too many.

The 2007 Oakland A's had these 1B/LF players on the roster, at various times, of course:

Dan Johnson
Shannon Stewart
Nick Swisher
Milton Bradley
Travis Buck
Mike Piazza
Jack Cust
Daric Barton
Bobby Kielty
Not to mention Chris Snelling, Ryan Langerhans and others

There's nothing forbidding a Mike Sweeney ballclub, other than a paradigm paralysis that says veterans shouldn't throw elbows for playing time.

You can see one man who doesn't accept this paradigm: Billy Beane. If you like wins-per-payroll-dollar, Beane is still fresh.

The awkwardness of a Sweeney/Garko/Griffey roster is real, but its degree of awkwardness is being blown way out of proportion. It would be somewhat awkward; it would not be totally insane, unthinkable, impossible, etc.

Sweeney won't insist on many AB's.

Cheers,

Dr D

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Moss starts growing

And do you have any doubt at all that Sweeney can hit just as well after 5 days off, as he can playing every day?

Plus, you can absolutely rely on him to put together a good at-bat in a pinch hitting situation.

Not sure where I read it (Drayer's blog maybe?) but Sweeney says he's worked with Cockerel to tweak his approach to 'slow down' the pitcher. His words. He made that comment before he whipsawed a coupla Neftali Feliz 99mph flame balls, IIRC.

My disposition is like yours, Doc... Sweeney might be the 2nd best hitter, right now, in the entire organization. How can you NOT put him on the 25 man?

Loudly agreed.

My 25 man roster has 11 pitchers and Mike Sweeney is a free extra bat in a 5 to make 3 rotation over LF, 1B and DH.

I like Garko a lot too...so I can't just swap in Sweeney for Garko. But I *REALLY* want to keep Sweeney on this club. A healthy (and constantly well-rested) dangerous bench bat is a WS caliber tool.

I go with:

Moore (C)
Johnson (C)
Garko (1B)
Kotchman (1B)
2B) Figgins
3B) Lopez
SS) Wilson
UT) Tuiasosopo
LF) Bradley
CF) Gutierrez
RF) Ichiro
OF) Saunders
DH) Griffey
BAT) Sweeney

My 5-to-make-3 would include - on days when you need to rest Bradley from LF - GARKO PLAYING LEFT. I don't know why this isn't talked about at all...he's not a good outfielder, but he's athletic enough to occasionally play left field...c'mon now.

Against Righties:

RF) Ichiro!
2B) Figgins
LF) Bradley
DH) Griffey
3B) Lopez
1B) Kotchman
CF) Gutierrez
C) Moore
SS) Wilson

Against lefties:

RF) Ichiro!
2B) Figgins
LF) Bradley
1B) Garko
3B) Lopez
DH) Swweeney
CF) Gutierrez
C) Moore
SS) Wilson

Tui gets PT swinigng all over the infield to give guys days off and playing short whenever Wilson is hurt. Sweeney steals some PA as an extra bat. Garko steals a fwe PA from Bradley on his off-days and from Kotchman when the Ms realize Kotchman sucks...or just against the lefties.

Garko playing LF ... hm....

You're talking to a guy who grew up watching Greg Luzinski play LF :- ) and it's not like the idea is obsolete. Dunn has played corner OF recently. Manny, etc etc.

The defensive craze shouldn't lead to dogma.

..............

Garko ... very interesting idea. His SX's are in the 20's and 30's (100 being average). I wonder what his footspeed is?

You can play him LF on the road.

.............

Here's a thought. What if you brought in a specialty coach to teach Ken Griffey how to play outfield? :- )

Junior is supposed to be lighter and faster this year. Won some relay drills, supposedly.

If you could get Junior or Garko or whoever a few of the #5 OF AB's, there isn't much of an issue at all with Sweeney.

Keepers

The M's will go with 12 pitchers....or soon will if they don't open with 12. Nobody does 11 for long. So....

That makes for 13 positional players. I think Tui is going to be one of those. And if Tui makes it....and Lopez is still around, then a Garko or Kotchman is expendable, if you figure Lopez can play some 1B.

I like keeping Sweeney. He's a pro.

Having too many bats to pick from I suppose is not a bad thing, but I still wonder about the Kotchman signing. He better be a Brooks Robinson or Ozzie Smith at 1B.

And I keep waiting for the Bradley thing to implode. Sooner, rather than later, I think. Take it to the bank.

Good to meetcha Moe :- )

Good post.

Nobody does 11? Is that true?

I'm not challenging it - just don't know the answer to it. Is that the case, that all 30 teams have carried 12+ pitchers for 2007-09?

11 pitchers is no longer feasible in the 21st century?

Who has data on this -

Kotchman expendable? Say it's so

What a dream it would be, to start Garko at 1B and then keep Sweeney, Tui, Byrnes, Junior etc.

Kotchman's making like $4m, right. Am I right in assuming that the M's couldn't really flush him in March even if they wanted to?

Notice, also

That our sales pitch for the Sween-er-ator is 100% on-field.

We haven't even touched the idea of his bringing energy, positive visuals, sports coaching to the dugout.

This is a guy who will loudly cheer for the other M's before and after they drive in runs. Share ideas on pitchers. Offer feedback on swing corrections in-game. Make rookies comfortable. etc.

There's a strong argument for bringing Sweeney north *without* considering his intangibles.

Byrnes a burnin'

Z has a bit of a man-crush on Kotchman, I don't think there's any way he doesn't continue with the big club. Remember, the reports when he was traded here was that he would likely be 'penciled in' as the opening day starter. And I'm not so sure he shouldn't be; the scouts once raved about him, he's only 27, etc. He has a possibility of a breakout season.

But Byrnes? Ugh. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't he an older, righthanded, and more expensive version of Ryan Langerhans?

Let's get Kotchman an outfielder's glove. ;-)

11-man staff

Just a quick bit of research.

When I searched "11-man pitching staff," nearly half (or more) of the links were Mariner related. I would assume it isn't THAT common then.

Tigers started last year with 13
Torre likes to use 13
Eric Wedge with the Indians liked a 12 man staff.
Twins DID use an 11-man staff until the All Star break last year.
Most uses of an 11-man staff seemed to be very short in duration. One was for 3 days or so.

If you figure you usually have a guy that has a sore arm, blister, sore toe, etc but that you don't want to DL...then a 12-man staff becomes 11, and 11 becomes 10.

I think that is why 11 never lasts long.

Thanks for the data Moe

It's more than I had.

For sure, 12 men is the norm, and there are good reasons for that being the case -

Sweeney has a career reverse

Sweeney has a career reverse platoon splits, so he probably isn't the best guy for that role.. If theres any team out there willing to pay $3.5mil for Kotchman, I wouldn't mind Sweeney stealing his role (considering the positive clubhouse presence).

Can Sweeney still play a competent 1B? That would be my biggest question..

Washburn shouldn't cost much more than $3.5mil to sign either...just saying.. I doubt the Ms will attempt to trade Kotchman anyhow, and I don't think there would be any takers at that price.

Sweeney at first

I was wondering about Sweeney at first too. If he's really hitting to the point of needing a position and can play first for even a couple of games a week, that makes things easier. Especially if Kotchman and/or Garko aren't hitting at the same level.

Sure

Of course Sweeney has played over 500 games 1B in the majors, including five last year in Seattle.

Came up as a catcher, of course, as far as wild throws in the dirt.

...................

Put SSI's committee in charge of the Mariners, and see whether we play Mike Sweeney or Casey :- / Kotchman at first base. LOL.

BTW Matt Long, gotcha in the blogroll

And when you link us editorially (in the text of a post, as opposed to in the sidebar) we tend to come back at you in our own linkage articles. So if you'd like some pub for a particular GGS article, just let us know :- )

Cheers -