<p>Question: I believe both Hultzen and Flores are out of options. If they begin the season on the DL, do we still retain their rights?</p>
<div class="indented">Reply - mojician - 11/17/15 12:46pm<br><p>Hultzen has been on the 40 man roster for more than four years now. Even if the Mariners could DL him for the start of the 2016 season, it is unclear that they would want to. It may be time to fish or cut bait.</p>
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<p>But now...we need to get a good/solid hitting corner outfielder to play right so Cruz can DH more often...or a good solid 1B so that Trumbo can DH more often.</p>
<div class="indented">Reply - Browns8625 - 11/18/15 2:24pm<br><p>I still don't mind the cruz to 1st base talk</p>
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<p>It was going to be difficult (near impossible) to find a great defensive CF who can also really hit the ball without paying a ton. If Dipoto brings in another corner OF with a solid bat this move will feel a ton better. With the current hype for JBJ from #Boston, Martin actually compares fairly well. Martin is 2 years older at 27 and has 2 years less control but came much cheaper than the supposed player cost for JBJ. Their MLB slash lines aren't pretty.<br />
JBJ-785 PA .213/.290/.349 with an OPS of .638<br />
L. Martin-1461 PA .255/.305/.361 and OPS of .666</p>
<div class="indented">Reply - Browns8625 - 11/18/15 2:25pm<br><p>It sounds hands down from not only this medium, but around baseball circles...tgat this was a bug W for Mariners..and specifically their new GM</p>
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<p>I love Edgar...but he's not a swami. He's not going to turn bad hitters into good ones.</p>
<div class="indented">Reply - Browns8625 - 11/18/15 2:26pm<br><p>Time will tell, but bats did better after he came on I'd say last season. Perhaps no swami...Guru?</p>
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<p>I do think we will play Cruz in RF quite a bit, Matt. Maybe not 80 games, but he will get some. But I could go with your proposal, certainly. Of course, Son is pie in the sky at this point.</p>

<p>I had not thought about the #9 Martin-#1 Marte dynamic as back-to-back bats. Hmmmm.......Not much pop there. Doc, I did deliberately leave the part out about Blair being able to hit, based on the DiPoto-based hope that Martin can find his 90 OPS bat again. Of course, at 90 he's still not close to Blair at his best. I like Wilhelmsen, but he's a 31 year old 75-inning guy who still walks 4 guys/9. I'll miss him, but clearly rolling the dice on Martin is a better move. And he's not THAT much cheaper than Martin this year. The real cost here might be the PTBNL. On the subject of Son, in my little bit of research I don't see him as a 4th OF (but would be glad to have him as such), he looks like an everyday COF to me. Matty will disagree, but I would roll the dice on him (those KBL guys seem to do just fine over here) and plug him in, plugging Smith out. Get him for the 4 years.</p>
<div class="indented">Reply - Browns8625 - 11/18/15 2:29pm<br><p>I think the point is did the team get better with the move.. and yes. We can not go sell farm on one huge guy and frankly, THE guy just does not seem to be out there. Otherwise I agree with the breakdown</p>
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<p>JeDi sez that Anthony Bass "lends a right-hander to a group that was becoming decidedly left-handed." Who decided that? Can somebody explain where the M's embarrassment of LH riches is?</p>

<p>Buying low on Doug Fister? Sign me up, despite the 85-87 MPH. Interesting though that DiPoto was emphatic about Bass being a "swing man." Have not even HEARD that term in like 5 years. To my dismay. Love swing #Men, but they all seem "inadvertent" swing #Men nowadays.</p>

<p>DaddyO - just so, amigo. I also like the Martin trade, MAINLY on the (gingerly-made) assumption that DiPoto is a Great Brain. The drizzle rainfall on the idea is that the Rangers knew Martin better than DiPoto does.</p>

<p>Mather's budget flexibility? He's given DiPoto one #Whale of a blank check to make his own *moves,* so from an F-500 standpoint could very easily see the Committee with open minds about how to complete that vision. Or not</p>

<p>And if Fister is willing to leave his role a bit open, it might make for a nice pairing with Nuno as swing #Men while maintaining rotation depth.</p>

<p>Of course, if there is FA #Money, instead of trading for Ozuna, sign Parra. He is LH, but still allows shifting him to CF to get Cruz into RF when desired and the result would be better vL than Martin. Flexibilty and athleticism.</p>

<p>Leonys Martin vs Paul Blair, one of Earl Weaver's gloves: that was part of Earl's hidden magic, that at times he had FOUR gloves of +15, +20 caliber available to him. Back when UZR and even defensive Win Shares were long ways off. Blair was one of my 1st thoughts here too. 'course Blair could hit.</p>

<p>Anonymous posted 3 days ago: "If I'm DiPoto, I'm calling #Texas about Leonys Martin. His 2015 campaign was terrible but in 2014, he was a 4.6 WAR player with a .325 OBP and 31 stolen bases. He's a bit of a risk but I think he could easily rebound in 2016." Then Anonymous, tonight, owned up to his egregious called shot. But I wish I knew who Anon WAS ...</p>