=== M-Pops on Roster Stagnation ===
I/O:
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CRUNCH: Brillllliant!! ::guinness:
Full disclosure at the outset: James has been writing about this growth-consolidation Law of Gravity since the 1970's. We believe we have read almost everything he's ever written about it... there are at least a dozen things conspiring to prevent a team from two leaps in a row, as you acknowledge in your remarks, Pops.
The first thing that James referred to with Baker was exactly this idea that in year 2, the manager does not have the same blank check to play the best players, in whatever roles he sees fit.
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But the 2010 Mariners have re-racked a completely fresh table of billiards again, and in 2010 again can make roster decisions as they see fit.
Look around the diamond ... do the M's owe AB's or innings to anyone? At 1B, the Mariners (Blengino, on the radio) have already talked about the possibility of Garko moving into full time if he warrants it - you don't owe Kotchman anything. In LF, you've got new players. At DH, you have reached a deal in which Junior comments "the role has changed for 2010 ... and that's fine." At catcher, same thing...
You do owe playing time to RF, 2B, CF, and SP1, which is fine, I think...
The only two problemos: You're breaking code by forcing Lopez to move to 3B, and you have to close with Aardsma.
But, absolutely right. Wakamatsu can be as nimble and agile about PT decisions as he was last year.
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And, Branyan and Washburn are precisely the two players with whom this could have been a problemo in 2010 -- on-field, but even more so, in the clubhouse. You can well imagine how much presence both players have there, and how things would go if they got flushed out of full-time play in midseason ...
Good show Pops. c-points
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Washburn, if he comes in now, comes in humbled, one would think...
Sandy asks, if the Mariners' decision is supposedly so weird, why do 29 other teams share the M's hesitation? This one lands a heavy blow to the body, no doubt...
29 other teams regard the 7+ ERA Detroit guy as the real Washburn. In Seattle, the Mariners know different, in part because of this knowledge.
You know and I know, that Washburn joyfully throwing in our park with our fielders, would be very solid in 2010 -- and certainly a better bet than our scrubs. Zduriencik knows what we know (plus some).
I don't believe that the Mariners doubt that Washburn's blizzard of strikes would play well here. But Pops, with the "stagnation" interpretation, may have the key: chemistry...
That, or budget.
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Can the Mariners maintain a fresh, non-stagnant babbling brook of talent each year? Could they do it yet again in 2011? Billy Beane has done it.
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It hadn't occurred to me that the Washburn decision might be Stars & Scrubs orientation asserting itself -- skip the entitled vets and go with Lee + Fister -- but it gladdens my heart to see it :- )
BABVA,
Dr D