Exactly,
The M's have plenty of offense right now. And they have plenty of projected offense carrying forward into '12. OK, so Carp might not be Teddy Ballgame next year. But he's going to hit and be productive. Guys, he can play. He'll plate some runs. Ackley will be Ackley. The real Smoak will sign in, please. There is every appearance that Wells will remain a 100+ OPS guy. Ichiro won't be worse next year. Guti won't be the historically bad CF that he was for 100 games....or he won't be the CF and the next guy won't be historically bad.
We will get better production out of 3B, no matter who is there.
Trayvon, Saunders, Peguerro, Willy Mo....Somebody will help. Heck, Franklin may be here at some point in '12.
So...we will be decent offensively.
What I don't want to see is trading young talent over the winter for just as iffy MLB talent.
If we can get a Kubel or a Prince or a Justin Upton then I'm all over that. But a Cuddyer or Willingham is not much (if any) better bet than the assorted young guys we have.
An experience, quality one year arm sounds quite nice.
..........
Casper Wells showed the good, the bad, and the ugly in his first AB: his wave and miss swing-through must have missed by three balls' widths.
But on a low-away fastball, Wells showed that gorgeous rock-steady head, busted out a can, and used the pecs and arms to simply muscle a ball hard and far, over the Safeco fence. Wells has Jay Buhner-type physical power.
The song remains the same: if his EYE stays over 0.30, Wells looks like a Buhner Lite. It may not.
***
You might complain that Beckett's fastball got a fair part of the plate. I might complain, in reply, that the June 15 - July 15 Mariners were thrown strikes, too. But they didn't necessarily hit their strikes into the bullpen.
Geoff Baker liked the Fister-for-Wells trade. His (East Coast) perspective was that Fister might not be quite the colossus that SSI credits him for :- ) and that Casper Wells is a non-Mariner hitter. Casper Wells might not be a joke, so he's welcome here. That's Baker's add.
***
Very tall, frighteningly powerful, deceptively fast, angular body and movements, 5-tool guy, pull hitter, "tweener" CF/RF, his EYE the only question mark, late bloomer with a seductive upside yet in reserve ....
If you liked Michael Saunders, you should be all over Casper Wells. I'll guarantee you. Casper Wells is exactly the same thing, except able to hit.
Why wouldn't the Saunders fans jump right over to Casper Wells?
.
=== B.C. Dept. ===
The Mariners scored 5+ runs only three times between June 13 and July 17 ... in other words, 26 times in 29 games, they were held under five. (Those three times, they scored 5, 5, and 6.)
You might have noticed that things have changed. In the M's last 23 ballgames, they have racked up 5+ runs in 10 of those games. And they've scored 4+ runs in 14 of those 23 games.
I didn't write this up with the intention of matching those last 23 games to the fact that the M's have had Mike Carp in the lineup for the last 22 of them.
.
But Carp isn't the point by himself. The month-plus B.C. (before Carp) the M's had run about a 65 OPS+. As a team!
The last 23 games, the M's OPS+ has been around 100. It currently is where it will need to be in 2012. (Whether it will stay there is another question.)
The M's offense has been a joke, but tonight, Josh Beckett ain't laughing. And Jack Zduriencik is smoldering. He's got a lot of payback on his mind. First returns, baby.
.
=== 0H 2012 Dept. ===
Some folks are wanting to punt 2012 now. We've heard 'em say it.
This club is in wayyyyyyyy too much transition for that, kiddies. It is a dynamic, fluid roster situation. If the org were static, fine. But don't be calling the fight for 2012 already, when none of us have any idea who the boxers will be.
Get you a 100 offense -- which the M's currently have -- get K-Pax pulling a Michael Pineda to give the M's a fearsome Big Three -- get you two average SP's at the BOR, let's say, Vargas and Beavan ...
And 1H 2012, the ballclub's trajectory can be plotted out to certain feasible playoff scenarios.
***
We're watching a 100 offense right now. It tastes like the oxygen does after you've been under water for 60 seconds.
.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
Don't look now, but Guti's got an .825 OPS in August.
...is a third baseman, a better catching plan, and bullpen arms. If we can acquire some veteran relief arms via free agency to stabilize our bullpen and trade for a bat at third base or C...that will go a long way toward making us competitive in 2012.
"Casper Wells is exactly the same thing, except able to hit"
Yes, in baseball that's a slight difference !
I'm with you, ghost.
But,
I will be a bit surprised if we are too aggressive in seeking a 3B.....at least as long as Figgins is still in blue and teal. Liddi may get a shot during ST...and Seager, or course.
Figgins in a package to bring us a BP arm means we get after a 3B.
And it may well be that we have to give up League to get another piece. Which means we're still looking for bullpen arms. That may be where we really play during the FA process.
A club can tolerate a mediocre third baseman if the rest of the crew can hit enough to compensate. A crew cannot tolerate a bad bullpen making every lead feel tiny. The Mariners should sign two or three veteran bullpen mainstays...guys like Heath Bell even should get consideration IMHO, but won't because the Mariners are philosophically opposed to spending for bullpen guys. We need relievers...third base might work itself out, though I'd like not to have to rely on Liddi (can't handle the position defensively doesn't control the strikezone well enough) or Seager (more of a UTL guy...not a starter IMHO) or Figgins (not a good clubhouse guy and seems incapable of hitting.
Those homers tonight were purdy...reminded me a lot of Ibanez. Topspin line drives, especially the one in the 8th. And Casper the Friendly Wells continues to see the ball very well for now...maybe he can be an averae-solid bat as our fourth OFer, which would be very valuable.