C) Adam Moore
C) Miguel Olivo
1B) Justin Smoak
2B) Adam Kennedy
3B) Chone Figgins
SS) Brendan Ryan
IF) Jack Wilson
IF) Luis Rodriguez (very surprised about this one)
LF) Milton Bradley
CF) Michael Saunders
RF) Ichiro!
DH) Jack Cust
OF) Ryan Langerhans
SP) Felix Hernandez
SP) Jason Vargas
SP) Doug Fister
SP) Erik Bedard
SP) Michael Pineda
CL) Brandon League
SUR) Josh Lueke
SUL) Aaron Laffey (eke!)
MR) Chris Ray
MR) Jamey Wright
MR) Scott Wilhelmson
SW) David Pauley
Do I have that right?
If so...you have to admit...they're picking their scrubs about as well as they can possibly pick their scrubs give or take a disagreement re: French vs. Laffey or your personal preference re: Langerhans vs. just handing a young guy some PT and hoping for some positive development for future seasons.
The problem is...the whole club (minus about four players) is scrubs. LOL
=== Ring Out the Old, Ring In the New Dept. ===
For some wild-n-crazy reason, Royce Ring had been sold as a mortal lock for Openin' Day.
Everywhere but SSI, that is, which assessed Ring as "George Sherrill with a very sore elbow." Last time I'd seen a head-jerking, max-effort 84 fastball was in 11th grade.
Ring is ML fringe at best, and the fact that the M's don't have to scrape the mayo jar quite this loudly is --- > great news for M's fans. I mean, c'mon. Here's a "replacement level" at best pitcher and ... he's not good enough?
Well, sweet.
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BTW, in the military they have an expression, "popping tall," which refers to the "military bearing" that implies discipline, professionalism and bad intentions for the enemy.
Ring's rep is the opposite of that. Wedge has an attitude to install on his ballclub. It factors in.
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=== Tom Wilhelmsen ===
The last coupla games, at long last, I got it. We saw what G and J were talkin' about.
Sign me up. I'll go the two-year service contract, the four phones, and the unlimited texting.
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The fact that Wilhelmsen is coming out of high-A ball didn't bother SSI, in this specific case, for these reasons.
Older guys sometimes come out of indy leagues and stuff with a world-weary, "who gives a rip, how can my life get any worse" attitudes and simply don't suffer the nerves that a 21-year-old would in the same situation.
M's give him a soft landing, a few IP in long relief to start with, and he'll probably be fine. I mean, I wouldn't throw him into any close-game, men-on jams the first weekend, but y'know.
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It says here that Wilhelmsen also does not have to worry (much) about pitch sequences and setting hitters up.
He will be utterly new to ML hitters, a complete novelty, and it's not like he's going to be going through lineups three times. He's got some command, and he can afford to just do what Olivo says, and play catch with him.
Shawn Kelley threw hard with excellent command; Tom Wilhelmsen throws harder, with good command. Do you like that trade? Well, anybody's got a ways to go to get to where Shawn Kelley was. And that's fine. I'll take talent over reputation.
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POTD later, but slap me silly, this guy has a shot to replace Shawn Kelley. With interest.
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=== Jamey Wright ===
Remains a groundballer with a fastball that doesn't sink enough. He's fringe.
But you know what, you watch the guy, and he does get real high, does throw downhill ... throws the proverbial "bricks" that the scouts rave about.
The yakker is a little wild, but breaks hard ...
the M's do need one known quantity behind Brandon League and this is the guy. In terms of MLB(TM) certification, they've really got two guys down there, those being League and Wright.
Dr. D buys into this. Wright would make his club too, but hopefully the Mariners outgrow him soon.
Presuming that League closes, we'll guess that Wright is the setup guy in Oakland.
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Comments
And Geoffy will continue to bust their chops for not paying the $$ to mix an Adam Dunn type into that mix...
The whole thing would look decidedly rosier with one more Star to add to Felix, Ichiro, and Bedard, wouldn't it...
But still, I love love love the aggressiveness on guys like Rodriguez, Saunders, and Tom Wilhelmsen..
You could call Ray *too* aggressive, their trying to come up with another Aardsma out of thin air, but if it works I'll be up front leadin' the cheers...
I am generally not a fan of a soft-tossing relief pitcher who has no margin for error (Ring, eg) when I have other options unless that soft tosser has a nuclear out pitch and great deception, in which case, why isn't he starting?
I like filling my pen with guys who can throw strike one with their heater and keep the ball down. Ray is wild as wild with that heater but he does tend to at least throw strike one, even if he doesn't know where that strike'll be, so at least he's got one of the two positive attributes (LOL).
They taught Aardsma to just threow 95% fastballs and aim for the outer half of the plate and it worked. Maybe they can do it again with Ray. Or not...in which case he's expendible and you try someone else. Most of the rest of the pen I can live with.
... of any kind, in the pen.
IMO, the rotation could be something special (Bedard healthy and Pineda not suffering too much of a rookie adjustment period). As I noted last April - I think Fister is Silva/HoRam all over, (better control, but less 'stuff' -- shudder), and I'll be surprised if he lasts past May this year. But, Pauley or French as a replacement is more than reasonable for a #5.
I fear the pen could be a complete meltdown - the kind that can destroy an entire team morale in a couple of weeks. Honestly, in looking at the ST stats - of the relievers with more than 3 innings, Jamey Wright may well have pitched the best overall. Does anyone really want to reach June going -- "Yeah, I guess Jamey Wright IS the best guy in the pen."?
Last year, after League and Aardsma, OLSON was the best bullpen arm in 2010. With Aardsma out, if League regresses, even a little ...
While the "mathematical" importance of a closer may be small -- I think the value of that "lock down" 9th inning guy can be crucial to allowing an entire bullpen to function to their maximum potential. I don't see any guy on the Ms roster that I think is that guy. That dynamic holds a lot of risk. I don't think there's enough talent, or enough ... gumption.
I think the combined loss (over time) of Soriano, Sherrill, EOF, Putz, Lowe and Kelley was simply too fast for the bullpen production line to refill. The 4.23 bullpen ERA from 2010 was bad. I think a 4.50+ is a likely outcome for the current bullpen, (which is even worse when you consider that includes the plusses of Safeco and a plus defense).
Of course, if Gutz is sidelined for long, ERAs could rise across the board.
I hope I'm wrong. Bullpens are very hard to read.
New Manager - no Griffey distraction - Bedard back - Pineda on board ... lots of reasons to expect a 5-10 improvement for 2011. But, if there is a keystone that can fail and induce a repeat of 2010, IMO, it is the bullpen.
The problem with League, Lueke and Wilhelmsen won't be lack of talent -- it will be translating it into peformance. I felt the spring was encouraging with respect to all three.
And Aardmsa is already throwing off the mound and is slated to be back in May.
Ray is marginal, and I will grant that Wright, Pauley and Laffey are pedestrian. But Wright and Pauley, at least, have shown some ability to maximize their abilities.
Plus, they'll have about a zillion guys in waiting at Tacoma who could catch fire (although admittedly only Cortes and the always-intriguing Scott Patterson hold much interest). But there's nothing to keep the revolving door from spinning.
Also, Brian Moran could work his way up from AA.
[And -- Lt. Hill (always an SSI favorite!) is giving it another go -- he'll be in Jackson for a second tour of duty after an injury-shortened and generally mediocre '10.]
Lets snatch up Marc Kroon. The Giants just released him after a great spring.
He'd probably be our best reliever.
Shandler doesn't have him, even in the supplemental almanac.
Could run the vids and minors results me ownself... what do you know about 'im Taro?
He struck out everyone who ever played in Japan. And he's in his late 30s.
Still, we could use that arm if he can hold on Arthur Rhodes style for another year or two. I wouldn't mind but I don't think he'd be our best reliever. He seemed to be losing it his last year in Japan, IIRC, at least control-wise.
~G