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The release of Scott Baker took SSI by complete surprise. Bill Krueger took it as a given that BOTH Randy Wolf and Scott Baker would line up in the 4-5 behind Paxton and Erasmo. We figgered Bill was right.
And that would have been quite understandable. It wouldn't have been "the M's being the M's"; a lot of teams would have done that. Probably the Angels woulda done it that way. The "solid" MLB(TM) choice woulda been, 4 Baker. 5 Wolf.
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Dr. D's preferred "Big Board" as to April rotation shim
1 Roenis Elias
2 Scott Baker
3 Blake Beavan
4 Randy Wolf
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Bill Krueger's
1 Scott Baker
2 Randy Wolf
3 ... not very relevant
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SSI's guesstimate, as of YESterday, as to the M's intentions
1 Scott Baker, obviously
2 Randy Wolf 70/30
3 Roenis Elias 30/70
4 Blake Beavan (odd, though, that McClendon had been talking him up)
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SSI's interpretation, as of Now, as to the M's intentions
1 Roenis Elias
2 Randy Wolf, an old bud of Jack Z's
3 Blake Beavan
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Impresses the fluffy white stuffing out of Dr. D that the M's have the stones to put an AA Cuban in there behind K-Pax (four ML starts, and his last two spring showings being relatively non-ROYish) and Erasmo (less than 1 season's worth of IP, 5+ ERA last year, Q'able health, and McClendon hated his last outing).
One thing you've got to give Zduriencik: he will definitely do what he thinks is right, even if (and especially) it denies him the use of "By The Book" as a shield for his own judgment.
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Assets and Liabilities Sheet
Roenis Elias was on TV last start. He was quite a different pitcher than I expected. Suffice it to say here that Dr. D supports the promotion of Elias to the Safeco rotation --- > and supports it with gusto.
Subjectively speaking, I really enjoy watching him pitch; I bet you do, too. Elias isn't being asked to log 180 innings; he's being asked to blindside three AL West teams and hold things down for Taijuan. He's a great choice for that!
Objectively speaking, the M's could go from 0 to 90 MPH on the "tradeable 6-year starting pitcher" dial in about one month. Y'feel me?
Not only could they cash in Elias real quick -- now, or at the deadline, even if Elias had a 2.90 ERA in April and then a strong Rainiers season -- but more likely, the M's run with Elias in the #5-6 role, and could flip Erasmo real quick to any ballclub who lost a starter to the DL.
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Chemistry 101 (no, not clubhouse chemistry. The real kind)
POTD on Elias tonight, hopefully; there were 4-5 quite surprising differences between who he is, and who Dr. D thought he was.
For one thing, he gets high in the zone with the fastball, and McClendon doesn't question it in his case -- which is awesome in a 2-pitch lefty, high FB whip-sawed against the diving yakker.
For another thing, He Goes To The Body Like Nobody Yer Ever Seen. Loves to get that heater WAY in on righties, which must look like it's coming outta first base.
So he's got a lively heater, and lively spots he hits with it. Lively yakker he comes back with. Lively side-arm slider he mixes in to lefties. Wolf and Baker are inert; Elias is dynamic. Both in terms of next week's game, and in terms of the 5-year roster arc.
Big fun.
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Q-and-A. I'll ask, you answer
Releasing Baker also speaks to the M's happiness over the Iwakuma and Taijuan situations. There's simply no need for Scott Baker if you've got those two, and you like Elias as your #6 (which Dr. D does) and you've got stoplosses in Beavan and Maurer.
So you grabbed Baker, and then he was healthy, but --- > things worked out so sweet that Baker turned out good to go, and then you shedded the good Baker.
How long would Taijuan need to ramp up, in AAA, for the M's to hit a "club controls" tripwire, either for Super Two or for the free agency clock?
What is Randy Wolf's situation, contractually?
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Elias might be a gem. The high heat/big yakker attack is a lethal one if a guy can execute it. I think it's my favorite attack, in fact. I love seeing a hitter screw himself into the ground on a curve ball after seeing a couple of fastballs at the top of the zone.
Let's talk about the first month of the season, though realistically Walker could be ready much sooner than that. You need your 4+5 starter 9 times. You could split them evenly, or with off days and skipped starts, potentially only need your 5th guy 3 times. You could do something crazy like throw in a bullpen day and reduce down the number of starts needed even further.
But if you run a lineup of Felix, Paxton, Ramirez, Elias, Wolf it could look like:
31-Mar Mon. @LAA Felix
1-Apr Tue @LAA Paxton
2-Apr Wed @LAA Ramirez
3-Apr Thu @OAK Elias
4-Apr Fri @OAK Wolf
5-Apr Sat @OAK Felix
6-Apr Sun @OAK Paxton
7-Apr Mon
8-Apr Tue LAA Ramirez
9-Apr Wed LAA Elias
10-Apr Thu
11-Apr Fri OAK Felix
12-Apr Sat OAK Paxton
13-Apr Sun OAK Ramirez
14-Apr Mon @TEX Elias
15-Apr Tue @TEX Wolf
16-Apr Wed @TEX Felix
17-Apr Thu @TEX Paxton
18-Apr Fri @MIA Ramirez
19-Apr Sat @MIA Elias
20-Apr Sun @MIA Wolf
21-Apr Mon HOU Felix
22-Apr Tue HOU Paxton
23-Apr Wed HOU Ramirez
24-Apr Thu
25-Apr Fri TEX Elias
26-Apr Sat TEX Felix
27-Apr Sun TEX Paxton
28-Apr Mon
29-Apr Tue NYY Ramirez
30-Apr Wed NYY Elias
Now if Walker starts the season on the 15 day DL, and is ready to go as soon as able to come off of it, you can slot him into that April 15th rotation spot and you've used your 5th starter ONCE.
The rotation is not in shambles.
- Ben.
His comments were in direct response to a suggestion that Erasmo is looking like a #2 starter. McClendon was going out of his way to point out the things that Ramirez (and Beavan, et. al) need to get better at before being considered a top of the rotation guy. Iwakuma's the #2, Ramirez needs to pitch better in 0-2 counts. The comments, when taken in full, did not read at all like McClendon wasn't confident of Erasmo's spot in the rotation, was just him critiquing the height of said spot.
- Ben.
Your point is very well taken.
McClendon can be VERY candid about his ballplayers, which is great for us as fans. Few managers would have come at it like that, but McClendon goes his own way. Once you get past the surprise, McClendon's In Yo Face reactions probably do a lot more good than harm.
Pretty Lou-ish, no?
Dunno whether they'll skip the #5 though, with these young arms and the long season stretching out in front of them. I wish they would ...
You see them as being willing to let Randy Wolf do some long relief like that?
Q: "Wow, Ramirez, spring training ERA under 1, looks like a #2"
Lloyd: "Hold your horses, speaking of horses, Erasmo's pitching like horsesh&^ 0-2. Those'll get destroyed by MLB hitters"
Cracks me up, love the fire.
And you can't say enough about a coach who talks about execution rather than results. Bruce Lee: "this isn't about winning. It's about perfection."
But how often do you see, IN BASEBALL, a coach get a good result from a player and then tell him that he did it wrong? Happens once in a while the other way around, where they defend a player who got a bad results, but rarely do you see Lloyd's type of reaction.
we all thought Lloyd was crazy when he said he wanted 3 lefties in the pen... but I guess 3 lefty starters will have to do.
Now does Lloyd only go with Furbush in the pen, or does Luetge also get to go too...
If Luetge does make it, then Walker or Kuma puts Wolfe in the pen... and Lloyd is a happy man.
Last thing I want to see is Wolf in the pen. He may be able to 'crafty veteran' his way to a 5ERA and 5 2/3 innings per start but I don't want that weak stuff coming out of the pen.
Not that I would dare disagree completely, but I think McClendon is more Leyland-ish than Lou-ish. So far, Lloyd seems very matter-of-fact when speaking; just laying it out there and if you can't handle the truth then that's your problem. I think Lou was more animated, getting worked up more about things in interviews.
But as far as no B.S. or skirting around the issue, Lloyd and Lou are in that same boat.
Just my observations. YMMV.
... and why wouldn't you dare to disagree completely? ;- )
SSI emphasized that, the very first thing, that Wolf's smoke-and-mirrors thing is poor for the 'pen ... the M's are well aware of this. Not a lot of Mark Buerhle's deployed that way by MLB teams.
Thing is, though, if he's in the rotation ... do you think they'd pass over him? Let him get a couple of innings in a 9-2 game to stay "sharp"?
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Could be that it's he or Beavan, and after today Beavan's looking kinda farfetched... I hope they aren't going to go 4 Wolf, 5 Elias and skip Elias a time or two.
Impresses the fluffy white stuffing out of Dr. D that the M's have the stones to put an AA Cuban in there behind K-Pax (four ML starts, and his last two spring showings being relatively non-ROYish) and Erasmo (less than 1 season's worth of IP, 5+ ERA last year, Q'able health, and McClendon hated his last outing).
One thing you've got to give Zduriencik: he will definitely do what he thinks is right, even if (and especially) it denies him the use of "By The Book" as a shield for his own judgment.
- See more at: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/article/baker-out-elias#sthash.QkKlkJir....
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How long is the list of players (specifically young pitchers) Zduriencik acts decisively, confidently and quickly on?
Let's see:
- Pineda (Mr. "I had 62.1 AAA IP and 77 AA IP and was said to be not ready when")
- Erasmo (Mr. "My MLB line is almost exactly the same as AAA")
- Maurer (Mr. "0 AAA IP before being the surprise #5 SP")
- Elias (Mr. "If I make the team, I would be Mr. 'also 0 AAA IP before being the surprise #5 SP'")
Elias would be the fourth young SP that Zduriencik has "rushed" to the show in spite of massive criticisms of not being ready and the fifth that no recognized "expert" has predicted would start out well. Of the previous 3, 1 was a massive success and another was great until a random injury (to somewhere NOT his elbow/ forearm or shoulder).
And heck, given the jammering all offseason long about how the M's "needed" a solid veteran behind two great veterans, one could make the argument that many feel Zduriencik is rushing Paxton and Walker.
Trusting kids in big roles that go against "the book" is par for the course in Mariner-ville, whether people realize it (or want to admit it) or not.
Bedard's been granted his release and is reportedly willing to sign with a team as a starter OR a relief pitcher.
Now count me in the camp that would consider Bedard the PERFECT #5 to start the season with. We mapped out how it's likely only a couple of starts and then Erikkkk becomes a perfect left handed long reliever option.
I'd have much more confidence in Bedard than Wolf.
- Ben.
Zduriencik flushed out every Bavasi idea he could. With alacrity.
I'm not quite sure what the psychological/political cause is, but he didn't want Bavasi concepts dirtying up his roster. Dunno whether that would extend to this incarnation of Erikkkk. Boy, would it be fun to watch, though.