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=== Slow Down One Second, Guys ===

It's not far-fetched to believe that Rauuuul could be a better hitter, at age 41, than any of the in-house options available to Zduriencik.  I was surprised to see that a fair number of age-41 players have hit well, including recently:

• Brian Downing - .407 OBP (!), 138 OPS+ in 400 plate appearances for Texas 1992
• The Edgar - 300/400/500 season at age 40, roughly league-average hitting at age 41
• Carlton Fisk - a 135 OPS+ at ages 41 *and* 42 for Chicago 1990-91
• Paul Molitor - more BB's than K's, nearly league-average hitting for Minnesota in 1998
• Dave Winfield - 138 OPS+ with 108 RBI at age 40, better than league at 41, almost league at 42 for Minny
• Pete Rose - hit .325 with a .391 OBP for Philly in 1981, hit league-average at 43

Of course, you have a bunch of Ted Williamses, Ty Cobbs, Luke Applings and Honus Wagners who were bona fide stars at age 41.  We wouldn't consider these old-timers relevant as it pertains to the question of 21st-century competition at age forty.

Stan Musial was 10th in the MVP voting at age 41; that was in the early 60's, when guys like Koufax and Gibson and Whitey Ford were around.  so, there's that.  He had a tremendous .330/.416/.508 season; this was the NL in the sixties, remember.

Barry Bonds is a laughable exception:  at ages 41 and 42 he had (collectively) an OPS over 1000.  He was better, at 40, 41, and 42, than the best players are right now.  Ah, but you say, Bonds was physically different.  So is Raul.

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We assume that Rauuuul will be platooning; last year, at age 40, he slugged .492 against right hand pitching, this in a full 360 AB's.

In 2011, Rauuuul slugged over 100 points higher against RHP's.  This is perfectly normal; the bat slows a tick, the platoon splits go up.  At age 39, Rauuuul's EYE against lefties was ... wait for it .... 3 walks, 38 strikeouts.

In 2010, Raul had 57 walks and 64 strikeouts against RHP's; against lefties it was 11:44.  This is an absolutely classic pattern:  aging RBI man gets mortified by LH-on-LH matchups against the kiddies, but ... he can still git R done against righties.

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=== State of the Rauuul ===

In September of 2012, when last seen, Raul slugged .541.  The guy's in weird physical condition, and the fact is that he can still rock RHP.  His SLG against them last year was .500'ish ... and that is despite a .242 BABIP.

I wouldn'a signed him.  But be advised that Zduriencik believes that he's one of the M's 25 best on-field players for 2013.

I'm not as sold on Casper Wells as youse guys; I think that with exposure, with consistent AB's, he'd very possibly prove himself a mirage.  Shedding Wells will cost Dr. D no tears -- except that the Mariners have invested a whale of a lot of Safeco AB's in dead ends like Wells, Trayvon, Carp, etc.  The ROI on these experiments is getting out of hand.

Rauuuul is NOT a player you're going to win your next pennant with.  Zduriencik is managing the 2013 roster as if he's got the 2013 Lakers and he's got one more year to win before he's done ... oh, wait.  My objection to Rauuul is strictly the CYWYNPWTP.

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=== Here's How It Could Work ===

As to the roster crunch, I got two words for yer.  Two catchers, one of which starts at DH.  Mike Napoli just did it for Texas:  in 2011, Torrealba caught a lot, Napoli DH'ed, and Teagarden played 14 games out of AAA.  Avila and Victor Martinez did it a couple years ago.  In recent years, the 13-man bench hasn't allowed for platoons and pinch-hitting.  But a 2-man C/DH system could enable such a retro strategy.  Whether Eric Wedge is the man to buy in, who knows.

It says here that the leadership, the "buy-in," isn't as big a factor as people make it out to be.  The Mariners apparently think that Rauuuul will give them an Earl Weaver-style big bat off the bench, a modern-day Terry Crowley type.  Earl used to want offense out of his backups.  I don't think the Mariners have ever had offense out of their backups, unless you consider Mark McLemore 2001 a backup.

ASSUMING that you were going to use Jaso and Montero behind the plate, with a Shoppach in AAA, and ASSUMING that you were actually going to use Rauuuul to pinch-hit for Brendan Ryan and Franklin Gutierrez, Terry Crowley-style, well, hey.  That would be refreshing.  To me, the Raul decision means a 2-catcher decision.  

Trust me, if Raul SLG's .510 in part-time play next year, you're not going to be hearing any static from the peanut gallery in August.

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We're playing devil's advocate with this post.  I got no idea why the M's would invest so many AB's in the Trayvons and Carps and Pegueros and then, all of a sudden, do a U-turn and freeze them all out for 41-year-olds.  Dr. D hates, hates, hates this inconsistency here:  let's pile 20,000 hours of Safeco time into this and that and the other kid.  Now, just when some interesting guys like Franklin and Zunino are getting here, let's cut all that available time to zero.

But Raul Ibanez could be an ironically effective role player for the 2013 M's.  It's possible that, for 2013 in a vacuum, Raul is the best choice.

BABVA,

Dr D