I was worried about a lineup with a number of guys under 2 years of service time this off-season, and it was one reason I wanted Fielder - as an "elder statesman" at 27 around which to hub the offense. We need SOME sort of veteran presence in the lineup.
Teams with more than 3 hitters qualified for a batting title with a maximum of 2 years in the bigs (past 50 years):
If we go with Seager, Carp, Ackley and Montero and they play the # of games we'd like, that’s 4.
Wells and Smoak both have 1-and-a-bit years of experience at this point, so they’d be over 2 by year’s end, but barely.
If you go first-to-third years (since I can’t sort by service time) then 13 teams in 50 years have batting-title qualifiers with 4 or more.
The Twins with Ford, Mauer and Morneau in 2005 had 3 in their lineup.
We had 3 in 2006 with Yuni, Jose and Kenji, but IMO Kenji doesn’t really count.
2005 Rays had 3 (maybe 2, I don’t remember). 2006? Same. 2007? 3, including Iwamura.
This year we could have SIX. And six again next year if Catricala and either Franklin or Trayvon make the leap. We either have a historic amount of hitting talent accumulated at the same time rising through the ranks, absolutely ZERO veterans worth keeping or acquiring, or both.
We're not punting Olivo and Figgins just yet. Gotta have at least a couple of vets in the lineup considering how many guys have never played a full 162 game season in the bigs before (ie, every single person on the below list).
Current Service Time:
Saunders: 1.138
Smoak: 1.116
Wells: 1.050
Carp: 1.010
Ackley: 0.105
Seager: 0.085
Montero: 0.028
Catricala: ZERO
Franklin: ZERO
FYI, that could be your 2013 Opening Day lineup. Yes, Saunders could lead all starting hitters in service time next season if the Guti thing goes badly. Players in bold might get full seasons in the lineup this year.
Unless the vets are abominable, they've gotta stick around for a while. No team has ever been successful with that many kids fueling the offense. The 2008 Rays had Baby Longoria + 4 year catcher Navarro, 7 year OF Crawford and a bunch of guys around 30. The 1995 Indians had two pups in Thome and Man-Ram (though Thome had been up in parts of 4 seasons at that point) and a bunch of hitters in their prime with Lofton, Belle, Omar, etc all around age 28.
Those teams made 30 game leaps in the standings. If we'd like to make one, it's a stretch to believe the kids can power it on their own. The 1990 Mariners had Junior and Gar each get legit playing time for the first time and couldn't move the needle. We're assembling an amazing minor-league All Star lineup but they still have to grow together and learn how to be a functional and successful major league team.
I'd pay Olivo to stick around and help with that whether or not it shortens our bench.
~G
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