Luis Rodriguez: Get In the FIGHT Babe
Q. Wow, another pic of Luis Rodriguez!
A. A reminder that Luis Rodriguez and Adam Kennedy have six (6) weeks to convince Jack Zduriencik to munch a $5M contract. Super stuff from Bleacher Report.
Well, actually, if both Rodriguez and Kennedy play well, as they might, the M's might even enjoy the luxury of stiffing Ackley on the Super Two status as well.
Do you think that, after it becomes clear that Wilson's the 4th-best MI, the M's will have the guts to bench him?
Anyway, thought we'd get this little shot in quick: the more April/May AB's for Rodriguez and Kennedy, the happier SSI will be.
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Trying to deal Wilson's $5 mill, I guess they do have to showcase him. Hope that doesn't require more than 60% of the starts, 'cause the M's have three MI's who can do more than he can to win Eric Wedge a ballgame.
Not counting the one playing in Cheney.
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Q. Get back to work, dog. How much difference can a 25th man make?
A. If he's a .210-hitting Swiss Army knife, who is there to make sure the manager doesn't embarrass himself: none.
If he is a better-than-average bench hitter, lefty in Safeco: some.
On the bench, Eric Wedge will begin the season with three left hand hitters who can take a walk and drive the ball, just like Earl used to have. I think I'm going to cry.
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Q. What does that add up to in WAR? 0.1 more wins?
A. Earl used to talk about a tipping point for offense, a spot you can't go below -- and he used his bench as the antidote.
"It's bad for morale when your starters feel they have to throw a shutout to win," he'd say. And he'd put all his bat-first, no-glove players in the lineup.
Until the teamwide hitting funk was disrupted. Then the normal lineup went back in.
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This applied to his pinch-hitting, too.
Even one or two pinch-hit RBI's from Langerhans, or Rodriguez, can mean a rally and a ballgame. Early on, that could be big. I've seen it happen.
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Look, guys. You just watched a team's belief collapse, and it wind up scoring 513 runs - lowest of the DH era.
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You might say it was going to be a bad offense anyway. Yes it was. But! It did not have to be the worst in DH history, now did it? Instead of players going out and battling to win some series, they threw in the towel and humiliated themselves.
That was a whale of a lot of players having career-worst seasons, kids. Wake up and smell the rancid nachos.
If you watched the 2010 Mariners and --- > you still stubbornly refuse to see the role that April/May team belief plays in a season-arc, Dr. D can't help you. :- ) Take two Fangraphs articles and call him in the morning.
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Maybe Luis Rodriguez won't contribute a couple of big RBI's in April. But Chris Gimenez and Josh Wilson certainly would not have.
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Q. How does Rodriguez get his bat going, as the 25th man?
A. That's a good question. I got no answer for yer.
Other than to say that some benchies do have good years.
Hey, Rodriguez goes up there, works the count lefty ... it's better than Josh Wilson. End of story.
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Q. How many [left hand hitters with patience] do the M's have on this roster?
A. Count 'em up. My shoes are on.
SSI does not remember any team winning or losing a pennant because of its 25th man, no. But it does remember Earl using his benchies to win games, and it does remember some front offices who did not have such bad intentions for its enemies.
Good on yer, Capt Jack.
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BABVA,
Dr D