Add new comment

First of all, Z wants to be competitive in 2011, and he's not going to construct a roster based on hoping that 5 or 6 very young guys all pan out (Smoak, Ackley, Saunders, Pineda, Moore, Tui, Wilson, Halman, etc.).
But he's not going to construct a roster based on hoping that Bradley, Lopez, Snell, Kotchman, etc. all have massive rebound years, either.
But, I will bet strongly that he will see if guys who have already been productive major leaguers show any chance that they can be that way again (especially Bradley, who is under contract and has had All-Star caliber seasons in the recent past) before he will "take a flyer" on a Mike Wilson.  Not saying that's fair or right, but I think that's what will happen.
Lots of the vets are "prospects" now, in that they are way below their expected level of production, and there is a need to assess the probabilities that they are "done" or whether they can return to some measure of form.  So, except for Kotchman probably being gone, I don't see wholesale change.  I think they would trade Lopez in a heartbeat, but he has very low trade value right now, and, even if they did, they'd probably play Josh Wilson rather than Ackley.
I would love to see Ackley in the bigs, but the reports on his 2b defense are that he's not ready to be thrown into that.  So you would need to short-circuit the 2b experiment and take ABs away from Saunders instead of Lopez/Figgy.  Don't think it will happen.  They took the plunge with Ackley @2b, so they're going to ride it out.  Doesn't mean he couldn't hold his own with the bat as of today.
I would love to see Pineda in the rotation, but first they will see what Bedard brings, if he can ever pitch at all.  We all love MP, but he's not a Strasburg-level freak, and I don't think they'll rush him up and expect him to be part of the rotation right away.  I could see him getting a trial later in the year, though, or a bullpen trial earlier.
Actually, I've been saying all year that the true prospect possibly closest to helping the MLB club is lefty reliever Edward Paredes, who got the promotion to Tacoma along with Ackley.  I would not be surprised to see him in the bigs in the near term, since he can fill a role that they need filled.