Mid-summer Review: C / 1B / 2B
See the mid-summer review for pitching if you're looking for the full explanation for how I grade players. We will continue this series with a breakdown of the right side of the Mariner infield and Seattle's backstops.
The relevant moves that have impacted the Mariners' situation at these three positions: the Clement for Snell trade, the signing of Russ Branyan, Mike Sweeney, Ian Bladegroen and until today, Chris Shelton, the addition of Chris Woodward and Jack Hannahan, and the acquisition of Mike Carp and Rich Poythress.
Let's start with the 2008 catchers and work our way around...
Catching (MLB - 2008)
- Kenji Johjima (D+)
- Jamie Burke (D-)
- Jeff Clement (C-)
Catching (Prospects)
- Rob Johnson (C+)
- Adam Moore (B+)
- Travis Scott (F)
- Travis Howell (D)
Johjima is coming off a bad year, but if he starts, you hope his bat bounces back, You’ve got two, possibly three good options fast climbing your minor league pipeline (if I’d listed Clement as a prospect, he’d have been about the same grade as Moore…perhaps a notch down due to injuries and poor defense), but the low minors are now empty of catchers.
MLB: D+
Prospects: B
Depth: C+
Overall: C+
Catching (MLB - 2009)
- Rob Johnson (C-)
- Kenji Johjima (D+)
- Jamie Burke (D-)
- Guierrmo Quiroz (F)
Catching (Prospects)
- Adam Moore (B+)
- Steve Baron (B)
- Travis Scott (D)
- Blake Ochoa (D+)
You can feel free to quibble with my rating of Rob Johnson. I’m giving him a lot of credit for working well with the pitching staff, and for having head-room to improve his hitting enough for that good game he calls to have value. I might be overselling him. The overall situation among Mariner backstops is not good until you start looking at the two prospects they’re grooming. Adam Moore is close to being ready and that counts for a lot in 2010.
MLB: D+
Prospects: B
Depth: C-
Overall: C
First Base (MLB - 2008)
- Bryan LaHair (D)
- Miguel Cairo (Z - LOL)
First Base (Prospects)
- Craig Wilson (F)
- Thomas Hubbard (D+)
- Johan Limonta (C-)
- Joseph Dunigan (D-)
Oh the huge-manatees! Look at that black hole of despair around which the Mariners are circling at this time at this position. When your starter is Bryan LaHair, when Miguel Cairo gets 40 starts a first base, you’d better have Albert Pujols ready to come up and SOON…but the Mariners had NO ONE.
MLB: F
Prospects: D-
Depth: F
Overall: F
First Base (MLB - 2009)
- Russell Branyan (B+)
- Mike Sweeney (D)
First Base (Prospects)
- Mike Carp (B+)
- Rich Poythress (B+)
- Brad Nelson (C-)
- Bryan LaHair (D)
- Ian Bladergroen (C+)
- Thomas Hubbard (F)
- Evan Sharpley (D)
Considering the horrible condition of the Mariner organization at first base when Z took over, the turn around here is mind boggling. Not only did he get us a masher for the big league club at the position, but he found two pretty darned solid prospects right away to put in the high minors and he acquired a little bit of additional depth to place around them.
MLB: B
Prospects: B+
Depth: B
Overall: B
Second Base (MLB - 2008)
- Jose Lopez (C+)
- Willie Bloomquist (D+)
- Miguel Cairo (D-)
- Tug Hulett (D+)
Second Base (Prospects)
- Luis Valbuena (C)
- Yung-Chi Chen (C-)
- Carlos Triunfel (B+)
- Oswaldo Navarro (D)
- Edilio Colina (F)
- Luis Nunez (F)
The big man on campus here is Jose Lopez, and even at this, there wasn’t much to pressure Lopez to fight for his job given how raw Carlos Triunfel was in 2008. Valbuena probably has Willie Bloomquist upside if you’re reading his player card in September of 2008. Chen has had a terrible year after all of the positive reviews in the AFL. The club doesn’t see 2B as a hole, but it’s not really a strength either.
MLB: C
Prospects: B-
Depth: C
Overall: C+
Second Base (MLB - 2009)
- Jose Lopez (C+)
- Chris Woodward (D)
- Jack Hannahan (D+)
Second Base (Prospects)
- Callix Crabbe (F)
- Alex Cintron (D)
- Kyle Seager (B-)
- Edilio Colina (D)
- Carlos Triunfel (B-)
This still looks like an organizational hole, which is why they drafted Kyle Seager and Nick Franklin and why I expect them to continue to target middle infielders in coming drafts and trades. Jose Lopez is holding down the fort just fine at the big league level, but you can’t let yourself get satisfied with average-solid players when there are opportunities to upgrade and Lopez now stands as the only man on the entire team who is a fielding liability.
MLB: C
Prospects: C+
Depth: D
Overall: C