Ryan Langerhans
The Mariners lost Endy Chavez, so they went out and replaced him with Jeremy Reed. A shade the better, a shade the worse, no complaints no worries.
Langerhans is:
(1) a "tweener" outfielder who can back up fine in CF or
(2) play a plus defensive corner OF; he
(3) hits lefthanded and
(4) if he helps a little offensively, it will be with a bit of OBP as opposed to a bit of power.
He's 5) nearing 30.
Ryan Langerhans *is* Jeremy Reed. How good would you feel, or not, about Jeremy Reed moving back into the OF line in the org? That's where we're at with Langerhans.
You don't really want a 29-year-old Reed cutting into line in front of Saunders & Halman & Wilson & Balentien & etc, but ... He may be necessary, very short-term. That's fine.
.................
You say, I don't care for Saunders or Wlad backing up in CF. They can't play CF like Langerhans can.
Non-issue. Nobody plays CF in Seattle except Franklin Gutierrez. Whoever backs up in CF is an emergency policy. Sure, the Cheney guys (and Ichiro, and even Cedeno) have you covered if Gutierrez spontaneous combusts while tearing after a gapper.
Langerhans isn't needed for CF, though it's convenient that he plays there.
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=== Ulp, Hope for the Best Dept. ===
The good news is, he's shown a little surge since summer 2008 -- not a "becoming a starting player" surge, but a "may be a plus bench player rather than a mediocre bench player" surge.
He created 6.5 runs a game in 100 at-bats last year, second half. Ron Shandler said "it was his peak flying by."
The good news is, Langerhans has shown a bit of pep the last 12 months. bad news is, he's done it in the NL (and, similarly, in the minors). Ask Ronnie Cedeno about fringe ML players coming to Safeco from the NL.
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=== Swiss Army Knives and Ball Peen Hammers Dept. ===
I've got nothing against Ryan Langerhans, any more than I've got anything against the Mariners acquiring (say) Jeremy Reed or Stan Javier or any other do-it-all-and-do-it-mediocrely outfielder .... though my bias is towards bench players who specialize in something, as opposed to bench players who make the manager's job easy.
As 4th OF's go, I'd much rather have (say) an Endy Chavez -- who provides you the specialized skills of impact defense and 8th-inning pinch-run stolen bases. Or maybe a guy with a big platoon split and a glove, or something like that. Endy Chavez, Mike Sweeney and Ken Griffey Jr. were all Earl Weaver-type "ball peen hammers" coming out of ST.
Capt Jack would also have preferred Chavez to Langerhans, but now that the injuries are piling up (Chavez, Beltre and Griffey is a question, as is Sweeney's back) there's no harm in a "comfortable" player.
Langerhans is a sensible, avoid-disaster-scenarios insurance policy.
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=== Just Doin' My Job Dept. ===
All 30 GM's spend half their lives making sure that the tire doesn't blow out and leave you with Russ Branyan at shortstop Sunday afternoon. :- ) Langerhans is a professional move by a professional GM. But let's note in fairness that previous Seattle GM's were also smart enough to be able to trade for a Jeremy Reed if one of their 5 current outfielders broke a leg.
.... I *am* a Capt Jack fan. I do like the consistent pressure towards LH hitting, and the systematic replacing of the scaffolding with ballplayers who respect the game.
But let's hope that Jeremy Reed is here for the minimum time necessary, because there's quite a traffic jam at Cheney. :- )
Cheers,
Dr D