Pepper, June 28
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=== Vargas, #5SP ===
Lest anybody get the false impression that we're slow to give credit, where credit is actually due... let us remind you that Jason Vargas was a *throwin* on the Putz deal.
Vargas surprised the M's as much as anybody -- or he'd have been a feature piece of the deal -- but still, Capt Jack was the one who picked Jason Vargas out of a lineup and said, "let's try THIS guy."
Roto champs can relate to that: they're just better at rolling the dice and getting box cars. Capt Jack's call on Jason Vargas, that's big-time GM'ing, the type of talent judgment that can and does impact a pennant race.
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=== Griffey, OF ===
Great to hear today's verdict that they're going to keep getting Junior out there as much as possible. As we all know, it's going to depend how the knee goes.
Is it a catastrophe, to play him out there a few games -- and then find he needs two days off? Hey, you can't have it both ways. Is he indispensable, or is he somebody who shouldn't even be here? :- )
If Griff comes up gimp for a few days, there are other guys who need AB's. Sweeney and Carp and Wlad and, now, Langerhans.
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=== Branyan, 3B ===
This section isn't a legal filing. It's a baseball chat. :- )
I talked with a real good baseball coach this weekend. I asked him, "How concerned would you be about Russell Branyan's bat if he switches position to third? You don't want to mess up his groove."
The man was instant. Shakes the head firmly. "Offense and defense are two different things."
But if Branyan makes four errors a week, doesn't that mess up his offense?
"If he makes four errors a week, he's back at first base." (Huh. Didn't Capt Jack say that about Phillippe Aumont, that a switch isn't a contract in blood?)
But doesn't embarrassing himself in the field put him in the wrong frame-of-mind in the bottom half of the inning?
"The man's 33 years old. Hitting is a different part of the game. He'll go up there and do his thing when he's in the batter's box. If he were 23 and trying to prove himself, that would be different. Branyan won't stop hitting because he switches positions. But the problem is, I don't think he can play third."
So there's that.
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In the NFL, they went to the 3-4 because there were great LB's around but no great DL's. The Seattle Mariners have 9,000 scrub backup shortstops and 9,000 lefty mashers who could play 1B.
If Branyan can play 3B, he's gotta try it. This is the one team in the world that needs its 3B/1B to play 3B.
I thought this coach got to the crux: at 33, Branyan could K-BB-HR in his sleep, and he's not liable to slow down because of a position switch. You try him at 3B, and if it's a problem, you just move him back.
That'll do for me too.
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Mike Carp was a very impressive talent call in the same trade that brought Jason Vargas. Carp got up here, and slap me silly, he showed the same magic sparkle dust that Vargas did. Why not get Carp onto the field, then? Whattaya want, an injury before you give him a shot? :- )
Cheers,
Dr D