O’Flaherty up, Dobbs back to Tacoma
The M’s have made the first in their forthcoming series of roster moves. Eric O’Flaherty has had his contract purchased from Tacoma (thus putting him on the 40 man roster, using the last open spot) and Greg Dobbs has been optioned back to Tacoma to make room for him. The team will go with a 13 man pitching staff for tonight’s game. I’m not kidding. Tonight’s bench is going to be Rivera, Bloomquist, and Morse. It’s a trio of three of my least favorite players. They could only make it better if they brought back Rich Amaral.
Tomorrow, they’ll go back down to 12 pitchers, as Chris Snelling will be activated from the disabled list. He’s in Oakland with the team. He’s actually going to stick this time, it sounds like. A pitcher will be removed tomorrow – likely Pineiro (DFA), Soriano (DL), or Green (optioned to Tacoma).
Friday, Sexson returns to the club, which will send Mike Morse back to Tacoma.
O’Flaherty, by the way, is pretty good. He was drafted out of Walla Walla HS in the sixth round of the 2003 draft. They tried him as a starter in ’04 with poor results, but improved after a move to the bullpen and a repeat assignment in Wisconsin last year. He started the season in Inland Empire and worked his way up to Tacoma while sustaining lights out success at each level.
He throws 90-93 from the left side with good sink on his fastball. He has an above average slider and good command. The interesting thing about O’Flaherty is that he’s effective in wildly different ways against lefties and righties. Lefties can’t touch him (6 BB, 32 K), but when they do, he’s about half and half grounders or flyballs. He struggles to throw strikes to right-handed batters (16 BB, 41 K) but is a dominant groundball pitcher against them.
The best guess that I can take away from his numbers is that he’s attacking RHB’s with sinkers down in the zone, refusing to leave a pitch up, even if it costs him a walk. Lefties just can’t touch his breaking ball, and he eats them alive with it. When they do hit it, they might get it in the air, but the tradeoff is worth it.
He’s just 21 and has taken a big step forward this year. With his sinking fastball and effective out-pitch slider, he could be a very good left handed reliever. He’s pretty much major league ready, and it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see him pitch quite well the rest of the year.
Edit to add: Joel’s been removed from the rotation. Jake Woods will start Sunday. We’ll see if Joel goes away for good tomorrow.
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56 Responses to “O’Flaherty up, Dobbs back to Tacoma”
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Doesn’t Soriano make the most sense as releasing Pineiro would require having somebody able to step in and start for the rest of the season?
Jake Woods is generally throwing more innings in relief of Pineiro on the days Joel is scheduled to start than Pineiro is. O’Flaherty replaces Woods in the pen (massive upgrade, by the way), with Woods becoming the new crappy fifth starter.
I’m not saying that will happen – it hasn’t been decided yet – but it’s a possibility.
What is the point of staggering these moves and having 13 pitchers for one day?
I agree with you 100% Dave. Woods will be taking Joel Pinata’s 5th starter role, and O’Flaherty will take his place in the pen (as a massive upgrade).
What a crappy bench, and it is a hell of lot of pitchers. Why not just swap Doyle of Dobbs. And to be fair, Dobbs did well in his brief stay, better than I thought he would. And if Jones starts, there is no lefty to PH for him late in the game. Yet I suppose that no longer matters now.
At least if the game goes to 20 innings, the Mariners will have enough pitchers. Of course, they might not if Grover uses 5 pitchers over the course of two innings, which is completely within the realm of possiblity.
The bullpen is pretty worn out thanks to Joel’s crappiness last night. They figured for tonight, they’d rather have the extra arm than the extra bat that Grover won’t use anyways.
Hell….I’d rather see Woods out there than Joel. Joel has tried my patience for the last time
Let’s see what Woods can do. Sure he’s no major upgrade, but if he can keep the walks down, he might not be as craptastic as Joel.
What I’d like to see happen:
1) Soriano to 60-day DL — frees up a 40-man roster spot for someone like Hunter Brown in September. Shut him down for the rest of the season. It’s over, and his arm clearly needs a break. Use Soriano’s current 25-man slot for Doyle.
2) Pineiro DFA’d — Again a 40-man (and 25-man) spot opens up for Cruceta. Not that Cruceta is immaculate — just want to see what he’d bring to the rotation. Couldn’t be worse than Joel “Paninaro”
I could and likely will go on later… Hargrove being canned is out of the question, of course, but that’d be the first move darn near all of us would make, and at this point is pretty much assumed in discussions like these…
Some have attributed O’Flaherty’s poor performance in ’04 to back issues that were flaring up on him. I read a few articles on it at the time and it seemed he had a rather limited range of motion through there that flared up when he was trying to start regularly. After he was DL’d, they put him on a program to fix that and since that time I can’t recall hearing any mention of it. Granted, they haven’t tried him out in the rotation again either, but it could be something they could try later, assuming the problem’s been fixed and they think he has enough of a repetoire to survive a few turns through the lineup.
Yea, his back problems were close to debilitating. There has been talk of eventually moving him back to the rotation. As a two-pitch guy who has had success in the bullpen, though, it will be very easy for the M’s to typecast him as a reliever, and I wouldn’t say the odds on them trying him as a starter are very good.
I don’t see Piniero getting DFA’d. I just don’t. This is a team that leaves terrible players out there even when it’s clear they don’t have it anymore and haven’t all year.
So, Soriano is off to the DL yet again.
I really hope the M’s lose the illusion that having the same five starters all year is a good thing. Right now, I just can’t stand watching Joel toe the rubber.
Point taken, though with Putz as the the big man at the moment, I’ve been hoping that the tendency to proclaim every young arm as the future savior of our bullpen would’ve subsided just a little.
Point taken, though with Putz as the the big man at the moment, I’ve been hoping that the tendency to proclaim every young arm as the future savior of our bullpen would’ve subsided just a little.
Yes, it would be nice if they stopped converting every talented pitcher who threw harder than 90+ into a reliever. We can add it to the list of things we’d do differently if we were in charge. I believe its item 942,831.
Sure would be nice though is one of {O’Flaherty, Lowe, Soriano} could crack the rotation leaving us with just two spots to fill in the offseason (please god not Zito)
Re: 15
If the Mariners signed Zito, then who would Bloomquist hit home runs off?
hey– Richie Amaral had grit, hustle and humility, not to mention excelling at the all important pie-in-the-face.
If O’Flaherty may go back into the rotation at some point, it’s news to him. In his interview with KJR today, he was asked that very question, and answered that he’s probably not going to go back to starting, and he likes it that way.
As a two-pitch guy who has had success in the bullpen, though, it will be very easy for the M’s to typecast him as a reliever, and I wouldn’t say the odds on them trying him as a starter are very good.
So how much stock do you take in the conventional wisdom that a two-pitch pitcher wouldn’t be successful as a starter? It sounds like you don’t think that’s too much of an issue.
Further on Amaral, that guy smoked LHPs, at least for a while. I remember batting him third one year in my Strat league against LHP. (Did I just admit in public that I played in a Strat league?)
Why please God not Zito? 1) He’s got a good track record for staying healthy, 2) He’s been always good, if not great, 3) he’s a lefty, which plays well at the home park.
The M’s will be forced to overpay on the open market for starting pitching next year. They’ve got nothing coming through the system. There will be worse choices this off season.
Breaking news: Jake Woods is in the rotation, Joel is out. Apparently, Larry LaRue’s article got Hargrove’s last brain cell triggered.
Spencer – source?
Hargrove. He just gave a briefing. I’m here at the game.
Oh man, I’d have to think Cruceta or Baek would be a better option than friggin’ Woods.
Here’s to the 12th best arm on the team throwing every 5th day.
Mr. Egaas, I beg to differ. Woods is at least the 10th best arm on the team, arguably a couple notches higher. And, he’s shown the ability to jump in and handle long stints all year.
they can switch him out when the rosters expand in September
26 – I guess I forgot about Mateo, but he’s not an option to start anyway. Woods and Green, IMO are on the same level of lameness.
Wondering about whether Woods is better than Cruceta (my walks are better than your walks!) is not nearly as satisfying as knowing Pineiro isn’t taking a frickin beating four days from now.
Drayer just confirmed that Joel is headed to the bullpen, and that Sexson is back tomorrow in Anaheim
Now do you believe me, Conor?
I like Shannon Drayer. Her and her NPR-esque voice gets to the skinny of everything.
Great, now Hargrove gets to put Pineiro in tight games.
DFA. DFA.
but man, is she a tiny little thing
Actually Doyle went straight to Anaheim. Or at least that’s what he said when he left Cheney stadium this afternoon and said goodbye to everybody.
I’m glad he’ll make ML money, but do you really see playing time for him? He really hasn’t been looking good lately, offensively OR defensively (last night he dropped back to back balls in center). Something’s definitely up with that boy and his ability to concentrate or focus.
Nice link 34. Do you think Rizzs has asked her out?
Her and Rizzy are like a midget couple made in heaven.
Drayer is the Bloomquist of the Mariners audio/video crew.
37, you mean that’s she’s overused and really should not come in unless there’s a late-game situation ro spot start that could utilize her skills?
..and as I typed that, Brad whatHisName is announced on FSN as on vacation for a few days.
I’m guessing waaaaaay too much taste to even think about accepting a dinner date with the Rizzso.
That is some kind of short! When I first saw the picture, I thought it was a elementary school kid. Whoa.
Ahhhhh….
…and to make the night complete, we get to see Mateo warming up.
34.: That picture is from 2004. Drayer has grown four inches since then.
To be fair, Shannon is standing next to Hendu, who is a big guy…
True, but I’ve met Shannon a couple times, she’s 5’1″ tops.
Shannon Drayer is the lil’ David Eckstein of Mariners’ broadcasters. She could even pass for his younger sister.
I remember O’Flaherty’s debut season, and it was a stinker, but he was unpolished and not cut out to start. It also sounds as though his sinker functions much the same as a cutter, running in and down to the RHer so they read it enough to make some contact but can’t get any kind of solid wood on it. Only maybe more ‘cut.’ I’ll be happy to have him when he sticks, I’ll say that. The team as we know it needs a personality transplant, and while the bullpen isn’t the best place to start that, I’ll take it. Mark Lowe’s arrival is one of the very few bright spots in this miserable season.
—But I’ll really be happy when the Ms bring up a _starting_ pitcher who sticks. Joel Pinada, btw, seem to be seriously pitching himself out of the Majors. He’ll get an NRI from somebody next year, not here, but I expect that he’ll spend much, indeed most of 2008 in the minors somewhere else, trying to ‘re-establish’ himself. He’s got an ugly career trajectory in front of him, that’s for sure.
Happy to hear that Woods is going to get the start. I’ve been waiting for that for about 3 weeks. He’s thrown better than Joel all year after the first 2 weeks, and he’s a LHP. If he goes 5 IP per game with the score close and hands it off to the pen, we’re ahead of where we’d be with Pineiro still on the mound.
Here’s the thing on converting all these guys to relievers: ’97. For most of the ’90s, the Ms had terrible—and we all know I mean REALLY TERRIBLE—bullpens. It cost them wins, and maybe a couple of division titles. Then they bring in Pat Gillick, who in a year and a half put together an outstanding, hammer bullpen which really squeezed other teams. That’s the kind of lesson which makes a deep impression on the Ms FO types, and above all on their ownership, who aren’t known for their ability to juxtapose different strategies for success in their minds at the same time. It’s clear the Ms FO really, really values a good bullpen now, and in particular power arms in the pen. At the same time, the Ms were reasonably successful during Gillick’s run with no more than average starting pitching, in siginficant part due to their ballpark (but also due to outstanding D). The Ms FO had a learning experience there, too, to the effect that starters here only have to be ‘good enough.’ This is one reason why, to me, they didn’t show more discomfort at going into this season with the starting rotation they had on paper. Now come August, the team has bombed out because that rotation clearly _wasn’t_ even ‘good enough,’ to say nothing of good, period.
Yes, I wish that the Ms FO would take some of these dominant bullpen guys we are now seeing and focus on getting some starters out of them. . . . But the FO just can’t hold more than one idea in it’s assembled heads at a time, and at this time the idea is ‘dominant bullpen arms.’
The article linked by msb actually mentions Shannon Drayer’s size as follows: “slightly less than five-feet tall, a tad under 100 pounds and somewhere between 20 and 40 years old”
SHANNON DRAYER – There’s so much concern about her stature that people are overlooking the fact that she’s the best member of the broadcast team.
#50, while that might be true (not sure I agree, have you listened to the questions she asks during postgame?) it’s still not saying much…
#50 — I agree with you. I have always thought she was a great part of that team.
Though I remember her and Mike Blowers getting kinda testy with each other on the air once. That was both awkward and entertaining. I forget the circumstances but it was last year…
the last couple of seasons, with the way this team has gone, towards the end of the year there have been testy moments among both the broadcast team and the post-game team
Soooooooo… any further indication today of whether or not Joel goes away for good?
So generally I don’t put much weight into what gets said by radio personalities. However I caught the post game show and they were talking about Pineiro’s getting DFA. Someone commented that he was well liked in the clubhouse and it might not sit well with the team to discard him given that rosters expand in two weeks. They could just stash him in the bullpen.
Obviously the goal of the team is to win and you win by having better players. But having clubhouse unhappiness (beyond what it already is) seems like a bad idea and over two weeks the difference between Pineiro and Green as the 12th pitcher is trivial.
Yeah, I caught that bit of the postgame show too — it was Blowers who made that point, and it’s probably a good one. With all due respect to Drayer, it’s Blowers who has the most insight and is by far the best analyst on the broadcast team. Drayer is easily the cutest, however (not that there’s much competition).