Next shoes to drop off this octopus of sucktasticness
It’s interesting — with Bavasi gone and the pretense of contending this year essentially abandoned, Pelekoudas is set up for success for the rest of the year: as much as the team’s been underperforming, he won’t have to do much for his record over the rest of the season to look like improvement with signs of hope for the future, and Armstrong/Lincoln are all about the positive momentum.
We’ve seen reports that the team’s been in nonstop meetings about what to do next, and Sexson’s DFA is rumored. From the Herald:
According to one person familiar with moves that are planned, Sexson will be let go, possibly within days. The timing is not set because the team is dealing with other personnel issues that go beyond the procedures for moving Sexson.
There also is the delicate process involved with getting rid of Sexson, who’s making $14 million this season in the final year of a four-year, $50 million contract.”
Probably not so much a delicate process, if I may. You call everyone else, ask if they’re interested in Sexson, everyone says no, you DFA him and move on. The delicate part of this process took all last season and this one.
Anyway, just think about it: Lee gets to DFA Sexson, to general applause, throw Vidro out or bench him, hopefully get McLaren to come up with some kind of sane defensive alignment, which will make the pitchers look a lot better, and all of a sudden the team’s playing much better ball than they were up to that point, the fan base is happier…
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But what about make-up?
/snark off
Vidro first, please? Maybe…aw who cares who goies first as long as they both go.
Yes please, Ichiro back to center please. Balentien can’t play defense in RF, what make them think he can play center? Or even Bloomquist fr that matter.
If Sexson gets let loose, and I really hope that he does, what will become of him? A minor league stint somewhere else? A new career? If you don’t have anything to offer the worst club in baseball you don’t have much.
This is so exciting. I haven’t been this excited about the Mariners in years!
Just get rid of everyone, regardless of if they are still sending them checks or not we need to get this show on the road.
I still think Jim McIlvaine is receiving money from Bennett (aka Lucifer)
I hope they cut the cord before Sexson gets enough singles to change their minds.
Well, if you play too well, they won’t want you either. Greg Norton learned that lesson.
They have him batting lead off tonight.
So …..
…. the team starts performing better as long-overdue changes are made, combined with some basic regression to the mean for a number of players who remain. Everybody starts feeling much better; BETTER CHEMISTRY!!! As the dark clouds thin a bit, people actually start feeling better. Bedard decides that maybe he can actually throw 110 or 120 pitches, as he has done in previous season.
It looks as if things are pulling together just as planned, momentum is building, everybody is happy …..
…. so why dissipate all of that positive momentum by bringing in a new GM??? The basic operating structures and philosophies don’t change – and as a result of the improving team fortunes the Strasburg Hypothesis becomes the Strasburg Negation.
Worst case scenario??
I’m still waiting for somebody to explain to me why we should release Sexson. Nobody’s done it yet.
What explanation do you need other than that he sucks?
DMZ, you just got my vote for Best Post Title EVER!
RealRhino, I did. You must have not seen it or not agreed. In sum:
1. He sucks and can’t be recovered.
2. He’s taking up a roster spot that could be used to audition other talent.
3. As long as he’s here, they’ll keep putting him in the lineup, and to fix him, they’ll continue to use precious resources on him, like batting coach time.
Reed can play center.
I suppose some columnist or sports radio babbler will complain after Sexson’s gone that he’s taking a lot of clubhouse leadership with him.
The real question in my mind is what the M’s will do at 1B if/when they DFA Sexson. If getting rid of Sexson means a full-time Cairo at 1B, then I won’t be looking forward to it.
I wonder next about who would be taking Sexson’s place on the roster. Balentien just got sent down, so he’s out. There don’t seem to be any irrefutably logical candidates, unless LaHair is promotoed to see if he has value as a major leaguer to play 1B.
I wonder if the Balentien/Clement swap wasn’t accomplished in order to get Balentien the necessary minor league time to avoid him becoming arbitration-eligible a year earlier. We certainly filled that square with Clement.
Any chance the M’s promote Michael Saunders from AA? He’s hitting .290 with a .375 OBP, good power, and the website lists him as a CF….seems like a reach to me, but there really aren’t a whole lot of candidates in Tacoma…
#16:
Same article says “In addition to making plans for moving Sexson, the Mariners also have discussed who would replace him.
While there are options on the current roster — left fielder Raul Ibanez, DH Jose Vidro and utility player Miguel Cairo have started there this season — the team is leaning toward calling up Bryan LaHair from the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers”.
I’m still waiting for somebody to explain to me why we should release Sexson.
He’s 4% of the roster, 12% of the payroll, and 13%-15% of the suck (depending on whether you look at WPA or BRAA). In other words, they could replace him with nobody — just have people already on the roster fill in — and the team gets better (and lot more cost efficient, though obviously that’s sunk money at this point). And if you’re one of those “chemistry” people, how do you think this is contributing?
If getting rid of Sexson means a full-time Cairo at 1B, then I won’t be looking forward to it.
But he’s so great at fielding those bunts! They’re playing NL teams! You might see him handle maybe one a week!
They think LaHair is one his way up. Not much better, but better
If Sexson gets let loose before Vidro, I’m going to continue to have no faith in the team. At least Sexson has some power and makes a good target at first. Vidro has NO value at this point. He can’t field, he can’t hit, he can’t run. He is garbage. It frustrates me to see Sexson getting booed at home and not Vidro as much. Look at the numbers. I would take Sexson over him. DFA both, but Vidro first.
1. So? Season’s done.
2. Bryan LaHair isn’t talent.
3. Hitting coaches don’t do anything.
The team getting better this season is a BAD THING. It hurts our 2009 draft pick and it further reinforces the front office’s belief that they were just unlucky. And you say it yourself, it’s a sunk cost already.
They need to keep Sexson around. When Johjima plays first base, they need someone on the bench as a late inning defensive replacement.
#22..
“He can’t field, he can’t hit, he can’t run”.. seems like you also just described Richie.
“At least Sexson has some power”.. Not lately. If anything, he’s a singles man the past few weeks.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter which turd gets flushed first. As long as they all go down.
#24..
I think that’s why you’ll see Cairo probably remain on this team.
Actually, I am against DFAing Sexson at this point.
*He is not holding anyone back unless they are thinking of moving Clement or Kenji to first.
*He is getting paid no matter what.
*Vidro and Cairo suck worse.
If they can get anything for him, even one AA relief pitcher, do it. But otherwise, just fill that hole with him.
Reasons Sexson will go before Vidro:
1. Vidro has more RBI’s. This means virtually nothing.
2. Sexson is getting booed by the fans. So far, Vidro is not. I don’t really know why.
3. Getting rid of Sexson is a higher-profile move and will send a stronger “message”.
In the end, it really doesn’t matter much, as both will be gone before next spring. As I said before, the real questions are not who to get rid of, but who they will be replaced by.
I wonder how many will eventually go, actually. I mean, how many of the current roster realistically will be here next February when spring training opens?
Sexson is getting booed more at home because more is expected of him and he fails more spectacularly.
M’s fans remember when the Mariners were known as a home-run hitting team. Sexson was brought in to help us forget the loss of Junior, Alex, Bone, Boone, etc. He was brought in with Beltre as proof that the M’s WERE going to be a competitive franchise–that we were playing the big money, big market game with the big boys…
And, truth be told, when Richie hits home runs, he’s still beloved by the M’s fans whose hopes spring eternal.
But, when far too often he comes up with the game on the line and he whiffs mightily…and the home runs have come fewer and farther between…the M’s fans have something very specific to get angry about…especially when considering the amount of money we spent for each of those whiffs.
When Vidro GIDP…well, that’s just Turbo being Turbo, isn’t it?
Personally, given the situation we have today…I’d DFA Vidro immediately, without question, concern or second thought. I can’t argue against DFAing Sexson–but I wonder if I’d do it immediately or if the spectre of “do I want to do this without someone in mind to take his place” wouldn’t give me some pause.
…but, of course, what I REALLY wish is that Sexson wouldn’t have given the M’s fans reason to boo him at home…that he would have earned and be continuing to earn his contract. Didn’t happen and can’t happen…maybe it never could have happened–and, now the question becomes…when is it too late to recognize that?
At least Sexson has some power and makes a good target at first
Umm, he hasn’t had an extra base hit since the end of May (24th I believe).
DFAing Sexson doesn’t mean you can’t do the same with Vidro. They’re both awful, and can be replaced with a phone call to Tacoma, if it even takes that much.
Even with as much love as Strasburg is getting, I’m not sure that I can get behind a plan that involves purposely being as bad as you can for the remainder of the year.
Besides, if we end up with the #2 pick, we’re still likely to get someone really, really good. So it’s not like it’s Strasburg or nothing (sorry, Graham!)
The drop in attendance (despite some insulation against such things, the M’s are feeling the heat on this one) alone is a good reason not to do it, and I could probably come up with others if I thought about it for a while.
Speaking of shoes dropping off the octopus… Stark talks about possible trade bait over on ESPN.
Published before Bavasi was fired… so there may be hope…
Sealclubber – I agree with you on all points. Sexson is a problem for sure, but shouldn’t be the first one to go at this point.
Unfortunately, I also agree with don – that he probably will be let go before Vidro for the reasons he listed.
I haven’t been to a game at the Safe this year, but I have heard Vidro getting booed on the telecasts. Not nearly as bad as Sexson, but at least some fans are giving input…
It has a lot to do with time-of-sucking. Sexson started hearing the boos last year, when Vidro was still putting up that hollow average and escaping notice.
28- I’m hoping about 10 or less.
*Felix-Future of the organization and HOFer.
*Beltre-not replacable
*Morrow-See felix
*Lopez-pretty good. Tough to find a better guy for now.
*Kenji-not that I care, but the owner wants him here.
*Bedard-yeah, get him an extension and some run support. *Ichiro!-Ichiro!
*Green-forgotten about in almost every conversation, but does a pretty darn good job
*Yuni-don’t care either, but don’t see him going. Needs a treadmill and a personal nutritionist.
*Clement-hopefully with a bigger role.
Everyone else, send them packing. They don’t have enough positive impact to be worth keeping.
So, Sealclubber…you’re in the “let’s get rid of Ichiro” camp?
Has anyone seen Red in the seats since he was on TV giving the thumbs down above Vidro’s head? Just curious. I hate Vidro so much. Worthless.
No, thats a list of guys that should or will stay. How did you get that impression pgreyy? He brings too much money and attention to the team to let him go. Personally, I think he is a little over rated. He is really good, don’t get me wrong. But it’s the other reasons, the business resaons, that you have to keep him on this team.
reasons, sorry.
Nevermind, Sealclubber…I see Ichiro didn’t get a line-break in your post, so I didn’t see it at first.
I said this in a previous thread, but I think that only Ichiro, Felix and Morrow are truly untouchable.
(…and I’m one of the few here on USSM who admits to being a fan of Raul–who I think would be more appreciated if he was taken out of the field and made the DH. Doesn’t mean that he’s untouchable, though…and if only Lou didn’t hate him so much, I could see his moving to the Cubs at the deadline.)
Raul should be one of the first to go. He is about the only good trade bait we have. Also, his skills are already starting to decline. Plus, as long as he is here, he is gonna play in the field. Send him off for a few high end prospects and make our team better while we still have the window to do so. Next year, he is a .255/.310/.400 type guy, and it’s gonna get worse. Trade him now.
And my appologies, I didn’t see that the Ichiro! line got moved up to the Bedard line in post 28. Sorry.
Okay, so I still haven’t seen a good reason to release Sexson.
1. If he’s taking up valuable batting coach time (one wonders how valuable it could be given the teamwide offensive struggles), stop and let him see if he can figure it out on his own. Not that I think this is a legit response.
2. He sucks and he can’t recover? We might question how badly he sucks (relative to others on the roster), but how do we know he “can’t” recover? If BRAA means a release, shouldn’t we be releasing Johjima, Yuni and anybody else who take up a greater % of the suck on the team? Why can Johjima recover but Richie cannot? Why is Johjima’s suckiness better at 1B than Richie’s suckiness?
3. Who is he really blocking? Joh and his lower OPS? Vidro? LaHair? Seriously? The guy whose translated (to an average MLB park) line is 236/315/420 is being “blocked” by Sexson, the guy whose translated line is 226/309/436? When the second guy might hit just enough in a month or so to bring something in trade? When the second guy still shows he can hit lefties, and the only guy he could possibly be blocking is a guy you say is going to catch 2/3 of the time and is a lefty?
4. You should release somebody if (a) he’s bad, (b) he serves no purpose in even limited time, and (c) he’s blocking somebody better.
5. I still don’t see how Sexson is not the best choice of anybody in the M’s system to platoon against lefties or to play 1B when Clement is catching. Can anybody show me that isn’t the case? Or should I just leave reason at the door and grab a torch and pitchfork like most everybody else?
Well, 35, that seems a little draconian to me. I can’t see the organization unloading JJ for at least two reasons…one, he is awesome when healthy, and two, if they traded him now, they’d get vastly diminished value for him.
Your list includes keeping 3/4 of the present infield. I frankly wouldn’t keep all three. I like Beltre and think his present troubles have a lot to do with his damaged thumb. I think that Lopez is a defensive liability and would trade him if I could get value. We have replacement parts internally at 2B. I am not a huge Yuni fan as his plate discipline is as bad as it gets. However, he isn’t killing the team so I might be tempted to keep him.
I’d keep Reed. I am probably more of a fan of him than most, but I think he is a decent hitter and a good outfielder. At least, he would be a valuable reserve outfielder.
I would like to see how many of the pitchers would become “valuable” with an adequate defense behind them. I think Silva would be a servicable starter, and your not going to be able to trade him anyway because of his contract. Given the defense he was joining, I had low expectations for him this year.
43, the question is not whether Sexson should be the first to be released. There are many candidates. However, Sexson will certainly be gone after this season when his contract expires. He won’t be resigning. Given that and the fact that the season is lost, we need to be devoting the time and resources to developing the team for the future. Since Richie has no future with this team, dropping him now carries no long-term downside.
I agree with you that he isn’t the worst Mariner hitter, and perhaps he shouldn’t be the next to go. If he is the first to go, he’ll have company soon enough.
RealRhino, I agree 100%. The bandwagon wants Sexson gone, but they have no plan to replace him yet. We might as well keep him around until we can get something for him or the time comes that a better option is available.
For Sexson to recover any trade value, he’d need to have a batting average of 1 for a month.
No, not .anything. 1.
Seriously, everyone in the league knows he’s done, and there isn’t any reason to believe he’ll bounce back in any way, shape or form. He’s pretty clearly in his decline phase, and he started with “old player skills” to begin with.
Thinking that Sexson will turn it around Any Day Now is part of why Bavasi is no longer with us.
As far as him “blocking” Johjima or whoever; we’re stuck with Johjima for three more years. Aside from sunk costs, Sexson can go away tomorrow. Getting rid of him helps free up at-bats for Clement to develop against major league pitching (and maybe make the team a little less painful to watch for the rest of the year).
There just isn’t any way to find enough at-bats for Sexson/Vidro/Johjima/Clement between 1B/DH/C. At least one of them needs to go, if not two; I think the case for dumping Vidro is stronger, but you can make a very good case for getting rid of Vidro and Sexson both, and trying to imply that people who think Sexson should go are “abandoning reason and grabbing pitchforks” is silly at best and insulting at worst.
Reed, so much potential, so little actual performance. He has been a pretty good outfieldrer, but the team needs defensive and offense. He just doesn’t hit well at a pro level. I am a fan of his also, but putting that aside, i don’t see much more than an average or worse guy. Trade him to the NL where he will have a lot more value if the right deal comes up.
You do realize that would be an upgrade here in Seattle?
(Hint: consider offensive AND defense as a package).
As a 24-year old, Jeremy Reed hit .254/.322/.352 with the M’s. The next year, he hurt his wrist early in the season and struggled. He hasn’t gotten a decent chance since.
Reed’s cumulative minor league numbers are .321/.388/.476. His AAA numbers are .300/.364/.459. He’s 27. Isn’t it probable that given a chance, he would be a league-average outfielder or better? He’s certainly one of the top three hitting outfielders on the team right now.
The argument of keeping Richie Sexson around because we don’t have a clear cut replacement is laughable……. Hello? If he’s not going to be around next season….and this season is already through, what positive can come from running his sad sack ass out there 2 out of every three days? Maddening.
#47 –
I’m sorry if you feel insulted, but it’s insulting to hear people advocating a transaction without being able to support it in any reasonable way.
Say silly things, maybe insults are deserved.
He’d have to bat 1? Seriously? If he got an average 100 AB for the next month and got 100 hits, he’d be batting .478 on the season. So the only way to suggest he’s not “done” is if he’s batting .478? .450 won’t do it? .400 won’t do it? .350 won’t do it? Hyperbole much?
Why are we “stuck with” Johjima for three years because we’ve got him signed for that long, but not “stuck with” Sexson for the remainder of the year because we’ve got him signed for 2008? It’s the same thing; we aren’t “stuck with” anybody in any real sense.
I would agree that you might make a case IF our bench already included some pop AND the plan was to play Clement every day at 1B. The M’s have already said, though, that they plan to play Clement most of the time at C, and our bench doesn’t have anybody who even *might* hit one out. So if Sexson could be a RH bat with more pop than, say, Cairo, off the bench, why not keep him around?
If you’re starting from the position that anyone who disagrees with you isn’t being “reasonable”, I’m not sure I can bring myself to worry too much about your opinion.
As far as the batting average of 1, I thought I made it pretty clear I was joking; regardless, there isn’t any number that is going to re-establish any trade value for Richie Sexson. Nobody is giving you more than a bag of baseballs for him.
laughable!
50. Thanks, you just proved it. He hasn’t hit at a pro level. Just in the minors. I would love to give him a shot in center for the rest of the season, but I don’t expect him to be a starter next year and if someone is showing intrest (don’t worry, won’t happen) then deal him.
And RealRhino, I still agree with your Sexson stance. It doesn’t do us any good to keep him, but it doesn’t do us any good to let him go. Keep him until a plan is in place for a solution to the problem that he has been. Don’t just cut him because you are emotionally upset at his below expectations performance. He sucks, but he sure has been the scape-goat for why this team is loosing. He isn’t the biggest problem on the team. Hell, I would argue that 2 of the 5 starters are a bigger problem. And thats after they figured out Batista should be in the bullpen.
On the Batista situation. I would like to see him closing a few games, just not Felix’s games. It may build value in him it he can get a couple saves before the deadline. We can pitch his versatility to the rest of the teams that might be looking for a starter/closer/long relief guy.
By the way, don’t get me wrong; I think the case for punting Vidro is stronger. But the ideal is for BOTH of them to go away.
Hey, I just heard from a buddy of mine with an excellent Mariners source (this guy has had most of the moves of the Bavasi era nailed generally before we get any shred of details about ‘em) who’s confirmed that Sexson is as good as OUT, likely within 72 hours.
His source also says that Vidro and Washburn are on the chopping block, but has no timeline for them as of yet. He says Vidro will be DFA’d and traded if they can get SOMETHING for him, and they’ll aggressively shop Wash and only cut him as a last resort due to his contract. He also thinks they’ll try to trade Raul… apparently there’s been an NL team looking long and hard at him the last couple of weeks.
As for Griffey, his source says that he severely doubts it’ll happen. They may do something at the deadline, but Lincoln and Pelekoudas are apparently unwilling to give up much to get him.
I don’t understand the confusion here. Giving at bats to someone who has a long-term future with the club and could possibly contribute in ’09, and who otherwise would not be getting those at bats if Sexson were around, is reason alone to DFA Richie. Sexson has no future with the M’s. It doesn’t matter if there are better bats on the bench. What matters is that the M’s could give someone else a chance to demonstrate what they got.
Jeff, I can’t argue that. They both need to go along with about a dozen other loosers. Just a matter of when and what is the correct “why.” It doesn’t make sense to DFA anyone prior to the deadline other than Vidro for holding up Clement by not being able to platoon him and Kenji between catcher/DH. That move needs to be made now. Yesterday. Two months ago. I can’t come up with a reason to get rid of Sexson today other than “he sucks.”
Logger, who is he blocking? I agree, he is gone after this year regardless, but who is he taking AB’s away from?
Bees sent your way.
One. Minors ARE pros.
Two. You can project from minors to majors.
I’m willing to be disagreed with, Jeff. Just support the claim that he isn’t one of the best 25 batters on the roster and off he goes.
I just don’t know that he’s blocking anybody better, and if he is, would he be blocking them as a bench bat? If the goal is to play Clement at C most of the time, who is he blocking? Vidro? Why is Sexson at 33 with an OPS of .678 “done” with no hope of recovery, but it’s a good idea to keep a 32-year old Johjima with a .564 OPS at 1B instead?
If the goal is to try to field the best team (and maybe therein lies the answer), I don’t see how releasing Sexson advances that goal.
We have to fill C/1B/DH. If the goal is to just put anybody from the minors into a slot, whether they are ready or not, fine. If the goal is to put the best available hitters in those slots, and your choices are Johjima, Clement, Sexson and Vidro, it seems funny to me to suggest that the guy with the highest OPS of the four (by more than 100 points) should be the guy left w/o a chair when the music stops. And I understand that the release of Sexson and Vidro aren’t exclusive of each other, but what’s the point of letting them both go? Doesn’t that leave you with two guys to fill three positions (unless you think Burke-Johjima-Clement is better than Johjima-Clement-Sexson, which isn’t supported by any evidence)?
Seaclubber – Does it really matter? Plugging Sexson in the lineup does nothing for the M’s.
If you just WATCH Sexson, you know he’s done.
Look how often he strikes out swinging on fastballs in the low-to-mid-90s. His reflexes have fatally slowed; he just can’t get around on a good fastball anymore. When he does make contact, it’s weak contact because his bat is dragging through the strike zone — leading to popups, soft fly balls and weak groundouts (especially to the right side, which he’s done a lot this year).
This is one case in which statistical analysis is perfectly in line with “what any idiot can see.”
As far as replacing Sexson for the season … why does it have to be done within the organization? There are 20-some guys in Triple-A right now I’d love to have who would almost surely do a far better job.
My list would start with Cleveland’s Michael Aubrey.
That’s a backwards way of looking at it. He is a complete waste of a roster spot. Why does he have to be “blocking” anyone? In any event, he’s “blocking” every available baseball player in the world who isn’t on our roster, if that’s the way you want to look at it.
How about he’s blocking Clement, by not being able to move Raul or Joh to 1st? Or Wlad?
Why is that your standard? Why not he isn’t one of the best possible 25 players to have on our roster that we can get anywhere? And why only “batter?”
Can you really not think of anyone available you would rather have take that roster spot? Really?
Frankly, I would rather have anyone who could possibly benefit from playing time getting it instead of Sexson… who won’t.
As for why Joh… a few possible reasons: ownership might insist we keep him and the fact that he does have a lot of value as even a back-up catcher that Sexson doesn’t have.
Either way, your just being silly now. Regardless of projections, it hasn’t happened. Reed has a tonn to prove. Did anyone project the M’s would be on track to loose 100+ games this year? Projections are nothing more than educated guesses. They can’t read the future.
Actually, you’re the one being silly. Projections are not educated guesses. They’re statements of probabilities. And there’s a world of difference between the two. Saying “that he hasn’t done it in the big leauges” is kind of dumb on this site.
And…bees.
And talk about being silly….considering just his offense is looking at half the story. It’s the whole package we should be looking at and comparing.
My list would start with Cleveland’s Michael Aubrey.
Not gonna happen, much as I would love for us to get him. Cleveland LOVES Aubrey, and right now feels like they have to hold onto him in case Hafner is worse off than they think.
Me, I’d look at Josh Whitesell (26, Arizona, AAA). Solid but not, IMO, a spectacular prospect, and one who’s only real position is blocked on an NL team to boot. Prospect-wise, he’s got good power upside and projects around a .275 to .280 BA and an eye that should get him a .350+ OBP with walks. In other words, Ben Broussard, only with actual potential, not just “potential”.
OK, I am seeing that we agree to disagree.
So the better question is: What is the fix? We all know Sexson is gone sometime in the next day to 4 months, right? What are we gonna do to fill first base? Who is the best free agent or internal option? Tex? Positive speculation on the future is a much more fun topic.
About half the guys on the roster are a waste.
Is Sexson the best person in the world for that roster spot? Of course not. If you have somebody better outside the organization, go get them and then release Richie.
I’m getting the feeling that releasing Sexson, even if it doesn’t make sense, would just be cathartic for a lot of upset fans and so they advocate doing it.
If you can’t replace him with somebody better from the organization, there’s no point in releasing him. And if you want to do it with somebody outside the organization, there’s no point in doing it until you go get that person.
If Cleveland loves Aubrey so much, I’d be happy to take Ryan Garko instead.
Somebody else (Rosenthal, maybe?) mentioned that Washburn was being shopped around. {Fingers and toes crossed!}
I don’t see any good reason to keep Sexson or Vidro around. They’re not good and they aren’t part of next year’s hoped for turn around. DFA ‘em and if there’s some idiot who can’t wait for them to hurt his team, he’s welcome to them.
Finding someone that can be an upgrade from Richie Sexson at first base is about as difficult as finding a penny on the ground.
Who else should get a shot: Jon Knott.
How’s Bucky Jacobsen’s knee these days???
But that leads to a more serious point. The Mariners acquired Jacobsen as a minor league free agent, signed to a minor league contract (i.e., not on the 40-man roster) simply because they needed to fill out the roster in Tacoma. Another example of freely available talent.
First base is the easiest spot to fill with a guy who can give you Sexson defense and at least a league average bat.
Small sample size, but Sexson has killed lefties. Given we have to pay him $7M either way, isn’t he more useful as the RH platoon at 1B/DH (with Ibanez or Clement) than sitting at home? Would you rather play Bloomquist, Cairo, LaHair at 1B? Or is Sexson’s near 1000 OPS just a fluke?
I wouldn’t mind releasing him for the cathartic effect, but I think he’s a useful bench player.
If Cleveland loves Aubrey so much, I’d be happy to take Ryan Garko instead
Not a fan of Garko, and all indications are that he’s hands-off as well, also as much for the Hafner situation as much as anything.