M’s Sign Jack Wilson
Dave · November 13, 2009 at 1:41 pm · Filed Under Mariners
To the surprise of no one, the M’s announced that they have signed Jack Wilson to a two year contract. Terms not disclosed, but I’d guess it’s around $10 million or so.
Wilson is a +1 to +2 win player who derives almost all of his value from his glove. For ~$5 million per season, that’s not a bad deal. He’ll help fill a hole for a couple of years. He’s not a star, but he’s a nice enough role player, and he didn’t cost a lot. There’s value in that.
Update: Dejan Kovacevic suggets that I’m a good guesser.
Dave,
Do you think that by the time this deal is up, that Carlos Truinfel will be ready to play shortstop at a Major League level?
I don’t know much about Truinel. Dave, is he productive with the bat. Does it look as though he can provide both the fielding and offense?
Truinfel looked solid in the Rising Stars game of the AFL. I was wondering the same thing as Hassleberry.
Triunfel’s probably not a shortstop long term.
Well, he very easily could spend all of 2010 in AA, 2011 in AAA, and by then the M’s would know if he’s close to ready for the bigs in 2012 when Wilson’s deal is complete.
He’ll be 22 going into the 2012 season.
From the mostly-untrained eye, it looks like Plan A is Triunfel takes over after the Wilson deal is done. It _might_ be a half-year/year too soon, though.
Dave, you sound a little disappointed. Am I overreading your comment? Was there a better options for the Ms at SS in 2010?
Never mind what I said…
Not disappointed – this was inevitable. Jack basically told us this was going to happen at the Safeco event in August.
It’s a solid move, assuming I’m right about the money. They’re getting a guy who is about league average for less than what that usually costs, and plugging a hole on the roster that they didn’t have another way to fill.
It’s not a move with much upside, so the M’s will have to compensate by taking some risks at other positions, but it’s a decent stop-loss move.
$10 mil? I would guess 12-14.
I’m not Dave, but I think this is what you are looking for. Or somthing more recent, Dave’s 2010 plan.
I think the key phrase in Dave’s comment is “fill a hole.” To the extent he’s healthy, we don’t have to worry about the shortstop position for a bit, and we had no realistic other options after the Hardy trade. I imagine this is another “makes Felix happy” decision, too. It’s nice to know you can throw a pitch that turns into a ground ball up the middle and it’s an out.
Jack Wilson’s a nice enough player. But what really pleases me about this move is its timing. It suggests Zduriencik was waiting on / involved in the Hardy deal, and when the Twins emerged with JJ, Z went to Plan B.
I like this move. The M’s haven’t had an elite defensive shortstop since Omar Vizquel left town after the ‘93 season. As for Triunfel, John Sickels of minorleagueball.com mentioned in a comment thread on his blog that Triunfel has a strong arm, but is way to big to have the range to play SS. People said the same thing about A-Rod, though, and he was a serviceable defensive SS for a few years.
All I can say is I look forward to a full season without the name Betancourt slotted at the SS position.
Guess Dave knows more about baseball than me, who woulda thunk it.
Dave,
What will happen with Josh Wilson? Will he just be unloaded in some kind of package deal for a DH or 3B?
I hope you’re right about the money. I’d have thought with a two-year deal, they might have had to pay more than $5M / year. Though who really knows in this market…
His 2010 option was worth something like $8MM, right? That sounds like a good deal to me, giving him a couple extra million to spread the payments.
I’m terrible at math/contracts/budgets, but assuming it’s $10MM, and split evenly, does the $3MM they save in 2010 give them a little more financial flexibility in either or both years to take some of the risks Dave has mentioned?
Triunfel doesn’t have the range to stick it at short in the long term. He might be adequate at the position currently, but in a couple years when he starts filling out, he’s going to lose range and will probably be moved to 3B or perhaps 2B.
M’s fans looking for an in-system successor to Wilson are better off considering Gabriel Noriega or Nick Franklin, though neither of those two will probably be ready within two years.
You say he is a 1-2 win player. His last three years are 2.6, 1.6, 1.9. That looks like more on the ‘+2′ end. But I guess he is 32, so some decline is expected.
Even at 1.5 wins a year, he would be worth over 13 million for the next 2 years, so we are getting a pretty good deal.
You say he is a 1-2 win player. His last three years are 2.6, 1.6, 1.9. That looks like more on the ‘+2′ end. But I guess he is 32, so some decline is expected.
Even at 1.5 wins a year, he would be worth over 13 million for the next 2 years, so we are getting a pretty good deal.
You have to regress an aging player whose value is tied up entirely with the glove more heavily than a normal player. If the nagging injuries turn into a loss of range, he’s worthless.
So, +1 to +2.
Ah, interesting. So Defensive ability is more at risk to age than offense.
I like the Wilson signing. It solidifies SS for two years. I also just read at CBS Sportsline that the Brewers released Braden Looper. I know his ERA was kind of high but he does eat innings. Do you think the M’s may be interested?
Why would Jack Wilson do this? Why not play out the year at 8mil and take your chances.
In light of the Twins acquiring Hardy and a lack of any other move that wouldn’t involve moving a ton of talent we’ll need, I can understand- and even agree with- this signing.
But,oh, is that offense a concern.
Because the Mariners were not going to pay him the 8.4 million, they wouldnt have picked up the option. (Probably).
Their goal all along has been to get him under contract for a deal which is better for them than the option, but is also good for Jack Wilson because he was not going to get that 8.4 million.
It was a team option, not a player option.
“but is also good for Jack Wilson because he was not going to get that 8.4 million”
If you are Jack Wilson why wouldn’t you test the market. Let the M’s buyout your option and atleast see whats out there. You’d know all along that you could fall back on the M’s offer.
For those wondering about the farm’s SS prospects:
The best in-house candidates now towards developing as a ML shortstop (it won’t be Triunfel, I assure people of this) probably stand as Gabriel Noriega, Juan Diaz and Nick Franklin (whom I have some doubts will stay at short, but I give him a better chance than Triunfel has of sticking there).
All of whom are at least two years away, and you wouldn’t be making a bad bet to say “at least three years, you mean”.
The Wilson signing does indeed “fill a hole” more than anything.
Why no mentions of signing Chone to play 3rd? Seems like a great fit for the M’s… No power for Safeco to take away, good fit behind Ichiro in the lineup, sounds like the M’s have the money, and he’s got the leather. I know he’s a type A but it’s the 18th pick… Who cares? With hopefully the exception of Ackley, we’ve wasted the last decade on RPs and busts.
Maybe because of one of these:
* You like the Mariners and want to play for them, and you consider $10 million to be acceptable.
* You dont expect to get a better deal in free agency than this $10 million deal, and you dont want to see the Mariner’s acquire another shortstop while you go to free agency, leaving you to potentially get less than $10 million if no one else wants you as much.
Like Dave–okay, like a much less knowledgeable Dave–I’m okay with this signing. With the inevitable loss of Beltre, having a good glove on the left side is worth putting up with Wilson’s anemic bat.
Also, I agree with Dave that Triunfel won’t stay at shortstop.
So, Dave, question: do you see any shortstop prospects out there that the M’s might look at in the next amateur draft?
Based on USSM approved Stone, the team did buy out his option.
“I’ve learned from sources that the contract came together after the Mariners declined Wilson’s $8.4 million option for 2010 today.”
From the updated Stone blog post:
“Here are the contract figures for Jack Wilson: Two years, $10 million guaranteed ($5 million in 2010, $5 million in 2011), plus $250,000 in performance bonuses each year (mostly plate appearances) for a potential $500,000; plus the standard awards package worth a possible $450,000.”
No you don’t. You may test the waters, find nothing nearly as good as 2/$10M, and come back to the M’s only to discover that they’d traded Morrow and somebody to Tampa Bay for Reid Brignac. Free agency is still a couple of weeks away, but if Wilson tells Zduriencik he’s going to give it a try there’s no reason for Zduriencik to wait around hoping he’ll come back. He can do a trade right now.
But I don’t know why you’re so dogged about this. It would be one thing if this was all hypothetical (as this discussion has been when it has come up in the past few weeks); but now we know: Jack Wilson has looked at his options and, for whatever reason (pick any that Alex lists, or maybe he just likes the Ichirolls and the Moose, or maybe Zduriencik simply has the ability to cloud men’s minds), he’s decided that this is the best deal for him.
I’m happy with our SS situation going forward when you consider what we had at the beginning of 2009. Jack Z has much bigger holes to fill than SS so locking up Wilson for the next two years was the right move.
“You like salmon and crab. You like them more than money.”
I know that’s probably a throwaway comment, but I strongly disagree with that way of evaluating the Mariners now.
The past is the past. .500 is not good enough anymore. This is Zduriencik’s club now, with one or two exceptions (*cough* Silva). Acquisitions should be evaluated on whether the Mariners got the best possible value they could at a given position.
I’m not impressed if whatever shortstop they get is better than Betancourt, if whatever DH they get is better than Jose Vidro, if whatever LF they get is better than Al Martin, etc.
For any player the Mariners get this offseason: Do they have a good WAR? Are there no other players with better WAR that could be had in free agency or reasonable trade? Was the price right, so that money can be spent where you want either significant upgrades or specific players?
Yes to all 3 of those, and that’s good enough by me.
Given Tui’s struggles with the bat in his major-league experience, is he starting third base quality yet? I know that in Dave’s offseason plan he put him as the starting 3B, and I’m not trying to challenge that. Just wondering…
Perhaps Tui’s offensive deficiencies could be directly linked to lack of playing time. It seemed to me before the resigning of Wilson that perhaps Tui would be a better fit at SS for the time being. However, now that SS is filled for at least two years, do the M’s pencil in Tui at 3B to start the season and hope he hits? If not, they can blame it on the Safe and trade him in July.
Or do they send him as a bright talent along with some pitching to another team in return for a 3B, a SP, or a 1B/DH? It seems like just sending him to Tacoma for another year might not necessarily accomplish much, seeing as how much time he’s spent in the minors already…
Well, the Putz trade seemed like a fluke, but then he managed to get talent back while getting rid of Betancourt*… so now, while I think there are other explanations, I can’t completely discount anyone who ascribes these kinds of superpowers to Z.
* Granted, it would be hard to tell the clouded-mind version of Dayton Moore from the everyday one.
According to Drayer, Wilson thought that 2/10 was what he was likely to get on the market.
Jack Wilson rejected a 2-year/$8 million extension from the Pirates, prior to being traded, FWIW. So he comes out a little bit ahead.
I don’t get Dave’s despondence over this move. He provides great value with a reasonable, short term contract. SS is not a position where you find a lot of good deals, and if the best deal you find is an elite defensive SS willing to sign for $5 million per, you take it, right? I mean, JJ Hardy isn’t going to be walking through that door. Take Wilson and focus attention on other areas of improvement.
And heck, if you ever come across the next Derek Jeter, you can just trade Wilson. I bet most teams in need of a SS would take the 2 year/$10 million straight up.
Quoting the post:
Your interpretation of that is that I’m “despondent”?
I just don’t understand people.
Alas, there’s no reading comprehension exam to get your Web Browsing License.
I don’t understand this. You always talk about bargain shopping and finding players like Gutz. How hard is it to find a defensive shortstop who can barely hit for the league minimum? Maybe I am missing something but Jack Wilson isn’t going to get any better at his age he is only going to regress. Wouldn’t it have been better to find a guy with some potential for the league minimum who can hit .250 with a great glove. Are those guys hard to find?
People tend to jump to inappropriate conclusions about other people’s reactions to things based on insufficient evidence. Just ask John Wetteland. Next the helicopters will arrive, Dave.
Yep. Take a look at the votes for SS for the Fielding Bible and who you could get for the league minimum without giving up anybody? And please note who won.
A replacement level shortstop is easy to find. A league average one is not.
Maybe it was your body of work? Pushing for JJ Hardy, before and after the deal for Jack Wilson.
Jack Wilson did play baseball prior to joining the Mariners. He isn’t a great hitter by any means but he is better than those 31 games.
I have it on good authority that was definitely the garlic fries. Please don’t quote me, they are watching.
You understand people just fine. You just don’t like it when people that have no reading comprehension and/or knowledge of the game feel the need to air their uninformed “my idea is right and I don’t care if I know anything about it or not” crap on your blog.
Honestly, I doubt that there are many here that disagree with you.
Wasn’t he rated as the best defensive SS in the league?
Please remember that Yuni isn’t what a SS should field like. And that a run saved is = to a run earned. As long as you get that, this signing should be a reason to get over whatever “SS has to hit like a demon and score millions of runs” idea that you may have.
It’s really a good(not great, but good) deal for both sides.
It’s pretty obvious that Jack Z said yes to those three things when he traded for Wilson. He gave up too much for him not to have planned signing him to an extension, which is why I never understood the endless speculation about trades for other shortstops. After the trade, Wilson was always Jack Z’s guy for the next couple of years at the position.
The M’s have much bigger holes to plug than SS which is why Z’s trade pieces have been held in reserve for more pressing needs.
You continue to confuse an opinion about what should happen with some kind of lack of understanding about what would happen.
We were all well aware that this was inevitable. We all knew this was going to happen. You’re not saying anything that everyone doesn’t already know.
The posts about Hardy were an alternative suggestion to the inevitable. You know, like the ones where we’d suggest Bavasi make smart trades.
OK, maybe it’s just the lingering hangover from the Bavasi era, but I always feared this wasn’t inevitable.
My fear was that one of the recurring stories from spring training would be, ‘who’s going to play shortstop?’
So color me very excited about this.
My post wasn’t directed at you, Dave. I do think there are commenters here who didn’t see this as inevitable which was the reason for endless speculation in thread after thread about trades for Hardy and other shortstops that weren’t realistically going to happen. Jack Z didn’t give up five players, including Jeff Clement, for Wilson to be a two month rent-a-shortstop.
Well, as you say there’s lots of reason to be excited. It’s not as if Bavasi said “I want Marco Scutaro, damn the years, damn the money, and damn our unprotected first round pick to Toronto!”. That’s the kind of thing that’s gone now. If we’re going to have “inevitabilities”, it might as well be non-shitty ones.
Then again, now I’m wondering about Felix…
And what if he did? What if we did trade for JJ Hardy? Or Reid Birgnac? Or Jose Reyes?
What you have to understand is that with Jack Zduriencik, maybe even the inevitable isn’t inevitable. If there was a better option out there, and he could have gotten it, he would have sure tried to.
One thing about the new M’s under Jack Z… nothing is inevitable. It was not inevitable that the M’s would sign Jack Wilson to an extension. Likely, yes. Inevitable, hardly. Jack Z was certainly looking at all available options (Hardy, Breignac, Hannahan even), and when nothing materialized he went with what he had in his back pocket.
Similarly, while it’s pretty clear he wants to sign Russell Branyan, and he probably will, he’ll ask about Thome and Nick Johnson and probably even explore interesting trades (Adam Dunn?), and I’m sure many others. And in the end, he’ll sign Branyan, and maybe one other guy, and we’ll all pretend like it was inevitable, but it’s not. We finally have a guy in the FO who isn’t tunnel-visioned. We shouldn’t be, either.
TIF and I agree.
He already gave up one the M’s top prospects in Clement to get Wilson which makes it unlikely he would’ve given up more trade pieces to fill the same position just a couple of months later. I’m not saying he wouldn’t consider obtaining Hardy, Birgnac, or Reyes if the price was right, but the SS position was probably way down his list of priorities. He wasn’t going to use his limited resources to fill a position that, for all intents and purposes, he had already just filled.
As are we all. But if he doesn’t sign, I seriously doubt that it’s because of Z.
I do find it slightly alarming that even “the paycheck” was unable to get him inked.(though that may have been from upper
mis-management) That makes me think more and more that nothing is going to keep him from testing the market in 2 years. (please let me be wrong)You’re forgetting he got Ian Snell in the same trade. What did we give up to get Snell and Wilson?
A failed catching prospect whose best future outcome was a barely league average first baseman / DH.
A replacement level shortstop.
Three low minors arms, only one of which with a realistic shot at making a rotation.
You’re acting as if this was the Bedard-esque trade where we were stuck with our babydicks* in the wall socket. This was an easily replaced set of losses. Would it have meant we’d have lost out a bit if we didn’t retain Wilson? Sure. But it wasn’t crippling to begin with, so it would have been easy to move on to a better player if it came available.
Look at it this way, the probability was high that Wilson would be retained with an extension. However, before Zduriencik was sure that there was nothing better (or cheap enough), I’d say that probability was resting at about 90%. Once the other possibilities were eliminated, it became 99% (with 1% being not getting a deal done).
So, yes, it was ‘inevitable’, because the likelihood of anything else happening was low.
Oh yeah, the *. The * is “Thanks, Field Gulls!”.
You’re right Dave. I am sorry for the hyperbole. I guess I expected a little more enthusiasm. I’ve reread your post and subsequent comments and I see where you are coming from. Again, sorry for the mischaracterization.
I think it’s a great move and not the last for the M’s infield. Wilson will not almost certainly regress imho. He could just as easily put up a career yr. The next moves are going to be exciting. I think J. Lopez is going to be moved to 1st base/3rd base or DH or another team. Current positions for potential transactions are 1st, 3rd and 2nd base plus DH along with experienced starting pitching. The Phillies just non tendered P Feliz and I think he’s got to be given a strong look for 3rd base his defense is a perfect fit for the M’s
AFAIK there’s no real evidence he was trying to do anything with Felix, or that the upper reaches of the organization had strong opinions either way. Bavasi tended to undervalue young prospects anyway (just look at the Bedard trade or anything he did with Cleveland or, well, anything) so I doubt he felt much of an imperative to do anything with him, especially with several years left on Felix’ clock and all the other problems he’d created for himself. And to be fair, Felix a couple of years ago was still much more of a work in progress: flashes of brilliance and plenty of promise, but also frustratingly inconsistent. How many posts have we had here over the past few seasons complaining that Felix wasn’t living up to his “King” billing and wondering when, if ever, he was going to “put it together”? (I don’t like to put too much emphasis on a single event because real life is rarely as simple as the “feel-good movie” narrative we tend to impose on it, but doesn’t Felix seem like night and day since that interview when Wakamatsu called him out?)
Felix in the Bavasi era was a different player — both in terms of performance, and in terms of his service-time clock — so I wouldn’t use those years to draw conclusions about today. That would’ve been the time to sign him cheap, yes, and it’s easy to say that now (and Dave and DMZ were saying it then); and a better GM who valued players (especially non-”veteran” players) correctly would’ve done so. But if Felix is different so is the team, and so especially is the GM. The past is just the past and, in this respect, isn’t a guide to anything.
Hey, isn’t Rich Aurilia available?
“Inevitable” was Dave’s word, not mine. I agree that it was always highly probable, not necessarily inevitable, that Wilson was going to be extended.
Whatever you think about the players that Jack Z gave up to obtain Wilson and Snell, the fact remains that he has limited resources to improve the team which made SS a much lower priority once he acquired Wilson. Upgrading LF, 3B, DH, and the starting rotation are all much more critical to the future success of the M’s than replacing a +2 WAR shortstop, so why spend even more of his limited resources on the position? That’s why I doubt he ever made any serious attempt to go after Hardy or any of the other names mentioned at SS. I could be wrong, of course.
Wouldn’t it have been better to find a guy with some potential for the league minimum who can hit .250 with a great glove. Are those guys hard to find?
Wilson’s BA last year WAS .255…and he has one of the great gloves in the major leagues.
His BABIP (.281, I think) was .13 lower than his career average…it may well be 13 points higher next year.
Here’s a guy that saves a ton of runs AND comes relatively cheap. (around $3M/WAR).
That’s a bargain. And a good one.
Plus…it frees the M’s to fill their LF/3B/DH holes. I think a lot depends on the Tuiasosopo factor. If the M’s feel he’s ready now…and can handle the glove work at 2nd or 3rd….then they just chase 2 positions. I keep thinking Lopez will go. But perhaps not. He was a plus UZR guy last year (barely) and can play 2nd, 1st and (supposedly ) 3rd. Versatility will be important in the wake of the Jr. signing. It’s one reason I keep wondering if Branyan is the DH? If he can only play 1st (didn’t play 3rd last year..Would his back handle it? Hasn’t played the OF in at least two seasons) he isn’t very versatile…and he’s fragile. I suspect that the real Branyan is somewhere betwen his first half and his second half. Not a great two year $10M investment. 1/$6M makes better sense. So does making another signing.
Somebody mentioned Pedro Feliz as a 3B possibility. With the bat he would be essentially Beltre of last year and his once incredible defense has slipped a bunch the last two seasons in Philly (Age? A surface difference between Philly and SF?). He’s just a few runs in the UZR plus column.
Beltre without the glove isn’t much..That’s what Feliz brings to the table. Tui will be that good..without the investment.
Keith
Other pieces are available for LF, 3B
LF: gamble on Saunders/Langerhans (if on the team) [Preston Wilson still around?)
3B: gamble on Tui/Hall/Hannahan (Hannahan’s my sleepr choice for a good year)
but DH?
Honestly, Carp isn’t destroying the minors, which is what most successful MLB players do.
And we all know Griffey inhabits an old body.
Branyan could be the DH.
So, yeah, Nick Johnson, Delgado, somebody from outside the org is going to HAVE to fill this role.
Is Shelton still around?
I think he and Jeff Cirillo are busy getting together bail/rehab/tatoo money for Speizio.
While I’d agree that signing Jack Wilson makes sense based on an assessment of his likely contribution, we should also understand that there is considerable downside here. Hitters moving from the NL to the AL often see their hitting deteriorate significantly, and I’m concerned that Jack could end up in this category. So in addition to age-related decline, I think we have to factor in potential deterioration relating to NL->AL movement. Add that to the possibility of significant time lost due to injury, and there would seem to be a signficant probability that this deal won’t appear as “adequate” in two years.
Since people here seem to somewhat agree that Truinfel will 1. probably be in the majors in 2-3 years, and 2. not play ss, my question is, why do the minor league clubs give guys years of experience at positions they know they won’t play instead of positions they will play? Didn’t the same thing happen with Tui? When I saw him at second and third he looked like he wasn’t sure what was going on, or is that just his normal defensive look?
Oh, and I like signing Jack Wilson at ss. We weren’t going to get someone with great glove and bat at that position, and if we’re looking for hitting, there are easiler positions to find it at.
All of the factors that you mention are figured into the projections. It’s just that the projections are really a midpoint on a statistical range, not really a fixed number. However, if management makes a reasonable contract for someone who projects to a certain number of wins, and he doesn’t produce or is injured, then it’s wrong to criticize the move with 20:20 hindsight. It’s when you pay someone like Sexson or Silva more than even an optimistic view of their projected wins that you get in trouble. Or when you improperly discount a value like defense or give too much credit to a value like avoiding strikeouts.
Exhibit A for this, as Dave will tell you anytime you want (and the person second most likely to make the same argument is our current GM) is Mike Cameron. Great defense, lots of strikeouts. And his teams always get better when he arrives and get worse when he leaves. This is not random coincidence.
So is Jack Wilson “the answer” at shortstop? No. But he won’t be the reason the M’s don’t win the pennant in 2010 or 2011 either.
Wins are wins. Whether you get them at short, center, left, right, third, second, first, catcher, pitching, or the designated hitter. If we could have gotten a ~4 WAR short stop, it would have been two more wins we didn’t have before.
You’re getting stuck in the mindset that we must only fill the positions where we have obvious holes. If Chase Utley comes available tomorrow for peanuts, you’d better believe we’ll dump our 2 WAR second baseman for him.
Hannahan seems to be the most ideal fit for the bench, given his versatility. Hall has similar versatility, but he painfully underachieved offensively and was maybe average defensively in his month and a half with the M’s. Perhaps that could be attributed to the AL/NL switch, but he just seemed lazy and unmotivated to me. Hannahan can play 3B, SS, and 1B, so he seems to me to be the perfect IF utility man for next season.
As far as the outfield is concerned, I’d love to see the M’s pick up Mike Cameron and have the best defensive outfield in the history of the solar system. With Ackley, Halman, and Gillies on the horizon, it seems that a one to two year fill-in is all that’s needed, and Cameron could do that well, albeit a bit on the pricey side. He could also serve as a good mentor to Saunders, and provide an extra spark to a clubhouse that really seems to put a bonus on hugs and smiles.
That leaves openings at 1B and 3B (assuming Branyan will serve best as a DH, which I believe). Someone somewhere tossed out Joe Crede’s name, and that got my attention. His defense is superb and his offense is about average or slightly below. His back problems could be helped significantly by a platoon situation with Hannahan. The thought of Wilson and Crede holding up one side of the infield gives me little happy feelings all over.
Finally, for a 1B/DH option, of all the FA’s out there, I like Nick Johnson first and Adam LaRoche second. Both have good OPSs, hit for good average, are decent defensively–and the big plus, they both bat left-handed, which means that likely, Safeco will smile upon them. The negatives for them probably aren’t too bad, given how they would be used respectively. Johnson has injury issues, which could be assuaged with a platoon situation. And LaRoche strikes out a lot. That’s the biggest concern, given that I don’t know if I would want two 130-150 K guys in the lineup at the same time.
Anyways, these are just the musings of a campus security officer between patrols. Tear it apart as you wish…
Because every other guy on their roster would be even worse at that position? You play the best guys you have, but you’ve got to play somebody.
Last season when it was rumored that the Mariners were hot after an OF with great glove and potential I speculated that it might be David DeJesus. It was Guti, of course. But now let me speculate that DeJesus brings a skill set that might make for a very nice LF for the M’s.
He hits from the appropriate side, is a plus glove guy, is durable and consistently puts up 2.7-4.0 WAR’s…oh, he comes cheap! For two years (‘11 is an option year, I think), he’s a bit LESS costly that Jack Wilson was.
So…as a purely speculative exercise, what would it take to pull a DeJesus from KC? I’m assumingthat prospects might do the job for a building (eternally) Royal team. Who might the M’s be willing to part with…and conversely, the Royals be wiling to take….for a guy worth 6 to 7 wins cheap over the next two years?
Keith
Keith
I think teams are generally reluctant to slide players on the fielding spectrum (1B – LF – RF – 3B – CF – 2B – SS – C) from positions of defensive difficulty to easier defensive positions. It is very difficult to move a player to the right during any phase of his career than to move him left.
The strategy to keeping a guy like Truinfel at SS involves multiple factors. I think the idea is to maintain flexibility from an organizational standpoint.
He’s only 19 years old. If he can cut it at all as a ML SS, he’s much more valuable than a 3B. Teams tend to give prospects like this every opportunity to succeed in the minors. If it turns out that he can cut it at SS, that would be huge. A team might also be able to better maintain a prospect’s trade value if they hold him at a position on the right side of the defensive spectrum. Since finding a SS who can hit and field well is a relative scarcity in baseball, it makes sense to give the kid every chance to stick there. I don’t think a shift from SS to 3B, or even 2B is considered a major change. Since he is still probably a couple of years away, it makes sense to keep him at SS for the time being.
One example that comes to mind is the hit that Jeff Clement’s value took as he shifted from a can’t miss catcher prospect to a likely 1B/DH. The more the M’s played Clement at 1B/DH, I imagine other team’s perceptions changed dramatically.
Pondering hypothetical Dayton Moore trades can lead to irreversible brain damage or, in extremely rare cases, epileptic fits of Posnaski satire. Risking the former is not worth the latter in my opinion, but that’s just me.