Don’t get me wrong, Jack is awesome and very very good at what he does; but some, maybe even most, of the things the team does should be taken at face value. This move strikes me as one of them.

Dustin Ackley has played precisely ZERO innings of pro ball at 2B outside of Peoria, and here’s a relevant quote from someone…

“There’s a lot of bucks that stop right here, but you have to have the input and information. I’ve experienced this in my past. A good example, there was a situation with a club in the past where we brought a player to the big leagues where he had never played anywhere else but the position he was drafted at. Now all of a sudden, he gets to the big leagues, and you have a reasonably good big league club. So often, a young player gets to the big leagues, he’s trying to find his way. A starter ends up in the bullpen. An infielder might end up in the outfield. Vice versa. What ends up happening, if the first time a person gets put in a position he’s never played before, and it’s at the major league level, it’s tough. That’s not an easy thing to do. This game is tough enough to play up here, let alone you’re giving a kid an internship at the big league level.”

I have never been a fan of Lopez and anything that gets him out of a Mariner uniform is a good thing.

I’ve never been a fan of people who trash baseball players based on very cursory and shallow biases. Body language? Really?

Lopez is a league-average 2B (defense AND offense). That’s fine.

Lopez seems open to playing third base, but not quite as flexible as Figgins, who has said from the start he is willing to play anywhere so long as it helps the team win.

I have never been a fan of Lopez and anything that gets him out of a Mariner uniform is a good thing. I realize that he is probably our biggest bat, but his body language on the field is lazy and his plate discipline is non existent.

Is anybody willing to offer speculation on teams that might be interested in seeing Lopez at third?

I speculate that the Ms have decided that Ackley is ready to step right in at 2B; and Lopez has become expendable.
They are playing Lopez at 3B because a potential trading partner has asked them to.

At least Lopez is young enough to still learn as he is just entering the peak years of his career.

Anyway, this seems right up Jack Z and Wak’s alley, and I wouldn’t make too much of it. It never hurts to know your 2B can slider over to 3B in a pinch, and vice versa, especially when you only have one backup infielder.

Yeah, if it’s spring training, I really don’t think it’s a problem.

Too, you’re keeping your vets engaged by having them experiment (and that’s what many vets do in spring training–experiment, try out new things and expand their repertoire).

And, finally, you’re really establishing an organizational philosophy of flexibility by having your established vets do it or experiment.

It’s not necessarily weak — it was strong enough for the outfield before it needed to be surgically repaired.

and, to use Alex’ old line, Ackley doesn’t have his ‘man strength’ yet

Only issue I could see with this “try out” for Lopez is with Figgins at 2nd will Ackley get any chance to play 2nd this spring??

It can make all the sense in the world for Raul Ibanez to DH, but he would rather play the field.