Wladimir Balentien DFA’d
JH · April 5, 2010 at 8:56 am · Filed Under Mariners
Anyone worried that the Mariners may have shipped away a legitimate middle of the order bat for a spare minor league arm last year should be able to rest a little bit easier now. Former frustrating Ms farmhand Wladimir Balentien just lost out to former frustrating Texas farmhand Laynce Nix for the 5th outfielder job with the Reds.
If no team trades for him in the next 10 days, Balentien will almost certainly find a minor league deal before too long. Every once in awhile, someone with his raw ability and obvious deficiencies turns into Nelson Cruz. More often, they hang around mashing Triple-A pitching into their late 20s/early 30s or sign a relatively lucrative contract to play in Japan. Best of luck to Wlad.
Uhm… anyone who was honestly worried about that never saw the man play.
“Uhm… anyone who was honestly worried about that never saw the man play”
Bill Bavasi says you are wrong!
And what news of Robert Manuel, the rather minor minor-leaguer the M’s got in exchange for Wlad? I know he pitched a few innings of relief in Tacoma last year, but beyond that….
Robert Manuel was lost in a waiver claim to Boston four months after the trade.
CHONE was really high on him too with a 2.2 WAR.
if they can, the M’s should offer a minor league contract.
Lets go get him!!!!! I’m being facetious of course. I’m very happy we got rid of Yuni, Wladi and Beltre. Watching those three unsuccessfully hack at seemingly every slider is not missed in the Emerald city.
Spankystout, you might not miss Adrian swinging at balls off the plate and in the dirt but I think you WILL miss Beltre’s defense.
I had hoped he would pan out as a Mariner…….but was finally pretty pleased to see him go. Hopefully he can learn how to play the game…..he has tools.
Notice who else the Reds picked up when they dropped Wlad?
Miguel Cairo
If it gets to the point where he gets to decide where he goes, I don’t really see why he’d choose Seattle. He’d come in behind Saunders on the depth chart and with his familiarity with the org, he knows it. I expect him to end up with a second-division team where he might get some playing time. The Nationals are one possibility, as they’re currently looking for a RF to replace Elijah Dukes.
That’s true JH, he wouldn’t given that the FO made it clear that they didn’t value him.
I still don’t understand why a guy like Brad Nelson re-signed here, but there you go. It happens.
Thought Cincy made sense for him, but the Nats, Blue Jays and Cubs might be better now. Still think Wlad was never as bad as most M’s fans thought he was, but at this point, it’s tough to complain.
Wlad to the Royals in 5…4…3…
Nice thought, but he’s not washed up enough.
Maybe i will miss the gold glove D at third. Only time will tell if lopez can be adequate. But the one through nine hack-attack is gone! I’m a huge proponent of watching a few pitches…..Similar to poker when sometimes the best bet is not making one.