The End Of The Six Man Bullpen
That didn’t take long. The M’s have decided that three days is enough, and the six man bullpen is no more. Jesus Colome has been called up from Tacoma to give the team another arm out of the pen. To take his place on the roster, Ryan Langerhans has been designated for assignment.
There’s no nice way to say this – the team is now actively making themselves worse to keep Mike Sweeney’s personality around. Langerhans is a better hitter, a better fielder, a better runner, and a guy who can actually serve a useful purpose on this team. Mike Sweeney is a mascot taking up a roster spot. Now, it’s not just some theoretically useful player he’s blocking, but an actual, honest to goodness major league player that the team is discarding to keep his cheerleading behind around.
This sucks. Go away, Mike Sweeney. If you want to hang out with the guys, accept a coaching job.
Comments
57 Responses to “The End Of The Six Man Bullpen”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
So what message does it send to release Langerhans? You seem to be forgetting that part of it.
Wow, this M’s team is going to lose A LOT of games this year
This decision only makes sense if Bradley is going to be the everyday LF against RH pitching. Which he is so it makes sense.
It probably would be a better club with Bradley as the DH and Langerhans and Byrnes sharing the LF job. But that decision was already made, and has nothing to do with whether Sweeney was on the team or not. As a 4th outfielder Langerhans is worth having around, as a 5th outfielder he isn’t going to make any difference.
The real test on Sweeney is going to come when Hannahan is ready. Then they will have to choose between Tui as RH bench bat that plays IF/Corner OF, or Sweeney a RH bench bat that can’t/shouldn’t play in the field.
or bat.
What I really don’t get is they apparently kept Sweeney on the club because he had a hot bat in spring training and now they aren’t even giving him ABs against lefties. What is the freaking point????
I’m not trying to justify Sweeney being on the roster, but just saying if you’re going to keep a guy because he hit well in spring shouldn’t you, umm, let him try to keep hitting. This is stupid.
Chill… it’s April. The M’s need another bullpen pitcher, and Colome may be Okay. Langerhans at his best is a good defensive player, but can’t hit a lick. Sweeney and Griffey are part of the solution, and both much better hitters than Langerhans. The pitching will be Okay, and when Lee and Bedard are healthy, the M’s will match up with anyone. Defensively they are as good as it gets, but don’t have the offense from Kotchman, Wilson, and Johnson/Moore that they need to contend. The M’s need some M’s bop from 1st, SS and LF. Give Ackley a shot, and wait a couple of weeks as things settle in.
Tonya Harding, where art thou? Please take Sweeney out and Griffey too while you’re at it. Mike Sweeney, next time you pray I hope it’s for recovery from an injury that ends your career.