Improve, Don’t Buy Or Sell
With the three game losing streak and a record below .500 again, those who don’t think this team can keep up with the Rangers are renewing their calls to hold a sell-off, move Erik Bedard for prospects, and commit the rest of the season to playing prospects. However, those who think this team’s pitching can keep them in the race are calling for the team to make a move to acquire a left fielder and/or a designated hitter post haste in order to keep the team in the race before the lack of offense sinks the season.
I’d like to suggest that the buy/sell decision is, right now, a false dichotomy. The team doesn’t have to choose today whether they’re buyers or sellers – you can upgrade the roster without marrying yourself to one extreme plan or the other.
The reality is that there isn’t a single player in this organization right now who should be a starting left fielder in the big leagues, and there isn’t a player in this organization who projects as a respectable starting left fielder in 2012. The position is a gaping hole (as it has been for most of the team’s history) with no solution on the horizon. Regardless of whether you think the Mariners are contenders or not, the reality is that they need a new left fielder. If they don’t get one now, they’ll just have to go get one this winter, so they might as well go get one now.
Whether it’s Ryan Ludwick, David DeJesus, Casey Blake, Luke Scott, or someone else we haven’t talked about, they will improve the 2011 team, and that’s helpful even if you don’t think this team is going to win the AL West. I don’t think they’re good enough to hang with Texas either, but that doesn’t mean there’s any point to pushing forward with a bunch of Triple-A players sharing a Major League job.
The organization doesn’t gain anything by running out any of the guys here now. If you want to give Mike Carp playing time, that should come at DH. If you want to give Carlos Peguero playing time, I’m glad you’re not in charge. These guys are not “the future” here. The team’s future left fielder currently plays in another organization, so acquiring a guy who is only under contract through the end of the season doesn’t block anyone who should be playing. That guy might even turn out to be useful enough to stick around for 2012, and then the team would have one thing they could cross off their winter shopping list.
There will come a time when the M’s need to decide whether or not they should trade Erik Bedard. That time is not today, and that decision has nothing to do with the fact that the team needs to improve left field. If Jack Zduriencik can get a real left fielder in here without giving up a major part of the future, he should absolutely do it. Even in rebuilding years, you still want Major League players on the Major League roster.
This team needs a Major League left fielder, and the sooner the better. That has nothing to do with whether or not they should be buyers or sellers. For now, they should just be improvers.
We’re 2.5 games behind Texas.
The set of players who have played LF for the M’s this year have combined for a -2.0 WAR. Ludwick is a +1.3 WAR.
I love WAR stats. A guy that is on a team with a .421 winning percentage has a +1.3 WAR. Not arguing your WAR numbers, but just find them funny.
Has does WAR translate to a player going to a different league and a different ballpark not designed for RH power hitters? Does it recalculate at that point or does it already factor in all ballparks already?
The A’s used to be masters of this tactic. Though, one could argue they would both buy and sell at the same deadline.
Looks like Bill Bavasi has multiple accounts on this site.
Fukudome anyone?
Cubbies eat a portion of his contract and he becomes an instant upgrade offensively and defensively in LF. His defense has been down this year but it doesn’t take much to upgrade over Carp and Peguero.
That would be silly. Do you know how valuable a utility infielder is who can hit at league average rates? Lest you forget the times we traded big league ready players we thought were blocked at the big league level (i.e. Asdrubal Cabrera and Choo) — it’s a bad idea to begin with, and it’s even worse when that player is doing well at a position you are weak at down the road.
Seager could be our starting third baseman next year, or, more likely, he’s a guy who can get 450 at bats at all the infield positions while being a decent hitter. I like Beltran plenty, but there’s no need to give away such a good piece for him. No reason at all.
It seems some people still believe you can’t be a good player on a crappy team. RBIs? Team record? Good grief.
I guess Felix stole that award last season. I guess Nolan Ryan randomly “forgot how to win” some years. I guess A-Rod was a crap player during his time in Texas.
I wouldn’t argue with that if we were talking about getting a Felix, Ryan, or Arod. I thought we were talking about Ludwick so my bad.
Yeah, maybe we just shouldn’t have comments anymore.
This is a great article, accompanied by the worst thread of comments.
Llandor- Why don’t you just use Google to find out what WAR is? You do know what google is right?
Those lamenting that we can’t just go out and get a superstar are delusional. No one is giving us a superstar for B prospects, and there isnt a lot of “superstars” on the trading block. A big bat would cost us Ackley or Pineda plus more. Not happening.
I’d like to see us make a move for BJ Upton, though I don’t think we could steal him away without paying too much. He’s having a down year and would still be a decent upgrade.
Bavasi was a joke for the most part, but signing Sexson and Beltre were not mistakes.
Sexson had an OPS of around.700 his last 700 plate appearances in Seattle, and was a terrible player. We paid him thirty million dollars to do that in 2007-2008. Do you think we could have spent that thirty million on other players who could have hit better than that, and actually been a decent defender at 1B? If that’s your definition of “not mistake”, what’s your definition of mistake- maybe bludgeoning Felix with a lead pipe? Poisoning Ichiro with arsenic?
Also, I love the people who say “our kids might not work out, but let’s try it out”. Do you usually go to the roulette tables in Vegas with your mortgage money, and say “yeah, I know, odds are we’ll lose it, but let’s try it anyway, we have nothing to lose”?
And people citing Tampa and Florida as franchise models… Tampa’s been good to at least decent for YEARS now. They still can’t draw flies. Florida’s won two championships. They still don’t draw. The fans don’t like teams that can’t win, but they won’t forgive you if you tell them “we aren’t going to even try”.
Bad teams often have decent players. It happens all the time. A replacement level team would have won about 21-22 games at this point, the Padres have won 33.
I’d like to see us make a move for Albert Pujols, though I don’t think we could steal him away without paying too much. He’s having a down year and would still be a decent upgrade.
While we’re at it, we could also try to make a move for Evan Longoria., though I don’t think we could steal him away either without paying too much. He would be a decent upgrade also.
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And what does it mean to “steal [someone] away without paying too much”? If you pay too much you aren’t stealing him away.
I’m not big on giving much for an outfielder who isn’t signed for next year, but I’d go after a LF in July with the attitude that we can get a guy or not – try to make a trade, but don’t overpay, and maybe someone will be anxious to dump a guy at the July 31 deadline.
The other trade possibility that just occurred to me, be it in July or this winter, would be a Figgins-for-your-problem deal, like Silva for Bradley.
Why are we not talking Fukudome as an option for our LF problem. He has a bloated contract this year but will be a FA by years end. We want a legit answer in LF, Fukudome is it. We give partial salary relief and include a prospect and both teams go home happy.
We’re not talking about Fukodome because he is not a legitimate starting outfielder. He has one skill, getting on base … and that is all.
We’re not talking about Fukodome because he is not a legitimate starting outfielder. He has one skill, getting on base … and that is all.
Wow, Dave’s right. The comments these days are just a treasure trove of silly, uninformed statements.
Fukudome has decent defensive stats as an OF, and considering that getting on base is the primary offensive skill that makes runs score, because you a) get on base in order to potentially score a run and b) you don’t make an out, which hinders runs from scoring, complaining that’s his primary skill is like complaining that Felix Hernandez’s skill is preventing runs from scoring when he is pitching. Um, duh, that’s why he’d help the team?
LF is a huge black hole on this team. Peguero isn’t the answer. Halman isn’t the answer. Getting a supserstar for pennies on the dollar in trade isn’t likely to be the answer. A decent, non-black hole of a player that doesn’t cost us a premium prospect? A perfectly fine answer, even if they can’t hit a lot of home runs. The M’s problems are they have a bunch of hitters who can’t get on base and make too many outs. A hitter with not much power and good on-base percentage definitely helps this team compared to what’s in LF now.
Again: why is it like Bill James never existed, and people think that getting runners on base is irrelevant to how your offense performs, because you don’t have multiple 20+ HR hitters?
A player I think would be perfect for the M’s is Hunter Pence. Baseball Tonight was saying that he could become available at some point this season. I think a deal of Vargas, Triunfel, and Paxston should be enough to get a deal done. Maybe it’s just wishfull thinking, but I would still inquire about his services.
Hunter Pence is worth a look for sure! Another guy I’m not sure has been mentioned that would work great (though he did just get hurt, but only a sprained ankle and on the 15 day DL) is Delmon Young. Twins are going to be sellers in July and he is only under contract for the rest of ’11 and arb. eligible in ’12.
This thread has become a great example of what this site has become. In this thread alone we had someone bring up winning percentage for pitchers, say we needed to go all out and get a huge name with big numbers (dingers), and someone else say that all somebody does is get on base.(it almost sounds like satire)
The first three comments on every thread seem to call Dave out on something stupid, like Peguero, and this forces him to have to defend himself on his own site. It’s getting kind of obnoxious.
Anyway, thanks Dave. Your opinion is still very much valued by most.