Don’t Count On Seeing Hannahan Again
Heading into spring training, it looked like Jack Hannahan was going to be the team’s utility infielder, playing a couple of times per week and offering the team some decent depth in case one of the regulars needed a day off. Then, he pulled his groin. He missed all of spring training, and then got sent out on a rehab stint with Tacoma. At the the time it started, Wak said they’d like to get Hannahan about 50 at-bats before they brought him back.
Well, he’s got nearly 50 at-bats, and there’s no indication that he’ll be rejoining the Mariners this week, or any week in the near future. In fact, Jack Hannahan may not be in the team’s plans anymore.
The smoking gun here is the Josh Wilson promotion. They would not go to the hassle of putting him on the 40 man roster, then risk having to pass him back through waivers to just fill in as the utility infielder until Hannahan reached the 50 AB mark. The decision to call Wilson up from Tacoma after Sunday’s game means that he’s here for a non-trivial amount of time. They’re not swapping out Hannahan for Wilson.
So, the only other path back to the roster for Jack Hannahan is by taking the roster spot of Ken Griffey Jr (not happening) or Mike Sweeney. While this would improve the team, they’d still lack a first baseman who can give Kotchman a day off against tough lefties or a right-handed bat to pair with Bradley at either LF/DH against LHPs. In reality, given the current roster, the guy who replaces Sweeney on the roster should probably be a right-handed hitting OF/1B/DH type. And that, obviously, is not Hannahan.
The other indication that the team isn’t planning on bringing him back has been his usage down in Tacoma. He’s played in 11 games, starting nine at 3rd base and two at DH. They have made no attempt to groom him as a utility infielder, and even with Wilson promoted on Sunday, he was back at third base last night, with Chris Woodward getting the start at shortstop.
Barring an injury to Figgins or Lopez, I don’t think we’re going to see Hannahan back with the Mariners any time soon. The rehab portion of his assignment is, for all intents and purposes, over – now, he’s just been demoted back to being a Triple-A guy again.
Rainiers Game Thread
No Mariner game tonight, so we direct your attention to the Tacoma Rainiers instead. In fact, the R’s are even on TV tonight, as FSN is broadcasting the game as part of their deal with the Portland Beavers. That said, if you choose to watch the game, you should do it with the sound off, and tune into the great Mike Curto on 850 AM. Also, you should be reading his blog, which is full of good, interesting information, plus a side of Curto-humor.
Line-up for Tacoma:
Saunders, RF
Tui, LF
Hannahan, 3B
Everidge, DH
Carp, 1B
Alfonso, C
Vazquez, 2B
Woodward, SS
Carrera, CF
Chris Seddon starts for the Rainiers against Cesar Carillo. The Portland line-up isn’t that interesting – local kid Aaron Cunningham is the best prospect on that team.
On the Value of Flexibility to a Marginal Contender
A couple of commenters on recent posts have brought up a common refrain among Ms’ fans these days: that the team’s biggest need is a big bat, and that until they acquire one nobody should waste any time worrying about incremental improvements to the 24th or 25th spots on the roster.
Obviously, the Mariners’ offense has not been very good. Nobody will seriously argue that there aren’t many different positions at which the Mariners could conceivably get better. If the right player came along, and the asking price was right, I have no doubt that the powers that be would love to add another solidly above average bat to improve the team’s .290 wOBA. That underlying point is obvious to the point of being pretty much not worth mentioning.
The specific point conveyed by these comments, though, simply could not be more wrong. After watching the Texas series, this should be abundantly obvious.
A team built around run prevention that struggles to score runs absolutely must worry about the flexibility the last few roster spots give them. Far, far more than a team with a good offense, in fact. A team like the Yankees will routinely run away with games. In contrast, 9 of the Mariners’ 11 wins this season have been by 3 runs or fewer (7 of them by either 1 or 2 runs). With strong pitching, great defense, and a mediocre at best offense, this team will see more close games than pretty much any other team in baseball with a shot at contention.
The team’s weak offense makes optimizing its bench more important. Not less.
Why The Roster Isn’t Fixed Yet
While we applaud the Mariners for making two correct decisions yesterday, and while they have improved the roster with the additions of Ryan Lagnerhans and Josh Wilson, the roster is not yet fixed.
Right now, the Mariners have the following line-up options, based on the current roster (leaving aside catchers, because that’s an entirely separate issue).
Vs RHP:
OF: Ichiro, Gutierrez, Langerhans
IF: Kotchman, Figgins, Wilson, Lopez
DH: Bradley
Bench: Griffey, Sweeney, Wilson
or
OF: Ichiro, Gutierrez, Bradley
If: Kotchman, Figgins, Wilson, Lopez
DH: Griffey
Bench: Sweeney, Langerhans, Wilson
I think most of us would prefer option A, as it gets Bradley out of the field (and hopefully keeps his bat in the line-up more often), improves the defense, and relegates Junior to a reduced pinch-hitting role. However, there’s a pretty big problem with that alignment – Josh Wilson acts as the only backup for the other seven guys, because the other two bench dudes can’t play the field. And that’s being kind enough to assume that Josh Wilson can serve as the fourth outfielder, despite the fact that he’s played one game in the outfield in his entire professional career.
Yes, the team can now safely pinch hit for Jack Wilson since they have a guy who can play shortstop to replace him after he’s removed, but that’s the only strategic move you can make. Want to pinch run? Tough, can’t do it. Want to pinch hit for Langerhans when the opposing manager brings in a southpaw in a high leverage situation? Nope, there’s no one else to play left field. While the team’s best line-up now includes Langerhans in left and Bradley at DH, that scenario also creates a remarkably inflexible bench that allows Wak to make one substitution per game. If any of the starters get a minor injury that force them into a day-to-day situation, the team literally would not have a backup for anyone else.
That’s the cost of carrying 12 pitchers and two guys who can’t play the field. An MLB team cannot operate like this without being severely hamstrung in every close, late game situation. We’ve already seen these problems rear their head, with things like Eric Byrnes facing a tough RHP in ridiculously high leverage situations, and last night’s moves don’t address the issue. If the team goes forward with this roster, they essentially will have to choose between keeping Griffey as the regular DH against righies, or not having a usable bench. That’s not a choice they should have to make.
If we accept the fact that Griffey isn’t going anywhere (and we have to – it’s just reality), then the Mariners simply have to choose between Mike Sweeney and the seven man bullpen. They cannot have both. No one can realistically expect the M’s to be able to make the necessary late game moves while they are hamstrung with a bullpen spot they don’t use and two DH’s who can’t hit.
Since Wak is apparently dead set against going back to six relievers, that makes Sweeney the odd man out. You cannot make this roster work with him on it and a 12 man pitching staff. We’ll find out tomorrow if the Mariners are willing to make that call, but I don’t get the sense that they are. I have a feeling that, tomorrow, the Mariners will take the field with a still-broken roster. It’s improved, but it still doesn’t work.
Jettisoning Byrnes and Tuiasosopo was the right start, but there’s one more move to be made. The team has about 30 hours to make it. Let’s see if they’re willing to admit that this roster is still broken.
The Other Move
Last night’s moves left the Mariners 40 man roster at 41, so they had to make another move today to get back down to the limit. They have now made that move, putting minor league reliever Ricky Orta on unconditional release waivers.
If you’re wondering why they did this, Orta had Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago, and is out for 2010. He’s a pretty good bet to clear waivers, and after the M’s release him, they can re-sign him to a minor league contract and let him rehab while not on the 40 man roster. If they would have placed him on the 60 day DL, he would have accrued almost an entire year’s worth of service time, so the release/re-sign tactic gets them the same end result without forcing them to surrender a year of team control, in case he ever does make it back from the surgery.
Minor League Wrap (4/26-5/2/10)
If nothing else, this will help you figure out how the two recent call-ups have fared in the past week. I was going to mention them either way, but the timing makes it all the more significant. If you’re additionally looking for an opinion on Peguero, or some insight into how the prospect-laden West Tenn rotation is faring, you can click on in now. Don’t be a stranger.
To the jump!
Read more
M’s Respond
That didn’t take long.
According to Ryan Divish and Larry Stone (both via twitter), Eric Byrnes has been DFA’d, and he will be replaced on the roster by Ryan Langerhans. Matt Tuiasosopo has been optioned to Tacoma, and he’ll be replaced by Josh Wilson.
It’s a start. This gives the Mariners a left-handed LF so that they have a real option to play the field and move Bradley to DH most days, allowing Junior to serve as late game pinch hitter (assuming Wak is willing to do this). And now that they have a real backup shortstop, they can actually pinch hit for Jack Wilson without too much fear, so those two moves work nicely together. Langerhans isn’t going to fix the offense by himself, but he’s a better hitter than Griffey right now, and having him in left instead of Bradley upgrades the defense as well. It’s a small improvement, but it’s improvement.
There’s more work to be done, but congratulations to the M’s front office for making some of the right moves. There’s still the issue of Sweeney’s spot on this roster, but I’ll give them until Tuesday to sort that out. They have roughly over 40 hours before the next game at Safeco. They don’t have to make that move right now.
A quick update via Shannon Drayer’s twitter: The “next move will not be a 60 day DL move.” This is noteworthy because the M’s have to clear a spot on the 40 man roster for both Langerhans and Josh Wilson, and they only opened one by releasing Byrnes. So, someone else is going away before Tuesday. However, before we all get our hopes up that the guy going away might be a right-handed hugging machine, Drayer also notes that the guy is “most likely not on the 25 man roster.”
With That Said
(The thread for venting is down one.)
Yes, the Mariners got swept at home by Texas in about the most frustrating way possible. However, two of the games were obviously easily winnable, and the only game that wasn’t featured a not-healthy-and-struggling Felix. The Rangers didn’t destroy the Mariners, even though they’re probably the best team in the division. This wasn’t a whooping that proves the team can’t contend. If anything, it should prove that this team can contend – they just need to make some improvements.
The Mariners have been outscored by four runs in 25 games. Yes, the offense has been terrible, but despite that, they’ve still been in almost every single ballgame.
Don’t panic. This team can win the division. They can’t do it with this roster, but the changes are pretty easy to make, and the front office should have the courage to make those moves.
Game Twenty-Five Recap
Boo, 11-14.
Dear Jack,
Your move.
Sincerely,
The Fans.
(Seriously, if this roster hasn’t seen significant changes by Tuesday, the gloves come off. It took you three days to abandon the six man bullpen – you’ve had long enough to abandon this roster. It doesn’t work. Fix it.)
Game 25, Rangers at Mariners
Wilson vs Fister, 1:10 pm.
A bit of a curious decision to throw Fister today, which will result in Vargas, Rowland-Smith, and Lee pitching consecutively in the Tampa Bay series. Guess the M’s don’t really care about forcing lefties to throw back to back after all, which is actually kind of refreshing, since that theory isn’t based on any kind of evidence.
6-4-3 was scratched from the original line-up due to a sore back. We can only hope that said sore back lands him on the disabled list for about five months.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 2B
Bradley, DH
Kotchman, 1B
Byrnes, LF
Johnson, C
Wilson, SS