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!
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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
Game 24, Rangers at Mariners
Harrison vs Hernandez, 12:10 pm
Happy Felix Day.
It seems like Felix is constantly taking the hill trying to rescue the team from a bad situation. He’s doing it again, as I’d imagine most of us still have a pretty bitter taste in our mouths after last night’s game. The pitching match-up obviously favors the M’s, but whether the offense can do anything against a lefty remains to be seen. Brandon League obviously won’t be available today, either, so it’d be in the M’s best interests to not have to use their middle relief today.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 2B (yes, still)
Bradley, LF
6-4-3, DH
Kotchman, 1B
Johnson, C
Wilson, SS
Game Twenty-Three Recap
Boo, 11-12.
There are way too many things to talk about, but I’m under the weather, it’s 1:30 in the morning, and there’s another game in a few hours. I’ll do a longer recap tomorrow.
Let’s put it this way, though – here are the main problems we have with this team right now.
1. The bench is a joke, and forces the team to continually face bad match-ups late in games, making it easy for the opposing manager to make decisions.
2. The line-up doesn’t make any sense, and bad hitters constantly have to try to drive in the few guys that have the ability to get on base.
3. The catchers are fundamentally awful behind the plate.
4. The starting shortstop can’t hit, and regularly gets pinch hit for, but the backup shortstop can’t play the position.
5. The team’s third best relief pitcher just got optioned to Tacoma so the team could keep a guy they don’t use.
6. Okay, this is really #1, but we’ve beaten the drum enough, so I buried it down here – the organization chose two designated hitters who can’t hit because they’re fun to be around. It was a terrible decision.
All of those things manifest in critical situations tonight, and conspired to cost the team the game. The team has a tiny margin for error, and the roster and line-up decisions swallowed all of it tonight. Fix any of the above problems, and the Mariners probably win this game. These are not hard changes to make – the Mariners just need to man up and make them.
Screw team chemistry. Give us a team that can play baseball.
Game 23, Rangers at Mariners
Lee vs Lewis, 7:10 pm.
Cliff Lee makes his much anticipated debut tonight against a somewhat depleted Rangers team. Nelson Cruz is on the DL, and due to the struggles of their two young catchers, they are going with career backup Matt Treanor behind the plate. They do get Ian Kinsler back tonight though, and he’s hitting clean-up in his first game of the season.
As for the Mariners line-up, well, you already know what it looks like. Can’t wait to see Lopez and Griffey try to drive in the top of the order, only followed by the excitement of Adam Moore and Jack Wilson trying to drive in the other two guys on the team that can get on base. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to when Wak pulls the plug on Lopez hitting clean-up – three weeks of him hitting like a pitcher haven’t done it, yet five games of Milton Bradley struggling were enough to get him moved down in the order. It’s almost like a dare – how long can the team keep winning with no bench and a line-up that makes no sense?
I guess we’ll find out. It doesn’t look like we’ll see the obvious changes until the team starts losing. Which, with Tampa Bay rolling into town on Tuesday, may happen sooner than we’d like to see.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Griffey, DH
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, 1B
Moore, C
Wilson, SS
Kelley Optioned to Make Way for Lee
Kelley went eight days without pitching from the 19th to the 27th. Despite having a pretty ERA, his walks are up a bit and his FIP is around what it was on average last year. His slider has also been a bit inconsistent at times. Considering how quickly he shot up through the system to get to the M’s (he has 80.1 innings in the minor leagues, total), there are worse things in the world than having him go down to Tacoma to work on a few things.
Based off the move, one might suggest that the M’s still value Jesus Colome from his spring training performance and aren’t willing to give him up quite yet. Take from that what you will.
Dave adds: Jesus Colome has pitched one inning in the last 18 days. This team does not need seven relievers, and they certainly don’t have seven relievers better than Shawn Kelley. This is just dumb.
The Line-Up
It’s become a fairly common question in the comment threads – what should the batting order look like right now, given the roster the Mariners have put on the field? To me, it’s a pretty easy call.
Vs RHP
1. Ichiro, RF
2. Figgins, 2B
3. Gutierrez, CF
4. Bradley, LF
5. Kotchman, 1B
6. Lopez, 2B
7. Griffey, DH
8. Catcher, C
9. Wilson, SS
Vs LHP:
1. Ichiro, RF
2. Figgins, 2B
3. Gutierrez, CF
4. Bradley, DH
5. Lopez, 2B
6. Kotchman, 1B
7. Byrnes, LF
8. Catcher, C
9. Wilson, SS
There are five hitters on this roster that are pretty clearly better than the other four. Especially against RHPs, those five should be stacked together, giving the Mariners the best chance possible to get multiple hits in an inning. Bradley and Kotchman are the guys who should be trying to drive in the top of the order, and hopefully Wak makes that call sooner than later.