The problem with not putting Rrrandy Winn through arb and moving him to center is that there aren’t going to be much better alternatives out there. Cameron’s a FA, he’ll be gone, and unless we want to trade for Beltran, we’re in trouble.
I don’t think Winn’s a liability in center so much as he’s not Cameron. Defensively he’s no McLemore out there. Who’s available (scampering for notes… holy mackeral, is Vernon Wells having a nice season)?
Milton Bradley and the Indians are parting ways, that wouldn’t be so bad, though Milton seems to emit radiation on a wavelength that alienates front offices.
Carl Everett? There’s nothing in the bible about playing child abusers (yeah, I know, there’s no evidence he directly beat the kids himself, just that he failed to intervene…)
Kenny Lofton? He’s awful defensively.
Ken Griffey Jr. may seriously be the team’s best option, especially if the Reds will eat a lot of his salary. Man, I used to love cheering for Griffey before he went insane. And playing him in center’s probably not going to help the injuries.
Other than that, you’re looking at a AAA-level flycatcher. Though now that I think about it, a pure defensive CF wouldn’t be so bad if they did let Winn go and invested that $10m+ in a masher for LF and a decent 4th OF (like free agent Rrrrandy Winn).
C Randy Winn
1B Rey Sanchez
2B Mike Cameron
SS John Mabry
3B Jeff Cirillo (ha!)
LF Pat Borders
CF Carlos Guillen
RF John Olerud
DH Luis Ugueto
And on the mound, #29, Bret Boone.
There’s nothing wrong with weird alignments this weekend. We’re out of it, and we might as well act like it. So what if you need three cutoff men to get it in from right field? More practice for Ugueto and Bloomquist at making relays…
Personally, I say screw the “only 5 guys start games all year” record, and give Putz, Sweeney, and Soriano starts this weekend. The A’s are going to run their Triple-A lineup out there, so we might as well take advantage and get the kids some confidence.
I was doing this for Strong, not Winn… but yeah, Winn in right isn’t a good idea. At the same time, moving Cameron out of center seems silly, and it’s not as if Strong has a good throwing arm either.
I’d love to see Randy Winn in right field just for the spectacle of it. He already has the worst throwing arm in baseball, and sticking him in right could be hilarious. I’d bet the over on Erubiel Durazo getting three triples.
On a somewhat related note, I think I’m the only one who doesn’t like the “Pay Winn $5 million in arbitration, move him to CF” plan for next year. He’s just not that good offensively, and he’d be a liability in center.
With the M’s out of the race, I’d like to see Jamal Strong get starts in each of the final three games. Why not see what he can do at the plate, even if it’s only for a handful of at-bats? With three games left, the regular outfielders could each get one day off so Strong could play…
Friday: LF Winn, CF Strong, RF Ichiro
Saturday: LF Strong, CF Cameron, RF Ichiro
Sunday: LF Strong, CF Cameron, RF Winn
…or something similar.
Popular question of the day: Who do we want to replace Gillick?
We’ve been over this a bit before, and when he officially announces his retirement, I’ll begin my full-court press campaigning for the guys I would pick. After all, considering the good my David Ortiz bandwagon did in the offseason and my Matt Stairs campaign did during the season, it is obvious that the decision makers will be taking my suggestions seriously.
But, for those of you who haven’t been reading us that long (and welcome, by the way), my picks are, in no particular order, Chris Antonetti (Asst. GM in Cleveland), Tim Purpura (Asst. GM in Houston), and Derek Zumsteg.
Derek’s Nitpicking Department:
From the Tribune story:
“This team busted it’s (tail) all season, all season!” he told Gillick.
It doesn’t take an apostrophe in the possessive. It should have been “its” and I’m surprised this managed to get all the way into print w/o anyone — copy editors, whoever — catching it, since it’s one of the most common and annoying mistakes people make.
Also, I want to point out how hard it is to get exact quotes down. Trib:
“I agree with Edgar, these guys busted their butts for Bob Melvin all year. But today, we looked like it was the last game of spring training.”
PI:
“Edgar’s right. These guys have played their asses off all year. But we played this one like the last game of spring training.”
I saw this happen all the time when I was doing WiQ for Baseball Prospectus: people would submit some funny Tony Muser quote, but everyone there would report it slightly differently.
What’s really hilarious about this is Gillick acting like he’s without blame here. “Oh, you guys weren’t really trying, because you lost quickly.”
Edgar should have said “You weren’t really trying, because you were in Toronto moving instead of working the phones at the trade deadline. (insert standard USS Mariner rant here, with cool Edgar accent).”
So, Pat Gillick and Edgar Martinez got into it last night. I say, good for Edgar. Frustration with the team is natural, but forcing the team bus to leave early is a childish move that wouldn’t work on a group of 5th graders, much less millionaires with children of their own.
For most of the season, Gillick was an absentee GM. He maintained that his results were what mattered, and the appearance of his apathy could not be taken at face value. However, that apparently does not hold true for the players, who not only have to perform well, but give the impression of effort when it is not genuine. I don’t totally disagree with Gillick; the Mariners are an entertainment industry, and the fans who paid their money to watch them play deserve to see a major league ballgame. But for Pat Gillick to chastise someone like Edgar Martinez for not working, not caring, and not putting out an entertaining product for the fans, well, thats the entire kitchen calling the kettle black.
Thankfully, Pat Gillick’s tenure as the GM of the Seattle Mariners ends this weekend. To which I say hooray.
Boston’s magic number down to 2, four games to play, fighting for your proverbial lives, with the remnants of John Lackey on the mound; who is up for a 5 hit shutout? Sounds like a grand old time.
In happier news, Brian Sweeney may just be pitching himself onto the 2004 roster. Heck, Willie Bloomquist is crap, everyone knew it, and he parlayed 33 good at-bats in September last year into the opportunity to be a yearlong sinkhole this year. Interestingly enough, I haven’t heard from those in the “Willie just needs consistent playing time” crowd recently. But I digress.