Piatt Watch: Adam Piatt was designated for assignment on the 13th. Clearing waivers can take 4, 5 days, but at this point we can safely assume Piatt got through and is not going to be claimed by the Mariners. Weirdly, he hasn’t shown up in Sacramento yet, as far as I can determine from reading the transaction wires.
I didn’t see any other interesting floatsam on the wires while I was looking.
Mariners visit Toronto
Tue Aug 19, 4:05p, RHP Franklin v RHP Escobar
Wed Aug 20, 4:05p, RHP Meche v RHP Towers
Thu Aug 21, 4:05, LHP Moyer v LHP Hendrickson
Towers is a former Orioles pitcher who has bounced around the transaction wire a little since his debut. He’s not a huge deal, he’s another servicable back-end starter if things work out for him, and they’ll toss him if he’s not. The story this week is going to be whether the Mariners, busted up and struggling to score, will be able to increase their lead over the A’s, who are 4 games back, and face the same brutal Red Sox lineup the M’s had to face (and, as a bonus, the A’s are facing Lowe-Wakefield-Martinez). We’ve seen this happen before, when the M’s lost to the lowly San Diego Padres in interleague play while the A’s beat up on the Giants, but the Mariners should pick up another game before they head back into Boston to get slapped around by that offense again.
The real story though is the cellar of the AL West, where the Rangers are threatening to take over 3rd place from the Angels. The Rangers are a scary team. Their infield is young and really good: Teixeira-Young-Rodriguez-Blalock is a unit I think I’d swap any other team’s for — they’re young, except for Alex, they’re cheap for now, and they’re hugely productive. All they really need is for the lightbulb in John Hart’s head to go off, and suddenly he’s got the money and the organization to build a contender fast. Meanwhile, the Angels… ugh. They’ve just collapsed this year, it’s ugly.
It’s weird, when you think about it:
Mariners: old club with old-school management, 1st in division
Athletics: younger club with new-school management (with mixed record of following through on new-school), 2nd
Angels: mixed club with old-school management, 3rd in division
Rangers: young club with mixed management (Hart’s fall from being smart about FA/building a team), last in division
Rose update from the Cincinnati Enquirer: “I think Pete’s living up to his end of whatever bargain he made with the commissioner back in November, and that’s in their hands, and he’s just going to sit quiet until something happens, one way or the other,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt mostly echoes MLB’s line in his statements, including the “irresponsible journalism” one, but I think it’s telling the he thinks something’s going to happen and acknowledges that there’s an agreement in place from the November meetings.
Lastest Gammons column has a bit about Rafael Soriano, and this: “Don’t be surprised if Clint Nageotte doesn’t help the Mariners in September,” one NL scout said. “He’s got star closer written all over him.”
Does Clint know this? I’d be pretty hacked off if someone wrote ‘star baseball writer’ all over me while I slept.
Also, “Anyone who knew Bob Melvin and Eric Wedge over the years expected them to be very good managers, which they are.”
Bob Melvin’s not a very good manager. He may be one: there are signs he learns, which is more than you get out of many managers, but at the same time, there are many unanswered questions about his game tactics, etc.
If you played a potted plant at third instead of Zeile, the potted plant will provide approximately equal contributions on offense and defense, and as a bonus, the potted plant produces refreshing oxygen, and everyone loves oxygen.
Carlos Beltran, just to head off more email, isn’t a free agent until after the 2004 season. However, as an arb-eligible player on a team that consistently claims to be cash-strapped, it’s conceivable the M’s could deal for him and his arb contract (offering, we presume, pitching) and then sign him to a massive extension as part of the deal.
Seriously, if Edgar retires, here’s Derek’s Plan B:
– try and get Beltran and, failing that, re-sign Cameron for a 2-3 year deal, even if you have to pay more $$$
– sign Matsui to play SS
– do all the other things you can safely assume I’d do as GM
– win the AL West and the World Series and hold riotous Oktoberfest celebrations in downtown Seattle
– wash crowd control chemicals out of eyes
Zeile’s only offensive contribution right now is a marginal ability to get extra base hits versus lefties. He’s completely useless against right-handed pitching. The M’s kill lefties already and have no need for another lefty-masher. The fact that his resume says “3B” might tempt Melvin into using him there, which would be akin to sticking a potted plant on the third base bag. If the M’s want to punt defense to get a right-handed bat in the lineup at third base, just stick Colbrunn there. He’s just as immovable in the field, but he can actually hit.
Neither option is better than Jeff Cirillo. Caught up in the lynch-mob mentality of Cirillo’s poor hitting is the fact that he’s still the best defensive 3B in the game, and that makes him a contributing member of the team.
Also, a quick Rett Johnson update. The doctors found a cyst on Rett’s right shoulder, which is believed to have been caused by playing football in high school. He’s going to undergo more tests today, and there has been no official confirmation that he’ll be shut down for the year. That, however, seems like the likely path.
Zeile’s 37 this season. His last three years and this year:
2000 NYM .268/.358/.467
2001 NYM .266/.361/.373
2002 COL .273/.358/.425 (park-adjusted, .264/.345/.416)
2003 NYY .210/.294/.349
Is that the cliff or something else (which is the same question we’re asking of McLemore, Wilson, et cetera)?
Is he an upgrade on Bloomquist? How about this — Bloomquist, in his time in the minors, has never put up a park-adjusted line that competes with what Zeile did in the majors at ages 34, 35, and 36. I’ve long argued that the Mariners should be much more aggressive hunting for marginal upgrades, and if they’d been doing so they’d be in a much better position.
Which reminds me — how’s 2b/IF-B D’Angelo Jimenez doing for the Reds? .315/.380/.418. You think the Mariners could use a switch-hitting backup who can play the infield (including third)?
Back to Zeile though — this is a case where looking at his stats doesn’t tell the whole story. I don’t like picking up players like Zeile, because aging is irreversible: if a player’s bat speed has gotten so bad that he can’t get around on pitches, he’s going to be making his few hits by guessing and swinging early, and that’s a huge, exploitable flaw. Once batters run over the cliff, that’s it. And there’s another issue, that Zeile can’t field at third, making him — wait for it — an older, worse-hitting, version of Greg Colbrunn that plays poor defense.
The bench could use upgrades, for certain, and I’m all for focusing on what players can contribute, rather than what they can’t. And yet… I don’t see that Zeile gives Melvin a tool he needs.
Adam Piatt Update: Adam Piatt is not a Mariner.
According to the Times, the M’s are interested in Todd Zeile. This, of course, makes perfect sense.
John Mabry
Rey Sanchez
Mark McLemore
Dan Wilson
Todd Zeile
What do they all have in common (okay, besides the fact that they suck)? They’re old. Really old. Pat Gillick is the same guy who threw lots of money at Doug Drabek in Baltimore because, well, he was old. The Mariners are like MLB’s unofficial retirement community. Bring us your gimpy, your wounded, your ineffective, and we will give them at-bats. Todd Zeile will fit right in.
My stance on Willie Bloomquist has been quite clear. He’s better than Todd Zeile.
U.S.S. Mariner Honorary Crewmember and frequent emailer Jen Van Dijk wrote us with this gem:
Overheard at the Ballpark, 8/15/03: Man behind me to his wife/girlfriend/daughter/whatever: “Yeah Charles Gipson used to play for this team and he was a better fielder than Ichiro.”
I have nothing to add to that gem.