Roster, lineup summary
Okay, so to recap: Mike Morse is up from Tacoma to play short — and made his debut last night.
“He will start tomorrow night and play a majority of the time, at least at the start,” Hargrove said. “Bloomie [Willie Bloomquist] has done a good job for us, but we didn’t bring Mike here not to play. The kid is 23 years old and obviously still developing.”
At least at the start? That’s an odd qualifier, and I’m not sure what to make of it.
Wilson Valdez gets designated for assignement. It’s unlikely anyone’ll claim him and will probably end up in Tacoma.
With Olivo down Rene Rivera gets called back up. The Mariners may be shopping for another backup, depending on what you’re reading, and that makes sense — Rivera needs playing time and development if they regard him as a serious prospect, and if Borders is going to handle most of the starting duties (and I have trouble believing I typed that) he’d be better off in the minors.
And now we wait. A pitching move seems likely.
Comments
28 Responses to “Roster, lineup summary”
… seems likely to whom?
I’m not sure what to expect from the FO anymore.
DMZ-How did Rivera and Morse look from the stands? FSN must mute the sound as heard no booing. Did crowd boo Franklin, Boone?
How was the non-smoking reasonable beer pre game pub?
We don’t need pitching. Look what Grover said about last night’s game:
i definitely heard booing, so i’m not sure about any muting. particularly when boone had guys on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and dribbled one to the second basemen. and also when beltre bobbled that bunt that he tried to barehand. maybe they mute in seattle and don’t in portland.
I’d guess that Morse is our starting SS until he plays himself out of the position. We’re going to start him, but we’re not wed to starting him if he sucks.
It seems to me that Rivera handled himself pretty well. Why waste a roster spot by picking up another retread? I am also wondering from those of you who go to Tacoma games, how is Choo looking defensively?
I’ve seen Choo twice this year and he’s seemed to be at least an adequate fielder out there (small sample size). His arm OTOH is just super. The guy throws low flying missiles out there.
I watched Choo make a pretty difficult diving catch in Tacoma but have only seen him play 3-4 games. Haven’t seen anything that concerned me though, which may be a better indication.
Choo has that benefit — strong arm — having pitched in high school. He’s made slow, steady progress through the system, basically spending one year at each level; I’d be inclined to leave him in Tacoma for at least another month or so. Bummer what Dave said about his platoon problems, though.
jason
How has Ryan Christianson looked behind the plate? Good enough to hold on the 40-man roster after the season if he stays healthy?
“At least at the start” I interpreted that the same way, it’s his job until he plays himself out of it.
I’ve been to several Tacoma games this year (on the days Felix and Campillo pitch) and my non-stathead eyes would say that Choo is as least as good defensively as Winn with a much better arm. I still think he he has the ability and is learning how to get a better jump on the ball and getting a better feel for were it will end up.
There is another left handed hitting outfielder that I believe should get the call before Choo. He is weaker defensively, but is not a black hole. And he appears ready offensively and does not have much more to learn or prove at AAA.
On a different question, I have heard rumors that Betancourt is being called up to replace Morse in Tacoma. Is this true and is Betancourt ready? Although I have never seen him play, I hear that he is still fairly raw and could still prosper at AA.
Also how would that affect the future of Valdez as a Mariner if he passes thru waivers (which seems likely)? Actually, never mind about this last question, I have decided that I don’t really care.
I had assumed that we would keep Valdez in AAA, if he’s not claimed, but now I’m not so sure. The Seattle Times reports that Betancourt has been moved up to AAA. Maybe they’ll send him back down to AA if Valdez clears waivers, but then we have two more possible events on the horizon:
1) Morse can’t hack it.
2) Pokey comes back.
I would think that either of the above would send Morse back to Tacoma and force another move. So, I don’t think Valdez is likely to stick with us.
I know I’m in the minority, but I’m a bit sorry about that. Based on nothing but my eyes, I thought Valdez had the makings of an acceptable hitter. He’s only played in 103 ML games.
Betancourt rumors — not certain about these but the Rainiers did call up this guy: Eric Blakeley
If Wiki is availabe within two weeks, then I do not see a need to pick up another catcher. Two weeks of backing up Borders will not retard Rivera’s development. If Wiki’s injury does last longer than two more weeks I suppose that the M’s would be better off to pick up a retread or find a way to move Christianson onto the 40-man and give Rivera time to play regularly in the minors.
#13 – My biggest problem with Valdez wasn’t necessarily that he didn’t hit much, but that he couldn’t seem to lay down a bunt. If you can’t hit, you’d at least better be able to move the runners.
Christianson can’t catch. He hasn’t done it regularly for years. He certainly isn’t going to help us over Rivera. May as well put Ibanez there.
I say let Borders play. (Lets chant that as a mantra, like they do on Bad News Bears).
Not to send this spinning off-topic, but the chanting of “Let Them Play!” actually was from 1978’s Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, not the 1976 original.
Christianson is catching regularly in Tacoma. Looking over box scores from the last few weeks, it looks like he has had some success throwing out base runners. Has anybody seen him play in person?
Pitching move? So who’s the victim? Thornton?
I don’t think Meche or Piniero can do down without consent, and Jamie and Aaron are playing Dr. Jekyll to Ryan’s Mr. Hyde (this week, I’m sure that who’s playing who will change in a week or two).
Anyone know how the current Tacoma pitching rotation is working out? I’ll be in Las Vegas on June 20th and was wondering if I would get lucky and see Felix. Or is it too far out to guess.
We’ve already used Pineiro’s option this year, so we can send him up and down as much as we want.
If Dave’s right and Joel’s injured, this becomes moot.
Thornton is out of options. And he ain’t gonna clear waivers because he’s a left-hander who throws 95 mph. So we can’t send him down to Tacoma. I doubt we’re willing to just release him because we probably could get something for him if we shopped him. My guess is we ain’t shopping him. Looks like we’re hoping he finds his control in Seattle.
#21,
The Tacoma rotation looks like it’s Felix, Campillo, Damian Moss, Cha Seung Baek, Andrew Lorraine. Last night it was Moss, today it’s Baek, so work forward from there! Felix pitches the first game v. LV next Thursday, but if everything stays the same (moderately unlikely), then he may pitch on June 19th in Las Vegas….ooh, you may get there 1 day late. Take all of this w/numerous grains of salt, however.
I saw Christianson catch once in Tacoma. Certainly not enough to make a judgement but he did not make any mistakes. The other games I have seen him play he has DH’d. The game he caught he hit a bomb to right center and I read in the paper today that he hit a grand slam last night (although it was off a nuckle baller).
#16 If there is no such thing as a productive out is there such thing as a productive bunt that results in an out?
Re: (# 23) “Thornton is out of options.” – Really? Here’s his Player Index page. http://tinyurl.com/8k8xk He doesn’t look out of options to me. Plesase explain.
Re #27: his option years were 2002, 2003, and 2004; he is now out of options.