End of… well, something
DMZ · August 19, 2005 at 10:04 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Scott Spiezio was released after today’s game.
The sheer volume of salary that Bavasi’s been willing to eat is amazing. There are teams out there that refuse to admit mistakes with player contracts, squeezing them forever.
You can go around the diamond with the 2004 infield: Olerud, Boone, Aurilia, Spiezio.
Comments
79 Responses to “End of… well, something”
Dobbs is up because the bench needs a new bat after Spiezio got canned. You all really want them to bring Jose Lopez up for 3 ABs a week?
It’s audition time in Seattle. Almost everything is being done with an eye to 2006. That’s why Wiki and Spiezio are gone. IF Dobss has a future in Seattle its going to be as a pinch hitter for Betancourt, Lopez, and/or Torrealba in matchup situations. Those are three potentially weak right-handed hitteres that are going to need a lefty bat to sub for them late in the game. Dobbs’ AAA stats suggest he could hit well enough to fill that role. He just needs to see more time at it. Its not something he’s going to learn in AAA.
In 20 PH ABs in Seattle early this season, he had a .673 OPS. It’s not great, but its certainly something that he can build on, when you look at the production our other pinch hitters have given us.
If I’m running the ship in Seattle, I’d give Dobbs one AB late in the game every day from here on out. By the end of the year you’ll have a sample size that’ll tell you if Dobbs can pinch hit in the bigs.
I don’t think it does any good to release Spezio and bring up a minor leaguer to sit on the bench. I will miss watching him try to set the record for least hits by a position player in a season.
Spezio will probably sign with San Dieog (with us paying his salary), hit .300 and be declared the come back player of the year.
50. You can’t put Beltre in the same category as Cirillo, Spezio, and Aurillia.
Yeah… I agree. Give Dobbs a chance. If he blows his chance, no biggie. He’ll be tossed off the 40 man roster and someone else will get a shot.
As a 27 year old lefty corner player, it seems that Dobbs is traveling the same path that Ibanez was on in 2000. Ibanez, after being released, did something with his career. Dobbs? We’ll see.
Bill Bavasi, the Salary Gourmet, presents delicious variations on baseball’s finest cuisine.
“I like a good hefty salary for starters–the 3 million per range is a really good place to go, especially if the player has aged at least 30 years. For extra seasoning, I like that intangible called grit–you can find it at any used player market. It really adds to the flavor. Sometimes you can find a real bargain–an Aurilia or Reese for only 1 million, but lots of grit to go with it. Watch out for shoulders, though–they’re tricky and can’t take much heat.
“In the case of a Spiezio, you really are getting a lot to eat for your money–$1 million per hit this year alone. Kind of an all-you can-eat. The problem with that ratio is that if the player isn’t playing much, his salary tends to have less grit, and this can create a major digestion problem. So what I do is cure it a bit over time–turn it into jerky, a little memento of the player’s time here that will last through the following season. I also make sure I have a supply of Tums or Maalox on hand, especially when it is a player I signed.
“As for grilled salary, you can do a nice little flip number that gives you charcoal burns on both sides. I really admire the trade of Jeff Cirillo for Wiki Gonzalez, for example. Now that was a savory dish. Not only did we have the aftertaste of Cirillo’s $4 million to remember him by, but we had 2 million per year on Gonzalez’s contract as a chaser. A real slow burn that won’t be done till the Tacoma season ends this year.
“Eating salary is one of my specialities, though. I had the tasty Jarvis appetizer last year, then had a good taste of Aurilia and Olerud, and that was just a warmup for my main course this year: slow-fired Boone. The key is to be patient and wait until the player has virtually no value. That’s when the feast begins. I tell you, the taste of $4 million is something that lingers. I’m still munching on that one–got some cold cuts in the freezer, in fact.
“Hey, eating salary is part of the job, and my team lets me supersize it. You could call it gluttony if you want–I just call it the American way. Why eat less when you can eat more? I have a sneaking feeling, though, that it isn’t really good for my health, or my job security. Bon appetit!”
I don’t think you can get an accurate picture of Dobbs by his pinch hitting record this year. It is hard to hit well when you only get one at bat every two or three days. He was hitting over 300 in Tacoma, so he could be a decent 280 hitter here, something that would put him in the upper ranks of Mariner hitters. The thing is, where would he play? Beltre’s defense makes up for his disappointing batting average this year (although he has been good since June). Dobbs isn’t as good as Bloomquist in being a utility player. So he seems conigned to pinch hitting. Which is pretty much a waste of his talent. Better to spend the rostor spot on Lopez to play second and return Willie to giving various regulars a rest like MacLemore did in 2001.
Or use the roster spot to bring Harris back up.
I really have nothing against any of our young players. Dobbs, Thornton, Morse, Betancourt, Sherril… let ’em play! Some of them aren’t very young, like Thornton and Dobbs, but they’re really getting their first shot this year. It seems to me that what you really want to do is determine if any of them are replacement level talent, or better, and release the rest.
I had some strong emotions for Boone when I started posting here earlier this summer, and I was rather put off by all the negativity toward him. But reading the comments helped me. I think older vet’s should only be given so much rope. After that, release or trade them. Given the hand that he partially dealt himself, I think Bavasi is doing fine playing it out.
55. LOL
woo hoo !!! the transformation to being the “seattle rainiers” is almost complete !!! when is the FO going to DFA Bavasi ?? please please please please oh god, please !!
Bringing up Dobbs is a pointless, stupid endeavor given the current state of our roster. If we didn’t have Dave Hansen, who fits the exact role that Dobbs is best suited for (other than hot dog vendor that is), then maybe I could see it. As it is, for us to be playing WB everyday (batting second!) and not have Lopez with the big club is, in my opinion, unwise at best.
55. The Salary Gourmet post was hilarious. Maybe he’ll try some $3 million Shiggy for dessert in a short while.
Its good to see spiezio gone. Its pass time. Lets see who can play for the future.
“Bringing up Dobbs is a pointless, stupid endeavor given the current state of our roster.”
Not sure I agree. The only reason to bring up Lopez is to put him at 2b every day. There are things that argue for him to stay at Tacoma for an extended period and not get jerked up and down. If that’s the case, then there’s a case for Dobbs coming up, since he’s not going to get that many ABs anyway.
I wouldn’t worry too much Dobbs coming up because he’s gonna be on the bench, and remember, some of the best pinch hitters can only hit .200 anyway. And Dobbs hit .176 when he was up here. So I wouldn’t worry about it too much. He’ll get his at-bats at the end of the year, and possibly, he’ll have just the same role next year as he did this year.
The real question the Mariners need to worry about in their everyday lineup is can Mike Morse play left field? Because if he can’t, there’s really nowhere else he can play and we’d have to go out and get a LF in Free Agency. And the Mariners are already gonna be spending enough money on probably 3 pitchers in Free Agency to try and repair the staff.
Unless of course, you want to see the Jamal Strong era out in left.
Au revoir Sandfrog
Your time here was not well spent
And your tattoo blows
“…and remember, some of the best pinch hitters can only hit .200 anyway. And Dobbs hit .176 when he was up here. So I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
I don’t even know where to start with this.
Say Morse = Ibanez as a hitter. One in left & one at DH. One of them should go because 2 Ibanezes isn’t enough to adequately fill those 2 power spots, particularly given the current makeup of the Mariners. As it stands (weighted for position) the Mariners have less than normal power for left, right, center, short, second, and catcher. If Morse is DHing, then also less than normal for DH. That’s 7 positions, based on this year’s numbers.
We need some above average thumpers somewhere in there & left & DH are generally the easiest places to find them. I would suggest, however, that the Mariners might want to rethink their policy of bestowing 50,000 at bats on fungible baseball players before giving up on them–the point is to cycle players through until you find somebody who can hit, not to waste extra at bats on players who used to be able to hit (Aurelia), who could possibly hit (Olivo), or who you really really want to hit (Dobbs).
RE:#66
Nice Haiku Dave!
Not quite batgirl level, but very nice.
Response to #67:
OK, if you think I’m such an idiot, here’s why SOME of the best pinch hitters hit AROUND .200.
It’s quite simple, they just don’t get to play that much. And even when they get into the game and hit, their sitting on the bench for 2 hours. Now obviously, Dobbs is not the best pinch hitter like a Doug Strange, Lenny Harris, or Dave Hansen. But certainly he’s OK enough that he could be on the roster. And I bet you anything, the best pinch hitters only had a .200-.230 average when they came up and pinch hit. OK, maybe I didn’t make it clear enough, but that’s what I meant.
Sorry if it wasn’t clear, but now it should be. All I can tell ya is that it was first explained to me by my dad and I’ve tried to make sense of that theory ever since.
RE 70
Its all due to sample size, they could hit .100 they could hit .200 they could hit .800 thats not the point. The point is their minor league stats do tell us something, and Dobbs’ minor league numbers tell us he isn’t that good.
Also, Lenny Harris first year in the bigs, hit .372 in 43 at bats, so even choosing one of the three people you mentioned blows the “200-230 range when first up theory” away.
Ya but that’s 43 AB’s, I don’t know how many of those were pinch hits. Yes, obviously Dobbs isn’t that special, but that doesn’t mean he could become a good pinch hitter someday.
Try to see if you can look up a stat that has career PINCH-HITTING averages.
And then see what happens. Because the reason why Harris’ numbers were a little better could’ve been that he got to be a regular player at one point in his career and that he was a decent hitter.
Um, Tom…..what makes you think that pinch-hitting is inherently different from hitting?
If the best pinch hitters hit only 200-230, why would they get any at bats? Most regulars are able to hit better than 200-230 even on splits.
Dobbs as PH: .250/.273/.400
Dobbs starting: .071/.071/.071
Whoops. It’s small sample size theater, but boy, it sure doesn’t look like the reason for Dobbs’ offensive problems is that he’s pinch-hitting instead of starting.
Predicted response to this new information: “This doesn’t count because moving back and forth between the roles is hard and affects his ability to hit when he’s in the lineup.”
73 – what criteria do you use when you call someone a “good” pinch hitter? In your previous posts, you reason that “some” low-.200 pinch hitters are actually among the best, whereas others are not. I’d like to know what *objective* criteria you use to determine what a “good” pinch hitter is. And please explain the rationale that leads you to believe Dobbs can meet your criteria (just being a .176 hitter seems a pretty low bar).
Goodbye Speez – We hardly knew you.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/Panev/Sandfrog2.jpg
OK, a good pinch hitter OBJECTIVELY, is anyone that can hit .200-.300 in those situations after sitting on the best whether it be for 2 hours or 2 weeks. Like a Dave Hansen or Lenny Harris. OK, that’s what I mean. And NORMALLY, the very best will most of the time hit somewhere between .250 and .275. Yes, I flip-flopped like John Kerry, but this is my final statement.
Whereas SUBJECTIVELY, the best pinch hitters are like any other hitters, have good swings. And their able to come through at the most important times of the game and the season. Like a Doug Strange.
OK, that’s what I mean! No more flip-flopping for me, I know what I said earlier. I admit I probably wasn’t making sense at the time. But there you go now.
And what I’m trying to say is, if Dobbs can hit .250 as a pinch hitter and has a good swing. Then I don’t see how he couldn’t be a good, solid, pinch hitter one of these days.
An idea though since we seem to be caught up in this subject, there should be a post next few days and we could have a discussion about:
“The Art of Pinch Hitting”
I think that would be good so we could talk about it more.