Jones won’t be harmed by staying in Tacoma, no, but the Mariners playoff chances will be by not having him on the team.

Making a move just to make a move, bring a guy up just to bring him up, is generally a rash line of reasoning. The guy in question would have to be a truly special talent to warrant it, and you’ve already mentioned in an earlier thread that while Jones is good, he’s not necessarily special.

Is there some sort of study of recent guys whose performance in AAA clearly indicated they were ‘ready’, but were left behind for the season due to a lack of openings with the big club?

If the M’s continue to lose ground in the AL West, then the issue becomes easier. Guillen is a very marketable commodity and trading him would allow Ichiro to shift back to RF. If Vidro carries his .300 avg. into July, he’ll also have some value to other teams that can’t get past that stat – especially if the team can demonstrate he can play 2B again. Then of course there’s trading Ichiro.

Unless someone gets hurt, we won’t see Jones until July at the earliest I’m guessing.

Of course if I was running the team there’s no question that Vidro goes to the bench, Raul goes to DH, Jones goes to CF, Ichiro goes to RF, and Guillen goes to LF. Tomorrow. That move would also free up the team to trade Broussard to someone like the Twins.

Okay, so I’ve attended all but two of the Rainiers home games thus far this year, but I am most definitely no Dave.

Jones is ready for the big leagues. He’s ready to be an everyday player there. That won’t happen given the Ms present state of affairs due to personnel logjam and foolish on-field roster management. So you leave him in Tacoma for now. I do not want to see this organization trading away a future talent of Jones’ caliber.

If you’re gonna handpick amongst Tacoma’s infielders who could replace Willie, you’re looking at Mike Morse and there are no other options for you. Navarro and Dawkins are hitting either side of (or maybe spot on) .200 against AAA pitching and both have had their fair share of completely boneheaded defensive plays this year. That said, Morse has had a few boneheaded plays himself (one tonight) but he’s been far more consistent all around and can also spend time in the OF as could Willie.

Wlad is great but he’s not ready. I love the guy, but I’m not convinced he’ll BE ready by the time his option year is up. His average has been dropping and he’s been showing some particularly pointless swings of late as well as defensive lapses. He’s not anywhere near as consistent as Jones has become, and that’s the key we’re really talking about that should take you up and let you stay there. Jones has it, and given playing time can keep it and even improve. Morse has it though it’s at an admittedly far lesser (utility player) level. Wlad doesn’t have it yet. Certainly Clement doesn’t (not even hitting .200 I think right now, looked clueless again tonight at the plate).

You have a conundrum, but it’s based on a truly bizarre assumption at its’ root. That assumption being, we’re contending this year. Om, sure.