Random Things
Woo Felix Woo! I love Felix Day. I wish it could happen every day.
I stuck up a post on Fangraphs this morning in which I compared Jeff Keppinger to Tony Gwynn. I expect someone to read it and think I have lost my mind, but Jeff Keppinger is a good player, and if it takes a bit of hyperbole in a comparative graph to make that point, so be it.
Reports are circling that the A’s are considering signing Frank Thomas to replace Mike Sweeney. While I’m still on the fence about whether to sign Thomas or not, this pushes the needle a little bit further towards the affirmative. We’ve been telling people all spring long that the A’s are better than everyone thinks, and adding Thomas to their line-up is probably a one win upgrade – that win might come at our expense, and I’m not sure the M’s should be sitting around watching their divisional competitors improve.
Speaking of divisional competitors, Jered Weaver got bombed for the Angels last night. I’ve taken some shots from some people over my stance on Weaver being a middle of the rotation guy and not anything close to a frontline pitcher, but I’m guessing they won’t be posting their Jered Weaver Update now that his ERA is up to 4.50, his strikeout rate continues to fall, and there are no results to build their results based analysis on. Pity.
Jason Churchill’s farm report this morning suggested that Clement is much improved behind the plate this year. I would like to see the M’s go back to the five man bench when Bedard comes back, bring up Clement, and let him catch at least twice a week. On his off days he could DH a couple or three times a week. That would get his bat in the lineup and stop Vidro’s option from vesting.
OK this seems like the place to ask this:
Read the PI’s Clement piece, and it got me thinking about our catchers systems wide.
Is this assessment accurate?
1)Johjima- last year here, does he have any trade deadline value?
2)Burke- Probably will stay to help the rook figures things out.
3) Clement- The future, hits for power, swing situated for Safeco, according to the P.I. is progressing as a catcher.
4) Rob Johnson AAAA ball player, is losing playing time behind the plate to Clement, now playing OF and 1b too- future back up?
5) Moore- Trade bait or will move if he starts to hit more.
How does the depth here compare?
Agreed. However, there isn’t a single shred of evidence that the Mariners are willing to consider this option. Acquiring Thomas might be a way to make the team better and at the same time get us out of Vidro’s awful 2009 contract.
#52-
The assessment is spot on. What do you think about the Mariners bringing up Clement and making him Washburn’s personal catcher to start with ala Maddux and his personal catchers during his days with the Braves.
Clement either needs to be starting in Seattle or in Tacoma…he’s not going to get better on the bench or as Washburn’s boy…if he’s going to be a regular back there for years, he still needs to improve…
Kenji will turn it on soon…the team has bigger issues than the Catcher position right now…leave Clement alone in Tacoma…
Then Clement could start for Wash and Bedard. And if you’ve kept up with Clement’s progress on the web and in the papers it’s been said by Mariner officials that he has learned more about catching between games he actually catches. The only thing left is to put everything he’s learned into use in games. Plus, he can probably learn a lot more at this stage from Joh and Burke by watching them rather than playing everyday in AAA. If the primary worry is how he calls a game the pitches could be called from the dugout, as they were at the start of the Dan Wilson era.
I’m not sure how you got here, but no. Ibanez’s +0.75 WAR value as an LF includes a -1.5 win penalty for his defense in LF. If you move him to DH, that penalty goes away, and then you just combine his offensive value and the positional adjustment for DH. I don’t have the spreadsheet in front of me, but if I remember correctly, Ibanez would be something like a +1.25 WAR DH.
Yep, I completely forgot to remove Raul’s terrible defense. I realized that as soon as I posted. I’ll blame it on lack of coffee and take a mulligan. So Raul’s a better DH than Vidro. I’m actualy glad I screwed up because that makes a lot more sense. Well, probably a moot point anyway, as the M’s don’t seem to consider Raul as a serious DH candiddate, at least not for another few years. But how much of that is because they have Vidro and how much of that is because they think Raul’s defense is okay? Last year, with Vidro’s shinny AVG and him being their only “two-hole” hitter, I think the M’s viewed Vidro as an essential part of their offense, so they couldn’t move Raul to DH. But this year, Lopez is their two-hole hitter and Vidro’s AVG stinks, so is a different story from the M’s perspective?
If they gave up on Vidro, would they think they need another DH (e.g. Thomas), or would they seriously consider installing Raul there and finding another corner outfielder? I suppose Wilkerson’s struggles probably make the ladder less likely, since the M’s could be worried that tney might already need another corner OF (and with Wlad injured…).
I agree with the idea that Clement needs to be playing 5 games a week. What I’m not sure of is in the Kenji vs. Clement debate how much weight to put into Clement’s left handed bat at Safeco. Kenji seems to be more more of a gap hitting line drive hitter.
From watching Clement last September I would say he has the sweetest looking swing in the organization. As far as the left handed Safeco benefit, look at how much it has helped Ibanez.
1)Johjima- last year here, does he have any trade deadline value?
Sure, but if the M’s are trading him at the deadline, it means we’re toast in the AL West. They haven’t replaced Bill Bavasi with Paul DePodesta, last I checked, which is basically the only way I see a contending M’s team trading a productive veteran in order to play a rookie. Even if Johjima got injured and was “Wally Pipp”‘ed by Clement just killing the ball after a callup, I think they’d STILL try and figure out a way to keep both of them around.
Since this is a random things thread let me go real random on everyone and give this link to a story about Wade Boggs. If you haven’t read this before, its one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Messed up the link – here it is
http://tastybooze.com/2007/04/the-origin-of-boggs/
FYI, Safeco is saying the stadium will remain named “Safeco Field”.
Baker is reporting that Mike Morse is likely done for the season. That dive he took on the 13th ended up tearing the labrum in his left shoulder.
The f***** sucks for him. Finally gets a real shot at staying up an extended time and pop.
I caught some flack for this over at ESPN boards… but I think that the M’s should put Ibanez to DH, slide Vidro to the bench and negate any chance of his option kicking in. Bring up Reed and stick him in LF for the better defense option… plus I doubt he would do worse than Vidro at the plate.
Also, how well does AAA stats compare to MLB stats. I mean, if he’s batting .300 down in Tacoma, how well would that project to Seattle?
So, basically two scenarios, one being more likely than the other, both would improve the team, but neither will likely happen.
Scenario #1: Sign Frank “Big Hurt” Thomas as a DH, and bench Vidro.
Scenario #2: Drop Cairo, bring in [insert young LF’s name here] to play LF, move RAUUUUUL! to DH and Vidro to bench.
I wonder if anyone has Bavasi’s address. I want to write him a letter.
Maybe you can send an e-mail to the M’s. I think it’s e-mail address is on the website. Hey, it’s better than nothing.
I say everyone on this site who believes in benching Vidro, moving Raul, and bringing up Reed flood their e-mail address with pleas to do so. Maybe it will happen if we all rise up.
For anyone that feels like writing them an email, here is the page:
Make your voice heard!
I just sent mine. Join with me, and let us make our voices heard!