Wlad DFAed, Saunders to MLB
Per Baker and others.
Dave adds: Interesting timing. Saunders has been on fire down in Tacoma of late, but shouldn’t be expected to be such a huge improvement over Langerhans for the rest of this year to make a dramatic difference on the field. This, to me, looks like a move for 2010 – Saunders gets an extended audition so they can get a better idea of what they have in left field going forward. I’d say this is the first sign that the team is shifting its focus away from this season.
As for Wlad, don’t worry about losing him for nothing. He was getting traded this week regardless – this just gets him off the roster sooner. The M’s now have 10 days to trade him or pass him through waivers. There will be enough interest in a young/cheap outfielder with power that they’ll be able to deal him for something. Like, say, Ian Snell?
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Why Saunders? This pisses me off.
Relax yourself by looking in the mirror and saying “self, you don’t know what you’re talking about. The people who run the team I’m rooting for? They do. This is good.”
[deleted, use better analogies]
I’m talking about Mike Wilson
We know we know already! He’s 26 years old and has spent all or parts of 4 years in AA. Abraham Nunez once led the NL in spring-training homers:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nunezab02.shtml
26 and striking out 35% of the time in AA? Sometimes organizational soldiers get lucky in spring training. Smart organizations don’t get over-excited by it.
Btw, mlbtraderumors now reports that Brignac was pulled 3:11pm: because “his right leg was bothering him this afternoon.” And because he didn’t hustle. And, you know, his glove felt too tight on his hand.
I think Madden just enjoys seeing how ridiculous something can be before mlbtraderumors won’t report it. You should check his twitter feed to see if he’s making fun of them.
If Saunders is the real deal, as some of us believe, the M’s will have an interesting problem on their hands. What to do with Ackley, Triunfel, Tui, Halman, Mike Wilson, and Carrera?
We might see Ackley moved to 2B after all, making Lopez expendable for a trade. Triunfel would be moved to 3B, eventually making Tui expendable for a trade.
Carrera could become a superb fourth outfielder, ala, Chavez. Halman might be trade bait (allegedly loved by the Pirates), but he also might be a DH for the Mariners. Ditto for Wilson.
Ackley isn’t getting moved back to the infield, and I’m not sure why people are so hung up on that idea.
But yes, right now, the Mariners have too many outfielders in the system, so you’ll see some of those players moved to shore up other weak points.
It isn’t a matter of being hung up on the idea of Ackley at 2B. It is a matter of: where else to put Ackley? The Mariners have repeatedly stated that they expect Ackley to be in the majors sooner, rather than later. Does that mean 2010? That is a reasonable possibility. That creates an immediate problem (albeit a nice one to have).
It is doubtful the M’s are going to trade Ichiro or Guiterrez. If Saunders becomes a fixture in LF, that leaves Ackley without a position. What other solution is there? Trading Saunders? That doesn’t make sense if Saunders successfully makes the leap to MLB, because he is a gifted defender whose skill set suits Safeco Field…and he hits left with some power.