The Other Move
Last night’s moves left the Mariners 40 man roster at 41, so they had to make another move today to get back down to the limit. They have now made that move, putting minor league reliever Ricky Orta on unconditional release waivers.
If you’re wondering why they did this, Orta had Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago, and is out for 2010. He’s a pretty good bet to clear waivers, and after the M’s release him, they can re-sign him to a minor league contract and let him rehab while not on the 40 man roster. If they would have placed him on the 60 day DL, he would have accrued almost an entire year’s worth of service time, so the release/re-sign tactic gets them the same end result without forcing them to surrender a year of team control, in case he ever does make it back from the surgery.
so far so good, but I’m still waiting for the “OTHER” move…
That was anticlimactic.
I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.
Awesome. We didn’t lose any hugs.
Unless Sweeney is gone, these moves are blah!
Yep, the other other move will be interesting. Who do they drop from the 25 man to make room for a backup outfielder, and who is that backup OF.
Or, is Griffey still in the lineup every day?
Anywho, good luck to Ricky Orta on his rehab. Must be pretty frustrating to make it that far and then go under the knife, but the good news seems to be that TJ surgery has a pretty good success rate.
We called it.
It’s not unusual for stuff like this to happen. Stephen Kahn was removed from the 40-man last year after undergoing some repairs on his shoulder and ended up resigning with the organization.
I would’ve preferred the trade possibilities that were alluded to, but I like this move if we’re staying in house. I was excited about both Byrnes and Tui at the beginning of the year, but they became dead weight on a bench that has no more room for error. Right now this looks like an improvement on both sides of the ball. Slight improvement, sure, but we all know what one run over the course of 11-12 innings could have done for us this weekend.
Per JMHawkins…I guess this means Langerhans is the backup OF. Bradley plays LF every day and the oldies remain the DH platoon. We’re still better than we were on Sunday…but I don’t like running Bradley out there every day as he’s simply bound to get hurt. That’s his history. He should DH nearly every day.
What’s funny is Griffey’s and Langerhans’ projections are nearly the same this year. Only Langerhans plays better defense than Bradley. Islets should be in LF every day, dammit.
After this shuffling, the problem of having a 4 man bench and 7 man bullpen still remain… I’m also sort of annoyed that Hannahan is still stuck in AAA.
Can we get rid of Colome or Texeira to call Hannahan up (to pinch hit for J. Wilsons, catchers, and hugging/tickling DHs)?
All moves right now will not solve the two big problems that we have until they get removed. I would rather see Tui swing and miss in the big leagues than see Griffey or Sweeney get another at bat. Again, 11-14 in this division means we are still in the middle of it. We are 25 games into the season, and we have the same record as the Boston Red Sox. And we have the best 1-2 punch of the 4 teams. I am really not that worried….yet.
With a RHP on the mound, it makes the most sense to have Langerhans in LF and Bradley at DH. What is the ideal line-up when facing a LHP (assuming the roster remains as is)? Bradley in LF and Sweeney at DH?
Bradley at LF and Sweeney watching at home.
Considering Hannahan is a career .224 hitter with no significant righty/lefty split, I’m not sure why you want him on the MLB roster as a pinch hitter.
I wouldn’t be getting your hopes up about any other major moves for the time being; There are no internal options ready to take Griffey or Sweeney’s roster spot, and other teams are NOT going to deal major-league talent at this point of the season.
The most we can hope for until June is reduced roles for the huggers, with Langerhans in Left and Bradley at DH.
as well as last weekend. IIRC we lost 3 games in Chicago, each by 1 run.
The problem with this is it leaves no 4th OF on the days that Milton DHs. If Guti slams into another wall, or one of them pulls up lame for some reason, we’d be up a creek without much of a paddle.
I’ve been a Sweeney fan all along but there comes a point when you need to cut him. I think brininging Everidge up,a guy with some pop, which we are lacking, could help. a RH PH off the bench and someone who can give Kotchman an occasional break.
I would then promote Peguero to AAA to see what he has.
Then come June or July if Griffey is still not hitting I would make a trade for some big bat and then retire Griffey.
Not recommended.
the other move…
not likely to happen anytime soon, but unfortunately, I would not be surprised to see Cliff Lee used as our best asset to obtain a bat…
perhaps something along the lines as was rumored last summer with the M’s, the Red Sox, and the Padres… sending Cliff Lee (in place of Felix) to the Red Sox, prospects from Red Sox to the Padres, and Gonzales to the M’s…
However, What we really need is a good LF, and there really are not many options for what should be an easy position to fill. Saunders is not ready, and I think we all thought he would be, and there is no one else in the minors who is ready, and the trade market is bleak.
Here is an interesting question for Dave or Jay: Which OF in our minor league system would get the call up if we HAD to bring someone up (i.e. injury)? E Carerra? Mike Wilson? Saunders?
Wilson would require that he be added to 40-man and neither Carrera nor Saunders is really hitting at the moment. I’d go with Carrera because he can at least get on base a bit, but that’s assuming you don’t want to mess with the 40-man. Dropping Orta works because you can, likely without consequences.
I have to figure that on a certain basic level, this is wrong. Griffey and Sweeney don’t actually have any role to speak of on the roster, so, really, any warm body could replace them. It wouldn’t take very much talent at all to represent a significant improvement over either.
I would not be surprised to see Cliff Lee used as our best asset to obtain a bat…
I’d be must less surprised to see a “sell high” move on Vargas or Fister. If we’re going to make a move to win this year, shedding Lee is not the direction I think we’ll be going.
Now if we’re throwing in the towel…a deal for Lee makes a lot of sense.