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.
Minor League Wrap (4/26-5/2/10)
If nothing else, this will help you figure out how the two recent call-ups have fared in the past week. I was going to mention them either way, but the timing makes it all the more significant. If you’re additionally looking for an opinion on Peguero, or some insight into how the prospect-laden West Tenn rotation is faring, you can click on in now. Don’t be a stranger.
To the jump!
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M’s Respond
That didn’t take long.
According to Ryan Divish and Larry Stone (both via twitter), Eric Byrnes has been DFA’d, and he will be replaced on the roster by Ryan Langerhans. Matt Tuiasosopo has been optioned to Tacoma, and he’ll be replaced by Josh Wilson.
It’s a start. This gives the Mariners a left-handed LF so that they have a real option to play the field and move Bradley to DH most days, allowing Junior to serve as late game pinch hitter (assuming Wak is willing to do this). And now that they have a real backup shortstop, they can actually pinch hit for Jack Wilson without too much fear, so those two moves work nicely together. Langerhans isn’t going to fix the offense by himself, but he’s a better hitter than Griffey right now, and having him in left instead of Bradley upgrades the defense as well. It’s a small improvement, but it’s improvement.
There’s more work to be done, but congratulations to the M’s front office for making some of the right moves. There’s still the issue of Sweeney’s spot on this roster, but I’ll give them until Tuesday to sort that out. They have roughly over 40 hours before the next game at Safeco. They don’t have to make that move right now.
A quick update via Shannon Drayer’s twitter: The “next move will not be a 60 day DL move.” This is noteworthy because the M’s have to clear a spot on the 40 man roster for both Langerhans and Josh Wilson, and they only opened one by releasing Byrnes. So, someone else is going away before Tuesday. However, before we all get our hopes up that the guy going away might be a right-handed hugging machine, Drayer also notes that the guy is “most likely not on the 25 man roster.”
With That Said
(The thread for venting is down one.)
Yes, the Mariners got swept at home by Texas in about the most frustrating way possible. However, two of the games were obviously easily winnable, and the only game that wasn’t featured a not-healthy-and-struggling Felix. The Rangers didn’t destroy the Mariners, even though they’re probably the best team in the division. This wasn’t a whooping that proves the team can’t contend. If anything, it should prove that this team can contend – they just need to make some improvements.
The Mariners have been outscored by four runs in 25 games. Yes, the offense has been terrible, but despite that, they’ve still been in almost every single ballgame.
Don’t panic. This team can win the division. They can’t do it with this roster, but the changes are pretty easy to make, and the front office should have the courage to make those moves.
Game Twenty-Five Recap
Boo, 11-14.
Dear Jack,
Your move.
Sincerely,
The Fans.
(Seriously, if this roster hasn’t seen significant changes by Tuesday, the gloves come off. It took you three days to abandon the six man bullpen – you’ve had long enough to abandon this roster. It doesn’t work. Fix it.)
Game 25, Rangers at Mariners
Wilson vs Fister, 1:10 pm.
A bit of a curious decision to throw Fister today, which will result in Vargas, Rowland-Smith, and Lee pitching consecutively in the Tampa Bay series. Guess the M’s don’t really care about forcing lefties to throw back to back after all, which is actually kind of refreshing, since that theory isn’t based on any kind of evidence.
6-4-3 was scratched from the original line-up due to a sore back. We can only hope that said sore back lands him on the disabled list for about five months.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 2B
Bradley, DH
Kotchman, 1B
Byrnes, LF
Johnson, C
Wilson, SS
Game 24, Rangers at Mariners
Harrison vs Hernandez, 12:10 pm
Happy Felix Day.
It seems like Felix is constantly taking the hill trying to rescue the team from a bad situation. He’s doing it again, as I’d imagine most of us still have a pretty bitter taste in our mouths after last night’s game. The pitching match-up obviously favors the M’s, but whether the offense can do anything against a lefty remains to be seen. Brandon League obviously won’t be available today, either, so it’d be in the M’s best interests to not have to use their middle relief today.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 2B (yes, still)
Bradley, LF
6-4-3, DH
Kotchman, 1B
Johnson, C
Wilson, SS