Is Portland a Good Baseball Town?
The summer of 2010 marks the departure of two things from Portland, Oregon. Well, actually, the first isn’t really a thing — in fact, it’s me, Carson Cistulli. This Monday, the wife and I leave Portland in a Penske-brand truck bound for Madison, Wisconsin of America’s Middle West, where we plan to gorge ourselves on a variety of cheese-filled and -covered foodstuffs.
The other departure will be that of the Triple-A Portland Beavers — and of affiliated baseball, in general. Sadly, the Beavers leave Portland with only slightly more fanfare than yours truly. That’s damning with the very faintest of praise, I assure you.
On the eve of these twin flights, I thought I might attempt to answer a question upon which I’ve meditated idly in my three or so years here in the Rose City — a question that might also be of some interest to USS Mariner readers.
The question is this: Is Portland a good baseball town?
The answer, predictably, is “I don’t know.” But there are at least some considerations to, uh, consider. Here they are:
Portland doesn’t feel like a baseball town.
Here are some places I’ve either lived and/or spent significant time, in chronological-ish order: New England (assorted towns); New York City; Seattle, Washington; Missoula, Montana; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon. With the exception of Missoula, which is a town populated entirely by eco-jocks and, you know, Montanans, Portland is the least baseball-y feeling of the bunch.
I recognize that the “feel” of a town is a rather nebulous thing; still, there’s no reason not to consider one’s intuition. Plus, there are other signs of a lack of baseball support. For example, baseball caps: anecdotally, I see very few of them around. (And, certainly, there are more tattoos than Mariners caps.)
And when I do see caps, they are frequently not of the Mariner variety — i.e. the team located only three hours away and accessible via most cable subscriptions. Like, I have a friend from Portland who’s a Mets fan. I asked him, “Why are you a Mets fan?” “Because of Dwight Gooden,” he tells me. Another gentleman — a bartender at Claudia’s Sports Pub — is from Portland and, in 60 or so years, has never been east of Pendleton, Oregon. His team? The Yankees. “They used to be on CBS every Saturday and Sunday when I was a kid,” he tells me.
The Portland Beavers are a mess.
So far, in 2010, the Portland Beavers are last in the Pacific Coast League in attendance, averaging a reported 3,380 fans per game. The low attendance is very likely due to the fact that the Beavers are on their way out of town. After having jumped at the opportunity to acquire a Major League Soccer franchise — and adopting, with it, MLS’s requirement that teams play in soccer-specific stadia — owner Merritt Paulson was unable to find a place for the Beavers*. So far as this author knows, they are an orphaned team after the 2010 PCL season ends.
*Needless to say, there’s a lot more to it than this.
Attendance has not always been this poor. In 2009, the team averaged 5,133 per home contest — placing them 12th out of 16 teams. Not great, but not last. In 2008, the Beavers averaged 5,451 per game; that placed them 9th out of 16. Years before that appear to have the team right about in the middle of the pack.
One problem, however — even when attendance has been closer to five thousand — is how it looks in the Beavers’ home park.
The Sacramento River Cats and Round Rock Express — the teams that’ve finished No.s 1 and 2 in PCL attendance the last couple seasons — each currently draw about 9,000 per game. The clubs have stadia that contain about 11,000 and 9,000 fixed seats, respectively, with room for about another 3,000 more fans on grassy knoll-type situations.
Portland’s PGE Park, on the other hand, has something close to 20,000 fixed seats. Yes, a great number of these are roped off for Beaver games, but that doesn’t change the fact that the seats are still there and visible. Put 5,000 people in Sacramento’s Raley Field, and the place looks half full; put the same number at PGE, and it looks three-quarters empty. In any case, it makes the games less exciting.
Portland hasn’t always drawn poorly.
Rob Neyer — who lives in Portland and very patiently listened to me stumble my way through some ideas for the present article — suggests that Portland might not be well-suited to Triple-A ball. According to Neyer, when the short-season Portland Rockies of the Northwest League replaced an earlier incarnation of the Portland Beavers in 1995, the Rockies actually drew more fans than their Triple-A brethren in approximately half as many games. Also according to Neyer, the short-season Portland Mavericks (1973-1977) also drew well.
Essentally, this is Portland baseball over the last 40 or so years: 1. Class A team draws well. 2. Triple-A team displaces Class A team. 3. Triple-A team suffers. 4. Triple-A team leaves. 5. Class A team replaces it. 6. Class A team draws well. 7. Repeat.
Apparently, the ratings for baseball are good in Portland.
According to the Bring MLB to Portland Facebook page — which is obviously biased in no way:
In 2001, the Portland TV market generated a stunning 4.3 cable TV rating for Seattle Mariners’ games, a better mark than 19 MLB cities recorded for their own teams – including the Yankees, Cubs and Giants. Most impressively, the Portland region then produced a 4.5 rating during the 2002 season, when the Mariners failed to make the playoffs.
Those numbers appear to have dropped in the interim, although not to terrible levels. According to an FSN Northwest press release from November of 2007, the Mariners received a 2.3 rating (which I’m led to believe is good) in Portland from 2005 through 2007.
There are good baseball players from Portland and environs.
Massachusetts has a population of approximately 6.5 million; Oregon, about 4.0 million. This year, however, only four players born in Massachusetts have made any sort of major league appearance: Chris Capuano, Manny Delcarmen, Sean Gallagher, and Lance Zawadzki. On the other hand, 13 Oregon natives have made appearances in the majors this season — five of them from Portland alone.
Moreover, the Oregon State Beavers made the College World Series 2005-07, winning the entire tournament the last two of the those years. Certainly, no New England state can boast of such an accomplishment.
What’s the significance of this? Well, it might only mean that Oregon’s winters are more temperate than New England’s, thus allowing young athletes to play year-round. It almost definitely suggests, though, that when those young athletes play, a good number of them are choosing baseball as one of their sports of choice.
DFA Jose Lopez
No, I’m not kidding.
There are nine days remaining until the trade deadline. By rule, when you designate a player for assignment, you have 10 days in which to trade him or waive him, so they could keep him right up until July 31st and give him to whatever team decides they want an infielder for the stretch run.
But after tonight’s performance, Jose Lopez should never put on a Mariner uniform again. This was his evening:
1st inning – flyout to LF (where else?)
4th inning – single to LF
7th inning – Grounded into a 5-4-3 double play
9th inning – intentionally walked, doubled off of first base
Lopez put the ball in play three times and made three outs, then managed to make an out even after an IBB. Yes, he got a hit on a weak single that rolled through the hole, but it wasn’t the kind of hit anyone should be proud of. On the seventh inning double play, Lopez was still 40 feet from first base when Konerko caught the ball. He could barely run halfway down the baseline in the time it took the White Sox to throw the ball around the horn.
Nothing can top the ninth inning, though. After he was inexplicably walked to set up a force play, he stood at first base as the trail runner in a tie game. His run meant literally nothing. His entire job was to avoid doing something crazy that would stop Figgins from being able to score. What happened? Bradley hit a weak fly ball down the right field line that Andruw Jones made a sprawling catch on. He then rolled over and threw to first base from his back, beating Lopez back to the base and ending the inning.
Jose Lopez was doubled off of first base in the ninth inning of a tie game when he was the trailing runner.
I don’t know if he’s the stupidest player in baseball, but he’s in the running, and plays like that make you wonder if he has the mental capacity to beat a six year old at checkers. But, you know, there are some pretty dumb athletes who have done pretty well in their respective sports. You don’t have to be a genius to be a good baseball player.
You do, however, have to care. And there’s no evidence that Jose Lopez cares.
At 17 years of age, he was voted the best defensive shortstop in the Northwest League. Two years later, he was being mentioned as a defensive liability and a guy with limited range because he had put on so much weight. At 19, Lopez was already showing that he cared more about Doritos than about his career. The organization tried to get him to work on his conditioning, and he lost enough weight to not be an embarrassment as a second baseman (though shortstop was permanently out the window), and eventually made his way to the big leagues thanks to his offensive abilities.
He came up as a 20-year-old who swung at everything, but had some decent pull power. Seven years later, he is exactly the same hitter he was when he got the majors. He hasn’t improved at all. Not one bit, from 20 to 26. He’s the same easy out he’s always been, and he relies on getting a fastball up and in that he can turn on. Any other pitch, he can’t hit. He doesn’t bother to learn why, or to figure out if he can do something to get better. He just tries the same thing over and over again.
Why bother improving? Its not like he has an incentive clause in his deal that gets him more Doritos for every hit, after all. He’s content to waste every ounce of natural ability he has. He could be a good player. He could help a team win. Instead, he helps his calorie count get higher while his career fritters away. He should be headed into the prime of his career, but instead, he’s a couple more years like this away one from being forcibly retired.
He’s out of chances in Seattle, and this game should have been the last straw. He hasn’t earned the right to wear the Mariner uniform anymore. He doesn’t deserve it.
Designate him for assignment and trade him if you can. If not, put him on waivers. If someone takes him, great. Then you can move Figgins back to third and play someone at second who gives a crap. Like his good friend Yuniesky Betancourt a year ago, he’s worn out his welcome here through a sheer quantity of apathy. He’s not worth playing. Just get rid of him.
Game 95, White Sox at Mariners
Hernandez vs Floyd, 7:10 pm.
Happy Felix Day.
Still no Saunders or Branyan in the line-up. Oh, and Bedard is done for the year. When the Mariners call someone day-to-day, there’s a five percent chance he’s actually okay, a 45 percent chance he really needs a DL stint, and a 50 percent chance he passed away.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Kotchman, 1B
Smoak, DH
Langerhans, LF
Bard, C
Jack Wilson, SS
The Case Against Rob Johnson
On Tuesday, Mike Salk came to the defense of Rob Johnson, arguing that he has some value to the team that we don’t see from our perspective. And, while I respect Mike’s opinion, I felt like we should add some facts to the discussion.
The rest of my response to Mike’s post here can be read at his blog.
Minor League Wrap (7/12-18/10)
Pineda started on Sunday, which means that his next turn up in the rotation would be the beginning of the homestand, Friday night at 7 pm. Can you think of anything you’d rather be doing other than watching him and Ackley? I can’t.
To the jump!
Read more
Game 94, White Sox at Mariners
Danks vs Fister, 7:10 pm.
We’ll see if Fister can stop getting hit around so much tonight. Most of the White Sox best hitters are right-handed, so he’s got a shot to get a bunch of groundball outs with his fastball.
As for John Danks, he’s not as good as his ERA would suggest, but he’s a lefty and this is Safeco, so don’t expect the M’s to jump on him. Not that you expect the M’s to jump on anyone.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, DH
Smoak, 1B
Bard, C
Jack Wilson, SS
The Case For Rob Johnson
Mike Salk is the co-host of the Brock and Salk show, which can be heard weekday afternoons on ESPN Radio 710. Starting on August 9th, they will be moving to the morning time slot, and you will be able to hear them from 9 am to 12 pm. You can read also check them out at their blog, where Mike puts his thoughts when he’s not contributing here. You will also find posts from me on their blog each Thursday.
Over the past few months, Mariners fans have disagreed on plenty of topics. But it seems that the one thing they agreed on is that Rob Johnson stinks. According to the calls, emails, texts, posts, and Tweets: he can’t catch, he can’t hit, and he shouldn’t be playing.
And yet he does keep playing.
So let’s assume for a moment that there is a good reason why. I set out to find it.
Before I go any further, I should come clean about the fact that I am a Rob Johnson fan. I think he is heckuva good guy and he has been very helpful to me over the past two years. He has always been willing to come on the show and has answered countless questions for me in the clubhouse about the game of baseball in general and catching in particular. I try not to let that get in the way of my analysis, but I will admit it sometimes gets clouded. That being said, I tried to take my personal feelings out of this and what you will read below is based on what others have told me, rather my own personal opinion. I won’t prove he deserves to play with stats (that’s not my role here), but hopefully the thoughts I’ve compiled will help you look at this in a more nuanced way.
Back to the question: why does Rob Johnson continue to get playing time despite the complaints of some fans?
Don Wakamatsu is the man responsible for awarding that playing time and he uses pretty simple reasoning.
“He fits our priorities, which start with getting the best out of our pitchers. And that starts with our best guys. Felix wants him; so did Cliff Lee. The pitching staff has a belief system in his game calling ability.”
Leaving aside Wak’s incessant use of “belief system,” he hits upon the best case to be made for Johnson: his pitchers consistently request him as a battery-mate. When we first learned about this last year, I was critical of the pitchers, saying that their relationship with him off the field should not factor into the decision. At the time, I thought the pitchers were making decisions because they liked having dinner with him or hanging out with him on the team plane.
I was wrong.
What the pitchers meant was that they liked the way he took time to build a professional relationship with them. He takes time to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. That is important to them.
***
This year, the requests of his pitching staff hit a different level. Both aces wanted to throw to him. Hernandez was understandable – the pair had grown comfortable with each other last season. But Lee was a little more surprising.
“He just has a good knack for the feel of the game,” Lee told me when I asked him why he had chosen Johnson. “ He understands the flow of what’s working and what isn’t. He sees what hitters are doing and it’s easy to get on the same page with him. He prepares well, but it’s more that he can make the adjustments.”
We have all heard that pitchers like to be comfortable with their catchers. And being on the same page seems to be a big part of that. But that doesn’t tell the whole story here. The thing that stands out in Lee’s statement is that Johnson excels in watching hitters and making adjustments to them. In a game of adjustments, that is important.
“It’s huge to watch a hitter,” explained Lee. “You watch their feet in order to tell what they’re looking for, then you adjust accordingly.”
Their feet?
“Yup. As a catcher, you need to call for the opposite of whatever the hitter’s feet tell you they are trying to do. And Rob is great at that.”
According to Johnson, “the feet are the window to the brain.” He believes “the hitters’ feet will tell you what direction they want to go. It’s especially helpful with guys who are cheating to try and cover a part of the plate.”
Former big league catcher (and current Single-A Bakersfield manager) Bill Hasselman agrees.
“It’s important to watch the whole body, but especially the feet and hips,” he told me. “Good hitters will usually have their front foot come down in the same place. But you can tell what they’re trying to do. If the foot is open, the hips are usually open and it means they are out in front and you can get them with something soft and away. If they are stepping across a little, you can try to cross them up with something hard inside. You can feel it in your peripheral vision. Sometimes you can just sense it.”
***
Pitchers prefer Johnson for more than just his ability to adjust in a game. They appreciate the way he calls a game and they like his defense.
As the staff ace, Felix Hernandez can throw to whomever he wants. He chooses Johnson because they are on the same page.
He believes Johnson “calls the right pitch every time. He always calls the pitch that I have in mind. He does it every time.”
OK. So Felix likes throwing to him. But, you might say, what is his frame of reference? He always throws to one guy so maybe they get in sync because they are so used to each other.
If so, consider David Aardsma, who comes into games in the ninth inning and inherits whichever catcher is already behind the plate.
“I love his knowledge of hitters and situations,” says Aardsma, who thinks Johnson does an excellent job. “It takes the pressure off me as a pitcher to know that my catcher knows what he is doing. It allows me to just concentrate on me. It allows me to focus on my delivery and my release point and worry less about pitch selection. But he almost always calls what I was thinking of anyway. And if there is a difference, I always see why he is calling what he is calling.”
Need a specific example?
“Just Sunday, he recognized that Howie Kendrick was looking for a first pitch fastball so we started him off with a slider away. He came out to the mound to talk about that one. Right before that, he got the sense that McAnulty was pressing so we didn’t give him anything to hit, especially with a base open. It worked. In fact, I would say virtually every big hit against me with Rob catching has been because I missed my spot, not because of a bad call. It’s always been a flaw of execution.”
***
If you are noticing a common thread in all of these quotes, it’s probably the importance of trust. What Wak refers to as his “belief system” is essentially what we all call trust. Pitchers are generally fragile creatures with self-confidence issues. Trust is important to them.
And I know what you’re going to say next. How can you have trust in a catcher when he continues to let balls get past him at an alarming rate? And how could you have gone this long without addressing our biggest concern?
Look, the passed balls are a strike against him. I’m not going to ignore that. But there are a few mitigating factors.
The first is injury. Let’s try not to forget that Johnson had surgery on BOTH hips just a few months ago (not to mention his wrist). This is the same guy who played through those injuries all of last year, not even telling his team about them until after the season was over. Debate the merits of his silence if you want, but realize that this is a tough guy who will play through pain.
“He is still re-educating his body from those surgeries,” according to team trainer Rick Griffin. “Whereas other guys might have spent the off-season getting stronger, he was just rehabbing.
“He really could have taken this whole year off. Jason Vargas had the same surgery on one of his hips and missed a whole year then took a while to get all the way back in the second year. You won’t see the real Johnson until next season.”
He’ll never admit it, but those injuries may have kept him from getting to a few of those balls that got past him.
And of those passed balls, his teammates aren’t too concerned.
“I don’t worry about his passed balls,” says Aardsma. “Many of them are either because of Felix or [Brandon] League. Those guys have balls that move all over the place. Felix might have more movement than anyone in the game – it’s like catching a knuckler. And League might be even worse. I catch him every day on flat ground and it’s almost impossible. Even he doesn’t know which way it’s going! I always have confidence throwing it on the dirt.”
So does Felix who says, “I believe he will block the pitch so I have the confidence to throw it in a tough spot. It’s not easy to catch me, you know?”
Johnson leads the majors with eight passed balls. A few are from Felix, a few from League. One or two were crossups (when the pitcher threw the wrong pitch). I’m not arguing that he deserves a Gold Glove, just that maybe the defense is better than we give him credit for.
***
The last knock against him is his hitting. A .200 average with a .600 OPS is certainly nothing to brag about. Actually, it’s essentially indefensible.
But remember this. Catching in the big leagues is hard. Harder than playing any other position. It’s especially hard for a young player and even more so for one who is expected to run a pitching staff at times without the help of a veteran backup.
As director of player development Pedro Grifol told me, “it’s so hard to be a young catcher. They have to know 12 pitchers and their repertoires. They have to work on their receiving, blocking, throwing, controlling the running game, calling the game, reading advance reports and preparing for opposing hitters. Then we ask them to hit and drive in runs too!”
I’m not saying that excuses his hitting. Just that it might explain why it’s SO bad. Johnson is probably never going to hit .280 but he might hit .250. And if he does, his bat will be just fine.
***
“Catchers have to do everything,” says former catcher Wakamatsu. “They have to control the pitchers, the running game. They have to have the memory of an elephant – they have to remember what each batter did in the first inning when they see them again in the ninth. And Rob does that well.
Remember, he is only in his second full year and he’s still dealing with the recovery from his hip injuries. Catchers develop a little later and playing has helped him a lot.”
Johnson may never turn into a star. He may never even hold down an everyday job in the majors. But he’s also not the bum so many people think he is. He’s a guy that other players, pitchers and managers seem to like. And those guys see a lot of baseball. Maybe they’re on to something.
Game 93, White Sox at Mariners
Hudson vs Pauley, 7:10 pm.
These little blurbs become harder to write as the season wears on. I mean, I could spend a few minutes talking about David Pauley, but he’s a generic arm that probably won’t be in the organization in a few months, so what’s the point? So, instead, I’ll share a quick story.
Last week, I spent five days down in Anaheim covering the Futures Game and the All-Star Game for FanGraphs. The Wall Street Journal was kind enough to help me get a credential, so I milled with the media and did media stuff for a few days, hobnobbing with the likes of the great Larry Stone. It was certainly an interesting experience. The best part, though, was the Monday morning press conference when the managers announced the line-ups for the All-Star Game. Charlie Manuel, when announcing the NL line-up, said the following:
“Batting second, and playing second base, Martin Par-ough. Pair-doo. How do you say his name?”
Chuckles ensued, and then someone told Charlie how to pronounce Martin Prado’s last name. A minute or so later, he got to his starting catcher, who he called “Yeah-Dear” Molina. A few minutes later, he called his starting shortstop “Hansley”. Then, when a reporter asked him why he was starting Andre Ethier in center field (Ethier has the worst UZR of any outfielder in baseball this year and hadn’t played CF since college), he gave this incoherent rambling answer about Ethier having more votes. He then said something about not having a true center fielder, but that Ethier had played there recently, and so he could handle it. Of course, Ethier hadn’t played there recently; Manuel had either looked at the wrong player’s stat sheet (Corey Hart had played CF as recently as last year) or was just confusing the two players.
By the end of the press conference, I was convinced that Manuel knew less about the players on his team than every other person in that room, which is actually understandable. He’s pretty busy running his own team, after all. He’s 66 years old and one of the most country people involved in the sport (the word “bumpkin” was used to describe him several times last week), so I’d wager that he’s not exactly a wiz with the internet. None of the things he got wrong affect how he does his job. And, by all accounts, his players love him, so this isn’t any kind of criticism of Manuel’s qualifications to manage the Phillies.
But it was the most obvious indicator that if MLB wants fans to take the All-Star Game seriously, they should strongly consider just taking the players and managers out of the decision making process. Their job is not to effectively evaluate their peers, and when they try to do so, they’re generally terrible at it. Every time we get the results of some kind of player or manager voting, we usually have to strain to make it match reality. These guys are (mostly) good at what they do, but having a realistic perspective on the other 29 teams in the league is not what they do.
Give the votes strictly to the media – they’d do a much better job picking the All-Stars than the combination of players, managers, and fans. I stood in a room full of guys who knew that Ryan Howard had no business in Anaheim last week, and really had no business starting at DH against a left-handed pitcher, but they were the ones asking the question of “the insider” who didn’t know that. It was pretty interesting to watch. The media has gotten smarter at a much faster pace than the guys on the field.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Gutierrez, CF
Bradley, LF
Smoak, 1B
Johnson, C
Jack Wilson, SS
The Crossroads That Is 2011
There are 70 games left in the 2010 season, but no one thinks they really matter much anymore. Yes, it’s nicer to win than to lose, and no one is just going to give up and roll over, but the team is playing for the future and everyone knows it. The question, though, is whether that future can begin next year?
Based on players currently in the organization, the 2011 roster looks something like this:
C; Moore
1B: Smoak
2B: Ackley
SS: Jack Wilson
3B: Figgins
LF: Saunders
CF: Gutierrez
RF: Ichiro
DH: Bradley
Starters: Felix-Vargas-Fister-Pineda-RRS
I don’t think anyone would look at that team and think it was a legitimate contender. There’s two guys who have never played in the majors in starting roles, three young guys still trying to find their way as regular position players, and a rotation full of question marks behind Felix. Oh, and the bullpen isn’t great either.
The team will have some money to spend, somewhere the $10 to $20 million range depending on what the budget is and who else they trade away in the next few weeks. But, there’s almost no way to turn that team into a contender by adding a couple of pieces, because the strength of the team in young talent may also be the thing that keeps them from winning next year.
There are some potential foundation pieces in place. Smoak, Saunders, and Ackley could all hold down their respective positions for years to come. Pineda could give the team another dynamic power arm that it lacks behind Felix right now. Moore could still be a useful catcher. These guys have enough talent to be real building blocks – guys you don’t want to block with veteran players. They all should come to camp next spring with a chance to win a job on Opening Day. You could bring in insurance policy types who can push them and serve as placeholders if they’re not ready, but you’re not going to bring in an established quality player that will get in the way if the kids prove that they’ve little left to learn in Triple-A.
So, what positions can the Mariners realistically try to upgrade at? C, LF, 2B, and 1B are off the table because of the kids. 3B, CF, and RF are out because you’ve got guys under long term contracts at those spots. That leaves, essentially, shortstop, designated hitter, and the rotation as potential points of upgrade this winter.
Even if the team decided to bring in two established starters to go with Felix, Fister, and Vargas, you’re still looking at four spots on the roster that you can really make significant upgrades at (the bench and bullpen don’t matter enough to count). And at two of those, you have guys already under contract for 2011 – Jack Wilson and Milton Bradley.
Bradley is unmovable, beyond just releasing him, which the team probably won’t do unless they have someone they expect to hit better as the DH. They don’t have that guy right now, and its unlikely that they’ll spend much money this winter to bring in a guy who doesn’t play defense, and is likely at the end of his career. So, the Mariners only option is, essentially, try like crazy to move Jack Wilson’s contract in the next couple of weeks, freeing up money and a position to seek an upgrade this winter.
There’s a problem with that, too, though – good shortstops aren’t exactly laying around waiting to sign low money deals to play in Seattle. The big free agent shortstops this winter will be Derek Jeter – and, honestly, I’m more likely to take the field for the Mariners on opening day next year than he is – and a bunch of guys who aren’t any better than Jack Wilson. The team could try to trade for a young shortstop, but they did that last summer, and they found that Wilson was the best guy they could get. The best case scenario for picking up a guy in trade would be a guy like Ryan Theriot, but he’s basically just the same thing that Wilson is at the plate, only with less glove.
A substantial upgrade at shortstop is essentially not realistic. The team could potentially pursue a guy like Carlos Pena to DH and dump Bradley, but does anyone think that the line-up above, with Pena added to the mix, is the makings of a winner? And would Pena even want to stop playing the field regularly at this point in his career? The answer to both of those questions is probably not.
And so, we’re left with the reality that the Mariners have reached a point where they’re not really playing for 2011, but instead, they’re playing for 2012. They’ll lose $20 million in commitments when Bradley and Wilson become free agents, the young kids will have hopefully matured or proven themselves not worthy of full-time jobs, and they’ll still have all the useful pieces that are on the team now. Realistically, that’s probably their next chance to contend – the year when Ackley, Smoak, Saunders, and Pineda could be contributors rather than kids still adjusting to the big leagues and they have the resources to go out and add some talent at positions like SS and DH.
Who knows – maybe Jack will make some moves in the next few months that surprise me and steal enough talent away to turn this team around before next year begins. I just don’t see how he could pull that off, though. Right now, I think this team realistically will need another year. They’re playing for the future, but they’re not playing for next year.
Game 92, Mariners at Angels
Vargas vs Santana, 12:35 pm.
The M’s #2 starter takes the hill, though this is now not nearly as exciting as it was the first half of the season. After a strong start to the year, Vargas has mostly been what he was before, and needs to throw strikes in order to succeed, because he’s not racking up the strikeouts any more. If he can avoid the walks, though, he can still be an effective starter, so look for him to pound the zone today against an Angels team that doesn’t hit lefties all that well.
Oh, and hey, Justin Smoak!
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, DH
Smoak, 1B
Langerhans, LF
Johnson, C
Josh Wilson, SS