Tacoma’s Crowded Infield Will Force Releases
Mike Curto, Ryan Divish, and I “talked” about this on Twitter tonight, but for all the talk of the M’s 40-man roster crunch, they’re also going to have to make some decisions on some of the depth guys they have around, because there simply aren’t enough Triple-A roster spots for all the guys on the roster. Gabe Gross will probably likely be the odd man out in the outfield and either ask for or receive his walking papers in the next week, creating room for a Saunders-Halman-Peguero-Wilson outfield of strikeout mania.
On the infield, though, it’s not quite so easy. Dustin Ackley is going to play second base nearly every day, but the other four positions are extremely crowded.
For instance, third base will probably be manned by Alex Liddi, but that closes off any playing time for Matt Mangini and Luis Rodriguez. Liddi is considered the best prospect of the bunch, but I personally find Rodriguez more interesting, and think that he has a better chance of carving out a job with the team as a utility guy at some point. If they don’t have a job for him in Tacoma, though, they’ll probably have to cut him loose – he didn’t sign with the M’s over the winter in order to sit on the bench for the Rainiers.
Rodriguez could theoretically play some shortstop, but that’s where Sean Kazmar is expecting to play, and Josh Wilson could enter the mix if he loses out on the last bench spot to Chris Gimenez. If Wilson is passed through waivers and clears, Kazmar would be a candidate to be released, as they’d probably rather have Wilson as their depth shortstop option.
First base would appear to belong to Mike Carp on the surface, but there’s a very strong chance that he gets waived in order to open up a 40 man roster spot. Other candidates for the first base job would include Tui and Mangini, with the one not starting there probably getting a decent amount of at-bats at DH. .
Liddi, Kazmar, Rodriguez, Carp, Tui, and Mangini are essentially fighting over four jobs, and Josh Wilson might get thrown into that mix as well. This is why, when the M’s start to look at who gets tossed off the 40 man roster, Carp and Tui are both vulnerable. The team has other options for the positions in Tacoma who aren’t on the 40 man roster, and they could afford to lose either or both without really hurting the franchise. Don’t be too surprised if one of those two – or potentially both of them – aren’t members of the organization a week from now.
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Here’s hoping. Tui is dead weight who has never shown anything in his multiple callups…one of the remaining vestiges of the bad old days.
Seems like we have too many guys that are AAA/AAAA players
I’d think Carp would go before Tui – not on the basis of talent (neither one really has quite enough), but simply because of the name.
Gross is hardly a slouch in the strikeout department himself, although he does walk a bit more than those other guys. About Mangini, isn’t he hurt? Assuming he’s not ready to go when Tacoma starts up, there’s less of a problem. Though if it should be considered a problem to have to dump one of Kazmar or Rodriguez – oh, how I wish we had bigger roster crunch problems than that.
Is there any reason to believe that Carp and Tui would not pass through waivers? At a time when all teams are making their cuts, it seems unlikely that they would want to use up 40 man roster space on either of these replacement level type players.
Good problem to have. Any guesses on where Carp and company might land?
The other day on Calabro Jack Z brought up Rodriguez as someone who had impressed him in spring. Of course, he also mentioned Kazmar.
I keep thinking that Gimenez is going to make the 25, but his NRI status complicates matters. Wedge certainly likes him.
Baseball sucks. If I’m the 1000th best lawyer on Earth, I’m making 7 figures most likely.
If I’m Mike Carp or Tui… going to Japan might look attractive once they’ve gotten the nuclear plant shut down.
If Gimenez makes the roster over Josh Wilson, that pretty much answers the question of who moves off the 40-man roster to make room. I think it’s unlikely, though.
Of course, if I’m the 1,000 best teacher, I get to make $52,000 and be blamed for all of the government’s budget problems. These woes are relative.
I think it will come down to Tui or Gimenez, but I agree, Gimenez is unlikely.
I disagree on so many levels…
Dave- stop teasing us… We’re already giddy about the start of a new season and now you’re tossing around the idea of Tui being let go as a real possibility? God, I love spring.
Mangini said he is out until about April 20 – so he will start the season on the DL.
In the game last night, Wedge didn’t look particularly impressed when Tui went to the plate as the tying run in the 8th — facing a pitcher who had just given up a single to Jack Wilson and a double to Adam Kennedy — and struck out for the third time of the night (0 for 4 overall). It’s a lot to read into one glimpse of the dugout (and a manager’s impassive face), granted, but for a guy with a rep for having good ST that’s not the kind of thing that will endear you to a manager. If Tui’s unsustainable performance in ST last year got Wak to give him an undeserved (albeit temporary) spot on the bench, well, he may be looking at the flip side of that this year — not just off the big team, but out of the org altogether. The thing is, I’d be surprised if anybody claimed him off waivers anyway (but I’m frequently surprised, it makes life worth living).
I think the situation that interests me the most is Rodriguez. On the surface, he looks like a candidate for that Willie Bloomquist memorial 25th man utility spot, and he seems to be someone Z wants to keep. But they’ve also got Kennedy to play the MI, and when Ackley comes up there’s a real jam until Jack Wilson shatters.
And the end of April might be right around when Ackley gets called up, which would simplify the problem significantly also (in Tacoma, at least; it may complicate things in Seattle).