Game 74, Mariners At Nationals
Bedard vs Lannan, 4:05 pm.
Excited to see what Dustin Ackley might do tonight? Tough luck for you, as he’s not in the starting line-up. The Nationals are throwing a lefty, so Eric Wedge is going to take the opportunity to get Jack Wilson some playing time. I understand not wanting to make Wilson strictly a defensive replacement (especially if they’re trying to get other teams to trade for him), but it seems like there are other ways you could get Wilson in the line-up:
1. Give Brendan Ryan a day off at SS
2. Use Wilson at 2B when the team returns home, allowing Ackley to still serve as the DH.
Dustin Ackley is the best hitter on this roster not named Justin Smoak or Ichiro – he should play with a similar amount of regularity as those two. Get Jack Wilson playing time at someone else’s expense, as there are enough guys on this roster that deserve a seat on the bench. Just let Ackley play – he’s the most exciting part of this team right now, and he helps you win baseball games.
At least facing a lefty means we’re not going to be subject to watching Carlos Peguero flail helplessly tonight. Hopefully the organization is close to realizing that he has no business on this roster, and takes him away from Eric Wedge before we waste too many more plate appearances on him.
Ichiro, RF
Ryan, SS
Smoak, 1B
Olivo, C
Gutierrez, CF
Halman, LF
Figgins, 3B
Wilson, 2B
Bedard, P
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279 Responses to “Game 74, Mariners At Nationals”
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Glad I’m not the only one who noticed that. That didn’t look to me like he was going to suffer the loss quietly.
And if Figgins is gone tomorrow, I swear I won’t ask the gods for much else the rest of the year.
I have tried to like him, I really have. And now I’m just beyond any chance of it happening.
Last I checked, Wedge was still responsible for sitting and playing members of the team.
Why hate on Wedge? I think todays game is a turning point and changes are gonna be made. I hope & pray Figgins is done or reduced to minimal plate appearances. I think Wedge was giving him one last chance.
Alternate idea: Hire Chris Angel for the league minimum. Make Chone Figgins disappear. If a player disappears, you don’t have to pay him!
Last I checked, Wedge was still responsible for sitting and playing members of the team.
I’m pretty sure that if Figgins gets cut tomorrow, our projected win total should go up by at least 7
Wedge is in an uncomfortable position with Figgins. Its not his fault the M’s signed him–that lies squarely on Jack Z’s shoulders..
So what does a manager do with a guy making 9 mil a year and is signed through 2012? The FO can’t trade the guy unless he plays and shows something, anything that justifies another team taking a flier on him.
So Wedge probably would like to kick Figgins’ ass down the road more than anyone..too bad baseball contracts are guaranteed.
Wow,
I go out to dinner and everything unravels…
I still don’t see how we blame Wedge for mismanaging a team with a BUNCH of turds on it– We actually argue whether he should have used the crusty brown turd, with the corn bits in it, or the runny black turd that explodes everywhere and is AJAX proof… And then we suppose that EVEN AN IDIOT would know how to handle those turds properly. You gotta stick your mother’s 2 carat diamond broach in there, push it around, and it’ll fix the flaws caused by the turds (just keep looking at the diamond! “Oh great, he sat him today… More turds.”).
(Although given the obvious sort of fumbling of typical National League game scenarios, I like the way it kinda looked like I disappeared as soon as Wedge made me look dumb for defending him– *laugh*)
As for Figgins, the seriously infuriating part at this point, is that he has us by the balls, even while not trying… Kennedy is NOT an everyday 3rd baseman. We have no one to play in Figgins’ place. We don’t even have a guy to platoon with Kennedy (Tui? *AHHHHH!* Liddi? *not ready*).
Figgins is simply depressing me. I’m not even mad anymore. It’s just a seriously seriously f*cked situation, akin to Carlos Silva. I suppose we just put him on the DL for 15 days, while we figure it out (again, like we handled the last days of Silva)…
But seriously– FUCK YOU CHONE FIGGINS for not giving a rat’s ass about the team I love, and the team that is paying you more money than you EVER deserved… I’ve defended you for months, “give him time, give him time”, until it just became absolutely 100% obvious that you could care less, and just want out. Can’t even be a damn man about it. You’re done, and you WANT TO BE done. That’s the really lame part. Be a man about it, say “I’ll split my remaining salary with you, just let me out of here…”
But you don’t have the balls.
**Man, that felt GOOD! And I’m not an easy guy to push over the edge**
Do the M’s have to use Figgins as a baseball player for the remainder of his contract? Can’t they give him some really shitty jobs that force him to opt out of his contract?
He could be the worlds highest paid janitor.
(no offense to janitors out there)
Everyone was talking about Ackley coming up and sitting a game a week. So he sits a game and Wedge is an idiot for sitting him. I am confused how before it was a good idea, now it is stupid. Maybe there was logical thinking, like a night day game in the heat. Maybe Dustin did not feel 100%, or many other reasons.
As far as not hitting Kennedy maybe it was like with Ichiro when he sat him. You will not be playing tonight for any reason. Sit relax and enjoy the game. I think we need to take the body of work and not sit and evaluate every move. None of us no all the reasons he does what he does. If we go back in time Pinella did some of the same things. Might not make sense now, but he had his reasons.
Who said that Ackley would be sitting a game a week? I never read such things.
MrZ,
Good analogy. My infuriation with Wedge is that it seems that the only one that doesn’t know that the crap doesn’t stink is him. Everyone else can smell and see that it’s a piece of crap, but he keeps putting it out there as if it is gourmet food.
Against LHers:
Figgins – .167/.197/.306
Kennedy – .273/.306/.333
I hope they stop with the idea platooning at 3B and just release Figgins. I know it sounds extreme, but the it’s a sunk cost, and Figgins is not helping us win games (his WAR is -1.0). Releasing him will put everyone out of their misery and we can move on.
And go get a left fielder, please.
And why is Cust still on the team? If you’re not going to play him, just let him go and get a bench player who has some value (i.e., can play some positions and run a little bit).
What else is he supposed to do? If he goes into the clubhouse explaining to every turd that they stink we get even worse turds than before? If you want a manager to scream about how crappy his players are, go root for Ozzie and the White Sox.
Not play the turd. Let Figgins get lost at the end of bench and let Kennedy (82 games @ 3B in 2008) take over 3rd full time.
Does figgins hurt the team more sitting on the bench? spreading discontent?
I don’t think it could hurt more. Figgins (-1.0 WAR) has already negated everything positive our 3rd best WAR player has done this year – Brendan Ryan, 1.1 WAR
Made a mistake in my recent post–Figgins is signed through 2013 with an option for 2014.
M’s on the hook for 20+ million if they released him today.,
Eat the contract move on.
I’m sort of agreeing. At what point does it happen? This time next year? 2 years from now?
Soscia can whip those scrubs’ butts into somethin’ man, got to hand it to him.
Finally, some good news,
Astros won 5-3 over the Rangers, Rangers gave up 4 runs in the ninth.
I know it’s small, but this salvages the night at least.
Rangers. Man. What a division.
If we DFA him he won’t go to AAA as he has too much service time in the majors. If he is released we are still on the hook for the remainder of his contract. So, we still pay.
The front office can’t trade Figgins unless he plays and possibly snaps out of his funk. The only way to get a slumping player out of a slump is to let him play himself out of it.
*cough*tradeforbetemit*cough*
It was basically understood when Ackley was first called up, since Wedge said Kennedy, Ackley, Figgins and Wilson were all going to still see regular playing time.
Do you really think Wedge likes what he sees when Figgins goes 0-4, hits into two double plays and boots easy plays? He can’t do anything about it – his hands are tied. You may be the armchair manager extraordinaire but a real manager doesn’t have many options when the only guy who can play his position every day is getting paid 9 million a year and sucks at everything.
I’d like to quote myself on Mike Morse from back in 2008:
I’m not right very often so I like to point it out when I am.
Outside the Chesapeake basin, we’re in first place.
Hey, what’s that Paul McCartney song called… Y’know the one… “Somebody’s knocking on my door, somebody’s ringing the bell… Do me a favor, open the door, and let ’em in!”
(found a rumor that hit the internet today):
Phillies, Mariners, Reds Inquired On Ludwick
By Tim Dierkes [June 22, 2011 at 7:35am CST]
The Phillies, Mariners, and Reds are among the teams that have inquired on the availability of Padres right fielder Ryan Ludwick, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Padres appear willing to move the 32-year-old, who is eligible for free agency after the season.
Ludwick is hitting .255/.322/.393 with nine home runs in 299 plate appearances this year, with most of his production coming in May. He’s been a little better away from PETCO Park, slugging .419 on the road. Ludwick earns $6.775MM this year, with potentially around $2.2MM remaining on July 31st. Inquiries from the Phillies and Reds may be a sign that those two clubs can squeeze in a salary of that size. Ludwick profiled as a Type B free agent the last time we checked, so that will be a factor.
***EDIT: Not so new news I suppose, as the local papers already wrote about it today (sorry)***
Not to be too nitpicky, but it’s not that he can’t go to AAA, it’s that he likely wouldn’t go to AAA.
Basically, the rule is that once a team DFA’s a player on their 40-man roster, they have 10 days to do one of the following:
a. Trade the player
b. Put them through unconditional release waivers and release them, with the team owing the player the full amount of his guaranteed contract if that’s the case once the player is released.
c. Put them through outright assignment waivers and send them to a minor league affiliate of the organization.
Now, for (c) to work, a player must accept the outright assignment. As it turns out, there are 2 cases where a player can refuse an outright assignment:
1. They’ve been outrighted once before.
2. They have more than 5 years of MLB service time.
The 2nd one is what you were referring to(Figgins has 7+ years of service time), and I’m sure Figgins wouldn’t accept an outright assignment to Tacoma.
So, whether he’s released or he refuses the outright assignment, Figgins–if he were DFA’ed in the next few weeks–would likely be a free agent owed a whole chunk of money by the M’s($17 million guaranteed money for 2012-2013, plus whatever money the M’s owed him for the rest of the 2011 season(about half of the $9 million, I’m guessing).
Doesn’t look like there’s a buyout for 2014, however, as it’s a vesting option. 🙂
Nonsense. I think Chone’s injured. Don’t you think he’s injured? Clearly, it hurts too much to swing the bat. I think he should go on the DL for, oh, 15 days to start with. It can be extended to 60 eventually. Nagging pulled frowny muscle or something. Pulled ennui, perhaps.
This article sums up everything quite nicely. Agree or disagree, Wedge had reasons for everything he did or didn’t do.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2015399384_figgins_dilemma_is_mounting_fo.html#continue
Any more watching Figgy’s at-bats and the fanbase will have to go on the collective DL.
He’s going to be injured if he plays another game at Safeco…