One Move Coming, Maybe Two
After asking the bullpen to throw nearly 200 pitches tonight, the Mariners are probably going to have to make a roster move before Wednesday’s game. Blake Beavan can’t be counted on to give the weary group a rest and the team doesn’t have an off day until Monday, so they’re likely going to need to bring in an arm who can work multiple innings in case things get out of hand again tomorrow. There aren’t any great internal candidates, unfortunately, so while we know one move is coming tomorrow, it might turn out to be two, or one larger move.
The one we know is happening is the finality of Casper Wells‘ new home. His 10 day DFA period ends on Wednesday, so the organization has to either trade him or lose him on waivers. The expectation has been that they’d end up trading him for some non-roster fringe prospect, but if they want a big league arm instead, the Rockies just acquired and then DFA’d Aaron Harang in a cost savings maneuver, so the M’s could potentially try to interest Colorado in some kind of Wells for Harang swap. The Rockies don’t need another outfielder, but they could probably get more for Wells than they could for Harang, and Harang is the most available Major League pitcher on the market right now.
Of course, he got moved by the Dodgers because he didn’t want to work out of the bullpen, so if the Mariners were going to bring him in, he’d probably have to take someone’s rotation spot. They might not be so inclined to kick Brandon Maurer back to the minors after just two starts, but they could potentially dump Kameron Loe and shift Beavan to long relief, a role which the organization hopefully learned is still needed given the lack of quality pitchers in the rotation.
Of course, the M’s could do something entirely different with Wells and still acquire Harang. Or they might not acquire anyone, and just choose to bring Hector Noesi back from Double-A for a few days for a just-in-case situation. Noesi’s not the only internal candidate, but he’s the guy on the 40 man who is already stretched out to pitch multiple innings and hasn’t started a game in the last few days. If they decided to go with a more traditional reliever rather than a long guy, Yoervis Medina hasn’t pitched in a few days for Tacoma. They do have non-trade options; they just aren’t very good.
Anyway, long story short, Casper Wells officially goes away tomorrow, and he might not be the only one. I wouldn’t be shocked if Kameron Loe’s days on the roster were over. We’ll find out soon enough.
The good news, if it could be called that, is we’ve got at least one rotation slot we could conceivably give to Harang.
The bad news is Bay probably just earned himself another two or three months of tying up a roster spot. Oh, wait – we were talking about pitchers…
Godspeed, Casper Wells. Good luck wherever you land.
what are the chances of the M’s making this move: send down Montero and call up Zunino?
The player on the shortest leash right now is probably Ackley. I don’t see Montero being sent down unless he is injured (for rehab). Traded, maybe. Sent down, no.
Except Ackley has a much better clue at the plate than Montero. Ackley is being victimized by bad luck in his BABIP while Montero is doing his best Peguero impression minus the home runs.
The player on the shortest leash right now is probably Ackley.
What would make you think this? Ackley has demonstrated a better approach at the plate, is considerably harder to replace defensively than Montero or Smoak, and needs to produce less offense to be valuable in any case. There’s no good reason to think this is true.
The problem with Monterrible is that he’s been god awful behind the dish as well. Ackley at least can play the field and as others have said, has been a bit “unlucky” so far. Also, how in gods name does Andino have an MLB job? He is horrible. His career stats are a joke and his defense is pathetic. WTF?
Various metrics suggest Andino’s defense is pretty average. He’s basically a bog-standard backup infielder, nothing to get upset about. If he continues to play this much, that would, of course, be a problem.
The real question about Andino is how the heck the Orioles made the playoffs while giving him 431 plate appearances (in his worst year).
I assume Smoak gets until June. If we’re not vying for a playoff spot, Triunfel should take Andino’s spot in the second half.
A utility player like Andino allows you to pinch-hit for virtually anyone and prevents the club from having to burn player options on minor injuries, flu bugs, etc and/or from playing somebody waaay out of position. That value is tough to measure, but it’s real.
However, like djw said, the harm is starting a player like that when there is no reason to. It’s not 1975? Jesus, Wedge. You don’t bench a player like Kyle Seager when you have a roster like the Mariners have. He is basically your George Brett.
If we’re not vying for a playoff spot, Triunfel should take Andino’s spot in the second half.
Why? What is the reason to replace a competent defender with a terrible one for the backup infielder position? Certainly not for offense: nothing about his offensive performance over the last 5+ years suggests his bat belongs in the majors. Andino sucks, but he does one thing–play infield defense–adequately. That’s one more than Triunfel.
Where are you getting that Triunfel can’t play adequate infield defense? Basically all scouting reports over the last year have said his glovework at short has improved to around average. One would imagine that means it’s likely above average for second and third, no?
I’m not advocating for Andino to go away, but you’re going to have to back up this claim that Triunfel doesn’t play adequate infield defense.
Seager was due to be benched for a game. His bat isn’t exactly lighting up the world.
I don’t get the “short leash” comments I’ve been seeing here on Ackley. He isn’t going anywhere. And some people won’t give up on Triunfel because of what he was supposed to be way back when he signed with the team.
I did notice people were starting to say some (extremely cautious) nicer things about his defense improving last year, but I remain pretty skeptical. Infielders whose greatest asset is a strong arm, are prone to botching routine plays, and whose range is limited by questionable instincts have pretty low defensive ceilings.
Can someone please fill me in on how this whole DFA thing is working behind the scenes?
I know there is a waiver process. I thought I saw somewhere that that process took 3 days. So, would he have been put on waivers a back at the beginning of last week? And, if so, what is going on in this remaining time. If he were claimed, wouldn’t we have heard by now? Or, was he claimed, and then the M’s got a certain amount of time to figure out whether they let that claim happen (or trade him, presumably)?
It just feels like, if he’d been claimed, we should’ve heard by now … but this whole thing is a mystery to me.
I agree with most of what Dave posted, starting with immediately dumping Loe, who has given up 6 HR’s, in 6.2 IP.
However, Hultzen had another solid inning last night, and could replace Maurer in the rotation.
I know we already have enough lefty’s in the bullpen but i would like to see what Moran or LaFromboise could do. too bad they pitched the past 2 days.
and regarding the young hitters. don’t panic and give BABIP some time.
I think every team gets a chance to claim him, so whether or not someone has put in a claim, we won’t know until the end of the waiver period. Also, I think the Mariners can trade him up until the waiver period ends.
Idea: How about a new concession stand in one of the outfield concourses called “Loe’s Meatballs”?
Triunfel looked pretty good down in Peoria – not just in games but on the back fields, too. It was enough to change my opinion of him, which I admit was based solely on outdated scouting reports and message board rhetoric, but he was certainly better than I had been led to believe. Compared to Andino, his raw range, which does not include situational anticipation (tough to eyeball small-sample cheating based on pitch type, hitter tendencies, etc) was comparable and his arm is as advertised. With the potential in his bat, I wouldn’t mind if they gave Triunfel a shot at some point, especially if one of the primary infielders lands on the 15-day DL.
With our middle infield depth i think the only chance for Triunfel to be in the MLB will be in the role Andino has right now, so i wouldn’t be suprised if they cut Andino and give Triunfel a chance.
So looks like Toronto claimed Casper Wells.
absolutsyd…thanks!
I was still trying to figure out the relationship between the waiver period and the DFA period, and I found this on “thecubreporter.com” (about Campana):
“2. Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured by the 10th day, so Campana can be placed on waivers no later than next Monday (2/18), and thus the Cubs will have until 2 PM (Eastern) on Monday 2/18 to trade Campana because the “waiver ride” takes two business days (actually it takes 47 hours, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays during Spring Training and the regular season, not including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays during the off-season). So in this case, the Cubs only have eight days to trade Campana, not ten.”
Which suggests to me that:
(1) the timing of waiver ride is up to the Ms (but they would delay it until the end to give the most chance for a trade)
(2) if the trade was going to happen, we would have heard by now.
But, if you’re right that they can still trade him up until the period ends, then that disagrees with the deadline in thecubreporter.
Maybe this is just sausage making, and I shouldn’t care.
Report of Wells going to the Jays.
The Blue Jays have claimed Wells off the waiver wire. Good luck, Casper.
Perfect fit for Casper. The Jays are (were) carrying 13 pitchers and could really use lefty-mashing CF.
With the potential in his bat
Saying this would have made good sense five years ago, and was arguably still applicable 2-3 years ago. But now? Triunfel has made essentially no progress offensively since 2008.
Sorry, I was comparing him to Andino – should have clarified. “With the potential in his bat compared to Andino” is what I meant.
“I did notice people were starting to say some (extremely cautious) nicer things about his defense improving last year, but I remain pretty skeptical. Infielders whose greatest asset is a strong arm, are prone to botching routine plays, and whose range is limited by questionable instincts have pretty low defensive ceilings.”
The reports that he could stick at shortstop started no later than June of 2011 so we’re talking well over a year and a half, with multiple sources and basically everyone in agreement. Even if you find them optimistic, you’d be hard pressed to argue “could stick at shortstop” = “terrible” defender which you called him above. He should easily be league average defensively at third and second, at absolute worst. There’s plenty of reason to believe he’s quite a bit better than that.
“Saying this would have made good sense five years ago, and was arguably still applicable 2-3 years ago. But now? Triunfel has made essentially no progress offensively since 2008.”
He doesn’t have to be whatever he was hyped to be in 2008 to have a higher offensive ceiling than Robert Andino.