Brief comment on Reed at first

DMZ · June 15, 2008 at 11:25 am · Filed Under Mariners 

Reed is working out at first, according to a story on mlb.com.

This means that given an outfield consisting of a wretched defensive left fielder, Ichiro, and a bad defensive right fielder, the team will be using their good defensive outfielder to play first, replacing a terrible defensive first baseman they’ve turned into an singles machine with a fresh conversion.

What am I going to say? This is a team that bats Vidro third. They could announce tomorrow that they’re moving Ichiro to short because Betancourt can’t get a bunt down and I’d shrug. We’re all waiting this kind of silliness out until the cavalry arrives (we hope) and some kind of sanity can be restored.

Comments

14 Responses to “Brief comment on Reed at first”

  1. Rusty on June 15th, 2008 11:32 am

    I am actually encouraged by all these moves and that no one gets fired for them.

    I am pinning my hopes that Chris Larson finally gets fed up, calls Yamauchi, and together they clean house.

  2. jro on June 15th, 2008 11:35 am

    Mclaren commented that this was in preparation for interleague play in NL ballparks.

    I can understand wanting to keep Ibanez’s bat in the game, but jeez wouldn’t he be better prepared to play 1B than Reed? Has Reed spent any time playing 1B at all?

    For the life of me, I can’t figure out why Mclaren would think slow-guy-in-leftfield/faster-guy-but-infield-neophyte-at-first-base is better than faster-guy-in-outfield/slow-guy-with-infield-capacity-at-first-base.

    For a baseball strategy newbie like myself, the Mariners make it hard to understand good decision making.

  3. thr33niL on June 15th, 2008 11:37 am

    Since my other comment concerning Reed at first in the compelling Richie topic was deleted..

    We have Vidro who has experience at first base along with Raul who has experience at first base. Both guys really have no business in the field unless it is at first base. So McLaren wants to take a plus outfielder in Reed and stick him at a position he has no experience at nor does he have the bat to stick there? Could this be anymore backwards?

    This team is lost and McLaren is still captaining them deeper and deeper in to the abyss.

  4. PaulMolitorCocktail on June 15th, 2008 11:45 am

    That McLaren wasn’t fired as soon as this story got out speaks volumes about the F.O.

  5. edgar for mayor on June 15th, 2008 12:07 pm

    Yeah I read this last night off of Geoff’s blog.
    Do they fail to realize Ibanez can play 1B? Why no replace Reed with Ibanez and put Ibanez at 1B? Get Ibanez’s carcase out of LF should be top priority…what the hell is going on?
    This should surprise me more but it doesn’t.

  6. Steve T on June 15th, 2008 12:21 pm

    You people are failing to realize a basic fact: the M’s think Ibanez is a GREAT fielder. I’m sure there are people in the organization who are absolutely certain that Reed is our fourth- or fifth-best defensive outfielder. They believe we have the best outfield defense in the league.

    THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THESE PLAYERS — THEY’RE GREAT. That’s what they believe. We heard it several times yesterday. Great players playing badly, that’s what we’ve got.

    The disconnect is so great it cannot be overcome. I’m convinced 2009 and 2010 are lost too.

  7. Jeff Nye on June 15th, 2008 12:27 pm

    What am I going to say? This is a team that bats Vidro third. They could announce tomorrow that they’re moving Ichiro to short because Betancourt can’t get a bunt down and I’d shrug. We’re all waiting this kind of silliness out until the cavalry arrives (we hope) and some kind of sanity can be restored.

    This pretty much sums up my reaction. I’ve reached a point where I simply cannot be surprised at the hilarious things this team tries to “improve” the team, while utterly ignoring the real opportunities to make improvements.

    Maybe they’re moving Sexson to the bullpen.

  8. Mike Snow on June 15th, 2008 12:47 pm

    Maybe they’re moving Sexson to the bullpen.

    Sure, isn’t that where you stick your starters who are struggling and need to work on their mechanics?

  9. NJ Ms on June 15th, 2008 1:07 pm

    Why do you do this to me? I am still angry about the game last night and the stupid managerial moves and now this??

    Ibanez has played 1B 135 games in his carrer with a .990 field pct and a RF9 of 8.78

    Vidro has played 1B 35 games in his carrer with a .991 field pct and a RF9 of 9.14

    Sexson has played 1B 1161 games in his carrer with a .994 field pct and a RF9 of 9.36

    Cairo the “best 1B in the league” has played 1B 76 games in his carrer with a .989 field pct and a RF9 of 9.26

    Umm so what is the difference why is Ibanez in Left???

    Is it because he has a .985 field pct in the OF with a 2.06 RF9?

    Reed has a .991 field pct in the OF with a 2.89 RF9

    Mac is an idiot

  10. 300ZXNA on June 15th, 2008 1:37 pm

    9-
    I know we aren’t supposed to call anyone in the organization names, but wow, after this, its almost impossible NOT to make that sentiment. Reed and Ibanez will be on the field at the same time, but completely reversed in their roles. Wow. Just when I think it can’t get any worse . . .

  11. mln on June 15th, 2008 1:49 pm

    McLaren just might be trying to see how far he can “push the envelope” in terms of crazy lineups before he gets fired.

    Next up, Ichiro will fill in for the Mariner Moose guy after even numbered innings whenever the moon is in its Waning Crescent phase.

  12. Crushgroovin on June 15th, 2008 1:57 pm

    No one has mentioned one simple fact here. Raul has incredible veteranacity and he plays the game the right way therefore statistics mean nothing because they don’t take into account his incredible veteranness and grit.

  13. msb on June 15th, 2008 4:24 pm

    We have Vidro who has experience at first base along with Raul who has experience at first base.

    they’ve mentioned playing Vidro at first as well on the trip

  14. ajn007 on June 15th, 2008 10:41 pm

    If I recall right the last full season Reed played back in 2004 he got hosed for gold glove in center from Hunter who played half of the season (first half). Reed should be in the outfield, period! Seriously, Mclaren is stuck on the likes of Vidro and Ibanez like Vitale is stuck on Duke. It is a sick sick relationship that needs to be ended before someone gets asked to leave Safeco field. Can they fire Mclaren already and let Mel run the team. At least he knows how to win.

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