More Minor Moves

First of all, upon further review, Edwin Encarnacion is not such a slam dunk to claim. He is making almost $5 million this year, and he certainly is not the type of player I would clear salary for. However, perhaps Toronto could be interested in swapping Ian Snell for him in what would technically be a minor league trade, but with MLB-sized salaries.

The transaction wire continues to percolate with small deals. Today word is breaking that the Astros have acquired Tommy Everidge from the Rainiers. I am not sure what Houston is planning to do with him, but they have him now. Anything besides a straight-up purchase of his contract would surprise me, so I do not expect anyone of interest to come back to the M's organization in the deal.

A couple more mildly interesting players were designated for assignment today. The first is former Mariner Greg Dobbs. His first couple years in Philadelphia he proved to be a quality bench player, but his hitting has slipped since then. It is easy to argue that no one can be sure if he really has slipped with the limited plate appearances he gets, but I am willing to trust the Phillies on this one. Dobbs will find a home somewhere, but he is replacement level talent at this point.

The other somewhat interesting guy placed on waivers today was Cla Meredith. He is a side-arming reliever that has bounced around considerably, but always seems to land on his feet. Despite a low K rate and slightly above average BABIP, his career ERA sits at 3.62, thanks mostly to a low home run rate. Projections seem to think that the home run rate is unsustainable, but I am not so certain. Meredith's windup is deceptive, and the home run rate has stayed below average through 286 career appearances. At just 27 years old, Cla should still have plenty left in the tank too.

If I am the Mariners, I would not put a claim on Dobbs, but I would think about Meredith. He is what he is at this point, a serviceable middle reliever, but the bullpen has made a habit of melting down recently. Also, Mark Lowe is gone for the season, so some added depth would be nice. Meredith, at the very least, is better than Sean White in my eyes. I wouldn't be considering him if we still had Kanekoa Texeira around, but I digress.

I wonder if baseball teams pay someone to sit by a fax machine all day and see who gets designated for assignment. I would sign up for that job. The last few days in particular have featured all sorts of guys who could legitimately fill out the end of a roster.