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Sweeney retires mere months removed from being a regular DH for the Mariners. As I thought more, I realized this has happened before. Really, though left field has been a mess for Seattle the majority of its existence, designated hitter has become as much of a problem since Edgar Martinez retired.
Edgar retired in 2004, which is long enough ago now to allow 'Gar to be on the Hall of Fame ballot for two years. It has been a while. Nobody will fill his shoes, but the Mariners could at least try a little harder. Here are the M's regular designated hitters since 2004:
- Raul Ibanez (2005) - At first, it looked like life would go on just fine. Raul did just fine in the DH role, but switched back out to left field for three more seasons in Seattle after his one-year run as the full-time Edgar replacement. He then earned a big (and probably ill-advised contract) with the Phillies, which they now are more than willing to try to get rid of. Still, there were no warning signs of the DH disaster to come. There is something eerily fitting that Ibanez stabilized left field, but the cost was a new black hole.
- Carl Everett (2006) - My favorite thing about Carl Everett is that he does not believe in dinosaurs, which is a shame because he was one by the time the M's signed him. It seemed rather clear to the majority of baseball that Everett was in the twilight of his career when the M's decided to sign him, and make him a pivotal part of the offense. He lasted 93 games, and was released by the M's after they acquired Ben Broussard and Eduardo Perez in separate deals with the Indians. The price tags? Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera (ouch). Perez would retire to Baseball Tonight after a forgettable two-month stint as part-time M's DH, while Broussard would have an okay-ish 2007, and then get 89 at-bats with the Rangers in 2008 before never playing in baseball again.
- Jose Vidro (2007-2008) - Since acquiring an aging switch-hitter that most of baseball thought was washed up worked so well in 2006, Bill Bavasi pulled the trick again, trading for Vidro. There was a time when he was a terrific hitter, but his legs were shot by the time he hit Seattle. Somehow, Rick Griffin and the training staff massaged a surprising year out of him in 2007, though they couldn't bring back much power. 2008 was a different story though. Vidro flamed out, was released in August, and went straight from full-time DH to never playing in the majors again.
- Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney (2009-2010) - Surprising contributions from Sweeney over bits and pieces of the past couple seasons don't even help this problematic duo all that much. It wasn't good in 2009, though it was acceptable to look past with the success on the field, and how integral both seemed to a revitalized clubhouse. Last year though...uffda. Griffey walked away in the middle of the season, and now after a run to the World Series with the Phillies, Sweeney has retired as well.
In fairness, I don't even believe in investing a ton of money in a designated hitter. It is a role easily and productively filled by an aging slugger that should not take the field anymore. Perhaps a high turnover and retirement rate is okay.
The problem is that most of these players were good 'till the last drop, and then the Mariners thought they could squeeze a passable DH out of the remaining coffee grounds. The Mariners have not had tough luck at the position. They have made a lengthy string of ill-advised choices.
So, is Jack Cust the latest mistake, or a step in the right direction? He of shrinking ISOs the past three years, and power to left-center that is likely to turn into doubles and outs in spacious Safeco Field? A man Baseball-Reference compares to such illustrious sluggers as Otto Velez, Bob Robertson, and Bubba Trammell, all guys that trailed off in a hurry in their early 30s?
Is Cust with his violent golf swing as injury prone as Sweeney was? I can just see Cust struggling with back issues three weeks into the year and getting maybe 100 AB out of him the rest of the year... it'll be the same DH situation as always. But hey, if we get to see some dingers, who cares! Dingers!
ReplyDeleteI'm so pessimistic on Cust that I'm avoiding a full blown post on it. A good chunk of his fading power will get gobbled up by Safeco. He sprays his homers to all fields, which really means it doesn't matter that he is a lefty. The advantage of being a lefty in Safeco is to pull the ball with power, and if anything, Cust's great talent with his power is his ability to hit to left field with authority...or in other words, right into the teeth of what makes Safeco a pitcher's park.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he'll try and adjust to the right field porch? Haha, wishful thinking. I'm hoping that we get some serious production out of one of our injury prone and/or bad defensive 1st base/left field types that we have in the minors in the not too distant future. I'm lookin' at you Dennis Raben. Or maybe you Rich Poythress... Here's to hoping.
ReplyDeleteKevin L.
But seriously, it's just SAD looking at how pitiful this team's DH's have been post-Edgar. It's gotten to the point where my view of the DH has changed from it being one of the strongest hitters on the team, to it being whatever pile of crap you can find on the scrap heap.
ReplyDeleteOn a little side note, though Michael Saunders has looked pretty awful this (less so recently), he may turn into a decent major leaguer despite his complete inability to hit anything the other way for this very reason why Cust isn't going to be helped by Safeco. If Saunders can figure out how to muscle those outside pitches out to right field, he may wind up with pretty good power numbers anyways. That being said, I still have faith in his work ethic, and it seems like his revamped swing is actually working, so he may turn into a more well rounded player after all :)