Mariners Make Flurry of Minor Moves

There was a mini firestorm of moves across baseball yesterday because baseball teams procrastinate. Yesterday was the last day to add players and protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Every move the Mariners made (and everyone else for that matter) must be looked through with the Rule 5 draft in mind, because it is the reason for all the movement on what would have otherwise been the latest, slow-as-molasses offseason day in baseball.

I will go in reverse order from how things are usually reported, because it helps make more sense of what happened. Here are the players the Mariners added to their 40-man roster yesterday:

2009 Tacoma Rainiers At a Glance

Before delving in to today's post, I should mention something real quick. Kevin Cacebelos over at seatownsports.net approached me about writing a guest post, and that is now up. It's a closer look at the two M's in the futures game, Tyson Gillies and Alex Liddi. Check it out, as well as the whole blog. As the name suggests, they cover Seattle sports, and have all sorts of interesting content.

Finishing out the midseason glances at Mariners minor league affiliates is a quick look at AAA Tacoma. With all the M's injuries this year, several players on this list are known commodities that have logged some time in the majors. Also, this list will include a few older players that are not really prospects anymore, but are internal options to join the Mariners if needed. Any of these players could be called up by the end of the year. Without further ado, the Rainiers to keep tabs on:

Chris Shelton, 3B - Shelton definitely falls under the category of non-prospect that could help out the team. In fact, rumor is that he will be called up today. To call Chris a third baseman is being polite, but he has played there regularly for Tacoma all season. The 29-year-old is here for his bat, plain and simple. It will be interesting to see how what Don Wakamatsu does with him, especially if he hits really well, given his limited defensive abilities.

Mike Carp, 1B - The most advanced prospect the M's got in the Putz deal is enjoying a fine first season in AAA. Plate discipline is Carp's greatest attribute, and he has enough power to go with it to post good enough power numbers to be the first base prospect Bill Bavasi never drafted. Carp has been playing outfield from time to time in Tacoma too, though I think that has as much to do with getting everyone playing time down there as anything else.

Jeff Clement, 1B - That's right, Jeff Clement is no longer a catcher. I'm surprised this has not been talked about more. It was pretty clear when Guillermo Quiroz was called up in front of him. It's also clear considering that Adam Moore has been the everyday catcher in Tacoma since being called up a few months ago. Clement has been DHing primarily for the Rainiers, but played first base last night. At this point he is a bat without a position, and he is almost 26 years old. He should have been moved to first base years ago by the Bavasi regime once he developed elbow problems, especially with the black hole the M's had in the farm system at first base. I think Clement is one of the most likely Mariners to get traded at the deadline, and if not at the deadline, then in the offseason. He is no longer a key part of the organization's plans, and I would argue he isn't really a part of the plan at all at this point.

Doug Fister, RHP - One number stands out for the 6'8" righty, his walks. He only has five of them the whole year. That's a little better than one every other start. He gets hit around, but he also gets a fair number of strikeouts and keeps the ball in the ballpark fairly well. A pitcher with Fister's command and at least decent stuff is worth paying some attention to.

Bryan LaHair, OF/1B - Sometimes it is funny how things work out. Bryan LaHair was an outfielder in college, but the Bavasi regime switched him to first base because they did not believe he would stick in the outfield as he developed. Then, despite a black hole at first base for a couple years, he never got a look in the majors until the roof caved in last year. Now, with Mike Carp around, LaHair is back in the outfield. The 26-year-old is having his best pro season yet, but he is basically the same player we saw last year with a little bit more power.

Adam Moore, C - Adam is the Mariners catcher of the future, if they have one in the system at this point. He is a little bit older at 25 years of age, but year by year has progressed through the minor league system. His power numbers are down this year, and they will need to come up for Moore to seriously challenge for the M's starting catcher spot. His best bet for improving them is better plate discipline. Moore has room to walk a little more. Still, he is likely to get called up in September, and get more than a cursory look in spring training next year.

Prentice Redman, OF - At 30 years old, Redman definitely is not a prospect, but he has been pretty good in Tacoma for a couple years now. He never really got a chance in the majors, which is a shame because he is good enough to be a reserve outfielder and right-handed pinch hitter.

Ryan Rowland-Smith, LHP - When can we expect Hyphen18 back on the Safeco mound? Maybe sooner than later. His velocity has come back, and his last start was by far his best of the year. He went seving innings and delivered a very strong performance, throwing over 100 pitches along the way. The question is whether he is a better option than Jason Vargas, and that's debatable.

Michael Saunders, LF - The Victoria, BC native is not far away from the majors. He needs just one more home run to tie his total for all of 2008, and most of that season was spent in AA. Saunders is progressing quickly, and it is really encouraging to see power starting to come out of his 6'4" frame. He should be a September call-up, and he is the early favorite to start in left field on opening day 2010 for the M's if you ask me.

The lack of pitching prospects in Tacoma should not be too surprising or discouraging. The M's are carrying extra pitchers right now, and have been depleting by injuries too. Both Garrett Olson and Jason Vargas started the year in Tacoma, Ryan Feierabend is out for the year, and Cesar Jimenez is working back from an injury as well.

This wraps up a quick four-day tour of the Mariners minors. Some notable prospects were left out, including everyone in rookie leagues, but in the end I looked at 33 players that have put together good (or at least intriguing) seasons, with varying levels of potential. Overall, the system looks stronger this year than last, thanks to a good final draft by Bavasi, the Putz deal by Zduriencik, and perhaps the new development approach. Nobody has been rushed through the system this year, which was definitely something Bavasi had a bad habit of doing. Just like everything Jack Z has touched in this franchise so far, the farm system is on the rise.

Good Start to the Second Half

A series between the Mariners and Indians sounded a lot more appealing at the start of the season, but that can be said about pretty much any series the Mariners play. Still, as long as Felix is on the mound, this team is fun to watch. I won't say that Felix's growth this year has gone overlooked, but it is harder to notice players that take steps forward when the front office continues to talk about how much the team has underachieved. Sure, the Indians offense is bad, but Felix had few problems dispatching them, and his ERA now sits at a shimmering 2.95.

The only thing out of the ordinary with Felix's start last night was the run support he got. Aaron Laffey was shaky, and Raul Ibanez made him pay dearly with his grand slam. With Felix on the mound, that felt like it would be plenty, but then Jose Lopez added a three-run homer a couple innings later. It was nice to see some power and some runners on base out of this offense, especially for the pitcher that deserves them more than anyone else.

It is just one game, but maybe it is a sign that this team will bounce back a bit in the second half. J.J. had a nice rehab outing in AAA last night too. Bryan LaHair is finally up. Apparently he had a little injury, which is why the M's did not call him up once they released Sexson. That makes the bizarre timing of the move a little more palatable, but I still would have called him up. Tug barely played, and now LaHair probably won't with a string of left-handed starters. It will be awkward if LaHair takes a whole week to play after Riggleman said that he plans to give LaHair plenty of playing time, but at least he is on the team. Riggleman is even thinking about putting Jeff Clement out there a bit at first from time to time, a move the whole organization has shied away from, with little good reason, for years. What's next; will they consider cutting Jose Vidro, or putting Brandon Morrow in the starting rotation?

Maybe there is reason for hope in the second half. Maybe this team will finally put its best product on the field. The Mariners are inching towards maximizing its own personnel with each move, and maybe one of these days Riggleman will wake up and realize that the most worthless player in all of baseball should not bat clean-up on a regular basis. Maybe, just maybe, what is left of the season will be better than what has already transpired.

Bryan LaHair Called Up

For such a slow day on the field in baseball, it has been a pretty active day off it. While the focus nationally is on the Blanton trade, the Mariners made a little noise today by calling up Bryan LaHair. To make room on the roster, they sent down Tug Hulett to Tacoma. LaHair is arguably the shrewdest draft choice Pat Gillick ever made as GM of the Mariners, considering he was drafted in the 39th round back in 2002.

I have no problem with LaHair being on the roster. In fact, I think it has been time for a while. I do not think he is the first baseman of the future, but the Miguel Cairo/Jose Vidro/recently departed Richie Sexson disaster certainly is not. If I were in charge of the team right now, Vidro would be LONG gone, LaHair would be the everyday first baseman, Sexson and Ibanez would be platooning at DH, and left field would admittedly be a bit of a mess. But, regardless of the left fielder, that lineup would provide noticeably better defense at no cost to the offensive production.

My problem is not with Bryan LaHair, it is with Jose Vidro and whoever stands in the way of him getting cut. How is he still on the team, batting FOURTH nonetheless?! Jose Vidro is the most worthless player in the major leagues right now. Few would argue that he is the worst DH in baseball, and he is only a DH because his knees do not allow him to really field at all at this point. So, to recap, Vidro hits for no average, very limited power, does not work counts all that well anymore either, has no speed, cannot play anywhere on defense much, and his remaining "skills" are only going to deteriorate with time. I rest my case.

After a month of somewhat cogent decisions, the past couple weeks have me worried and depressed about the Mariners future again. Jared Wells was brought up for only one game, did not appear, and then was sent back down. Tug Hulett wasn't up much longer, but at least got his first MLB hit for the trouble. If LaHair was going to come up anyway once Sexson was released (which seemed inevitable), why wasn't he called up instead of Hulett in the first place? LaHair did not make the PCL All-Star team, so there is no good reason.

I will give Lee Pelekoudas and Jim Riggleman passes on long-term plans, given that they are interim hires. I do not think it would be all that hard for either to think long-term with this team, even in their current roles, but I will still give them the benefit of the doubt. Still, that is no excuse for an inability to manage the roster through 2008. Rapid roster shuffles do nobody any good, and makes it look like the franchise is in even more chaos than it is (or at least should be). The Mariners are not in good shape, but they can do better than this. Why they do not cut Vidro, the move 99% of primates would figure out in the first 12 seconds if they were handed the GM job, blows my mind. Why the team cuts players and does not bring up the obvious/only replacement, and then calls up the obvious/only replacement a week later, blows my mind. Where is the grasp of the obvious? I am tired of incompetence.