More Inevitable Roster Cuts

Finally, the pitchers are getting whittled down. Gone today are Chris Smith, Charlie Haeger, Dan Cortes, and Manny Delcarmen. With all due respect to this quartet though, I wonder who goes next. These aren't terribly interesting cuts.

Chris Smith looked like AAA depth all along, and now he officially is.

Charlie Haeger, a longshot to begin with, was hurt to start spring training.

Dan Cortes couldn't throw strikes.

I suppose Manny Delcarmen is a little bit interesting, but he struggled to find the strike zone in camp too. If he stays in the M's system, they might want to think about stretching him out as a starter, just to see what happens. The odds are that it won't work, but he has three pitches he can get over the plate, and he doesn't have the kind of velocity to overpower batters anymore. At the very least, starting might help Delcarmen better develop ways to induce weak contact.

Honestly though, less than a week into the Cactus league schedule, I didn't see any of these guys making the roster. What's more interesting to me is who hasn't been cut.

Looming Roster Crunch

It is Lent right now, so the number 40 comes up.

Certainly, it's going around the M's front office too.

Picking the 25 players that open the season with the M's is going to be interesting enough, though most of the wide open battles are between relatively little-known players vying for relatively low impact positions. It's hard to get all that pumped up because of it.

However, the real interesting battle will be with the 40-man roster. There are going to be players cut, and some might grab headlines.

Here is the issue: the Mariners don't think many of their younger players are ready for the majors yet. So, stopgaps have been brought in as non-roster invitees. A handful of them are very strong candidates to make the roster. However, to be added, they have to also be on the 40-man roster - meaning someone has to get removed.

The MLB Side Of The NFL Lockout

The NFL is somewhere between an ugly disagreement and mild chaos after the NFLPA decertified, clearing the way for a lawsuit from NFL players, subsequently followed by the owners locking the players out. The unrest could, and probably will, last a while. Regular season games certainly are not in jeopardy yet, but they could be before a new agreement is reached.

Why do I bring this up on a baseball blog?

Well, first of all, I bet many of you watch some football. However, this is also baseball's business.