Everyone who follows major-league baseball knows that the Seattle Mariners are out of the playoff hunt already even though we’re not even at the All-Star break yet. For the Mariners, this year was a waste of a season. Whether the moves at general manager, field manager, and pitching coach are the right moves, we’ll have to see; but before that, here are some serious moves I must see during the offseason or earlier:
· First and foremost, get rid of first-baseman Richie Sexson – Release him or trade him; either way, he must be gotten rid of. He is holding this team back and is getting paid way too much.
· Make Jeff Clement the permanent starting catcher – Clement is the better hitter than current starter Kenji Johjima, and he will be a wasted draft pick if he returns and stays in the minor leagues for too long.
· With Clement at catcher, move Kenji Johjima over to first base – The problem with moving Clement is Johjima will still be hanging around. And with a recent contract extension, cutting him isn’t an option. The best choice is to make him replace Sexson at first base.
· Move Ichiro from rightfield back to centerfield – Centerfield is the main outfield position, and moving Ichiro in the first place was pointless. Ichiro has the range to cover centerfield, and moving him back is the right thing to do.
· Make Wladimir Balentien the new starting right fielder – Balentien hasn’t been great when up with the Mariners this year. But he needs playing time, he has a lot of potential.
· Move Brandon Morrow into the pitching rotation – Morrow is another young guy who is booming with potential. Injuries have hurt Morrow; but like Clement, he’s a wasted pick if we don’t see him more.
· Get rid of designated hitter Jose Vidro – Vidro has not been contributing this season, and he is not consistent enough as a fielder either.
· With Vidro gone, move Raul Ibanez from leftfield to designated hitter – Ibanez is a marginal fielder at best, and at the age of 36, that leg of his won’t be getting quicker anytime soon. However, what he does have is power and the ability to drive in runs.
· Find a replacement at leftfield – With a big hole at leftfield, the Mariners have two main options here. Try to find a free agent replacement, or move an existing Mariner there. Possible replacements include Willie Bloomquist or Jeremy Reed.
· And finally, keep Miguel Batista in the bullpen – With Morrow in the pitching rotation, that means a guy is out. And that guy will be Batista. Batista is much better working out of the bullpen as a reliever rather than a starter.
With that said, I think those 10 propositions should add a number of wins to the Mariners count next season. However, that is only the tip of the iceberg and only a few solutions to the many problems the Mariners currently have. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.
seattleseahawk
If the truth be known why not just get the Mariners' management to make a call to Clay Bennett to see if he'd be willing to take the team of the present ownership's hands ?
Moving the franchise to Oklahoma mightn't be such a bad thing afterall ? Given their abominal play since the season started.
I can't say I disagree with any of those suggestions. I think Morrow's successes this season coming out of the 'pen should not be fiddled with, however - why fix what ain't broke?
Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched well enough in his first start and pitched very effectively in his second one, so he may be a better alternative to replace Batista in the rotation than Morrow at this point.
I've said all along that the best outfielder should play center, and that player is by far Ichiro. Playing Bloomquist in RF and Reed in LF, however, is better at this point until Balentien proves he is worthy of a starting spot in the lineup - both Reed and Bloomy are hitting the ball good enough right now, and Balentien needs some polishing first.
K-Joh at first would work well, I think. Even though he's right-handed, he has good blocking skills and would do well at 1B. The other option, as long as K-Joh is going to be in the lineup, is to keep him at catcher and move Clement to 1B - Clement is the inferior fielder at catcher, and although he is young and represents some of the future promise for this club, he is a detriment behind the plate compared to Johjima. Ibanez is another option at first, too.
I'm sure Pelekoudas is trying to move plkayers like Sexson, Vidro and Batista. But, there aren't many takers for those players' services right now, probably, and it's a much more difficult task than anyone here can imagine.
Be patient, or at least try to be. The team has started playing better baseball, and even though he isn't hitting dingers right and left, Richie is hitting pr
viagra jesgamble
I am a FOX Sports Blogger who is a fan of the Seattle Seahawks. My primary interest is the NFL, I also enjoy the Arena Football League (AFL) and I follow-up on the NBA and MLB. I live on Mercer Island, Washington; across from the city of Seattle. Send any comments or complaints to:
chad.johnson. bengals@gmail .com (I'm an Ocho Cinco fan).
