Yesterday I wrote a big long post about Rod Barajas, responding to the week-old rumor from FOX’s Jon Paul Morosi that the Mariners have been kicking the tires on him.  When I was done I deleted it because, well, it’s Rod Barajas.

But I may as well mention something, so here’s the skinny:

Barajas is not a good hitter.  He doesn’t hit for average and he doesn’t draw walks.  In fact, he had the worst OBP last season of any hitter with at least 400 plate appearances.  At .258 he was lower than Yuniesky Betancourt, Willy Tavares and, well, everyone.  But he does have some offensive value thanks to his power, however.  Despite hitting just .226 and sporting that embarrassing OBP, he managed to slug over .400.  He hit 19 homers and 19 doubles.

But while that power helped him be a more valuable hitter than guys like Betancourt and Tavares, it was still his worst offensive season of his career.  And while all his projections predict a slight rebound, it’s hard to get excited about his offensive game going forward.  He’ll be 34 years old, for one.  Secondly, last season was his biggest power year since 2005 when he was a Texas Ranger.  If he were a Mariner, you could discount his power even more.

Bottom line, Barajas doesn’t offer much of an offensive upgrade over what Seattle already has.  While he has more thump in his bat than Adam Moore, Josh Bard, Rob Johnson and Eliezer Alfonso, he doesn’t offer much more when considering the whole offensive package.  CHONE has Moore creating the most runs in 2010 with Barajas, Alfonso and Bard bunched up a notch below and Johnson bringing up the rear.

But Barajas does trump the in-house group in terms of big league experience and defense, which is something.  And he could hold his own offensively if he caught mostly against left handed pitching, against whom he OPS’d a much more respectable .793 last season.

If Barajas comes aboard I will look forward to better defensive play and some home run power at the back of the lineup.  If not, no big loss.