Catchers

I think I’ve held pretty steady in my summation of how the catcher positions would shake out for the 2010 Seattle Mariners. Basically, I’ve assumed that Rob Johnson is on the roster as long as he’s healthy and that Adam Moore could play his way onto the roster, but wouldn’t be rushed.  In posts where I’ve put up sample rosters and lineups I’ve usually gone with Josh Bard as the second catcher with the thinking that Moore has to play his way on to the roster, while Bard just has to be steady.

Just because I went with Bard on those posts doesn’t mean I prefer him to Moore, because nothing could be further from the truth.  I love what Moore has done the last few seasons and he has been one of my favorite prospects since I started blogging after the 2007 season.  And if I were running the team, I probably wouldn’t bother making him play his way on as I think he’s just about as Major League ready as he’s going to get.  But I played it safe because GM Jack Zduriencik went out and got those guys for a reason, and manager Don Wakamatsu has talked about the need of a veteran backstop.

It’s still early, but Moore is playing his way onto the team.

So far this spring Moore is hitting the cover off the ball and turning heads with his improved defense, all after making major strides on defense last season in terms of footwork, managing pitchers and game calling.  In the one game I’ve been able to see so far he looks like he’s in great physical condition as well, for what that’s worth.

Again, we have a long ways to go, but Moore may have his foot in the door.

Plenty more on Moore when his 40-man, Player by Player post comes up in the next week or so.

Utility infielder

All offseason the assumption was that Jack Hannahan was going to be the primary utility infielder.  He’s still in the lead, but a groin injury (thanks, Don Wakamatsu, for making him catch all that time) that has kept him out of action for over a week and will keep him off the field for at least another week is opening the door for others.

Josh Wilson is still around, but Matt Tuiasosopo is the interesting one.

Hannahan is an elite defensive third baseman, and is expected to do more than hold his own at first, second and short in that role.  But offense is a major problem for him.  He has a great eye and some power, but he hasn’t been able to make much contact.  All the other pieces are in place for him to be a big league starter, but he makes such little contact that he’s not a guy you feel comfortable with in the batting lineup.

Tui also has contact issues, but he still is the better bet to contribute offensively at the big league level.  But Tui isn’t much of a defender.  He’s gotten better at third, can get by second and has started re-playing some shortstop this spring, but probably can’t be considered at Hannahan’s level at any of those spots.

So does Wak want a guy that can play very good defense at the corners and solid defense up the middle but isn’t going to do much with the stick, or does he want a guy that can thump the ball a little bit but is merely passable (if that) in emergency innings across the infield?

I’d go with defense, but it’s not my call.  Granted, I’m biased.  Hannahan is one of my favorite Mariners.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of reviews Tuiasosopo gets on defense this spring and whether or not Hannahan leaves the door open.

Of course, this is a non issue if Hannahan could just improve his contact percentages and get healthy.  Let’s go with that one.

Mike Sweeney and the bench

No one except for Mike Sweeney expected him to make a serious run for the 25-man roster this spring.  The team brought in Casey Kotchman and Ryan Garko this offseason, and the Mariners opted to offer Sweeney a coaching position before allowing him to come to camp as a player.  But Sweeney is healthy and hitting the living crap out of the ball so far this spring and making it interesting.

Given Sweeney’s role in helping turn around the clubhouse last season, many fans want Sweeney on the team. And I would too, under different circumstances.  I’d have liked him to take that coaching gig.  Maybe next year.

That’s not to say Sweeney can’t still hit, because he can.  He raked once he got healthy last season and if he can stay healthy in 2010 I see no reason why he can’t have a productive season.

But I have a hard time seeing Sweeney make the team barring an injury to another 1B/DH type.

For one, he’s an injury risk himself.  With a team featuring injury prone guys like Ken Griffey, Milton Bradley, Jack Wilson and Eric Byrnes, Seattle could really get in trouble if one or (god forbid) two guys went down in a game.  And because he’s an injury risk, he isn’t likely to get much play time in the field.  At least, he shouldn’t if you want to keep him healthy enough to contribute offensively.  Back injuries are not difficult to aggravate (which is one reason Seattle was reluctant to commit to Russ Branyan).

And two, who are you dropping from the roster to make room for Sweeney?  As far as I can tell, the only ways to do it would be to drop an outfielder (likely Ryan Langerhans), which would really handcuff the team on days where Bradley is DHing and Griffey is on the bench.  Either that or he replaces one of Garko or Kotchman, which seems unlikely given their respective upsides and the team’s investment compared to Sweeney.  They view Kotchman as an elite defender and a guy they can turn around offensively, and Garko as a potential everyday first baseman, according to various interviews floating around.

My preferred bench has stayed the same so far this offseason:

vs. RHP

Hannahan (utility infielder)
Byrnes (utility outfielder, pinch runner)
Garko (first baseman, emergency outfielder)
Langerhans (utility outfielder)/Griffey (pinch hitter, emergency outfielder)*
Whatever catcher isn’t starting

* Depending on whether Bradley is in left or at DH

vs. LHP

Hannahan (utility infielder)
Langerhans (utility outfielder)
Kotchman (first baseman, pinch hitter)
Griffey (pinch hitter, emergency outfielder)
Whatever catcher isn’t starting

For those of you calling for Sweeney to return to Seattle, where do you see him realistically fitting?