A lot of people around the blogosphere are in love with the idea of signing Rocco Baldelli this offseason to fill one of the Mariners’ outfield vacancies.

As you know, Baldelli was supposed to be a one of the game’s next stars after being picked 6th overall in 2000 and showing promise in his first two MLB seasons.  Unfortunately, a string of injuries stalled his rise to the top, and he missed all of 2005 and much of 2006 with various injuries, including a ligament tear in his knee and Tommy John surgery.  He also dealt with nagging hamstring injuries before his career was put in jeopardy after being diagnosed with a mitochondrial condition.

While the exact condition hasn’t been 100% confirmed, Baldelli and his doctors think it is mitochondrial myopathy, a disease in which there is no cure.  The condition causes Baldelli’s muscles to cramp or seize up, even after moderate excursion.

Because of it, Baldelli has to limit his workouts and warmups and simply can’t play anywhere near 100% when it isn’t absolutely necessarily (for example: running out grounders).

So, would Baldelli be a good pickup for Seattle?  Well, yes.

Many are categorizing Baldelli as a risk-reward type of player, but there won’t be any risk involved at all.  Any contract extended to Baldelli will be short and incentive laden.  If he never makes it onto the field, Seattle would be out a bit of pocket change and a man short in a year that they weren’t expecting to contend anyway.  What risk?

But can Baldelli stay on the field?

As mentioned at the top of the post, many Mariner fans are hoping to see Baldelli out in Safeco Field’s expansive outfield, but how often would he be able to play out there?  Upon returning to the Rays in 2008 he played just 7 appearances in right and left field (36.3 innings), while playing the majority of his 28 games from the DH spot.  When he started (DH or otherwise) he rarely played all 9 innings.  He didn’t start more than 2 days consecutively at any given point, and only once played on more than three consecutive days.

With that, I think anyone expecting to see Baldelli patrolling the outfield on a near daily basis is getting a little ahead of themselves.  If he comes to Seattle he will probably DH, which is fine because we have a vacancy there as well, but won’t be an everyday player.  I wouldn’t expect more than 350-400 plate appearances for him, and that is probably pushing it.

Baldelli would be a nice role player to add into the mix, and the consensus is that Seattle would have an inside track in negotiations because they’d be able to offer him more playing time than other clubs that view him as a super-sub. If he finds a way to stay on the field more often than not Seattle would end up with one helluva bargain.

I am all for a Baldelli acquisition, I just think that some people would be expecting too much from him.