Johjima & Clement

by ~ December 21st, 2008 at 3:29 am

I don’t know about you, but I’m curious as hell to find out how GM Jack Zduriencik and his new coaching staff plan on balancing the playing time of Kenji Johjima and Jeff Clement.

Originally it was thought that Joh-K and Clement would flip flop back and forth between the catcher and DH positions like they did for much of the 2008 season, but at this point the chances of such an arrangement seem pretty slim.

Currently, Clement is on top of the Mariners depth chart at DH, but it’s no secret that Zduriencik is looking to add another bat to the lineup.  I think there is a good chance that Seattle does indeed add that bat, whether it is a premier guy like Adam Dunn or a fallback like Junior Griffey.  Based on who’s available, that bat is almost certainly going to end up at DH, pushing Clement out.

There are several scenarios where Seattle could add a player and still get both Johjima and Clement in the lineup, but for the time being lets assume that one will be starting and the other will be sitting for most ballgames.

I don’t think there is an in-between when it comes to distributing playing time for these two.  No one will benefit enough from a 50-50 time split to make it worthwhile.  The organization has to commit to something.

They could make Johjima the starting catcher in hopes that he rediscovers his 2006-2007 form.  If he did that, perhaps his value rises enough that some team might be willing to take on the bulk of his contract next offseason, but even then it would be a tough sell.  Johjima looks like he’s going to be among the top 5 highest paid catchers for the duration of his contract.

Meanwhile, Clement either rides the bench, collecting a start behind the plate about once a week and maybe getting a few at bats at DH here and there, or he can be optioned back to Tacoma to work on his defense.  However, sending him back to AAA isn’t a good idea for various reasons.

One, he has absolutely nothing to prove at that level offensively after scorching the PCL to the tune of a .335/.455/.675 slash line in 48 games last season.  Giving him more time at that level might cause him to become complacent,and possibly develop bad habits, which is what I think may have happened to Wlad Balentien in 2008.

Two, Clement would not be spending any time at DH in Tacoma like he did the past three seasons.  As stated, the only reason he would be down there would be to work on his defense.  With Clement hogging all the time behind the plate, catching prospect Adam Moore would be forced to spend most of his time at DH.  Moore currently looks like he has more defensive potential than Clement, but he still has a lot to work on.  Sending Clement to AAA would hinder Moore’s development.

Three, Clement is a big leaguer! He’s 25 years old and shouldn’t be spending significant time in AAA for a fourth season in a row.

The alternative to Johjima starting would obviously be to give the starting job to Clement.  In doing this, the organization would be essentially giving up on Joh-K; abandoning all hope that he can be moved and accepting the fact that they’ll have one of the highest paid catchers in all of baseball as their backup to a player making less than a million bucks.

Which of these two options do you choose?  Do you hinder Clement’s development for a year in hopes that Johjima can make himself tradeable?  Or do you give up on Kenji and live with having a backup catcher that plays about once a week making $8M (about $160K per game)?

Personally, I don’t think Johjima can boost his value enough next season to dupe and team into trading for him.  I think I would go with option B and just live with that financial burden.

Of course, there are other options.  Seattle could split the time 50-50, but that wouldn’t be enough to showcase Johjima or develop Clement.  They could cut Johjima.  In that scenario the team would still have the financial burden, but they’d be able to go with the young catching tandem of Clement and Rob Johnson.  Or they could trade Clement while his value as a young, up and coming, power hitting catcher from the left side of the plate is still intact, banking on Moore to become a serviceable starter.

This really is a mess, but I hope Zduriencik and his staff have something up their sleeves.

«
»

  • bakomariner

    First off, let me preface this by saying that Kenji did a great job, and it was exciting to see the first Japanese import catcher in MLB history not only play for the Ms, but play well…

    But I think he’s done…Sexson, Vidro done…so here is what I would do…

    While he is off playing with Team Japan, I tell him to head back to the island with them when it’s over…I would either sell/trade him to a team in Japan, or just eat the money and cut him…he’s done a good job, but his contract wasn’t on Z’s watch and he shouldn’t have to deal with it…

    Next, you resign Burke to be the back-up to Clement…Jeff starts against righties, Burke against lefties…you might say a platoon would hurt Jeff’s development, but with the bad knees, the days off would be good in the long run…

    You leave Moore and Johnson in the minors for fine-tuning…if one proves he is ready, you call him up at the all-star break and then either demote Burke to keep around for injuries, or if he doesn’t want it, trade or release him…

    We have a lot of GOOD catchers, and one BAD one in Kenji…why keep him around?

    Love the site…it’s been added to my daily reads with USSMariner and Prospect Insider…keep up the great articles…

  • raffish

    Johjima needs to go, and if someone wants to give us any $$ for him, great. We’ve suffered with two really bad years of Miguel Batista (ok, one of them is coming up), for about the same money. We can lump another wasted investment.

    Johnson should back up Clement in Seattle, with Moore in AAA. Clement sees the bulk of the starts with Johnson spelling him. On his off days, Clement should DH when it makes sense, giving the full time DH, (whomever we pick up), a rest.

    Clement shouldn’t go to waste. Let’s find out what he can do. If he can’t cut it at catcher, we trade him to someone who believes they can.

    Then we usher in the Adam Moore era.

  • chris d

    I believe that Clement has always hit poorly when he first arrived at a minor league level, AAA included. He should have had more DH time last year instead of Vidro, how ridiculous. Same for Balentine, more playing time. Making the jump to ML level is very very difficult and both need some time to adjust.

  • BoiseM

    I think you start the season with a straight platoon of Clement and Johjima. Clement gets the lion’s share of playing time…occasionally getting a start against back of the rotation lefties.

    Meanwhile you do anything/everything possible to move Johjima while still saving face for him…as much as that is possible…include him as a throw in on a deal and quietly eat some of his contract.

    Sign Burke to a major/minor leage contract, start Johnson in Tacoma and give Moore a ST invite and send him to DoubleAA to start the season where he gets more PT.

    Clement gets until the ASB to prove that he deserves to stick or doesn’t.

    At that point you make the decision between Moore and Johnson as to whom is the future backup/replacement for Clement.

    Burke serves as “Crash Davis”/insurance against injury or a complete flop by Clement and Johjima.

  • http://addictedtoquack.com Quinn

    The bad news is this is kind of a rock and a hard place.

    The good news is, I think we all can feel much more comfortable with whatever GM Zoinks will do than what Bavasi would’ve done during his tenure.

    I think last year was a down year and Kenji should be given a good look this year to see if he’s feeling 2006, or 2008. If the former, Clement should/could get some good time at DH/1B depending on signings and what happens in the end with Lopez. If the latter, I see no reason as to why he doesn’t deserve benching. He may be making a ridiculous paycheck to ride the pine, but at least his riding the pine in this situation would be helping a lot more than him actually playing (and sucking.)

  • Walrus

    Unfortunately, I think the die is cast for Clement.
    2 knee surgeries in 3 years, and he still needs a lot of work – but his knees can not take the pounding.
    Clement needs to be traded, if Z can still get anything good for him. I just hope there are teams out there that view Clement still as a catcher.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    A lot of you are awfully optimistic about being able to move Johjima, but where are you moving him to? (I’ll add that the Johjima-for-Lugo idea I had awhile ago doesn’t seem all that realistic the more I think about it. Boston is smart enough not to make that deal.)

    Also, I like Jaime Burke in the Crash Davis role as some of you have mentioned, but Rob Johnson has nothing left to prove in AAA. He’s not expected to become a starter, so there is no reason for him not to be the backup at the big league level if there’s room. I love Burkey as much as the next guy, but it is unnecessary.

  • Stranded Mariner

    I don’t think Jeff Clement is a lost cause who should be traded to clear this horrible logjam at catcher. His defense certainly needs to improve, particularly with respect to throwing out baserunners. If he does not improve enough, or if his knees are an issue/concern, I would really like to see him moved to first base.

    Regardless, let’s not give up on him! He’s a power-hitting lefty — perfect for Safeco. And while his overall numbers were not good last year, we cannot forget that he really started coming on in the final months before his surgery, hitting .325 in August with over half of his RBI’s for the whole season. He struggled for his first few months, but lots of rookies do.

    I just know that if we trade him now, it will have been too early and he’ll go on to great things with another team.

  • Walrus

    Stranded,
    I wish I had your optimism, but …
    I think the best we can hope for is that Z gets good trade value for Clement now.
    I highly doubt that Clement EVER hits enough to be as “good” as Branyan, let alone an effective and productive 1B / DH type.
    Oh how I hope that I am wrong.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    Yes, that’s the whole problem that the Jeff Clement debate is centered around. If he can manage to improve his defense and stay healthy behind the plate, he projects as a great hitting catcher. However, that same offensive production would only be about average from the first base position.

    Now, you can get away with that if you’ve got some major offensive production from a position that is typically weak hitting, like 2B, SS or CF, which Seattle could have in Gutierrez and Lopez (not to mention guys like Triunfel and Halman), but we’ll see.

    I would love for him to get the majority of the starts behind the plate next season for better or worse, but obviously Kenji’s presence throws a big wrench into everything.

  • Vidya

    I think Zduriencik is just giving his manager as many options as he can. In the end it will be up to the players to make the decision. Both will get a chance in ST and at the start of the regular season.

    I’m not assuming “Z” will sign either Dunn or Griffey. Right now my bet is on Clement to get the most starts at catcher in 2009, but it is not a bet with real money.

    Getting another player as a primary DH certainly does mean that Burke is likely to be traded or released, but not until late March.