From Hickey:

Wakamatsu, the man who replaced Riggleman, said Thursday that Lopez could be his starting first baseman on Opening Day.

It’s all about the defense and helping the pitching staff, Wakamatsu said, pointing to the case of reliever Roy Corcoran. The right-hander gets most of his outs on ground balls, which is normally a good thing — but not when he’s pitching in front of a porous infield.

Interesting stuff.

We all know that Jose Lopez has no interest in becoming a first baseman, but we’ve also heard that Don Wakamatsu isn’t the type of guy to give in to players.  Lopez is going to play where he’s penciled in on the lineup card. For what it’s worth, Lopez was a very good defensive first baseman at the end of last season, despite the baptism by fire.  He could be great with a Spring Training to work on fundamentals.  If his bat continues to progress, Lopez might at very least be an average first baseman with the stick, though that investigation can be held on a later day.

Pushing Lopez to first shakes up some other parts of the lineup.  Does Branyan become the primary DH, forcing Jeff Clement to fight for time with Kenji Johjima behind the plate?  Or perhaps Branyan moves to left field, possibly platooning with Wlad Balentien?  There are a lot of other ways to shuffle things around, but that is the least of our worries right now.

The first thing that popped into my head upon reading this is that Wakamatsu is attempting to open up a spot for free agent Jerry Hairston.  We’ve already heard that Seattle has been in talks with Hairston, and that Hairston was a favorite of Waka back with the Rangers.  Second base is Hairston’s natural position, and he is indeed a plus defender there, so it seems like that is what Wakamatsu’s pushing for.  His bat wouldn’t be a great fit in the lineup, however.

Other options would include acquiring a shortstop and moving Yuniesky Betancourt to second base.  I talked about some potentially available shortstops early this morning.  This would upgrade the defense, but might not be great for the lineup.

Or they could sign a different free agent second baseman.  Orlando Hudson is the most appealing of the bunch, and would give the Mariners a defensive upgrade and a legitimate number-2 hitter.  However, Seattle would lose a 2nd round pick if they signed him, but then again the market for him has been so flat that he might come at a real bargain.  More on him later.

Other potentially appealing free agents might include Mark Grudzielanek, David Eckstein or Ray Durham, although none of them really provide the defensive upgrade Wakamatsu is looking for.

I’ll be writing more about this, but I thought I’d get at least this much out to hear what you all think about it.