12/11/13 Errata

Did you know:

Justin Smoak DESTROYED right-handers last year? It’s true. 134 wRC+ against last year and it might not be a fluke. Smoak has generally hit right-handers better than lefties. Sure, he had an even split in 2010 and the trend was reversed during his bizarre 2012. But, generally speaking, the platoon designation on Smoak could be appropriately applied. He could be a valuable player if deployed correctly.

It is time to stop thinking of Justin as a player who has a chance to ‘grow into his potential.’ Continuing to do this does both him and his team a disservice.

Deploy Smoak as the left-handed half of a platoon and your team could be cooking with some seriously undervalued gas.

::smug:: Well, it’s now obvious that the Mariners have learned their lesson about deploying resources appropriately. When it came to Mike Carp, they watched the BoSox turn a puzzling player into a key cog of a championship machine when they gave him a niche. But the cleats are on the other foot now because the Mariners have acquired Logan Morrison to platoon with Justi...huh?

What? Logan Morrison has the same platoon split? Only not as good against righties? And still terrible against lefties?

Oh.

Well crapbaskets.

 

AhCHOO!

Erryone’s saying, “Don’t sign Choo! 7 years, $140 mil. Is way too expensive!” ::fake swoon::

Look gobbledonkeys. Sign Choo, overpay him even, and don’t look back.

1)      The Mariners still have plenty of money to spend. Overpaying Choo would not hinder them financially now or in the future.

2)      What else are they going to spend it on? Three Brad Hawpes and a Jon Garland? You’ll still have plenty of room to extend Seager.

3)      Dude is money at the plate. He projects as a 130 wRC+ for next year and has a skillset that ages well.

4)      He sure wouldn’t be blocking anybody. We have no outfielders in the Majors OR the Minors. You want Abe Almonte holding down a line-up spot for a pennant race? Depend on Saunders or Ackley?

Sign Shin-Soo Choo.

Additional moves I would pursue as of today:

• Trade Nick Franklin for Country Breakfast (Alternatively, find a platoon partner for LoMo)

• Trade Erasmo Ramirez for Colby Rasmus

• Sign Tanaka
• Find a legitimate alternative to Zunino (???)

That gives us field of:

		2014 wRC+ (projected)
Ca	Zunino	90
1B	Butler	114
2B	Cano	131
3B	Seager	111
SS	Miller	104
LF	Choo	130
CF	Rasmus	110
RF	Hart	118
DH	LoMo	109

That's a lot of triple-digits in there. Tell me we couldn't go to war in the AL West with that.