45-day OUCH clause...AmIRite?

The Mariners have the bottle held vertically and are chugging the dregs of Spring Training 2014. No Nick Franklin trade, a late Nick Franklin appearance in RF, Abe Almonte being shoehorned into the leadoff role, and Brad Miller and Dustin Ackley going absolutely bonkers at the plate. Fun times!

And then there's the pitching.

Felix...he's great. All hail.

Iwakuma...hurt finger ligament. He's just starting his spring training now and won't be ready for, like, a month.

Paxton...see my previous posts about him. Going to throw down. Just watch.

Erasmo...Now's his time to step into his own spotlight. He's gotten his feet and cute little cankles wet and he's held his own. He deserves his spot on this staff.

Walker...After a shoulder brusitis scare he's back to throwing minor-league games. He's also about a month or so away. (Crosses fingers)

That's not a bad starting 5. That's actually pretty good.

However, with two of the five hurt that leaves the the M's scratching for depth. The team knew that this might be coming, though, and thoughtfully planned for a veteran or two to hold down the fort until the better pitchers get...um...better.

Scott Baker was making a comeback bid and, while he wasn't necessarily good, he was serviceab..huh? They assigned him to AAA and, in the process, he asked for his release? Oh. Okay.

Well that's fine because Baker was being beat out anyway by Randy Wolf, ye olde junkballer. He pitched about as admirably as he could have and earned a spot on the team. What a relief becau...huh? They tried to renegotiate and in the process offended Randy Wolf to the point where he asked for his release? Oh. Hm.

Okay...

So that leaves us two spots for some combination of:
Roenis Elias, Brandon Maurer, Blake Beavan, Hector NoeICan'tEvenFinishTypingHisName

Roenis: Got as high as AA last year. My understanding is that he might be good but needs to refine his offspeed pitches and lock in his arm angle. Sounds like the minors would be the most ideal place for him as a professional at this point.

Brandon: My opinion is that he's destined for the bullpen. His mechanics get all loosey-goosey after the second and third times through the lineup.

Blake: Good stuff but can't seem to pitch worth a darn. Beavan gives me a sad face.

Hector: Good stuff but can't pitch worth a darn. There's a subtle distinction between him and Blake. Did you catch it?

NONE of those four should be anywhere close to your starting rotation depth.

Sooo...way to go Mariners. You had the superior options in the palm of your hand and you done f*cked it up in a way that only you could have. Even if it were they right financial and baseball decisions (which I would argue against), now that the 45-day Wolf thing has appeared on Deadspin it seems that it might have been worth it to have not made the decsions they did in order to avoid yet another public relations disaster.

2014 Mariners: We Have No Idea What We're Doing

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