40 hits, 13 runs, 3 HR allowed in 42 innings so far. Can’t really ask much more from Carlos Silva this year. He has easily been the most pleasant surprise of the first month, along with the resurgence of JoLo’s bat, Beltre’s general awesomeness and Felix’s continued dominance.
As has been well-documented already, however, the offense sputtered through another eight innings before finding it within themselves to put some runs on the scoreboard. Brad Wilkerson’s best game as a Mariner (3-3 with a walk, raising his season average to .232) was also his last, as news broke this hour that he’s been cut (OK, “designated for assignment,” but I’d be surprised if any other team takes him, and he won’t go to AAA, either) by the team. Greg Norton, the currently-hot-hitting DH candidate, was also DFA’d, making room for Wlad Balentien and Jeff Clement. I guess we won’t have to deal with a summer of “Free Wlad and Jeff!” signs at Safeco, which is good. I disagree with the way that this has been handled, however, mostly in the cutting of Norton. We’ve currently got a pair of basestealing “specialists” (Bloomquist and Cairo), a 7-man bullpen (of which only 3 guys get regular work), and NO BACKUP OUTFIELDERS.
In the past two and a half weeks (of a season that’s only four weeks old, mind you), the Mariners have gone from having three regular outfielders (Ichiro, Ral, Wilkerson) and a pair of backups (Morse, Jimerson). On April 12, they DFA’d Jimerson to make room for the switch-hitting Norton on the bench. That left them with four viable OF candidates. The next day, April 13, Mike Morse injured himself awkwardly diving for a ball in a blowout defeat. That pushed Bloomquist into the backup OF role, a position that he has no business playing. With today’s DFA of Wilkerson, they keep Bloomquist in that role while completely ignoring the fact that Wlad is only a week removed from what was originally thought to be a serious knee injury. What happens if (knock on wood) the knee acts up on him after his third start in RF? Does Bloomquist become the everyday starter? Does Bavasi take a serious look at someone like Kenny Lofton? I hope that doesn’t happen. I hope that Wlad comes up and hits .850 with 8 HR in his first 4 games. It just seems like poor roster construction to me, and as a Mariners fan I’m prepared to expect the worst.
But here’s to the best. Here’s to the future today. Today it’s Cliff Lee vs. JAR-ROD, the battle of “No HR” and “Lots O’ HR.” Go M’s offense!
