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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/m ... saund.html

In his place, the Mariners have called up Class AAA prospect Michael Saunders, who has been hitting very well in the minors since returning from off-season shoulder surgery. The Mariners could have called Saunders up a while ago, when Endy Chavez went down, but wanted to see him progress more as a fielder. Also, his arbitration and free-agent clock might have been triggered a year early had he been activated before the break. Now, that's no longer a concern.

Lets hope Saunders proves himself.

He was 4th among top prospects for the week on Baseball America so he's been swinging a pretty good bat. Not sure if he's 100% healthy so i think we'll see him at his best come next spring. Seems all the young guys are on a pretty short leash there so i hope he gets a chance through the end of the year to show what he can do.

With Saunders and Langerhans both being LH batters you wonder if Griffey's DHing days are over. I'd use him as a spot player and late inning PH. Time to come to grips with Griffey not being part of this team going forward.

Griffey should have been turned into a PH a long while ago. He's been beyond horrible. Wak was even throwin him out against lefties there for a while and I have no idea while. I'd rather see Balentin, Woodward, or anyone besides Griffey at the plate.

Hopefully Saunders gets an opportunity. I'd hate to see him spot start for a bit and then just get sent back down.

I was really pulling for him to hit that one out yesterday. Admitedly i havent seen him play a ton except for an occasional game with the Rainiers and his time with the Canadian Olympic team but hopefully he can progress and be a Brad Hawpe type player down the road.

Forthwith, the lineup should be:

Ichiro rf
Gutierrez cf
Saunders lf
Branyan 3b
Lopez 2b
Carp 1b
Clement dh
Johnson c
Cedeno ss

And I'm starting to think it should stay that way even if Beltre returns. Wipe the slate clean on the Bavasi era and move on.

Ex-hippie wrote:Forthwith, the lineup should be:

Ichiro rf
Gutierrez cf
Saunders lf
Branyan 3b
Lopez 2b
Carp 1b
Clement dh
Johnson c
Cedeno ss

And I'm starting to think it should stay that way even if Beltre returns. Wipe the slate clean on the Bavasi era and move on.

I could very easily live with that lineup. If they trade Washburn for a shortstop it could change and in the not to distant future they'll have to make room for Ackley but i'm on board.

In a related move, Wlad the Impaler was DFA'd. Everyone seems to think he'll be traded imminently, but for what?

Too early to tell but first impressions are he's a talented player that seems to know the game. I think he's faced all lefties so far so it's baptism by fire for sure. He might get his chance at a righthander on wednesday when they possibely face Halladay. Oh boy.

The thing about Balentien for me is that he's reached the point where you have to patiently commit to giving him his shot at sticking in the majors, much like Clement in this way. Nonetheless, it's "iffy" as to whether or not such a commitment will pay good dividends for having taken the gamble, again much like it is with Clement.

IMO, being somewhat similar to each other in what you hope from them as hitters, and not exactly being strong defensive players (although Balentien surprised me a few times this year), I think the M's would be best served by picking one of the two in making such a commitment towards, and using the other one in some such package to acquire a player playing a position of need for the team.

If you follow and agree with my logic (perhaps you don't), then the question is which of these two players do you keep, and which of the two do you use in some such trade package? Obviously, keeping Clement would be the hands down choice if we had faith in him defensively as a catcher. But we don't.

With our outfield better set for the immediate future, however, and two aging vets now holding down the DH position, Balentien does seem the logical choice between the two to send off.

That's my thinking at the moment about such things.

Ex-hippie wrote:Forthwith, the lineup should be:

Ichiro rf
Gutierrez cf
Saunders lf
Branyan 3b
Lopez 2b
Carp 1b
Clement dh
Johnson c
Cedeno ss

And I'm starting to think it should stay that way even if Beltre returns. Wipe the slate clean on the Bavasi era and move on.

RF - Ichiro
CF - Gutierrez
2B - Lopez
3B - Branyan
CF - Gutierrez
1B - Carp
DH - Ackley
C - Clement
SS - Escobar

Like the way Saunders moves around in the field and he seems to have some wheels. Dont like that there seems to be a dead zone in his swing (down and in). I'd like to see him get together with the hitting coach and maybe a John Olerud and work that out or there are going to be some problems there.

It seemed like they brought him up about a week too early. Ideally you want to put a young guy, in any sport, in a position to succeed. they threw him right into the fire against Cleveland facing all lefties and then having to face Roy Halladay. Why not just have had him make his major league debut last night in Arlington, probably would have saved a tough week at the dish.

Had a nice series against the Royals. I think the plan for this year is probably continue to do all the little things and get his feet wet. Over the winter he can develope some more upper body strength so he can start driving the ball next year. A real sound player who looks like he can hold down that spot for years to come, ending years of uncertainty in left field.

jumanji wrote:Had a nice series against the Royals. I think the plan for this year is probably continue to do all the little things and get his feet wet. Over the winter he can develope some more upper body strength so he can start driving the ball next year. A real sound player who looks like he can hold down that spot for years to come, ending years of uncertainty in left field.

I hope you're right. I'm still skeptical.

He's got to find a way to deal with those pitches inside. I don't know if his height is an issue but he seems to have a dead zone where he can't turn around quick enough. I think he's a good player but there's some kinks to work out.

He's definitely improving.