Ex-hippie wrote:Basketball Jesus wrote:
2. Clement..."catch most games"! *Insert heavenly chorus*
Johjima... "regular first baseman"! *Insert that comical sound where a record comes to a screeching halt*
If both Clement and Johjima have to be in the lineup, in the short term they're better off with Clement at 1B and Johjima at catcher. Of course, the plan is to build for the future, and it's best to keep Clement's catching skills moving forward.
I don’t know how much a positional switch affects hitting* but, if both are going to be in the line-up regardless, it doesn’t really matter what position they play, does it? Clement at first and Johjima at catcher or Johjima at first and Clement at catcher isn’t going to prevent either from seeing their obligatory 4 AB per game.
Plus, I think this move (i.e. Johjima to first)
is better in the short-term. They get better defense at first and an upgrade (Vidro to Sexson) at DH.
I would say there needs to be a massive roster blood-letting that starts with Sexson and also includes Cairo, Bloomquist, Vidro and Jamie Burke. Five players who should be DFA'd and, presumably, released in 10 days. Call Wlad the Impaler back up along with Victor Diaz, Oswaldo Navarro, Bryan Lahair, and perhaps Charlton Jimerson. (Checking up on Tacoma stats....) Okay, forget Navarro and make it Tug Hulett.
I’m with you on everybody except Bloomquist. He’s a negative force as a hitter but the dude can play every position…even catcher. As a late-inning defensive substitute and emergency short-term fill-in, you can do
much worse for your 25th man.
I am a bit hesitant on the promotions as well. Diaz and Navarro (for his defense) are logical call-ups and I think Jimerson’s already 40-manned but Wlad really needs to work on his hitting and he just wasn’t getting it done in Seattle. Unlike Clement, who never got a proper chance early on, Balentien received 117 PAs and really hasn’t proven much. I know I’m one of his biggest detractors but I still think Wlad can become a serviceable MLBer. He just needs to hone his game. Clement, on the other hand, is as polished as they come.
We should also see what
this kid can do.
*A few years back Jason Giambi made a huge stink about playing DH, saying he hits much better when he’s playing at first. Lo and behold it was sort of true; his OPS was something like 265 points higher when he was in the game at first.
