Hickey: 

Wakamatsu, who replaced Riggleman, said Thursday that Lopez could be his starting first baseman on Opening Day.

It's all about the defense and helping the pitching staff, Wakamatsu said, pointing to the case of reliever Roy Corcoran. The right-hander gets most of his outs on ground balls, which is normally a good thing -- but not when he's pitching in front of a porous infield.
...
"The fact is that we have to catch more ground balls."

I don't really have anything to add to what Dave already said this morning, so go there for the numerical analysis. The bottom line is that moving Jose Lopez to first base would only address one issue at the expense of another. It's not a move that I feel would be in the organization's long-term best interests.

But at the same time, Jesus, look at some of the stuff that comes up in this article.

-manager cites pitcher's GB/FB instead of saying "I went with Mateo because we needed a double play"

-manager discusses how important it is for the team to play better infield defense

-manager expresses willingness to move established 2B to another position in order to accomodate a better glove

-manager mentions Jason Barlett's defense as a major driving force behind Tampa Bay's turnaround

It's jaw-dropping is what it is. This isn't the sort of move I want the team to make, but the thought process behind it is unlike anything we ever would've seen from the Bavasi administration. It's a whole new path. The Seattle Mariners of today may have a logo and parts of a roster in common with the Seattle Mariners of 2008, but the people in charge couldn't be any more different if they tried. Defense. They're talking about real life, actual defense. This is everything I've ever dreamed of, and so much more.

I feel like someone's stolen my identity. And that's not a complaint. I don't know what it's like to root for a team like this, but I can't wait to find out. Did it hurt, Zduriencik? Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?