Curiously wondering what the plan is...

by Cthaller59 on Nov 5, 2009 8:11 PM PST Comment 12 comments

I'm going to start this off by saying thank you for everyone's amazing insight. I have always been an average fan (not really into advanced statistics) until i started reading the insights of Jeff and Co. My question has to do with the future. What is the plan for Ackley? Saunders seems to have found a home in left. Gutierrez is an absolute stud in center. And, of course Ichiro in right. I know Ackley played first at UNC but he is a projected center fielder. Is Saunders going to be the odd man out? Jeff compared him to Randy Winn a while ago and seems pretth high on him. I guess this is a good problem to have. It would be awesome to hear your guys thoughts on where things might sit come September call ups and how our outfield might look in the future. Sorry if the post isn't up to par with the site, I was never one to be great with words.

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In my amatuer opinion, I think Ackley would go to left in Gutierrez continued to be a stud.

It’s my impression that as both a pretty safe bet and a guy with high upside, he’d displace Saunders on upside alone.

The real answer, I would assume, is we don’t really know and neither do the M’s. How the players play the next year or so will go a long way to determining where Ackley plays.

by BrettJMiller on Nov 5, 2009 8:20 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Like Brett was saying, it's never a bad thing to have extra talented players in your system

with regards to his major league future, I think we simply have to assume that GMZ will figure out who his three best outfielders are when Ackley is ready for the show, and go from there. If I had to guess right now, I would say that Franklin ends up getting moved, since he’s unlikely to be able to maintain his incredible defensive prowess

by seattlebruin on Nov 5, 2009 8:25 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I have this nagging feeling that Gutierrez will be the odd man out as well.

It’s not something we have to worry about until 2011 anyway.

by Manzanillos Cup on Nov 5, 2009 9:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

even if Guti still is on the rise?

I figure if his bat picks up any and his defense doesn’t drop too far how could he be displaced?

by Cthaller59 on Nov 5, 2009 11:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's a really, really, remote possibility.

But, as such, is part of the reason why the plan for now is just to wait. Saunders hasn’t had a full season yet, Gutierrez hasn’t had a second full season in CF, you never know if Ichiro will fall off a cliff and Ackley hasn’t even played regular pro ball. It’s way too early to fret about having four quality OFers.

by Matthew on Nov 6, 2009 12:03 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

It is an interesting situation, indeed.

Well we all know here that it’s hard to project how things will happen going forward, but Gutierrez and Ichiro have been two of the healthiest guys in baseball. So lets assume that they’re both healthy throughout the 2010 season.
I think what we see is Saunders starting in LF in 2010. If he performs really well and Ackley moves along as expected, Saunders could be traded during the next offseason to make room for Dustin.

So many things can happen between now and then, though. Ichiro or Gutierrez could get injured, Saunders could absolutely bust out, Ackley could take a little longer to get ready, etc. There’s a decent chance Gutierrez is the one that’s displaced, too, if Saunders’ bat plays out well in LF and Ackley shows he can man center.

Really, a ton of things could happen. It’s hard to guess how it will play out now, but things will become pretty clear pretty quickly as we get further down this road. If it’s still a hard decision when it comes down to it, that means we’re in a good position.

Last.fm me!

by lailaihei on Nov 5, 2009 8:28 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

The plan is to wait and see where things are in a year.

There’s just too much uncertainty right now.

by Matthew on Nov 5, 2009 9:46 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hey I'm here!

I slept in, what did I miss?

http://sodomojo.com/

by Taylor H on Nov 12, 2009 2:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

For this to be a real problem...

a few things have to happen in the next few years. First, Saunders will have to develop into a quality major league starter. Second, Ichiro and Gutierrez will have to maintain their production for the next 2-3 years. Third, Ackley devlopes quickly enough to push one of the three quality OFs we already have as early as 2012 (Ichiro’s contract will be up and Gutierrez will be out from team control after the 2012 season), and flashes enough defensive ability to handle CF. If Ackley can’t handle center, he either waits out the end of Ichiro’s contract – he’s not going anywhere – or supplants Saunders in LF.

If it does become an issue, it depends on whether or not the Ms are in contention, because Saunders is under club control through either 2014 or 2015 (not sure if he’s down a year of service time because of his 2009 time with the club) while Gutierrez will be a FA after 2012. If the Ms aren’t a contender by then, Gutierrez probably gets dealt in his last year of arbitration. If they are, it’s probably in large part because Guti has become a legitimate star, in which case the team will probably ride out the 2012 season and possibly even try to talk extension, since Guti will only be 29 when he hits free agency. In that case, either Saunders gets dealt or the Ms will be content with having 4 very good outfielders on their roster and getting Ackley as many ABs as they can, and will evaluate their options the 2012 offseason.

So yeah, a lot would have to happen for this to be an issue. There’s no way it’s even a discussion until mid-2011 at the very earliest, and that’s if absolutely everything goes right in Ackley’s development. If it does become an issue in a few years, it would be a very, very nice problem to have.

by slamcactus on Nov 8, 2009 12:56 PM PST reply actions 0 recs