A Jose Lopez Poll
by Matthew on Nov 2, 2010 11:40 AM PDT
in Seattle Mariners Polling
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PrintThanks to the expedited off season, teams only have five days to negotiate with their outgoing free agents and more importantly for the Mariners, options must be decided on this week as well. The Mariners have four such options to decide on.
Jose Lopez has a team option for either $4.5 or $5 million. Over his five seasons as a full time player, Lopez has averaged about 1.4 wins. The general consensus is that market value for players is a little over $4 million per win provided.
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It might depend on how they feel about Ackley after AFL is over.
If they think that he could take over as soon as next year, they won’t pick up his option and move Figgins to third.
This still might impact their view on Lopez's option, though.
If you think he’s ready, you’re looking for a 2B for a couple of months. I wouldn’t pick up the option in that case. If he’s not ready, you need a stopgap for a year, and at that point, the option looks better.
I'm really torn on this.
I still think Lopez has potential (he’s shown it before and is too young to just be “done”), but he’s a player without a position on this team.
"There! I just sold you for a cigarette! And I don't smoke!"
Yeah, it really wouldn't surprise me rebound next year in a more Loafie-friendly park (I suppose I could have just said 'a different park')
but he really doesn’t fit here. Sorry Felix.
by Eyeball Kid on Nov 2, 2010 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm guessing that he leaves and starts playing better
He’ll get picked up by some team with a good park for pull righties and he’ll repeat 2009 in 2011.
I heard...
I have it on good authority that Jose’s agent takes hitFX data and determines optimal park dimensions for each player. He’s currently searching for a team that plays in this park.
by doublemazaa on Nov 2, 2010 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions 24 recs
Wow!
250 ft to left field with a 60 foot fence! The green monster is only 37 feet tall.
I actually would have voted for another option.
Release him and then try to sign him as a backup 1B/2B/3B for $1-$2m.
Unless I’m forgetting someone in the organization who’d be a better/cheaper backup infielder.
I like this idea too, but am worried about total bench space
If Jack Wilson is penciled in at starting SS, there has to be a back-up on the bench.
The bench would most likely (based on the current roster) be:
SS (say Josh Wilson or similar)
Loafie (1B,2B,3B)
Bradley or Langerhans (4th OF/DH)
C
Assuming a 12 man staff, 8 field starters and a DH, that only leaves a 4 man bench (how were Wedge’s Cleveland teams built?). Having only a single back-up OF is not a good thought, especially with Franklin’s injury history.
Dave at USSM had a good point regarding 2B and SS for 2011
He basically said that whoever starts the season at 2B would ideally be able to slide over into a super-sub role when/if Ackley gets called up or into SS when Jack Wilson gets hurt. Retaining Lopez seems to make this more difficult to accomplish.
This seems like an odd poll on LookoutLanding...
I’ve gotten the feeling that the editorial position is “We don’t know, and you don’t know, and none of us CAN know until something happens.”
(Please don’t respond with a mean comment, Matthew.)
The fact is we don't know.
And I don’t think anyone here will ever pretend that they do know what’s going on in Jack’s mind, but I think the majority of posters here can make an educated guess on something like this.
What exactly are you complaining about?
That this is a situation in which an honest case can be made for either cutting or re-signing him? That both cases have been written about already on LL and so all that is left to do is wait? Jeff’s fault. Or Matthew’s fault. I can’t remember which.
I didn't read it as a complaint.
More of a this is out of place with the normal approach to topics comment.
How is not voting the same as saying I wouldn't care either way?
Since the poll was posted I felt obligated to pick one. Which doesn’t necessarily reflect my feeling of “either way”.
Nobody is forcing you to choose
If something exists that you do not care about, I have trouble understanding why you felt a need to offer input on it.
It's not that I don't care about the question at hand. I do actually.
I am just on the fence. If his option is picked up, I would agree. And if his option is not picked up, I would agree. I think that is a valid stance on the issue, and I don’t see that as not caring about the subject.
If you're going to feel the same regardless of the outcome then
to me, that’s not caring.
Yes, I could have offered more choices. I didn’t feel any more were needed.
I was torn between option 1 and option 4 and voted option 1
because in the end, it makes way too much sense to have him on the roster – as laughably bad as he was last year, his peripherals were not horrible and his defense was good (though UZR seems to really love all the third basemen last year).
Worst case, you’re looking at a dead cat’s bounce, and best case, he keeps his gains in the field, swings at more strikes and puts up a .340 wOBA.
Either way, it’s not an expensive option, and if you are nearly guaranteed to keep Ackley in the minors to start the season due to service time, and likely to try and deal Figgins, there’s a place for Lopez to start the season either way.
I feel like it is unfair to Lopez to keep him here.
He needs a new start in a city where they do not remember him as a stud prospect who was supposed to be so much better than he ever will be.
sb, we are all your friends and family and we are gathered here today to hold an intervention.
We love you and we can’t see you continue down this destructive path. We’re here for you. We all enjoy the person you used to be but this habit, this dark habit, has eaten away at you. I know you don’t see it. You tell yourself , “Just one more at plate appearance. It’s just bad luck and he’s talented.”, but one plate appearance leads to 20 which leads to 622. Come back to us, sb. We miss the guy that was fun to be around. The guy that didn’t sell his last bit of dignity to buy a #4 jersey. If any part of you can see through the fog and know that what we are saying has some truth, that getting on base at a .270 clip or swinging at 37% of balls out of the zone or hitting nearly 40% fly balls despite having little power is just an awful way to be a good baseball player, then trust us. You can kick this vile, disgusting, retarded habit and we’ll be with you every step of the way.
by abender20 on Nov 2, 2010 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions 21 recs
I have no idea how or why he was so poor on offense last year despite his peripherals being only slightly worse than an above average 2009
his skillset seems to indicate that his average is somewhere between 2008 and 2009, with a very moderate ceiling because he neither hits homers very far nor is patient enough to wait for pitches to drive. He will never be a complete hitter because of his overall approach and inability to walk.
Even though he has demonstrated no ability to actually get on base via the walk, he has shown a willingness to try and improve his approach – however, it’s simply hurt him as he gets into bad counts by letting hittable, early count strikes go by that in years past he would drive for hits, and still lacks the pitch recognition to stick with high level offspeed pitches. In essence, his natural approach seems to be the perfect one for his skillset, and every time he changes it, he can’t shake off what he naturally wants to do, and he lacks the pure talent of an Adrian Beltre to make up for it anyway.
Also, there’s a difference between enough and not enough power and Lopez has enough power to be successful as a big league hitter. If all of his power is right down the left field line, why does he need to be able to hit the ball farther than 375 feet that direction? That’s a home run in every Major League park I know of.
On defense, he looked good all season and the metrics reflected that. He’s probably more natural third baseman than second, and again, players are about the overall package of value – if Lopez fields third base well and can hit at a reasonable level, he is a valuable asset. What else are you going to do with that $4.5M? It seems like the perfect gamble for a player who looked to be consistent 2.5-3 WAR and had an awful season. At age 26, it seems incredibly unlikely that he simply fell off a cliff, so it makes perfect sense to see what he has for $4.5M, kind of like with Ian Snell in 2010.
I’ve basically been saying this for two years, except that I am happier than others when he is successful. I figured you of all commenters would have known this, but whatever.
In a nutshell, Jose Lopez fucking sucks
by seattlebruin on Nov 2, 2010 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 5 recs
To me, the Lopez conundrum boils down to two seasons.
In 2008 he BABIPed .306 and was a league average hitter. In 2009, his BABIP came back to (his) Earth and he hit a ton of lucky homers and was a slightly worse but still league average hitter. His skill set doesn’t look like the kind that would support a .300+ BABIP (what with all the fly balls and the poor foot speed) and, as much as his talent for just clearing the wall is incredible, I wouldn’t bank on it. This last year probably isn’t what we should expect from him either, but the way he hits doesn’t scream upside and I don’t believe strongly in a guy that had career seasons to get to league average.
by abender20 on Nov 2, 2010 3:05 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Because he runs slow and hits too many fly balls
.300, no. .280, sure.
So give him a .280 BABIP for a guy that doesn't K or walk much and has some modest power with a poor speed profile.
His numbers would look an awful lot like Yuni’s 2010 but with a few more hits falling.
Except Plus Defense!
Morgan Ensberg for Manager 2011!
AL Scout on Rendon: "I would peg him as a poor man's Jose Lopez."
I am glad that you could finally stop being a retard and come to the realization that your favorite player on your favorite team is terrible and needs to be destroyed.
by Robert on Nov 2, 2010 3:30 PM PDT up reply actions 8 recs
I feel like the only role he can have with the team is as Ackley's placeholder for part of the season
Which would be fine, even at that cost, except that he wouldn’t be good for anything afterward. He’s not a defensive replacement, couldn’t spell Wilson at SS, and is useless as a runner.
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Nov 2, 2010 1:06 PM PDT reply actions
Yep, but you can't afford to have him do that role for $4.5M
If the M’s are going to spend that much on someone this off-season, it needs to be for an upgrade at a starting position (C, SS, LF, SP), not for a placeholder at 2B and back-up 1B/2B/3B.
I’d rather have Josh Wilson for less than $1M than Lopez at $4.5M.
There's no reason to keep Lopez
He doesn’t get on base, has middling power, and can’t play shortstop.
by Poochie on Nov 2, 2010 3:37 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Your poll confused me until I figured out that you were asking us to guess what the M's are going to do.
(it’s been a long day) So now that I have that in hand, it seems like every year there are always a handful of players out there that can give you whatever Jose Lopez can give you, at less than $4.75 MM. He’s not the kind of talent that should be difficult to replace, so I’m going with #3. And I still have no confidence that I’ve got a good feeling about what the Mariners might do.
by nathaniel dawson on Nov 2, 2010 6:38 PM PDT reply actions
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