Mariners Grooming Next Willie Bloomquist

by Matthew on Oct 3, 2011 10:45 AM PDT in Seattle Mariners Stats

Willie Bloomquist is in the playoffs (for now), so it is clear that his mere presense is a catalyst that can energize teams from a last place to first place finish. No wonder the Mariners haven't been in the playoffs for a decade. They don't have Willie Bloomquist! Except for all those years they did have him when, clearly, the problem lay elsewhere. The Mariners biggest offseason need this winter must be to get Willie Bloomquist back, right?

Well, no fear. They may not get the actual Willie Bloomquist^© back, but they appear to be developing a reasonable facsimile. Scott Savastano is not a Seattle-area product, but he might be on his way to building his own network of ardent supporters from the group of people who love versatility above all else. Drafted in the 28th round (grit points!) by the Mariners in 2008, Savastano has now completed his fourth professional season, repeating at Double-A this year playing mostly a mix of second and third base. He's not doing poorly and in fact, has bettered the league average everywhere he's played, but that is not what caught my eye. Rather, it was this

Savastano has played every position aside from center field! Savastano went through most of these in 2009 with Clinton, but has moved around quite a bit in other seasons and teams as well. And this isn't some totally fluke check box either, he's played twice at catcher. He had three appearances as a pitcher for Jackson this season. Three! With no earned runs allowed!

It's easy to write off all the above as a mere tongue-in-cheek faux boosterism of a organizational depth player, but it's not all faked. Savastano is already 25 and is not likely to become an impact, All-Star player at the Major League level, but a Willie Bloomquist-type career certainly isn't out of reach and the truth is that players like Bloomquist are useful. Much of our derision for him came from the inordinately high opinion some very vocal fans had of him. Savastano can make contract, he can draw walks and he's not entirely powerless. If he continues that trend, he might prove a valuable flexibility asset on a Major League roster depending on the quality of defense he offers over this wide range of positions. I know I'll be rooting for him next season. Quirky guys are fun until they become Brian Wilson.

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by ThundaPC on Oct 3, 2011 11:01 AM PDT reply actions

Once Savastano in entrenched on the major league roster as the new Bloomquist.

We can bring back the real Willie Bloomquist to be the new Adam Kennedy.

by wetzelcoal on Oct 3, 2011 11:11 AM PDT reply actions

His stint at second after Seager left and Franklin went on the DL surprised me.

I mean, sure, that’s seventy-three games at second for his career, but fifty-three came this season. Mostly, I’m just used to thinking of him as a DH. B-R didn’t really look at DH as a position up until this year, and you’re going to have duplicate entries for mid-game changes, but last year you have <49 of 93 games on the field. In 2009, you have <97 of 112, but again, the way they record things makes it difficult for us to tell just looking at it how many of those are duplicates.

And his power? Tends to be a bit streaky. You have seven dingers combined in May and August and three total for April, June, July, and a game or two in September. That’s not really a new thing either, I remember it happening in previous seasons as well.

I’ve felt like I’d had to come in as the doubter the past few years on him because a lot of people who watch the box scores like him and his overall numbers aren’t that bad. However, he’s always been about the third-best hitter on any of his teams and I’m not convinced that any of the positions he’s played, he’s played well, or well enough to cover for the ups and downs his bat has.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Oct 3, 2011 11:17 AM PDT reply actions

When I say power, I don't refer only to home runs. He has solid double totals.

by Matthew on Oct 3, 2011 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions

This year at least.

Twenty-eight doubles in 104 hits. That’s not so bad. Add the triples and home runs to it and you have 37.5% of his hits going for extras. But in 2010, you had 29.2% extra-base hits (I won’t talk about raw totals because he only played in 96 games) and in 2009 it was 21%. I’ll give him some credit though: he’s trending positively and “breaking out” in double-A, which this might be called, is about the best place you can do it.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Oct 3, 2011 11:58 AM PDT up reply actions

Regarding Willie:

Much of our derision for him came from the inordinately high opinion some very vocal fans had of him.

This.

Plus, the tendancy of a certain GM to sign replacement level players to fairly large multi year deals.

by Paul AB on Oct 3, 2011 11:48 AM PDT reply actions

Quote box fail. Sorry.

by Paul AB on Oct 3, 2011 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions

Willie was a great 24th or 25th man

Unfortunately, he was the M’s 5th best position player in ’08 with the best OBP of any semi-regular and 5th highest wOBA and saw the field much too often.

by CMC_Stags on Oct 3, 2011 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions

I thought we're already grooming Seager to be the next Bloomquist?

He already plays 2B, 3B & SS. Outfield can’t be that hard for him to learn if even Carp can do it.

by Z4EC on Oct 3, 2011 12:18 PM PDT reply actions

Plus there could be Avast! Savastano! headlines galore.

by msb on Oct 3, 2011 1:10 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Where is the split

between Mark McLemore and Willie Bloomquist? Is it mostly speed? Maybe we should shake the Chone Figgins can and see if there’s anything left that looks like a utility player. It’s all part of the master plan! Competition at every position!

by goyo70 on Oct 3, 2011 2:00 PM PDT reply actions