Mariners Rattle Baseball World, Acquire Lucas Luetge

Eventually the pain will go away and it will just be funny, I think.

I shale angrily shake my fist at the television.

my new favorite baseball team based on that alone.

He’s had his ups and downs, but he’s a talented hitter.

Moran (2011, AA): 60.2 IP, 60 H, 63/22 K/BB
Luetge (2011, AA): 69.0 IP, 63 H, 69/23 K/BB

that’s nothing to sneeze at. Their mom said so at the pizza party.

they make a move, we have a counter.

Everything I’ve read seems like the only thing that makes real sense if you have a hope for things to stick is take a pitcher and stick him in the bullpen. Easier to have them sit a bit if they have potential as opposed to a position player.
Beyond that, no clue!

So, here’s the deal. Despite the changes in the Rule 5, there’s generally talent available out there that you can pursue out there that either addresses present needs or works towards something two, three years down the road. Same as it was before.

The Orioles, for example, selected Ryan Flaherty. Flaherty, a left-handed bat, over four years has batted .278/.346/.462, with three years of slugging close to .500 and fifty+ walks in all of the full seasons he’s played in. He would be added to our third base pile, true enough, but if any of those guys proves a superior option, he’s already been groomed as a bat-first utility player who could play short in a pinch. Either he’s your starter or he’s a really neat complementary piece. [A contrarian at this point suggest that he’s the left-handed, more defensively versatile equivalent of what we think Catricala might be down the road]

Or we could have rolled the dice on replacing Lueke as far as system depth with Diego Moreno, who has posted some amazing K rates at times but overall has erratic health, or used a similar principle with the still-getting-healthy Bryce Stowell. Or if you want the less-strikeout prone, powerless, rangier left-handed utility infielder, Justin Henry. Or go through this big old list and see if anything catches the eye. Honestly, I’m more interested in Flaherty than anyone else and at this point am just listing names for their own sake. I know tarheels had a thing for Pedro Baez, who is toolsy but similar in some ways to Francisco Martinez and Triunfel.

Mostly, I’m frustrated by the fact that we had an opportunity to potentially add something that we needed, and instead decided to grab a player that is somewhat redundant (Moran, like I said) and whose skillset (LOOGY) is among the least useful players to have on your roster. To say that you can spend your #3 Rule 5 pick on a LOOGY is to indicate that we have our shit figured out in a way that I don’t think that we do. Regardless of what you think of the other players available, you can’t deny that this selection wholly lacks ambition.