An oft-stated reason for having or wanting Carlos Peguero in the Mariners lineup so often was his absolute power. There's no mistake that the Mariners are home run deficient and that Carlos Peguero can hit home runs on occasion. However, the apt comparison is not Carlos Peguero versus the rest of the Mariners, but rather Carlos Peguero versus the other options available, and one in particular sticks out to me today.
Carlos Peguero, 2011 HR/BIA rate: 11.1%
Ryan Langerhans, 2011 HR/BIA rate: 14.1%
That's total for the season, combined between Tacoma and Seattle, but rest assured that Langerhans' rate is higher in each category. Since 2007, Langerhans has an 8.6% HR/BIA rate in the Major Leagues which isn't fantastic or anything, but is well above average. He can, and does hit for power. He also draws walks and plays defense which are two major facets of the game of baseball that Carlos Peguero grades out near the bottom.
This is not so much a call to replace Peguero with Langerhans. At this point in the season, given the standings, it makes little sense to give Langerhans a bunch of playing time over younger players. I'd still much rather see Mike Carp given an extended look. However, I am left curious why the change to Peguero was made in the first place this season.
He's not Greg Halman. Peguero might have more raw strength, but Halman has a history of being far better at turning his batted balls into home runs than Carlos has. For that matter, so does Mike Wilson. And none of them are likely to be as poor in the other areas of baseball. Peguero finished 2010 in Double-A and with an alright, but not spectacular season. He wasn't beating down anyone's prospect lists and there seemed to be both younger, more-regarded prospects and better non-prospects between him and a starting left field job in Seattle. What an unlikely turn of events for him to have ended up where he is.