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I noted yesterday that the Mariners were a few names short of finalizing their 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 draft deadline. Well, the deadline's passed, and now anyone not on the current 40-man is available to be grabbed by another team this December (if they were drafted out of college after 2010 or out of high school after 2009). And at the last minute--as per usual--the M's have finally added those names they are looking to protect. They are:
RHP Logan Bawcom
1B/DH Ji-Man Choi
OF James Jones
2B Stefen Romero
Not much of a suprise here, as losing Ji-Man Choi or Stefen Romero to the Rule 5 draft would have been quite silly. Logan Bawcom isn't a huge surprise either. Jackson outfielder James Jones is an interesting add, especially considering the M's still have two spots left and didn't add Ty Kelly or Brian Moran, but Jones did finish his season in Tacoma and is a lefty outfielder, so...
I'm a little surprised the M's didn't add Ty Kelly--he is 25, but he hit .320/.456/.406 in 54 games with Tacoma, and while the M's still have Romero and Triunfel, they'd still be out a backup infielder after a Franklin/Ackley trade. Plus, if Kelly is picked up, then it turns out All-Star and movie waiting to be made Steve Delabar was traded for a couple months of Eric Thames and a few runs at Cheney. I'm not necessarily complaining, though. That need is probably best filled via trade or free agency. Also worth noting: the M's still have 2 open spots on the roster that they chose to leave open rather than fill with Rule 5 protections. I'm not sure if this says anything about who was left off, possible upcoming trades, or if... well... anything can be said about it. Probably not. Cue Colin's Jack Z .gif:
Now the interesting question is if the Mariners should try to replicate the Lucas Luetge success of 2012 by picking someone up from another team. Who knows? We do know this, though: the Mariners aren't going to lose Carlos Peguero or Hector Noesi in the 2014 Rule 5 draft. No.
But then again, I've always been told that if you're going to do something, you need to do it the right way.