Talked about roster moves the M’s should, and shouldn’t, make

There’s been a lot of discussion around the Mariners blogosphere recently regarding roster moves the M’s should make to try and get the most of out the talent that they have. Some of these suggestions make sense, others make me question if people are really paying attention. Here’s my take on the moves being talked about.

Move’s that wont happen:

• Jack Cust will not be DFA’d. I have no clue why people keep bringing this up, and suggesting it like it’s a good idea. Cust has the team’s 3rd highest wOBA despite his very slow start. In May he’s been second on the team in wOBA. Even with his very slow start in April, Cust has still been the M’s second or third most productive bat.
• Chone Figgins will not be DFA’d. He’s owed $8 million next season and $9 million the year after, not to mention around $5.5 million still for the rest of this year. There is NO WAY the M’s eat that much salary. I know he’s hit poorly, and although his defense has been good for the most part, he’s also had a knack for making untimely mistakes. I know. Trust me, I know. As much as playing someone else at third would likely make the team better now, the team owes it to itself to let Figgins work his way out of this slump and back to his normal production. It will take time, and it wont be pretty, at some point their patience will be rewarded.
• Playing Dustin Ackley in LF once he’s brought up. The M’s have converted him to 2nd base. He’s no longer an outfielder. They wont slow his development defensively as a second baseman just because LF is a mess right now. There are other options.

Moves that shouldn’t happen:

• Rushing Dustin Ackley up to the majors would be an error at this point. We’ve already waited this long, getting impatient and bringing him up before the “super two” arbitration status is taken care of would be a serious mistake. We’ve waited 2 months already. Waiting 2-3 more weeks wont hurt anyone. Besides, the M’s are winning right now, so there really isn’t any need to rush Ackley.
• Keeping Saunders around any longer than is necessary. With all the hate that Figgins gets, I don’t understand the love that Saunders gets. Offensively, he’s actually been worse than Figgins. He’s completely lost at the plate. He needs to sent down to Tacoma as soon as possible.
• Bringing Ryan Langerhans back to man LF. This is an idea being pushed by the TNT’s Ryan Divish, (edit: I misrepresented what Divish said. He advocated bringing him up to be a backup, not to play LF regularly) and I completely disagree. Bring him back to be the team’s 4th outfielder maybe, but only if you can seriously limit his playing time. He’s not as good as Saunders defensively, and about the same offensively. Bringing Langerhans back up doesn’t make the M’s better. It is simply making a move for moves sake.
• Bring up Greg Halman anytime soon. He JUST came back from his injury. He needs a chance to play and get ready to play at this level. This isn’t a great player we’re talking about. He has huge holes in his swing. If he is to be successful, he much be given a chance to get into “mid-season form” before coming up.

Moves that should happen:

• Decreasing Figgins’s playing time. I don’t think the M’s should bench him completely, but there’s also no reason to run him out there everyday. Both Adam Kennedy and Luis Rodriguez can and should get some playing time at the hot corner. Sitting Figgins wont make him better, but it will also take the pressure off him. It will also give him more of a chance to work with the coaches to figure out what’s wrong with his swing and get it fixed.
• Letting Mike Carp be the left handed half of the LF platoon. Peguero is still looking overmatched and has shown he needs more time in Tacoma. I was against this idea at first, but then I read that almost all of Carp’s playing time this season has been in the outfield. He wont win any games with his defense out there, but he wont be horrible either. It’s time he’s given a real chance to see if his bat can succeed at this level.

Moves that will happen:

• I’m going to go out on a limb here, and barring injury, guarantee that Ackley gets called up from AAA before the trading deadline. I know, I know, that’s a risky guarantee, but I feel pretty good about this one.