11 Seems Like Way Too Many

If it seems like the entire Seattle Mariners team right now is made up of rookies, that’s because it actually is. Or more accurately, 44% of the roster is made up of first year players. At some point in just about every recent M’s games, I’ve asked myself “How can Rainiers even field a team with all their players up with Seattle?” Maybe it’s just me, but 11 rookies at once seems a little extreme.

Let’s examine how each Rookie ended up with the big club:*

Rotation:

• Michael Pineda – Made the rotation out of Spring Training, beating out Luke French for the spot.
• Blake Beavan – Called up to replace an injured Erik Bedard, stayed in rotation because of trades.
• Charlie Furbush – Came over in Doug Fister trade, in rotation because Bedard was traded.

Bullpen:

• Josh Lueke – Made the team out of spring training but was ineffective. Called up recently to replace departed David Pauley.
• Dan Cortes – Called up to replace an injured Chris Ray.
• Tom Wilhelmsen – Made the team out of spring training but was ineffective. Called up recently to take Charlie Furbush’s bullpen spot when Furbush moved to the rotation.

Position Players

• Dustin Ackley – The most expected mid-season call up in the majors. Should have been up much sooner.
• Kyle Seager – Filling in for an injured Chone Figgins.
• Trayvon Robinson – Replaced the struggling Greg Halman as the team’s 4th outfielder.
• Casper Wells – Brought over in the Doug Fister trade and took over left field, moving Carp to DH.
• Mike Carp – Called up to replace Peguero. Now is playing DH and filling in for an injured Smoak at 1B

Note: not all the reasons for the player’s call up is perfect, but I tried to keep it simple use the roll the player filled, even if the timing was a little off)

That’s half the team’s pitchers, including 60% of the starting rotation. It’s also 38% of the position players on the roster, and they make up 4 of the 9 starters on offense.

Also, keep in mind that the 11 rookies on the team right now doesn’t include outfielders Greg Halman and Carlos Peguero, who are back down in Tacoma, catcher Jose Yepez who was called up by never played, or catcher Adam Moore (yes he does still qualify as a rookie) who’s played in 2 games before landing on the IR in early April.

By my count that’s 15 rookies who have been on the roster, 14 who have played in games, and 13 rookies who have played significant rolls in the season so far for the Mariners.

I don’t think I need to tell you that building a roster in such a way isn’t going to lead to a large win total. Hopefully in this coming off-season, Jack Zduriencik can flip some of this youth for established players more likely to help the Mariners win on a more consistent basis.