That’s a lot of runs. It’s the most by any team in the past decade going as far back as UZR goes all the way back to the simpler time of 2002. Yes, I remember those days. My baggy jeans, graduating high school, listening to the new and “popular” Bad Religion album while being over joyed by the latest Ben Afflect movie. Don’t judge me we all do stupid things in our youth.

The point is that the 2009 Mariners, led not just by Franklin Gutierrez (+30) but a whole cast of defensive wizards. Ichiro (+8), Adrian Beltre (+14), a left field that was solid behind a +21 combined run saving performances of Michael Saunders, Endy Chavez, Ryan Langerhans and even surprise Wladimar Balentine.

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These are our current lineup options against lefties.

C: Moore/Johnson (doesn’t matter for this)

IF: Kotchman, Figgins, Wilson, Lopez

OF: Langerhans, Guti, Ichiro

DH: Bradley

or

C: Moore/Johnson

IF: Kotchman, Figgins, Wilson, Lopez

OF: Bradley, Guti, Ichiro

DH: Sweeney

or

C: Moore/Johnson

IF: Kotchman, Figgins, Wilson, Lopez

OF: Bradley, Guti, Ichiro

DH: Griffey

Notice any problems? With Byrnes gone, the Mariners not only have just 4 outfielders, but one of them is injury prone, and one of them can’t hit lefties. This issue is magnified by the fact that 2 of our 3 DH options are old, bad, and significant injury risks.

Let’s face it, none of these 3 lineup scenarios look very good. As it stands, every time we face a lefty, we’re either going to be starting Langerhans, Griffey, or Sweeney. Yeah, Sweeney can probably still hold his own against southpaws, but he’s bound to land on the DL if they start giving him more regular time. I mean, we’re less than a month into the season, he’s played in 10 games, and he’s already dealing with some health issues.

It’s really nice to have Ryan Langerhans back, and a real backup infielder on the team, but they aren’t done yet. They need another right handed outfielder, and right now, no one currently in the system comes to mind. This means they need to go out and get someone, which of course means they also need to dump someone. I probably don’t have to tell you who I think it should be.

Get on it, Jack, because as of now this team is going to continue to have problems, regardless of which hand the opposing pitcher throws with.

While I kind of like Byrnes, he’s looked just awful in his time here, and it’s no surprise that he’s the first one to get the boot. However, there are others I would have preferred to see cut, and I’m left to wonder what lineup we’ll be putting out there against lefties. Matt Tuiasosopo is a good young player, but he really has no place on this team right now, due to his inability to play defense. We’ll probably see him again at some point, but I doubt it will be before September.

Josh Wilson isn’t a very good player, but he’s been hitting well down in Tacoma, and he’s certainly a much more suitable backup infielder than Tui. I really want Jack Hannahan back. And lastly, I’m very happy to see Ryan Langerhans back. I, as well as a whole lot of other people, have been lobbying for his return all month, because he  gives us a left handed pinch hitting option that isn’t Griffey, as well as playing solid defense. He’ll also, potentially, take starts away from Griffey, as they can stick him in left against righties, allowing Milton Bradley to DH. This is a good thing. He doesn’t hit lefties very well, though, and with Byrnes gone I have a feeling this just means more Mike Sweeney.

For the most part, I’m happy with these moves – I really am. But this isn’t anything more than a good start – the lineup still needs to be adjusted, the 76 year old DH platoon still needs to be thrown out, and Rob Johnson still needs to learn how to catch a baseball. No, we’re far from done fixing this team’s problems, but kudos to Jack & crew for not continuing to sit idly by.