SoDo Mojo » Matt Tuiasosopo

A Quick Look At 2012 Defense

Harrison Crow — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:21:44 +0000

So as you know I’ve had a lot about defense on the mind lately. Talking a lot about gathering fly ball data and that whole crappy project that I’m sure other people have done and will end up being another one of my more futile efforts. But it’s got my brain working and spinning and thinking of things that are fun and interesting. Such as did you know according to Fangraphs and UZR that the Mariners were saved 85 runs by their defense alone in 2009.

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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Brian Sweeney A Mariner, Again

Harrison Crow — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:57:05 +0000

So the Mariners signed yet another relief arm that is potentially (with a bit of hope) a replacement level pitcher. The problem is that while he might be this years Jamey Wright, he’s more likely to be this years Mike Koplove, Yusmeiro Petit or even Justin Miller. None of which were very useful. Though, reading the tweets from Mike Curto (Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster) it seems that he’s a pretty big fan of Brian.

Love the signing of Brian Sweeney. Works quickly and throws strikes. Can he start all 144 Tacoma Rainiers games this year?

At age 37, it might be too much to ask Sweeney to start all 144 games. How about every get-away day, and every game in Vegas?

There are all of three things I remember about Brian Sweeney.

1) He’s from New York

2) He made his 2010 debut in New York and his family was all there… or maybe they had come the day prior… my memory is kind of fuzzy on this.

3) He was part of an increadibly weak 2010 bullpen staff in a season that absloutely sucked. So while Sweeney wasn’t terrible, I just associate suck with him. Poor guy.

Oh, and speaking of minor league deals. It seems that Luke French is heading to the Twins, Matt Tuiasosopo is off to the Mets and it appears that Chaz Roe also got a 50 game suspension for using… something banned.

That’s it that’s all I have…

M’s top 4 catchers are all hurt (updated)

Keith Myers — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:56:43 +0000

Update: The Mariners just announced that Chris Giminez has been placed on the 15 day DL, and that Josh Bard has been recalled and will start in tonight’s game. No word yet, on who was removed from the 40 man roster so that Bard could be added.

2nd Update: The Mariners designated left-hander Edward Paredes, thus removing him from the 40 man roster to make room for Bard. Parades was shelled early and often in Tacoma at the start of this season, and was demoted to AA Jackson. He’s 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA in 15 innings with Jackson.

The headline sort of says it all. The M’s go into today’s finale with the Braves with more on their minds then simply trying to avoid the sweep. Like, who’s going to catch all those Felix Hernandez fastballs?

Miguel Olivo was pulled from last night’s game with leg cramps, and seriously needs a day off as well as more regular rest.

Chris Giminez strained an oblique mussel in last night’s game, and had to tough it out since he was the last catcher on bench.

Adam Moore hurt his knee back in April and had season ending surgery. His career appears to be in jeopardy, as it is unclear if his knee will allow him to continue catching, and his bat isn’t good enough to play elsewhere on the field.

Josh Bard, who would be obvious choice to come up and catch for the Mariners, was injured last Saturday in a game for the Rainiers. According to Mike Curto, the voice of the Raniers, Bard had his toe nail ripped off, lots of blood, pain, etc. He’s not the DL and is technically day-to-day, but it doesn’t appear that he’s going to be able to play for at least a few more days.

Currently, the top uninjured catcher in the organization is Jose Yepez, a 30 year old minor league journyman who’s never made it to the majors. It would appear likely that he gets to make his major league debut soon.

It is likely that Olivo was able to get hydrated and will start in today’s game, and the M’s will risk not making a roster move and hope that Giminez in fine in a couple days. It’s also possible that Giminez lands on the DL in order to make room for either Bard or, more likely, Yepez, to be added to the roster.

Complicating matters slightly is that neither Yepez nor Bard are on the 40 man roster, so an additional roster move will have to be made in order to call up either catcher. My rather uninformed guess would be that Matt Tuias0sopo is the unfortunate victim of the roster crunch.