Keep Triunfel in AAA

I have been hearing people hoping for the call up of Tacoma shortstop Carlos Triunfel recently, and I think it is ridiculous. Triunfel was once a top prospect, but his status as the future shortstop of the Mariners has slipped away. Nevertheless, some have been hoping for him to replace Brendan Ryan.

Let’s look at Triunfel’s season thus far. His .321 OBP is less than 20 points higher than Ryan’s. In addition, Triunfel has struck out more than Brendan this year, so his ability to get on base hasn’t been much better than our current shortstop. In addition, Triunfel’s glove is nothing compared to Brendan Ryan’s. Ryan’s defensive prowess is undoubtedly worth more than a potential 40 point on base percentage.

Calling up Carlos Triunfel doesn’t serve a good purpose either. While this may seem like an obvious statement, any call up should either make the team better immediately or in the future. I have established that Triunfel is not currently a better all around player than Ryan, but calling him up would not improve the future of the team.

Nick Franklin is the future shortstop of the Mariners. At this point, Triunfel has basically the same role as Brendan Ryan,

Munennori Kawasaki or Luis Rodriguez. The job of all of these guys is to keep the seat warm until Nick Franklin is ready to step into shortstop in Safeco Field. Like Ryan, Kawasaki, and Rodriguez, the organization will move on without Triunfel, so why throw him into the big leagues when he isn’t better than any of our other options.

There is no reason for the Mariners to bring Carlos Triunfel into the big leagues. He will not make the team better immediately, and his promotion wouldn’t improve the future of the organization. If you want to give Triunfel an opportunity just for the sake of change, we may as well call up Luis Rodriguez who has posted much better stats in AAA than Triunfel with a .391 OBP, and his fielding percentage has been much better.