What to Do About Beltre & Griffey?
Ever since we started trashing him a month ago, Adrian Beltre has been on a tear at the plate, raising his batting average from the Mendoza line to a respectable .265. Which means, of course, that the M's should look to trade him immediately to a contender — the Giants, Cardinals, Brewers, or Reds would be good fits — willing to rent his services for the rest of the year, at the conclusion of which he'll become a free agent. From where we sit, he's too old and expensive to be part of the M's rebuilding project in the coming years — best to get value for him now while he's hotter than Georgia asphalt.
Less cut and dry is what to do with Ken Griffey Jr., currently hitting an anemic .207. If Griffey weren't Griffey, he could be relegated to pinch hitting duty or simply cut loose in the interest of giving someone like Jeff Clement another crack at big league pitching. But because Griffey is Griffey — the most beloved active player in Mariner history who was signed specifically to give fans a nostalgic reason to come to the park during what promised to be a rocky campaign — there's something to be said for letting Seattle's equivalent to Babe Ruth take his cuts, however futile they prove to be. Our solution: bat him seventh until he heats up, and let him play virtually every day. He's not used to being platooned, which might partially explain his struggles to date.
1 comment(s)
Seely says:
Also, USS Mariner has a great commentary on how the club is handling Brandon Morrow:
http://ussmariner.com/2009/06/15/the-morrow-situation/
Posted On: Monday, Jun. 15 2009 @ 1:52PM