posted by Patrick
As many of you know, in recent days the Mariners have been linked to free agent Brad Wilkerson (1B/OF) and, in fact, a deal with Wilkerson is thought to materialize very soon and probably will as soon as the deal for Bedard is consummated.
Brad Wilkerson
2005: 565 AB's, .248 AVG, 11 homeruns, K every 3.84 AB's
2006: 320 AB's, .222 AVG, 15 homeruns, K every 2.76 AB's
2007: 338 AB's, .234 AVG, 20 homeruns, K every 3.15 AB's
Career at SAFECO: 33 AB's, .182 AVG, .357 OBP
In 2007, Richie Sexson struckout once every 4.34 at bats; a better rate than Wilkerson's numbers from 05, 06, and 07.
So why in the world would we want to bring in another low average guy that strikes out even more than Richie Sexson? Sure, he has a little pop and can play the outfield as well as first base; but unless it's absolutely necessary to acquire another outfielder (meaning that Jones and Balentien are traded), I would not want to throw anywhere from 2 to 6 million dollars (per year) at him, especially if the deal is more than one year. His career average at SAFECO is abyssmal and I don't see him as a good fit here.
Note: When the Adam Jones to Baltimore deal is finished, I'd want to see Wlad in right field.
5 comments:
The way I see it is if the Mariners can sign Wilkerson to a cheap, one year deal then there is nothing stopping Wlad from becoming the starting right fielder if he has a monster Spring. If it is expensive or multiyear, then Wlad cannot determine his own fate.
I wouldn't mind having Wlad as our starter, but I think he could use more time in the minors. Word is that he still has trouble recognizing the breaking ball, and we all should know that that takes a while. Minor league pitchers don't throw breaking balls with the same command major league pitchers do.
The problem I see happening is the same problem that has plagued our organization for the past few years and a problem that we've are about to fix; our roster has been so congested that we've not been able to get our young studs any kind of significant playing time. If we sign Wilkerson and Wlad begins to grow old in the minors like Adam Jones, we will be in the same position we were in where M's fans were calling for Bavasi's head because it took forever for AJ to come up.
Geoff Baker just told Mitch on the radio that he believes the Wilkerson deal is all set, just waiting for the trade to become official. He did say though that he is trying to hammer it (the rumor) out some more.
ellis: that is believable. there has been a rumor that the deal is all set elsewhere, too.
wilkerson who is he and why would we sign a juy with those numbers?
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