Time to take another look

Before you jump all over me, I am very aware of the the shortcomings of this team. There are a lot of things a lot of us would like to see happen, but I want to focus here on getting this team back to square one. What they should have been, what they were put together to be.

This team, as we see it right now, is not what we expected it to be. I am not talking about the performance. We knew this team would have little room for error and we knew they would fight for wins. We knew it was hang on until the youth was ready. I am talking about the roster. Literally, this team is not what we expected it to be. As such, it is time to re-evaluate.

This team was supposed to have Franklin Gutierrez in center and Adam Moore backing up at catcher, but getting a significant amount of starts. With any luck, Moore would show improvement offensively as a needed right handed bat as the year progressed, but he is most likely done for the season. While we don’t exactly know what the situation with Gutierrez is, it appears it will be awhile before we see him on an everyday basis. These are two significant pieces of this team.

Stopgaps were available at both positions, but are there other long term solutions? Start with centerfield. There are two things to look at here, the future and now. There were strong indications that the Mariners preferred to start Michael Saunders in Tacoma before Gutierrez was placed on the DL. Saunders made a change at the plate during spring training and I have heard there are other changes that they would like to see. That is not easy to do at the big league level, especially if he is not playing every day. Does it benefit Saunders to be here and not be playing every day? The team values his talent and seems committed to developing him, so perhaps an answer needs to be found here.

Then there is the defense. While I realize Gutierrez is impossible to replace, the outfield defense is costing this team runs. Without Gutierrez in the middle, balls are dropping in the gaps and we are seeing far too many balls get over guys heads. Bradley needs help in left and Langerhans and Saunders have their hands full enough when they are in center. What do you do?

Do you consider moving Ichiro to center? Don’t even suggest you drop him to third in the order now. While he is hitting .316 with RISP, he has only driven in six and has yet to really drive the ball this season with any regularity. But could Ichiro be the best centerfielder on this team right now? If he is, the question is, how do you get him there? Do you put Bradley in right where his arm would be questionable or Langerhans, who has not played much there in his career? Or do you roll the dice on Carlos Peguero, who is most likely just up for a look? Are any of these options more enticing than what we see now?

Or do the Mariners look for something outside. Sources tell me, and this should be no surprise, that they are still looking for another right handed bat and that obviously it has not been easy to come by up to this point in the season.

Do they need to re-evaluate at backup catcher? Eric Wedge told me that when Miguel Olivo is 100 percent healthy, he is capable of catching every day. Obviously, there would be a backup for day games after night games, but Olivo will not be at his best playing every day. Is Gimenez the long term solution at backup catcher?

David Aardsma is coming back and a move in the pen will have to be made. There is the possibility that once the pen gets settled, they could go with one less. The starters have been getting reasonably deep into games and we are seeing some of the relievers go four or five days between appearances. Can you create a spot for another bench player?

As I said at the top, this team isn’t what it was planned to be. I know that a lot of fans would like to see sweeping changes, but that just is not realistic at this point. Are there smaller moves that can be made to get them back to square one? A lot of focus has been put on what could be called up at various points of the year, but in light of the Gutierrez situation, it looks like something may need to be done sooner. At the very least, options should be explored.