Seattle Marination

We all know that Joh has underperformed steadily in his three seasons with the M’s, but does that mean we turn him out?  Maybe.  But who wants to swallow the final two years left on his contract?  Here’s the deal.  He has potential and shouldn’t be counted out of the mix so readily.  Besides, do you really see us getting anyone else?  No.  And that limits our possibilities to three other possible catchers in 2009.

1. Jeff Clement.  Jeff has some serious power potential, but has struggled mightily in the majors, shrinking his average 70 points in the transition.  Granted, Safeco’s not exactly a hitter’s paradise, but Clement didn’t exactly take over any of Joh’s stats. Although, on average he did hit a few more homers and RBIs than Joh.  But, in half the number of games played, he managed to strike out twice as much.  And if we’ve got two guys hitting .227 (as they both did last year), I’d much rather have the guy who put the ball in play.  And don’t get me started on Clement’s lack of defensive ability.  The Mariners’ pitchers won’t be changing at all next year and a consistent catcher who gets the a-okay from everyone but Bedard is fine in my books.  Clement at first or DH?

2. Jamie Burke.  Jamie’s been great the last couple years in backup and despite how high some seem to get on his potential, let’s face facts.  He’s lucky to be in the majors at all.  A regular position will only hurt his game.  Besides, nobody catches the knuckleball like Jamie.

3. Rob Johnson.  Seriously?  Rob Johnson?  …  Seriously?  Yeah, it’s not going to happen.  Trade him.  Trade him now.  We have enough catchers in our system already!

So there you have it, Joh’s our natural first choice… among those four guys, anyway.  Don’t look for us to grab up anybody else, though.  Maybe a Japanese Classic championship will light a fire under a struggling JohJoh.  He wasn’t able to compete last time, because he wanted to dedicate himself to learning our pitchers.  He maybe not be a superstar, but he’s the Dan Wilson of tomorrow!