2011 Offseason – Shortstop

Just like every other infield position that we have already covered, the Mariners got very little production out of their shortstops last season.

Jack Wilson – 193 At Bats – .227/.278/.294 – 0 WAR

Josh Wilson – 361 At Bats – .242/.282/.316 – -0.3 WAR

Jack Wilson is signed for one more year at $5 mil, and would not likely be easy to trade at this point.

What I would do

Shortstop is commonly considered the most valuable position in MLB. There are very few teams that have a suplus of players at SS and there is a lot of need at this position. The Mariners are one of many teams that are in need of help at this position. The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox have Jason Bartlett and Marco Scutaro available. Though Bartlett would be a solid improvement, he will not come cheaply, and Scutaro is already 35 years old.

There are three main problems for the Mariners in trading for a shortstop.

1- Neither of these guys are a permanent replacement. Scutaro is nearing the end of his career and Bartlett is a free agent after 2011, and will be 32 at that point.

2- The Mariners are rebuilding and will not have a lot of Major League ready talent that they don’t treasure.

3- The Mariners have a lot of holes to fill, and only a little bit of money to do it with.

Since shortstop is such an expensive position to improve upon I would suggest that the Mariners try to take advantage of there Rule 5 draft position to try and fill this. Does anyone remember Luis Ugueto? Hopefully the Mariners could find a young decent fielding middle infielder that isn’t quite ready for Major League ball to fill in for when Jack Wilson is injured.

What I expect the Mariners to do

As I was writing this I looked over to mlbtraderumors.com and find that the Mariners have signed Luis Rodriguez. Luis Rodriguez is a switch hitting 30 year old middle infielder with a .293/.364/.493 line in AAA for the White Sox. Nice sign GMZ. I like it. Sounds like a mix of Wilson and Rodriguez could be in our future. The Mariners also signed Sean Kazmar a 26 year old right handed shortstop who batted .275/.326/.381 for the San Diego Padres AAA affliliate.

Luis Rodriguez – http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/minor-deals-joaquin.html

Sean Kazmar – http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/minor-deals-phillies-sign-dan-meyer.html

My Suggestion- Jack Wilson / Rule 5 pick

Mariners Current Move- Jack Wilson / Luis Rodriguez

I believe that the Mariners might have already bested me on this one.