What I would do if I was the GM

By Anthony

Anthony, for purposes of this article

These are the moves that I would make right now if I was in the Mariners front office. I will only be doing some internal moves, since there are roughly a billion trade possibilities and since I am not the actual GM with hundreds of scouts, I do not know who the M’s are and are not looking at. 

Move Number One:

Option Justin Smoak to AAA Tacoma and recall 1B/DH Luis Jimenez. I want to be clear, this is not a punishment for Smoak. This is a chance for him to figure out his swing in a lower stress environment. Smoak needs to relax at the plate, he has the talent, but he needs to get his head in the right spot and be relaxed in the box. Hopefully some time down I-5 will give him that and allow him to find his stroke. Luis Jimenez is Tacoma’s best hitter but he has never been successful in the MLB. We might as well give him shot its not like the offense can get much worse. He will split time at first  and DH with Jesus Montero and Mike Carp.

Move Number 1.5

This is something I hinted at earlier. Give Jesus Montero some time at first base. Everyone says he is not a full time catcher and with Mike Zunino in the system, it appears the M’s agree. This will give him some practice at first while allowing both his and Jimenez’s bat in the order.

Move Number 2

Cut Chone Figgins and recall Mike Carp: This move is obvious. I think we would have to pay teams to take him off our hands right now and I would much rather just get rid of him. He is a waste of a roster spot and the worst player on the team right now. This has been a long time coming. Carp has been hitting the ball hard in his rehab stint and he will get more time in the field with Smoak in Tacoma. Carp will also fill in left field when Ichiro gets less playing time, like he should.

Move Number 3

Assuming and praying that either Millwood or Vargas gets moved at the deadline. Move to a six-man rotation that includes Felix, Iwakuma, Ramirez, Millwood/Vargas, Beavan and Andrew Carraway, if both those two get moved, then it will be a five man. But Andrew Carraway has earned this spot. He was the number one starter at the start of the year in Jackson, ahead of the big three, and he has continued to find success in Tacoma. Lets see what the kid can do in the Majors.

Move Number 4

Bench Dustin Ackley for a series. He looks overmatched, that much is clear. The solution to that problem is not continuing to let him struggle. I like the move of him into the leadoff spot, it changes things up and maybe will get him going. Assuming that fails, giving him some days off will hopefully allow him to refocus and rediscover his stroke. This offense needs Dustin hitting the way he did last year and we may need to get desperate.