The September Call Ups

By Anthony

DJ Mitchell might see time in Seattle

It is currently August, and for those lacking a calendar, September is soon approaching. September is a special month in baseball, as the playoff hunt gets crazy and rosters expand. Besides the fact that the Mariners are technically in the playoff hunt, its more likely they will catch a unicorn and Sasquatch playing Bach’s third concerto than play baseball in October. So the rosters expand right? That’s what September really means for Mariner fans. Instead of the measly 24-man roster we have now (I count Chone Figgins as a lack of a roster spot), we can have 40 people in the clubhouse. 

Of course, there are a few rules as to who exactly can play for the Mariners. First of all, they must have a contract with the Seattle Mariners, so sorry, no Terrell Owens. But for a second, think how crazy that would be! The amount of time ESPN spends on the Seattle Mariners would increase by like a million! Anyway, the biggest rule is that a player must be on the 40-man roster. For those missed the day in elementary school when subtraction was taught, that means that 15 players who aren’t in Seattle now are eligible to be called up. Here are the 15.

41 Charlie Furbush  

75 Danny Hultzen 

74 Yoervis Medina 

D.J. Mitchell 

45 Hector Noesi 

50 Erasmo Ramirez  

67 Mauricio Robles

59 Chance Ruffin 

16 Alex Liddi 

66 Francisco Martinez 

17 Justin Smoak

64 Carlos Triunfel 

70 Johermyn Chavez 

21 Franklin Gutierrez 

4 Carlos Peguero 

Charlie Furbush is set to return soon, which could see Carter Capps sent down to Tacoma. Franklin Gutierrez is supposed to be coming back, but he is still out looking for a unicorn and Sasquatch playing classical music or something. When/if he comes back I would love to see Chone Figgins cut. If he doesn’t get cut, then a suddenly passable Trayvon Robinson probably goes down. That deals with the DL players, and I would fully expect whoever gets sent down for Furbush and Guti to be back in September. 

Amongst the pitchers, Danny Hultzen is already having his starts limited in Tacoma so there is no way that he gets called up. Yoervis Medina is in AA, so that’s not happening. Mauricio Robles, despite having a super awesome name, is struggling in Tacoma so probably not. Wedge has already said Erasmo Ramirez has to earn his spot back in the rotation, so one of Millwood/Iwakuma/Beavan has to fail. Same story with D.J. Mitchell even though he has an ERA of 1.50 in three starts for Tacoma. Hector Noesi is doing worse in AAA than he did in Seattle, which does not bode well for him. Chance Ruffin could maybe be called up, but his 6.56 ERA isn’t awesome. 

So if a pitcher will be called up, they will have to not on the 40 man and a move will have to be made. Scott Patterson, Bobby LaFromboise and Brian Moran are all interesting names. But of course that would cost us a spot on the 40 man roster. Not much could be happening with the pitching. Maybe a shift to a six man rotation could happen to give Mitchell or Ramirez some time but that’s about it. 

Now we move to the offense. Alex Liddi and Justin Smoak have each seen time with the Mariners this season. Even though Smoak’s struggles have continued with the Rainiers. Liddi is not so embarrassing but is still hitting sub-.250. Francisco Martinez is still in Jackson so he is a year or so away. Carlos Triunfel used to be a top prospect and then got hurt/ was not very good and is still in Tacoma, just hanging out. He is not playing very well so I don’t think he sees a promotion. Chavez is in Jackson and won’t be called up. Wow. Ok, so I am just going to sum this up. There is nobody on the 40 man who looks like the have deserved a call up to the big leagues. 

Nick Franklin, the top hitting prospect in the organization, is somehow not on the 40-man roster. That's confusing and inconvenient. He's in AAA though, so he could potentially be called up. He was an all-star in Jackson earlier this year, but since heading to Tacoma, his numbers have dropped off a bit. He's also striking out 28% of the time, which is pretty bad unless your Adam Dunn and hit a home run 28% of the time too. Franklin is not Adam Dunn. So maybe he's not quite ready for the bigs yet. Stay tuned with him come September.

The best hitters in Tacoma are Luis Jimenez, Luis Rodriguez and Darren Ford. Jimenez and Rodriguez aren’t worth the roster spot. I do like Darren Ford quite a bit. He has enough contact skills and is a good enough defender to merit a spot. Of course, someone then has to be removed from the 40 man. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH….

Based off of this, the Mariners will not be too active and that shouldn’t be too surprising in retrospect. They already have one of the youngest teams in the league and September call-ups are supposed to give some young players a little MLB experience, our young guys are already here. Guys like Capps, Pryor and Robinson would normally be called up, but they’re already here. Wooo!! Go Mariners for being young. 

For those who are still looking forward to a wild card spot, or as I like to call it, the mythical creature classical music duo, you may as well keep doing that since September is not going to see much roster action from the M’s.