Kelly Shoppach

Mariners Sign Joe Saunders, DFA Shawn Kelley, Announce Kelly Shoppach Signing

Published February 7, 2013 | By Casey McLain | Posted in Mariners

This is Joe Saunders with a beard. This is the Joe Saunders I dislike less than the version of Joe Saunders that has existed for more time than the Joe Saunders that has a beard.

There has been a lot of Mariners news today, and thankfully my girlfriend is willing to let me ignore her for a little bit while I spew my opinion about it. The latest, to skip over some earlier stuff that we’ll Tarantino back to is that Joe Saunders has been signed to a one year deal by the club.

Saunders is built for the old Safeco Field as a lefty that gives up some fly balls, doesn’t strike a ton of hitters out, and doesn’t walk many hitters. Saunders and the Mariners have flirted for a large portion of the offseason, and much like Kelly Shoppach’s signing, a Saunders signing seemed imminent. Saunders is an innings eater, and a veteran, and probably better than Jason Vargas, who the team traded for Kendrys Morales. Of course, Vargas made a lot of money, and while we don’t know what Saunders will make yet, we doubt that it will be more than Vargas, and if it is it won’t be the value-of-Kendrys-Morales-worth-of-more than Jason Vargas.

In a move that isn’t corresponding, the Mariners DFA’d Shawn Kelley. The team avoided arbitration with Kelley earlier this week, and they have had to DFA him because they’ve finally announced the Shoppach signing. So while the 40-man was adjusted to fit Shoppach, an additional adjustment will be necessary to fit Saunders.

Kelley has been a solid reliever for the team, though he’s out-resulted his peripherals—likely aided by Safeco Field hiding the downside of his huge flyball tendency. Kelley will have to clear waivers to opt for a minor… Continue reading →

Kelly Shoppach Signs with the Mariners

Published January 29, 2013 | By Casey McLain | Posted in Mariners

In Kelly Shoppach, there’s no doubt that the Mariners have upgraded beards, as John Jaso’s beard, while whimsical, doesn’t hold a candle to Shoppach’s.

Since the trade of John Jaso there has been a lot of hand wringing—and if you’ve read this site in the last two weeks you know that my hands have been adequately wrung—over the Mariners catcher position. When the team traded Jaso I said that I felt they needed at least one (duh) catcher to replace him, but probably two, because Jesus Montero’s defensive ability was no better than Jaso’s.

The Mariners agreed, apparently, and have agreed to bring Kelly Shoppach in on a major league deal with $1.5 million, with incentives that could bring the total value to $2 million. In November I included Shoppach in my offseason plan that was an alternative to the one made by Dave Cameron, even predicting the $2 million price tag. That’s hardly rocket science, as the team needed a defensive upgrade and at the time I thought a platoon partner for John Jaso.

I wrote this of the idea of signing Shoppach along with potential interest in Mike Napoli:

And for $2 million, if the Mariners run a strict platoon between Jaso and Shoppach, the career splits at the position are 125 wRC+ against righties (Jaso) and 134 wRC+ against lefties (Shoppach). That functionally equals Napoli’s 141/124 splits, but for significantly less money.

We didn’t realize at the time, of course, that Jaso would be traded, or that Napoli’s contract would be reduced to a one year deal with almost one eighth the guaranteed money due to issues with him passing a physical.

By basically all contemporary statistical measures of a catcher’s ability Shoppach is averagish. That includes his pitch framing as per this… Continue reading →

An Alternative Mariners 2013 Offseason Plan

Published November 7, 2012 | By Casey McLain | Posted in Mariners

At some point somebody conducted a study in which they asked people what forms of flattery they were aware of, and of those, which was the most sincere. The result of this scientific study was “imitation” and so was born an oft-used phrase designed to legitimize copycats. It’s in the spirit of that moment in science that I present my offseason plan for the Mariners, borrowing a page from the king of all things Seattle sports blogging, Dave Cameron. My plan is significantly different than Dave’s, and I’ve taken the liberty of waiting a couple weeks to let the beginning stages of free agency shake themselves out (including the Hisashi Iwakuma signing). Here it is:

Sign Kelly Shoppach for a one-year, $2 million deal.

Sign Cody Ross for two-years, $12 million

Trade Chone Figgins, cash, Shawn Kelley, and a mid-level prospect for Kendrys Morales

Offer Joe Blanton , Ryan Dempster, and Shaun Marcum one-year, $6 million, and sign whoever agrees first.

I feel pretty strongly about signing Shoppach, and I’d actually be willing to go two years for him personally. When I initially started looking at this year’s free agents, I noticed that not many people are talking about Mike Napoli. Napoli had a really rough 2012 in terms of batting average, which falsely drives opinion in many cases, but he’s always been a guy that hits for a lot of power, and that mashes lefties. He’s a notch below average defensively, but his bat, and ability to play first base could have made him a particularly good fit for the Mariners. That’s not to say he couldn’t be a fit even with the signing of Shoppach, but Napoli’s price tag is almost assuredly higher than I’d like to pay for him.

Napoli… Continue reading →

Kelly Shoppach

Mariners Sign Joe Saunders, DFA Shawn Kelley, Announce Kelly Shoppach Signing

Kelly Shoppach Signs with the Mariners

An Alternative Mariners 2013 Offseason Plan

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