Shawn Kelley optioned to Triple A.
I know the Mariners have a reason for doing this. I know they have a reason, and while I don't know what that reason is, it's probably a pretty good one.
I also know that, when you already have a bullpen like ours, sending Shawn Kelley to AAA doesn't make much of a difference. He's not one of our high leverage guys, and his spot isn't going to some steaming pile of crap.
But what I submit to you is that, given his ability to throw strikes, miss some bats, and pitch to both lefties and righties, you could make the argument that Kelley is our best reliever. I'm not saying you'd necessarily be right, but you could make that argument, and it would be reasonable. Shawn Kelley, in the Majors Leagues, has allowed a lot of fly balls, but he's also whiffed 48 batters and issued 11 unintentional walks in 53 innings. Brandon League's better when he's at his best, but he's not currently at his best.
Maybe the M's feel that Kelley wouldn't get enough playing time in the bigs, and would prefer to see him get regular multi-inning action in Tacoma. That would make sense to me. But I know that I would so, so much rather it be Sean White or Jesus Colome going away, because Kelley's lack of playing time so far has been of Wakamatsu's own doing, and getting him more innings would be an easy fix.
Again, without knowing why the M's are doing this, I can't say whether I think they're right or wrong. They clearly have a thing for Colome, which, whatever, I'll have to defer to them. I just really like Shawn Kelley. He's a good reliever. He should be in the Major Leagues.
Note: as Matthew points out, most of the bullpen can't be optioned. Shawn Kelley has options. Sean White has options. Jesus Colome has thrown six regular season innings since signing a minor league contract on February 10th.
0 recs | 86 comments
Would Colome have to pass through waivers?
Also not surprised it wasn’t White. Obviously Wak has some fascination with him.
the other side - April 30, 2010
I don't know if Colome would've passed, but it doesn't matter
I personally don’t see the appeal.
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
As long as you're making roster moves
This was the perfect time to go to the 11 man staff, send down Colome (and Kelley, if they insist), and get us another bench player capable of playing the field. This matters.
vitalogist - April 30, 2010
I think Cliff Lee should get a couple of starts and get stretched back out before the M's go to 11 again.
It doesn’t make sense to go thin when Lee has had all of one rehab start to get his endurance up.
thehemogoblin - April 30, 2010
Clifton Lee says we musn't tarry on his account
lemonverbena - April 30, 2010
I think everyone else in the pen is out of options
Matthew - April 30, 2010
But who cares about Jesus Colome?
He’s a nobody with a powerful arm.
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
Yeah, I'm not defending it,
just betting on the why.
Matthew - April 30, 2010
Sean White has options
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
Wak has some fetish with him.
the other side - April 30, 2010
Maybe Z didn't want your Jesus Colome poll to be moot?
Matthew - April 30, 2010
Now you can skip Shawn Kelley's!
Matthew - April 30, 2010
White should have one left
Assuming he went down in ‘08 and ’09, unless there’s some weird 2 option year clause.
Corco - April 30, 2010
Unless he was on the Braves' 40-man at some point
Corco - April 30, 2010
That would be weird since we Rule 5'd him
Matthew - April 30, 2010
I can't imagine why that would have happened
But we’ve had guys like Renee Cortez or Mike Wilson go on and then be pulled off without being claimed
Maybe he was on it in 2006, then dropped at the end of 06- it would be a weird circumstance but it is possible
Corco - April 30, 2010
You can Rule 5 guys that were just signed to minor league deals
The Phillies did that with Chris Gomez a couple years ago
Corco - April 30, 2010
We did it with Dickey?
JY - April 30, 2010
What the hell
That seems like a useful move
Corco - April 30, 2010
This team is dedicated to trying my patience.
Sec 108 - April 30, 2010
This is troubling.
I’m really starting to worry about the front office’s judgment on smaller moves, because right now, they’re killing the M’s.
thehemogoblin - April 30, 2010
No they aren't
Matthew - April 30, 2010
Okay, so I was being a little melodramatic.
… but they’re not helping the team at all.
thehemogoblin - April 30, 2010
This is closer to being irrelevant than it is to being meaningful
The team clearly has a stronger belief system in White/Colome than I do. That’s all it is.
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
But isn't that belief objectively wrong?
From everything we have observed? What information could the team have that puts this to the side? White and Colome are not as helpful as Kelley. Until we hear information that suggests otherwise, I’m prepared to assume the front office has made a poor decision.
Snuffleupagus - April 30, 2010
The point is that the impact of the decision is very small.
Matthew - April 30, 2010
White hasn't regressed to his numbers, and they think they can make an arm like Colome's useful
I disagree with them, but we didn’t really learn anything new from this move.
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
I feel like I should dislike this move more.
It’s an important point that the M’s almost need every bit of marginal help they can get. To demote one of their better relievers, theoretically at least, is stupid, but if they aren’t going to use him anyway, and he hasn’t been his usual extraordinary self, and he hadn’t had all that much experience in the minor leagues in the first place and could either start or work on his secondary offerings while there, the sum of those points makes me see a certain rationale in it.
JY - April 30, 2010
Fair enough
On all three points.
Snuffleupagus - April 30, 2010
I'm also a huge Kelley fan.
So this is weird for me.
JY - April 30, 2010
I think thats where a lot of our "what the" reactions come from
Brian Floyd - April 30, 2010 via mobile
Son of a bitch.
SeaKoala - April 30, 2010
Ok seriously people whats with the over reaction?
In the long run this affects the overall picture very little.
the other side - April 30, 2010
Because we need every bit of marginal benefit we can muster
These decisions that affect the overall picture ‘very little’ add up. And, the more one run losses we pile up, the more they sting.
Snuffleupagus - April 30, 2010
I wish this team would just decide to make major moves.
These “minor” ones don’t often go our way.
JonBBT - April 30, 2010
This is what I was trying to say.
I no well make words.
thehemogoblin - April 30, 2010
Shawn Kelley has 80.1 total innings in the minor leagues.
JY - April 30, 2010
cough Bullshit cough
lemonverbena - April 30, 2010
When I first saw this I had a brain fart and though it was Sean White who had been sent down
I was really happy, then I realized my mistake and I was not…
mebpenguin - April 30, 2010
Maybe he's going to try starting?
Someone had to say it. I’m kind of baffled by this move, even though it’s of little consequence. When trying to consider reasons for moving him, I thought of Jeff’s mentioning that they might want to stretch him out. There was a rumor about him starting when they stretched him out in spring training.
This doesn’t make any sense to do, and I’m somewhat positive they aren’t looking at him as a starter….but? We are a little thin for starters in 2011.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
This was my first thought.
The rotation is looking pretty thin in 2011. Maybe they think Kelley can be a #3-4 starter or something.
I Lick Squirrels - April 30, 2010
Maybe they're gonna have him start
hell I don’t know
Zack - April 30, 2010
Dammit
Zack - April 30, 2010
Like 2 seconds late.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
Any chance they are turning him into a starter?
Ballard Erik - April 30, 2010 via mobile
Wow
Ballard Erik - April 30, 2010 via mobile
Well he could be starting I guess.
the other side - April 30, 2010
On the plus side
We have Cliff Lee.
zeeehjee - April 30, 2010
I hear he's just holding the rotation slot down for Shawn Kelley
Matthew - April 30, 2010
Good.
Cliff Lee would make an awesome set up man.
zeeehjee - April 30, 2010
LOOGY.
danhutz - April 30, 2010
Lou, is that you?
JAH - April 30, 2010
Spider brain Z.
joof - April 30, 2010
It's funny that a few of us had the same thought all at once.
Like it’s the only explanation that is even acceptable.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
They do have a glaring need for a fifth starter so...maybe.
the other side - April 30, 2010
This would be for next year of course.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
I came off like a dick.
It could be a possibility.
the other side - April 30, 2010
No offense to Shawn Kelly
But I sure hope Z has something bigger in mind for the rotation.
zeeehjee - April 30, 2010
Most teams have glaring needs for fifth starters most years.
That being said, don’t we return all of Fisnelgas for next season, with RRS and the King?
thehemogoblin - April 30, 2010
Probably not Snell
$7M option.
Rollo Tomasi - April 30, 2010
I won't flip out, but this is bullshit.
Wilder. - April 30, 2010
May I change my Colome vote to hatred please?
Omerta - April 30, 2010
I blame Dave Cameron for jinxing us with that "I Have A Complaint" post about the organization making all the right moves.
Janic - April 30, 2010
What's most frustrating is, by and large, the acquisitions have all been right moves
It’s just the actual construction of the roster that makes no sense. And of course the Sweeney contract, but who seriously thought he was making the team out of Spring Training when he was a non-roster invitee?
cwel87 - April 30, 2010
Sean White is quickly becoming my most hated player and it's not even his fault
Griffin Cooper - April 30, 2010
Seriously this is retarded
Griffin Cooper - April 30, 2010
Should we fans be concerned
That our bullpen has no lefty option? My friend pointed this out to me last night, and I didn’t have a response ready, because I guess I hadn’t given it much thought.
BQueezy - April 30, 2010
No
Matthew - April 30, 2010
No.
harkening - April 30, 2010
No, that by itself isn't a concern.
A bullpen full of Felix clones would be fine with me.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
From what I've heard...
Through various twitter things, JAC, and blog posts, the pitching coaching staff isn’t happy with how Kelley’s been throwing the ball lately. A lot happens behind the scenes (side mound sessions, simmed games, etc.) and Kelley isn’t what they think he could be at this point. I could be way off base with the small amount of info, but I’m not at all surprised with the decision based on those couple things I’ve heard in the last week or so.
dkulich - April 30, 2010
Yeah maybe he has some things to work out, even though it hasn't really shown up in a game.
He seems like a Major League reliever to me, but maybe the team has higher hopes for him than someone like Colome (an older stop-gap player) and want to develop him. He was a rookie who missed a lot of time last year, after all.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
Exactly...
I agree completely. Bullpen has arms like his, the difference between he and Colome isn’t that much, and the team sees things he may need to work on. I’m perfectly fine with the move.
dkulich - April 30, 2010
The thing is though, his performance is still Major League caliber.
So I don’t understand why Wak wouldn’t just go to him as he continues to work some things out. There could be some more serious adjustments they want him to make that aren’t safe to make on a contending MLB team. I still don’t really believe any of this, but I’m just trying to speculate my way into living with the move.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
Based on Wak's quotes today, this doesn't seem to be the case
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
Yeah, it's all kind of strange.
Maybe, to contradict my above comment, they actually aren’t very high on him? I knew he wasn’t one of Wak’s go-to options, which was curious, but he is still very useful. If they were just considering him for Bautista-like mop-up duty, then I guess it’s just not the big a decision for the team. Whatever, Colome isn’t terrible.
refuse2lose2010 - April 30, 2010
Yeah I just saw those now...
Interesting. I’m a big fan of Shawn Kelley, so it kind of stinks, but I also figure he’ll be back and the bullpen will be ok without him. Maybe he’s not good at “Find Your Own Hat”, and the other bullpen games?
dkulich - April 30, 2010
This move isolated does not have a meaningful impact
However, the methodology behind the move does. It is why Mike Sweeney and Ken Griffey Jr. are languishing in the M’s lineup every night, it is why Milton Bradley’s knees are getting tested even after he’s already shown signs of wear and tear this season, and it is why Ryan Langerhans is playing in Tacoma instead of Seattle.
This is idiotic, pure and simple. Regardless of the negligible implications.
cwel87 - April 30, 2010
Shawn Kelley is a pitcher.
JY - April 30, 2010
Still, I think he's generally right
Most of the dumb moves we’ve seen so far this year have been rather insignificant, bad lineups, strange roster moves, etc., but they can build up on you quickly and start losing you games
Griffin Cooper - April 30, 2010
I don't think that's what he means
Jeff Sullivan - April 30, 2010
I know that.
It just seemed unusual to me to talk about methodology in a post about optioning a pitcher and then use solely hitting examples in support of that argument. Besides which, we can’t say that Sean White is getting innings because he’s a great clubhouse presence.
JY - April 30, 2010
The problem is, it is the same thing.
Belief system.
cwel87 - April 30, 2010
It seems like a reductionist way of thinking, which is why I have a bit of trouble with it, but you may be right there.
JY - April 30, 2010
On a more positive note
Detroit leads the Angels 10-5 in the bottom of the 7th and Toronto leads Oakland 10-2 in the bottom of the 7th. Morrow pitched fairly well today as he continues to be on-again-off-again like he was here.
Go Brandon League
Mario Shawn Hayden Jr - April 30, 2010
I feel like i read somewhere that Kelley hadn't played much because they thought he had some mechanics issue they were trying to tweak or something
But I might have just imagined that. I’m assuming since nobody has mentioned that I made it up. In that case my dreams are really boring.
Edgar for Pres - April 30, 2010
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