Last week, the Seattle Mariners added another right handed bat in former Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks. The Mariners and Weeks agreed to a club friendly $2 million / one year deal, with built in incentives in the unlikely event he’s used as more than a platoon against left handed pitching at the corner outfield positions or as an occasional reliever for Robinson Cano at second base.
Cano has played in 157 or more games each of the last eight seasons (last year being the season he took off four games), so the Mariners couldn’t ask for a more durable player, but injuries do happen, and as Cano enters his age 32 season (the same as Weeks), it would be nice to be able to rest him occasionally over the course of the season. Weeks provides that option.
But, where Weeks is most likely to be utilized is as a platoon against left handed pitching for LF Dustin Ackley or RF Seth Smith. Back in January, I wrote about how much I liked the combination of Seth Smith and Justin Ruggiano splitting time in right field. The addition of Rickie Weeks should allow manager Lloyd McClendon even more flexibility with the matchups.
Ackley who seemed to have a breakout second half last season, was still terrible against left handed pitching. His .212/.255/.298 slash line produced an abysmal .553 OPS, .086 ISO, and 57 wRC+. (Remember league average for wRC+ is 100, so 43% below league average.)
Weeks, on the other hand, hit .256/.361/.504 against lefties for a .865 OPS, .248 ISO, and 142 wRC+. Getting Ackley out of the lineup against left handers and Weeks in should be a major boost offensively and probably not hurt that much defensively.
The move to platoon player should also preserve Weeks’ health, as he’s missed 100 games the last two seasons playing 2B, and make him available to DH for a Nelson Cruz, who despite playing 159 games last year for the Baltimore Orioles, has been on the DL six times during his career.
The signing of Rickie Weeks by the Mariners might just prove to be one of those not so flashy acquisitions that goes a long way to improving the offense over the last few seasons.
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