The AP is reporting the obvious, that Jose Vidro will lose time to the recently promoted Bryan LaHair at the DH spot, making me wonder (for the eleventy-millionth time) why he’s using up a roster spot at all. A backup DH? That’s about as useful as a left-handed monkey wrench, and about as valuable, too.
Some might look at Richie Sexson’s one-game performance with the Yankees—one for four with a walk and RBI, both of the latter rare occurrences that the Yankee fans should treasure—as a warning sign against releasing guys with some value to them. The problem, of course, is that Sexson has value with the Yankees for what they’re paying him (a reported $160,000) and not for what they would have had to pay for him in a Mariners trade ($15.5 million). That’s a heck of a difference, and Vidro’s got the same problem.
Nobody wants Vidro for his current salary of $8.5 million; unlike Sexson (who can flash occasional power against righties) Vidro doesn’t flash much of anything anymore: plate discipline (33:17 K:BB ratio in 264 ABs, with only one walk in 34 July ABs), power (.314 slugging, with 5 HRs and 11 2Bs, with only one of those, a two-sacker, coming this month, and two homers and one double in 74 June at-bats), club leadership (when’s the last time you heard about Vidro passing on knowledge to younger players, or exhorting the Moribund Mariners to try harder?).
Nobody wants Vidro at that price, least of all the Mariners. Waiting to see if anyone was dumb enough to take Sexson at that price made a tiny horsehair of sense, but hoping that someone might want Jose for $8.5 million is as dumb as putting your used Kleenex on eBay, hoping someone might mistake you for a star, or see the Virgin Mary in your snot patterns. There’s some alternate universe where this might be happening, but it’s not in this one.
So why keep him around? Excellent question. With LaHair, Clement and Johjima rotating at DH (and Wladimir Balentien itching for major-league at-bats in Tacoma), he’s not needed for backup. Unlike Sexson, who can at least point to some good numbers in the last three seasons, you have to dig back to 2003 to see numbers you’d want at DH (note that this was four years before he joined the Mariners, but you’ll have to ask Bill Bavasi about that wonderful reasoning).
Yes, he’s only been here for two seasons, but we don’t want him around anymore, and Mariners management should take note that nobody else wants him either. He’s a drag on payroll, morale, and having him around sends a message to the youngsters that mediocrity is acceptable on the Mariners. Don’t wait any longer—stop the bleeding. If someone else snatches him up, as the Yanks did Sexson, let them. They’ll pay him what he’s worth (like Sexson, somewhere around the league minimum) and he won’t be around to drag down the rest of the team.
Think young, Mariners, and move on!
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