Hey, What Do You Know… Bavasi Got it Right!

I love the contradictions in Seattle. General manager Bill Bavasi likes to keep us on our toes as he commits to aging catcher Kenji Johjima, who will be 35 years old when his contract expires. Catchers don’t age overly well and Seattle has a cheaper, younger option available. Bavasi then designated veterans Greg Norton and Brad Wilkerson for assignment. After that, he created a mini re-building process by bringing up the organization’s top two position prospects: catcher/DH Jeff Clement and outfielder Wladimir Balentien.

Good riddance to both Norton and Wilkerson, as both were holding back better, younger, cheaper players. Wilkerson (.232/.348/.304 with no homers in 56 at-bats) was also under-performing.

Although Seattle is under .500, the club has the benefit of playing in the American League West so it is less than five games out of first place. Clement and Balentien should provide some much-needed offence for a club that is middle-of-the-road offensively (seventh out of 14 teams in runs per game at 4.59) in the American League (and the club is not going to pitch its way to a title – despite being fifth in the league in ERA at this point).

But are Clement and Balentien really well-suited for spacious Safeco Field? Both prospects have a lot of their value tied up in power. Clement was doing ridiculously well at Triple-A Tacoma with a line of .397/.535/.692. He also had hit five homers in 78 at-bats and walked 22 times while striking out only 12 times. Can you say dominating?

Clement’s power may take a hit in Seattle but he is proving that he is much more than a one-dimensional slugger. He has shown the ability to hit for average and get on base. Clement, who bats left, is also hitting .391 against southpaws and .400 against right-handers. The difference, though, is in the slugging percentage: .478 against lefties, .782 versus righties. Regardless, he should do very well in Seattle, although I’d like to see him behind the dish more often than we likely will.

Balentien has even more power than Clement but he will not hit for a high average. His line at Triple-A is .254/.329/.619. Balentien also does not walk as much as Clement so there is an awful lot of value tied up in the right-hander’s power. He has hit six homers in 63 Triple-A at-bats this season after slugging 24 in 477 Triple-A games last year (and having three straight 20-plus homer seasons).

He is a proven run producer and has driven in 20 runners in only 17 games and he drove in 84 last season. In the last three seasons, Balentien has struck out 160, 140 and 105 times in roughly 440-490 at-bats. Expect some monster home runs off his bat, but also expect some bumps in the road. Some people have knocked Balentien’s effort and attitude in the past and he might end up being the type of player who performs better under constant scrutiny and when the game is on the line.

Both players had a nice start to their 2008 seasons last night against Cleveland. Balentien went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer off Cliff Lee, who has a 0.96 and had not allowed a homer all season in 37.2 innings. Clement was 1-for-1 coming off the bench.