Kuo, Rapada, Kasparek and Other Notes

The Mariners have signed Hong-Chih Kuo as expected. It is reportedly (still without team confirmation one should add) a 1 year MLB deal. The monetary value of the contract hasn’t been released, but there is a good chance it will be released later today. If so, I will have it here tomorrow. As their 40 man is full, they will have to move someone to create room (my guess is that it will be a catcher, either Chris Gimenez or Adam Moore, or maybe reliever Steve Delabar, who was added when Gutierrez went down for the year in 2011).

Prospect guru at Baseball Prospectus Kevin Goldstein calls former 12th round draft pick Kenn Kasparek an “organization guy” (he also likes the Kuo signing, thinks the Mariners will win over 76 games, and thinks Dustin Ackley’s OPS will be under .825 in 2012). Kasparek, a 26 year old 6′ 8″ starting pitcher, made it to AA last year, making 12 starts and posting a 4.50 ERA (4.67 FIP) with 5.8 K/9IP. He has struggled to repeat the success he had at Clinton (A-ball) in 2009, where he had a 2.41 ERA (2.68 FIP) and 8.5 K/9IP in 26 starts. Although he has kept the ball in the ballpark (.8 HR/9IP), he has struggled with flyballs, giving up almost 2 flyballs per 1 groundball in his minor league career. He was drafted out of the University of Texas, where he had a 3.20 ERA with a 6.78 K/9IP.

This makes it hard to expect Kasparek to be anything for the Mariners in the future (especially since he is already at his peak age). The Mariners shouldn’t feel bad though, not a single one of the players drafted in the 12th round of the 2008 draft has reached the Majors. It usually makes sense to take a chance on tall pitchers anyway, as they usually develop better velocity with a better downward movement. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened with Kasparek.

Other Mariners updates:

Spring Training Invite Luis Antonio Jimenez was back in the lineup on Sunday for Venezuela. He was DHing, and had a RBI flyball single on a 3 pitch at-bat, a ground out to second base on 4 pitches, a 1 pitch fly-out to center, and a one pitch groundball to the 2nd base side that found a hole.

The Orioles traded Jeremy Guthrie for Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom. The trade doesn’t affect the Mariners’ obviously, except for the fact that Clay Rapada was designated for assignment by the Orioles. Overall, Rapada’s numbers aren’t good, with an ERA over 6 in 2011, but he is a very capable left handed specialist. In 2011 he gave up just a .104 batting average against lefties, and in his career lefties have an OPS + of just 27 (league average is 100!). This was more consequential before Kuo signed, but there is a chance you could get Rapada on a minor league deal. With Kuo’s history of arm troubles, a minor league deal with Rapada would be great insurance if he elects free agency over going to AAA with the Orioles.