I can't imagine this will make Washburn pitch any better.

Geoff, has it been verified that the call to sign Kenji was made by ownership in Japan, and not Bavasi?

Well it's good to see we're putting our best lineup onto the field regardless of the player's feelings.

...wait a minute...

Good, Johjima can DH then. Wait, that won't happen. Vidro is a professional hitter. I hear those are pretty valuable, especially more than rookie's that put up similar numbers.

Truly mind boggling. I can just see the neurons firing in the front office. "Some of our pitchers hate throwing to Johjima and our top AAA prospect is a catcher. Johjima is 32. I know. Let's give Kenji a three year multi-million dollar extension. Maybe that will shake him out of his horrific hitting slump!"

So Clement is blocked and Burke will be catching 40% of the time? Only on this team.

Wishing they would have just put Clement behind the plate (like they did with Balentien in RF) and Johjima at DH.

I realize they couldn't do that due to the Japanese culture, and their aversion to "losing face".

God, I hate being owned by Nintendo sometimes. It seems to occasionally prevent this organization from making decision based purely upon performance and the long-term interests of this franchise. Johjima being given an extension doesn't make sense, nor does not ever considering a trade of the statistical lie that is Ichiro.

in this case, one should expect Washburn to pitch a complete game shutout now, right?

Even though the "Wash threw Joh under the bus" storyline was disproved by Shannon Drayer I'd say that now we have a good basis of comparison. It's reasonable to expect that Wash's performances should improve, measurably, in the next 3 outings, this week included.

Otherwise, any issues Wash has with game plan or getting guys out is not to do with his being in sync or not with the catcher.

This thing has the added bonus effect of getting Joh's sub-par bat out of the lineup... to be replaced with Burke's sub-par bat. Hm.

If we need a 2nd catcher just for defensive reasons, and Clement was doing fine on the defensive and game-calling end of things while he was here... why do we have Burke, again...?

Johjima is not a good enough hitter to DH. The past two years he's been a good hitter for a catcher but a lousy hitter for a DH.

It's not like Vidro is a good enough hitter to DH.

Johjima isnt good with paperwork given his clubhouse history, either way Mac is making the right move here, i bet Wash goes out and pitches at least 6 innings with a 4:1 k to rbc ratio.

Yawnnnn.... everything about this orginization is a joke right now... its like watching a monkey in a cockpit of a 747 furiously pulling levers and pushing buttons trying to land a plane...
I think the outcome of the plane and this team are currently the same.

Mike,

Rest assured, I agree with you about Johjima at the DH spot. I would like to believe that he is not a part of the team's future, but a stupid three year extension tells me otherwise. I was just trying to find a spot for him where ownership could still "save face".

So we're paying a catcher a good amount of money over the next three years to catch for 3 of our 5 pitchers? Will that narrow down as we find out that Felix can't get on the same page as Johjima? Maybe Johjima will catch 1 game a week and sit the other days?

This is all a bit silly...

Why throw a few prospect and Sexson and get Rivera back as catcher. he had good targeting and was like a vacuum with stuff in the dirt. this move probably comes in the offseason when it is too late.

Geoff, will the media be asking Bavasi/Armstrong/whoever re-signed Johjima to express how they feel about this latest development?

If so, could there be a question about if this was an issue last year, or the previous two years? Because even Jamie Moyer had an issue arise with Johjima that he was vocal about.

It's kind of curious don't you think?

If Washburn gets lit up tonight it will be an interesting day on the blog tomorrow.

It's really quite simple. No battery functions with two negatives.

if the battery is a 9V you can actually run it out of the conector series processor, so technically that isnt a good analogy.

Correction, Mike:

"When" Washburn gets lit up...

He's a bad pitcher facing a team that hits the ball well. I'm frankly hoping for a bloodbath. I can't stand Washburn. Can't stand him.

I also find this move by McLaren a bit inconsistent. Seems like he's trying to say that sometimes he has to make a hard decision. Wonder if he'll ever get smart re: Ibanez and Vidro and make those hard decisions.

Go Tigers.

We can't judge this move after one start. Whether Washburn gets lit up or pitches above his talent TONIGHT is irrelevant. Small sample-size and all.

Personally, I think to put any blame on Johjima is silly. Jarrod simply isn't a very good pitcher. Not anymore at least. Putting Burke back there might clear up a language barrier, but that'll be about it.

"All I'll say is, it's a very interesting situation for a team that just gave Johjima a three-year extension and has it's former No. 1 draft pick catching in Class AAA instead of up in the big leagues."

Actually Geoff I hope you'll say a lot more and ask a lot more about this. You've written of accountability. Bavasi should be held accountable for signing Johjima to such a big contract when 40% of the starting staff doesn't want to work with him. I'd also be interested in hearing from Johjima.

Who will Washburn blame when he gets blasted tonight?

Time to put up or shut up Washburn.

paging Dr. Kavorkian......

Maybe the Ms front office should adopt the strategy that whenever they get into a pickle, they ask the question WWBBD (What would Billy Beane do?)?

OK--He likely wouldn't have gotten into this catcher quandry and only would have re-signed Johjima if he thought upped his trade value but nevertheless what would he do now?

I'm guessing that being 8.5 back he wouldn't be in a hurry and would be willing to wait until the trade deadline or a contender had an injured catcher and then he'd peddle Johjima for as much as he could get.

McLaren’s new lineup, explained

Memo to: Team
From: Mac

We don’t all have to get along, and it’s my job to keep things running smoothly. Please note the following:

Richie Sexson hates the fans, and the fans hate him. Please reserve space in the dugout where the fans can’t see him. If possible a towel on him.

Willie Bloomquist hates sitting on the bench. Maybe he’d be happier if he’d just stand.

Raul Ibanez is having trouble moving his legs. Do not sit on his lap during the seventh inning stretch.

Miguel Cairo, as far as I can tell, can’t do a damned thing. But I ran over his dog last winter so he gets to play rover in short right field.

When you see me squinting through my glasses late in the game, please assume I’m as blind as Mr. Magoo and don’t know what the hell is going on out there.

Someone is stealing the sudoku. Don’t do that. Norm Charlton is getting mad.

Sorry Washburn Jamie Burke does not give you a 95 MPH fastball or even a 88 MPH fastball.He doesnt give you any secondary pitches or pinpoint control.

Geoff you said it Washburn is not Greg Maddux or Mike Mussina not even right now.Why is the guy who is probably the worst starter on the team have the right to open his mouth?Who cares if Washburn says its Kenji's fault shut your mouth and pitch better.

Put him back in the bullpen maybe he can get another save and we can say he is no John Smoltz.Put Morrow is the rotation what do we have to lose?70 more games?A Bad Manager?A Bad GM?A Bad Team?Maybe Oklahoma City wants a baseball team to?

Try this,

Trade for a good power hitter: Teams are always shopping hitters who they cant afford or want prospects Jason Bay,Adam Dunn,Griffey JR,Matt Holliday? Are options.

Put some young starters in the bottom of the rotation and see if you find success it cant be worse then Washburn or Batista If someone steps up you can trade Wash or Batista move em to the bullpen whatever.

Next find a Quality First basemen: Yeah Richie has the most HR's on our team and has driven in some runs but he doesnt get on base which means other guys cant drive in runs
I dont know Why you (Geoff) Give Richie the pass saying he is producing but you want to Bench Wladimir Balentien so fast who is hitting the same if not better then Richie and has more upside as Richie is on the decline.I heard about a Delgado and Richie Swap why not?You were around Toronto Geoff what do you think?

Improve Defense:If you trade for a Power hitting OF then you can move Raul to DH and you improve your defense right there by a large Margin.Also get the young guys in check there are to many mental errors they need to be held accountable for these.

Better DH:You can Call Clement up again or call somebody else up or if you make the trade for the OF then you got Raul there.And I dont buy he DH will hurt his bat if anything it should help it, keep jis legs fresh.

Mike....re: WWBBD?

Would you rather have a Billy Beane GM or a Theo Epstein GM? Realms of fantasy and all....suppose one of them (or a clone) were to take over the Mariners right now. How do you think each of them would handle this team...especially (for the sake of staying on subject) the pitcher/catcher conundrum?

So what have we got here?

Bedard-Good
Felix-Good
Ichiro-Good
Beltre-Good
Putz-Good
Rest of Offense-Bad
Rest of Defense-Bad
Rest of Pitching-Middling
Front Office-Bad
Field Management-Bad

Looks like a long summer.

Hey Geoff, I understand that you have to stay on good terms with the team, but for those that can't read between the lines, could you tell us what you think of this move?

Does anyone but Mac think that having a backup catcher, who has caught Washburn at most a handful of times, turn him into an Ace? And how many times has he caught Bedard? Apparently, Burke is the second coming... not to insult Jamie Burke, he is a great backup.

Geoff thans for the story on chemestry the other day. I have been asking about that for weeks?
Chemestry is like seeing the Red Sox embrace a cancer comback pitcher throw a no hitter and that bad attitude guy Veritec catching him??? hmm..
Now for Johjima, 1st of all Burke is the best back up in the game. Where, who next year is available at catcher with out spending huge $$$'S? That's why Johjima signed. Who knows maybe he is going to get traded to the Reds for Griffey?

I hope our seqason isn't over...come on chemestry...somebody!!

Todd is right. I hope no one here wants to rag on Jaime. He's a perfectly capable back-up catcher. There's no excuse however for him to be getting 40% of the PAs at catcher.

notagreener---I really think a smart GM would take a realistic assessment of where we are and trade Johjima or Clement even if the return were enough and he thought Johjima still had three years in him. Of course they also would have given Clement more than 15 games before turning back the DH job to Vidro, who never would have had that job if they were running the team. They might also have considered whether Clement could play first.

I don't think either of those guys would have blocked Clement unless it was part of a plan. I also don't think they'd hire a manager that let himself get run over by his worst starter

pfff, lets just trade ichiro now before he outright leaves us.. get a couple of up and comers prospects, sign a couple vets (cairo long-term?) and get optomistic about next year, becasue this year is long gone.

Washburn wants a catcher that speaks english? HOW DARE HE!

Ask him about Cairo and sit back and watch him dance.

I agree with Todd, Geoff. You're a smart guy and you must have an opinion on a lot of these recent moves the M's have made. But instead of giving it to us, you're justifying everything with reasons like "that's how baseball works" and "it's ok, he's accountable".

I really don't see why you can't be at least a little critical of some of the moves both Bavasi and McLaren have been responsible for of late. God knows they deserve it.

Geoff, I don't see how Mac gets credit for being accountable. It's not like he could've simply executed this crazy decision without us noticing.

K-Swag -- The pitcher-catcher relationship deserves more credit than you're giving it. Ask Greg Maddux (or David Cone or Roger Clemens) about Charlie O'Brien, who practically pioneered the "personal catcher" concept.

Washburn is comfortable when he's working quickly (11 seconds or less between pitches). Tempo is determined by the catcher and pitcher working together: how long it takes to agree on pitch selection, the time it takes for the catcher to throw the ball back to the pitcher, etc. Technically, Burke is a better catcher, although neither one is outstanding. And for a variety of reasons I suspect Washburn would rather do game-prep with Burke than Joh.

If Burke and Washburn synch up well (and Burke has caught all but one of Washburn's better starts this year), let them work together. Big deal.

Did anyone see Kenny Rogers' ERA? Today he is going to look like a Cy Young candidate. Two scoreless innings down.

In honor of Joh, a haiku:

The deck chairs

Get rearranged

The sound of water

I guess Reed was brought up to be a pinch runner. Great idea if they were in those situations late in the game, but those are few and far.

That is not a Haiku.

XM radio is reporting that Burke is the permanent catcher for Bedard and Washburn for the rest of the season.

This to me it is getting curiouser and curiouser. Kenji was just given a contract extention, he is starting to hit (a little) and now his is no longer the Ms everyday catcher. When will we see McLaren reach into his baseball cap looking for the next white rabbit? Maybe he should have done the magic commercial instead of Yuni.