Is Stairs tenure with this team nearly over? Photo Carlson/AP via NYdailynews.com
I’ve been advocating for the release of Matt Stairs for well over a month now, having posted in this space in May questioning the inclusion of Stairs on this roster. In the month since, Stairs has “improved” his average from 2-for-26 to 5-for-43. He is batting .116 and slugging .140 for the season. He has one extra base hit, and frankly looks his age.
On Friday, new interim temporary for-a-few-days manager John McLaren announced his first lineup. Against a right-handed hitter in an AL park (thus needing the DH) Laynce Nix is serving as the DH and NOT Matt Stairs. And it occurred to me this fact: Stairs almost certainly was Riggleman’s guy, and now that Riggleman is gone and Stairs continues to struggle mightily I wonder just how many days it will take before the team gives Stairs his outright release. For the rest of the 3-game series in the AL park, Stairs was not used at all, even in the 14 inning debacle friday night.
Fans have long since given up explaining why a defense-focused team contains a 43-yr old pinch hitting specialist who cannot run, cannot play the field and (apparently) can no longer hit. MLB beat writer Bill Ladson has addressed the question in his Q&A posts, as has Boswell. Both have intimated that Stairs is keeping his job because there’s no logical replacement in AAA to take his spot.
To which I say, I disagree. Right this second, any one of three or four guys on our AAA squad makes a ton more sense on this team than Stairs.
- Chris Marrero is on the 40-man, is hitting .290 with some power and can play 1st base (not that we need him with Morse out there, but we don’t really have a 1B backup fielder)
- Matt Antonelli is hitting .316 in AAA and could provide middle-infield cover.
- Michael Aubrey can play first base in a pinch, has MLB experience and has some power off the bench.
Prediction: Stairs sticks around until we are done with interleague play and need Designated Hitters, and then is released.
His replacement won’t be Marrero. The kid has to play every day if he’s ever going to develop enough of a stick to be a viable MLB first baseman.
Antonelli is intriguing at the plate, but has an awful lot of errors (6 in 31 games), so it will probably be Aubrey.
This is a need that could also be filled at the trading deadline without giving up much on the Nats’ end, say a middling low level prospect.
bdrube
26 Jun 11 at 9:33 pm
Somewhere in all the post-Riggleman resignation coverage I read that Riggleman said he wanted to keep Bernadina on the opening day roster but was overruled by Rizzo who wanted Stairs. If that’s true, we may be stuck with Mr. “Professional (Non)Hitter” Matt Stairs for awhile. I wonder how Davey Johnson will feel about that. McLaren sure ignored him this weekend.
Section 222
26 Jun 11 at 11:47 pm
Somewhere in all the post-Riggleman resignation coverage I read that Riggleman said he wanted to keep Bernadina on the opening day roster but was overruled by Rizzo who wanted Stairs. If that’s true, we may be stuck with Mr. “Professional (Non)Hitter” Matt Stairs for awhile. I wonder how Davey Johnson will feel about that. McLaren sure ignored him this weekend.
Nope, that choice was between Bernadina and Ankiel. And Riggleman made that choice … NOT RIZZO? WTF is wrong with you people. Rizzo ONLY repeated what player development requested: that Bernadina play EVERY DAY. Either in the majors or in AAA. Every day. Riggleman decided he needed Ankiel (likely another friend / loyalty over performance / competence deal that Riggleman is renowned for.) IN the end BLAME RIGGLEMAN. Sheesh the guy has pretty much come right out and shown you his true colors … he’s in a bar telling everyone that his guys aren’t good yet?
WTF is WRONG WITH YOU people? If I am in that bar in that situation and people ask me about my players I am going to tell them they are going to kick butt and go to the series! Every other team is horse dung by comparison?
Instead he tells his boxom companions that “they aren’t good yet”? Wondering why the team gave McLaren a standing ovation, were sad that he was leaving and didn’t feel the same way about Giggleman?
C’mon wake up and smell the freakin’ coffee.
peric
27 Jun 11 at 1:45 am
Interesting. I definitely never saw that statement. In fact, I have a hard time believing it, based on everything else Rizzo has done to rid the team of slow, plodding players (Dunn and Willingham) in favor of track stars.
I think the fact that Stairs was ignored can be chalked up to one of two possibilities. 1: the team wanted to start Nix in left but his ankle injury kept him on restricted duty, so he’s DHing and Hairston is in left. 2. the theory I expounded in this post.
Todd Boss
27 Jun 11 at 9:48 am
So what happens when Ankiel is deemed healthy? Will the Brian Bixler era be over?
Sec 314
27 Jun 11 at 10:06 am
Clearly yeah. He’s the one w/ options, who is surplus goods with two other backup MIs.
Todd Boss
27 Jun 11 at 10:25 am
Not sure I agree that it was Ankiel versus Bernadina. I think it was more Nix’s lack of options versus Bernadina’s available option. Ankiel got a $1.5M contract and was absolutely making the team. Nix turned out to be a worthy player in spring and needed to be added to the 25-man roster.
Plus, Bernadina’s 27, is in his 9th pro season, has 750 mlb at bats and 1000s of minor league at bats. I don’t think he’s a subject of “player development” anymore. He is who he is; a replacement-level outfielder with speed, decent defense and a mediocre bat. I’m happy that he’s on his hot streak right now but for his career he’s an 86 OPS+ guy. Once we have better options in the outfield he’s gonna be released. You can make the “he needs to play every day” argument about guys like Marrero and Flores, but not Bernadina.
I kinda feel for Riggleman. In today’s mobile-phone driven society, the poor guy can’t even go and have a drink at his neighborhood bar. I’m not gonna kill the guy for that. I always try to put myself into the situation of these professional athletes that we analyze so intently and say, “ok if I had a bad day, wouldn’t I go get a beer?” Not sure i’d believe any non-attributed, off-the-record, in a bar after 3 beers comments frankly.
Todd Boss
27 Jun 11 at 11:12 am
Holy Crap!…. I actually agree with Peric! We part ways a little bit on Matt Stairs. I think he’s on the roster as Jason Werth’s drinking buddy more than anything else.
And it ABSOLUTELY WAS Ankiel or Bernadina with Bernie needing to play everday.
NatsJack
27 Jun 11 at 11:47 am