The Mariners acquired Casey Kotchman from the Red Sox in January, installing him as Russell Branyan's replacement at first base. 457 plate appearances later, Kotchman is a lock to be non-tendered next month.
Kotchman, 28 in February, hit .217/.280/.336 for the Mariners this year. He's known for his defense, but more was expected offensively. He earned $3.5175MM in 2010, but may have to settle for a minor league deal this time around.
There is some silver lining for Kotchman's bat. In 2007 for the Angels, Kotchman hit .296/.372/.467 in 508 plate appearances. Drafted 13th overall in '01, Kotchman had seemingly recovered from a bout with mononucleosis and broken through in the bigs. He was the centerpiece of the Angels' trade with Atlanta for Mark Teixeira in July of '08, but his power slipped into reserve territory from that point forward.
Next month expect to see many of the up-and-comers of several years ago non-tendered, such as Kotchman, Conor Jackson, John Maine, Zach Duke, Jeff Francoeur, and Brandon McCarthy.
Kotchman is in danger of becoming irrelevant. He needs to have a good year next year, especially if he’s lucky enough to get a starting spot which is doubtful at this point, and run with it.
At this point, I’d say Kotchman already is irrelevant until he proves otherwise.
I can see the Angels offering Kotchman a minor league deal just in case there are any problems with Kendry Morales on his return.
But the Angels have Trumbo!
I think Trumbo is going to concentrate on becoming an outfielder in Spring Training.
Kotchman for LaRoche was the smartest move the Braves did.
Meanwhile, we in Boston were pretty satisfied with Kotchman for Bill Hall and cash (Which was essentially as useful to the Sox as LaRoche was).
I’d be interested in seeing him in Toronto if we don’t resign Overbay this year. We should be able to get Kotchman cheaper than Overbay. And hey, maybe the magic bat coaching and improved numbers of Bautista, Buck, Gonzalez, Wells, Encarnacion, and everyone else who hit 20+ homers this year will rub off on him!
I’d rather the Jays sign someone more versatile than Kotchman who can only play one position and doesn’t have the bat for said position.
If they could get him at the league minimum, then maybe, but I’d rather they didn’t.
I really like Casey Kotchman, mainly because I like watching superior defenders. But Casey seems doomed to repeat Doug Mientkiewicz’s career – a couple of years with some offensive promise followed by increasing futility at the plate.
I wish him good luck with his next team.
Oh my god! Who’s going to play first base?!
Mwuahaha.
dsasd
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Kotckman isnt useless. Your trying to tell me that a man who set the record for consecutive error less games at 1st base is useless? Pretty sure a team would love that guarantee on their bench… just not the mariners please caus smoak needs developing