MLB Mlb Waiver Wire

Big changes went down with the Seattle Mariner starting lineup on Wednesday evening, as the M's cut Brad Wilkerson and Dan Norton (no, no seriously, this is important) while calling up Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien. This seems like totally irrelevant news, but with the Mariners already 4.5 games behind the Angels, it shows some sense of desperation, but also a notion to trust the farm system that the team has built up. Although it's mostly desperation.

Following Tuesday night's 7-2 win over Cleveland, Mariners manager John McLaren suggested changes were imminent.

'It was time,' he said before Wednesday night's game. 'We haven't had much going. We felt it was time to bring new blood in. I'm anxious to see these kids play.'

Clement and Balentien are both top prospects -- Baseball America ranks Clement first and Balentien fifth overall in the Mariners system -- and Wilkerson and Norton are nothing but possibly-possessing-of-upside journeymen at this point.

But before dogging this as a win-now at all costs strategy, it's worth pointing out that both guys are ready for the Show. Clement was posting .397/.535/.692 with five home runs and a 22:12 BB:K ratio in the Pacific Coast League, while Balentien, a Curacao native, was hitting .254/.329/.619 with six homers, three of which came in one game on Monday. He's also already homered in the big leagues.

Fantasy Spin: Clement is going to get full time work, combining to play DH and catcher every day. Balentien is going to start full time in right field. Both guys are fantasy worthy, especially in deep and keeper leagues. Clement is actually the more valuable prospect, simply because of his C eligibility and because Balentien might be a little closer to fellow Curacao native Andruw Jones. That's a good or bad thing depending on whether you're looking for power or average.

The Colorado Rockies are currently second in their division, so one would think that they're reasonably pleased, considering some members of the team are starting slow. Of course, the caveat to being second in the NL West is that, at 9-10, they're staring six games up at an Arizona Diamondbacks team that does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

Still, it was a bit surprising to see Clint Hurdle make the decision to bench Troy Tulowitzki this early in the season. Tulowitzki is hitting a pretty abysmal .165 on the season, without any home runs and a 2+ K/BB ratio. So, the benching isn't entirely unwarranted. Still, Tulo did sign a monster contract in the off season and even though he is a very good hitter, his is primarily beneficial to the Rockies because of his elite defense. But there he was, Tuesday night, on the bench, and apparently he was cool with it.

'It's not a work day, I am being benched,' Tulowitzki told The Denver Post. 'It's up to me to get better.'

Clint Barmes, the team's hottest hitter this season, is starting at shortstop with Jeff Baker getting the nod at second base.

[...]'This is not the worst thing that's going to happen to him,' said Hurdle, explaining that it's fine line between trying to ignite a player and serving the best interests of a 25-man roster. 'It's not a slap in the face. Players know when they aren't playing well.'

Certainly, Clint. One could even argue that his torrid second half last year actually created nearly impossible to meet expectations for this season. Like, to the point where everyone forgot that his 2007 first half was offensively respectable at best, in comparison with what people are looking for now. And, you'll never believe this either, but his BABIP is right at .200. Yup, there's some bad luck at play here as well. Which makes benching him reek even more of desperation. And desperation is a stinky cologne, Clint.

Bonus Fantasy Spin: Tulo is a great buy low at this point, as long as you're not expecting 30 homers on the year. Barmes on the other hand, well, if he's got SS and 2B eligibility, he's going to have some value and is worth a pickup while he's playing in deeper mixed leagues.

The Seattle Mariners are lucky that they are only one game out of the A.L. West division lead, and a game above .500, given that both J.J. Putz and Erik Bedard have already seen stints on the disabled list, only a month into the 2008 season.

Fantasy owners are probably not so fortunate, given the early round status of both pitchers. However, there is good news on the horizon, as both players should be active and pitching by Sunday.

Putz was actually activated Tuesday afternoon in time for the M's game against the Baltimore Orioles, which they won, with his help no less. Putz picked up the save and reportedly hit 97 mph on the gun, needing four batters to record the save after giving up a double to Aubrey Huff to open up the inning. Two strikeouts later, the soul patch was in full effect. Or something like that. Get Putz active in all leagues.