Adam Moore to be called up this month

by Mike Salk

The Mariners made their first couple of September call-ups today, bringing LHP Jason Vargas and 1B/DH Mike Carp up from AAA-Tacoma. It’s a nice start, but won’t be the last move they make. I heard today that C Adam Moore will be up with the big club before the end of the year. Moore is considered to be very good catching prospect who has hit .291 with 9 HR’s in 84 games since being called up to Tacoma. I saw him with his teammates there and he seems like a natural leader – a true catcher. It also seems like he can hit – he has what I thought was an easy, line-drive type of swing.

Talking to pitchers who have thrown to him in Tacoma this year, they say he is a talented kid who is still growing as a game-caller. A couple of weeks with the big league club could help benefit him greatly. Not only would it be helpful for him to spend time around major leaguers, but time spent with former catcher Don Wakamatsu wouldn’t hurt either. Rob Johnson had a similar type of September experience which he says was valuable.

Moore is not currently on the 40-man roster (which is at the limit), so a move would have to be made. There are some names that are expendable though, so we could see him soon.

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Nice to see Vargas and Carp in the clubhouse today. I think both guys are future major leaguers, though they each have questions to answer. Carp clearly has a nice approach at the plate (he is very patient), but does he have enough power to warrant a spot at first base or designated hitter? Wakamastu indicated that he woukd get an opportunity to showcase hinself in the next few weeks (with Russell Branyan sidelined until at least the middle of the month).

Vargas has been solid at times but had too many starts that got away from him early. This season was a nice rebound for him after surgery last year and he may have suffered from a tired arm at times. He also had the 12 day layoff around the all-star break that could hsave contributed to some rough outings in late July/early August. But I still like his changeup and his makeup, and that’s a good combo for a lefthander in Safeco.

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Top pick Dustin Ackley took another round of batting practice today and showed off his best quality: the ability to hit line drives to all fields. No, he didn’t flash too much power, but you could see that the skillset was there. Power will come, but the ability to go to all fields is innate. He also continued to follow around veterans Mike Sweeney and Jack Wilson. Two pros that are worth learning from!