Waiver Gems

Our intrepid Mariners have hooked themselves a decent longshot for a job on the major league pitching staff simply by fishing the waiver wire.

Now, don't get me wrong. Francisco Cruceta (RHP, 24 years old, repeating AAA this year at Buffalo) is no Felix. But he IS a live arm who at 6-2, 215 is something of a power pitcher. Indeed, his K/9 in the minors has been above 6.0 every stop except the 15 games he started for AA Akron in 2004; this year it has returned to a very respectable 8.09 as a Bison. He has walked 32 and struck out 92 in 102 1/3 innings, and has been thought of as one of the Indians better pitching prospects for the several seasons since they got him in trade from the Dodgers as part of the Paul Shuey deal.

Cruceta is another creative way in which Bavasi and company are preparing for the pitching issues that we can clearly see in the short-term future of our Ms. Well done.