The End for Johjima?

Unless the Mariners are willing to eat up the contract, I don't see why Johjima is not going to be keep playing for them.

Yeah, Jojima's sudden turn from starter to benchwarmer is both shocking and disappointing. I don't know what happened, but John McLaren and now Jim Riggleman have buried Jojima's butt on the bench. Granted, he got off to a slow start this season and has yet to heat up, but in my opinion he's still better than half the starting catchers in MLB. He'd be a great fit with the Yankees with Posada now over the hill and Jose Molina as their only other option.

The Seattle Mariners' bad season caused a lot of blame-casting among the team. It was not Johjima's hitting that put him in the doghouse but complaints from the pitchers. It is easier for pitchers to blame the catcher than their own poor pitching.

Kenji seemed to be coming out of his hitting slump when Clements took over. Half a season does not mean that his MLB career is finished.

We don't know how Clement will fare over the long season. Jeff may develop into a star or just a flash in the pan.

Kenji's new three year contract will force the Mariners either to play or trade him. Let's see what happens.

It's a mess in Seattle. Leaving aside their batting stats right now, one thing is certain, Clement's defense behind the plate isn't really serviceable. You can't do anything about his arm. His footwork is just as bad. Sideway movement and throwing motion. But those can be improved.

However, last year, before anyone knew whether Johjima's contract was going to be extended, he started only one third of his 3A games as a catcher. Umm, aren't the minor leagues where players really work hard at improving their skill sets?

So why are they starting him as a catcher in the big leagues more all of a sudden? I read someone say that Seattle still doesn't want to admit that they made one more mistake, which is picking someone with no defense third overall in that year's draft. With how things are going in Seattle this year, they've gotten more adamant.

OK, so Piazza's defense wasn't the greatest, and Clement might be the second coming. We'll see. But from what I can see so far, Clement's batting skill set is that of old players. Low batting average, hitting for power, taking walks, striking out a lot. With Johjima's contract extended, Clement seems to be destined to be a DH or traded.

Kenji Johjima isn't exactly setting the world on fire.

At .220/.260/.304 with 3 HR's and 20 RBI in 66 games and 227 AB's. Nothing against Johjima, but Seattle and the now ex-Seattle GM Bill Bavasi goofed big time in re-signing a struggling 32 year old catcher to a 3 year deal worth $28 million with an up and coming 24 year old Jeff Clement who's the future in Seattle.

- With Johjima's contract extended, Clement seems to be destined to be a DH or traded.

I don't know about you, but Clement, since being re-called, is getting the majority of starts at catcher. Johjima since then has been relegated to backup duties or occassional DH duty.

Also, I don't know about others, but I'll say it again, Bavasi and Co. really goofed with re-signing Johjima to a big deal.

Finally, about Clement getting traded or shuffeled to DH, I highly doubt it since it would be sending the wrong message.