Wlad the Impaler

The man known affectionately as Wlad the Impaler cannot be stopped in the Pacific Coast League. Born in Curacao, Wladimir Balentien needs to be called up to play right field for the Seattle Mariners right now.

In 29 games, Balentien is hitting .357 with 8 home runs and 26 RBI. That places him sixth in the PCL in average, second in homers, and fourth in RBIs.

He ranks first in total bases (70), fourth in slugging percentage (.625), eighth in on base percentage (.430), fourth in ops (1.055), fourth in hits (40), and eighth in stolen bases (7).

Wow.

Meanwhile Jose Guillen, making $5,000,000 per year and pissing off pitchers on all opposing teams, is hitting .259 with three home runs and 10 RBI while batting sixth for the M's. He sadly is only 4 for 18 with runners in scoring position.

Guillen definitely has a stronger arm (not that I have ever seen Wlad throw), but looks like a crippled old man trying to track down fly balls. Oh and he is crazy - which is why they won't bench him. In 2004, Mike Scioscia benched Guillen for a pinch runner. Guillen pouted and probably did more, which resulted in a season-long suspension without pay (it was in late September). This made Guillen even more mad.

Last season he pointed out a substance on Brendan Donnelly's glove, which resulted in an ejection. And he still hates Scioscia. He was quoted as saying he would not talk to Scioscia ever again.

As you can see, benching him for a soon-to-be 23 year old may not help team chemistry. With Seattle at 13-13 and only one game out of first, there is no way they mess with the club right now. They most likely want to see Balentien sustain this for an entire half of the season.

Wlad's biggest drawback has been plate discipline. Last year he struck out 140 times at the AA level and the year before 160 times at the A level. That is a lot. He improved his bases on balls to 70 in 2006, but still needed to improve. Well thus far he has done better. In around 126 plate appearances, Balentien has drawn 13 walks. He struck out 21 times, which is better than Mike Morse, Adam Jones, Jon Nelson, Bryan LaHair, and Jeff Clement on the Rainiers. That puts him on pace for about 80 strikeouts this year, which would be fantastic for a power hitter in the current era.

Will the M's bring him up soon? No. Should they? Probably not. Do I want them to and cut Guillen? Absolutely.

Until that happens, I just have to wait and hope Wlad keeps impaling pitchers in AAA.