Rays Trade John Jaso to Mariners for Josh Lueke

But Lueke may be also….

Jack Z loves lefties, as Safeco is much friendlier to them. Good trade for the Mariners, perfect fit. Not sure yet for the Rays. I have to look more into Lueke.

an offseason rally beard til the first trade or free agent signing. Going to shave now. Don’t mind the trade…wasn’t really a huge move, but I think Jaso isn’t that great. Lueke couldn’t hurt with the constantly shifting bullpen.

Any idea on who that PTBNL may be?

However, personal feelings and morals aside, it is nice to see Jaso go for what could be a very solid addition to the bullpen. Jaso’s defense is bad and his bat did nothing last year to make up for it, so I’m just glad to see him go to open up room for a different catcher in the system to take his place. The batting can’t be TOO much worse out of Chirinos or Lobaton, but especially Lobaton’s defense will be awesome to see, coupled with Jose Molina’s.

As far as Lueke goes, his minor league track record is pretty sweet. His numbers look like he rarely struggled ever, aside from his initial call up to A+, he’s got a tiny bit of closing experience as recently as this past season in AAA, and although his K rate dropped, he put up solid numbers in the PCL as a pitcher. I’m fairly confident he’ll be a major improvement over at least a couple of the goons the Rays had in the bullpen last season.

I do believe the true Jaso is somwhere between but with the same bad defense. He was a fan favorite of mine, too.

Josh Lueke’s Bill James projection looks nice: 3-2 record in 31 games(50 innings) with a 2.70 ERA with 9 K/9, 2.70 BB/9, 0.36 HR/9 and .311 BABIP

I hope the Rays are right about his personal issues.

What Hamilton did with his drug use and bankrupting his family (wife + kid) on that is a pretty damn heinous thing to do. I’m not putting that on the level of sexual assault on a woman who passed out, but it’s still a damn crappy thing to do.

Where is the gap between those two actions for you all? After all, most were rather quick to forgive Hamilton for his past transgressions once he got successful and threw all of the credit God’s (or G_d’s way). Is that even possible for Lueke?

http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com/2011/02/josh-lueke-sex-crime-affair-seattle.html

To suggest that Mr. Lueke doesn’t deserve the same chance given to Mr. Pitts merely because Mr. Lueke’s lesser crime had a female victim is not only preposterous, it is pandering to women’s groups. Pandering is never done for proper reasons. Usually, it is done by people who don’t consider the group pandered to their equal, but they pander to curry favor with the group’s members. “Some of my best friends are women” and all that.

Well, some of my best friends are women, but I’m man enough to say that pandering to women’s groups to destroy the career of a young pitcher who served his time and deserves a second chance is wrong, no matter how you look at it. Sorry, ladies. Besides, Mr. Lueke didn’t assault every woman on the night in question. He made a mistake with one woman. He deserves another chance, so get over it.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thehotstoneleague/2012970415_should_lueke_ever_pitch_for_th.html

For what it’s worth — and I’ve vacillated on this one, believe me — I’m leaning toward the opinion that the Mariners should put Lueke on the shortest leash possible, spell out the consequences of even a minor slipup (as they say they have already done), and bring him to camp next year. Yes, the Bakersfield incident was ugly, and Lueke made a terrible mistake, as he acknowledged. But the legal system has ajudicated his case, and he has served his time. He will have to live with the consequences of his actions (as will, of course, the victim). This is a nation of second chances, and Lueke would hardly be the first wayward athlete to get one. Believe me, I don’t feel warm and fuzzy about that conclusion, but right now I uncomfortably side with those who believe that Lueke shouldn’t lose his livelihood over this

http://www.proballnw.com/02-2011/get-excited-about-josh-lueke/

All in all, Josh Lueke is a talented young man with the ability to put away Major League hitters. Whether he harnesses that potential…well, we won’t know until it happens. But all the signs point to the Mariner having acquired a future relief ace. I won’t hide my excitement; Lueke could be very, very good.
Honestly, the only worrisome things about the guy are off the field. It’s that elephant in the room, I know. Some people want to talk about it and others don’t. Most people just find it unforgivable and consider it a part of the whole Josh Lueke package, regardless of how talented he is

I was pretty excited to read about Lueke tonight, until I googled him and all hell broke loose. His story will, deserved or not, dominate the talk of him.

An excerpt of a comment…

Jaso’s hitting numbers look like he’ll fit right in with the Mariners, and sure, I’m sure he’s a great game-caller and defensive catcher, but goodness knows what this team’s #1 weakness is. It ain’t defense.

Serious question.

Not the best thing to do with sodomy charges, IMO…