I think a guy with speed who can get on base (and Rickey still does that quite well) - as Sean said - will almost always be a productive bench player.

Al Martin is 33, and it's not clear to me that he'd have more value than Henderson coming off the bench. Why didn't the M's at least invite Henderson to camp and let him compete for the 5th OF job ?

Piniella says he wanted him back - so it's unlikely to be a personality conflict issue.

I think a guy with speed who can get on base (and Rickey still does that quite well) - as Sean said - will almost always be a productive bench player.

Al Martin is 33, and it's not clear to me that he'd have more value than Henderson coming off the bench. Why didn't the M's at least invite Henderson to camp and let him compete for the 5th OF job ?

Piniella says he wanted him back - so it's unlikely to be a personality conflict issue.

I think a guy with speed who can get on base (and Rickey still does that quite well) - as Sean said - will almost always be a productive bench player.

Al Martin is 33, and it's not clear to me that he'd have more value than Henderson coming off the bench. Why didn't the M's at least invite Henderson to camp and let him compete for the 5th OF job ?

Piniella says he wanted him back - so it's unlikely to be a personality conflict issue.

I think a guy with speed who can get on base (and Rickey still does that quite well) - as Sean said - will almost always be a productive bench player.

Al Martin is 33, and it's not clear to me that he'd have more value than Henderson coming off the bench. Why didn't the M's at least invite Henderson to camp and let him compete for the 5th OF job ?

Piniella says he wanted him back - so it's unlikely to be a personality conflict issue.

Sorry, not Sean - it was JamesFraser who said Henderson would be a useful bench player. My apologies.

Sorry, not Sean - it was JamesFraser who said Henderson would be a useful bench player. My apologies.

Sorry, not Sean - it was JamesFraser who said Henderson would be a useful bench player. My apologies.

Sorry, not Sean - it was JamesFraser who said Henderson would be a useful bench player. My apologies.

Quick clarification: Cedeno had nothing to do with the card game; I realize the sentence could be read that way. My fault for the awkward syntax. I was just mentioning that it's known that Rickey had a mentor/student relationship with Cedeno while both were Mets, and it seemed to work well for Cedeno.

G

Quick clarification: Cedeno had nothing to do with the card game; I realize the sentence could be read that way. My fault for the awkward syntax. I was just mentioning that it's known that Rickey had a mentor/student relationship with Cedeno while both were Mets, and it seemed to work well for Cedeno.

G

Quick clarification: Cedeno had nothing to do with the card game; I realize the sentence could be read that way. My fault for the awkward syntax. I was just mentioning that it's known that Rickey had a mentor/student relationship with Cedeno while both were Mets, and it seemed to work well for Cedeno.

G

Quick clarification: Cedeno had nothing to do with the card game; I realize the sentence could be read that way. My fault for the awkward syntax. I was just mentioning that it's known that Rickey had a mentor/student relationship with Cedeno while both were Mets, and it seemed to work well for Cedeno.

G

I noticed over the past few years that there are more and more guys getting into this mentor/sub/PH/bench role on young teams as their careers taper off. I'm assuming it's always been so, but I've become more aware of it lately. Paul Molitor did it with the Twins for a year or two, Tim Raines is trying it in Montreal now, and I could see Tony Gwynn in that role once his knees drive him out of a full time role. (Hey, maybe they signed Mark Grace to mentor the kids in AZ...) It's funny thinking of someone with a reputation like Henderson's becoming a mentor, but you can't argue with his knowledge of the game and he might be motivated to accept such a role given his current prospects.

Anyway, I think if I were a GM embarking on a youth movement I'd grab one or two senior players to nursemaid the youth and set some example. I'm kind of surprised that FL and MON and the like haven't done more of this, like MN getting Molitor or Stienbach. If it's a good idea to bring in old alums in spring training, and adding experience and maturity is what many teams do for a stretch run, why not do more of it all year long if you know you won't win, your kids could learn something, it won't cost much and the guy won't absorb much playing time?

In 1999 Oakland had a bunch of kids (1300+ AB born after 1975), and they had Doug Jones and Billy Taylor in the pen with Randy Velarde, Tony Phillips and Tim Raines in the field. It may have been economics, but only Jones was with the team at the end of 2000, so I think a case could be made that once the students had snatched the pebbles from the hand it was time for the masters to move on.

I noticed over the past few years that there are more and more guys getting into this mentor/sub/PH/bench role on young teams as their careers taper off. I'm assuming it's always been so, but I've become more aware of it lately. Paul Molitor did it with the Twins for a year or two, Tim Raines is trying it in Montreal now, and I could see Tony Gwynn in that role once his knees drive him out of a full time role. (Hey, maybe they signed Mark Grace to mentor the kids in AZ...) It's funny thinking of someone with a reputation like Henderson's becoming a mentor, but you can't argue with his knowledge of the game and he might be motivated to accept such a role given his current prospects.

Anyway, I think if I were a GM embarking on a youth movement I'd grab one or two senior players to nursemaid the youth and set some example. I'm kind of surprised that FL and MON and the like haven't done more of this, like MN getting Molitor or Stienbach. If it's a good idea to bring in old alums in spring training, and adding experience and maturity is what many teams do for a stretch run, why not do more of it all year long if you know you won't win, your kids could learn something, it won't cost much and the guy won't absorb much playing time?

In 1999 Oakland had a bunch of kids (1300+ AB born after 1975), and they had Doug Jones and Billy Taylor in the pen with Randy Velarde, Tony Phillips and Tim Raines in the field. It may have been economics, but only Jones was with the team at the end of 2000, so I think a case could be made that once the students had snatched the pebbles from the hand it was time for the masters to move on.

I noticed over the past few years that there are more and more guys getting into this mentor/sub/PH/bench role on young teams as their careers taper off. I'm assuming it's always been so, but I've become more aware of it lately. Paul Molitor did it with the Twins for a year or two, Tim Raines is trying it in Montreal now, and I could see Tony Gwynn in that role once his knees drive him out of a full time role. (Hey, maybe they signed Mark Grace to mentor the kids in AZ...) It's funny thinking of someone with a reputation like Henderson's becoming a mentor, but you can't argue with his knowledge of the game and he might be motivated to accept such a role given his current prospects.

Anyway, I think if I were a GM embarking on a youth movement I'd grab one or two senior players to nursemaid the youth and set some example. I'm kind of surprised that FL and MON and the like haven't done more of this, like MN getting Molitor or Stienbach. If it's a good idea to bring in old alums in spring training, and adding experience and maturity is what many teams do for a stretch run, why not do more of it all year long if you know you won't win, your kids could learn something, it won't cost much and the guy won't absorb much playing time?

In 1999 Oakland had a bunch of kids (1300+ AB born after 1975), and they had Doug Jones and Billy Taylor in the pen with Randy Velarde, Tony Phillips and Tim Raines in the field. It may have been economics, but only Jones was with the team at the end of 2000, so I think a case could be made that once the students had snatched the pebbles from the hand it was time for the masters to move on.

I noticed over the past few years that there are more and more guys getting into this mentor/sub/PH/bench role on young teams as their careers taper off. I'm assuming it's always been so, but I've become more aware of it lately. Paul Molitor did it with the Twins for a year or two, Tim Raines is trying it in Montreal now, and I could see Tony Gwynn in that role once his knees drive him out of a full time role. (Hey, maybe they signed Mark Grace to mentor the kids in AZ...) It's funny thinking of someone with a reputation like Henderson's becoming a mentor, but you can't argue with his knowledge of the game and he might be motivated to accept such a role given his current prospects.

Anyway, I think if I were a GM embarking on a youth movement I'd grab one or two senior players to nursemaid the youth and set some example. I'm kind of surprised that FL and MON and the like haven't done more of this, like MN getting Molitor or Stienbach. If it's a good idea to bring in old alums in spring training, and adding experience and maturity is what many teams do for a stretch run, why not do more of it all year long if you know you won't win, your kids could learn something, it won't cost much and the guy won't absorb much playing time?

In 1999 Oakland had a bunch of kids (1300+ AB born after 1975), and they had Doug Jones and Billy Taylor in the pen with Randy Velarde, Tony Phillips and Tim Raines in the field. It may have been economics, but only Jones was with the team at the end of 2000, so I think a case could be made that once the students had snatched the pebbles from the hand it was time for the masters to move on.