Playing youth will give M’s a jump on ‘09

This isn’t quite what Washington Husky fans had in mind, but Matt Tuiasosopo finally is in a position to make a statement in September.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, Tui is toiling with the Seattle Mariners.

The angst has faded over his decision to play baseball, not football, out of high school. The question now is how much playing time Tuiasosopo — and the Mariners’ other minor league callups — will get this month.

Manager Jim Riggleman doesn’t like the idea of taking at-bats away from regulars. That’s a noble, loyal tact to take.

However …

For every swing Jeff Clement, Kenji Johjima and Jamie Burke get out of the catcher spot, it’s one less for Rob Johnson.

For every ball that gets under Jose Lopez’s glove in the hole behind second base, it’s a chance to see if Luis Valbuena has any better range.

For every hot smash at third base that allows Adrian Beltre to show his defensive magic, it’s a lost opportunity to see how Tuiasosopo has developed at third after starting his pro career as a shortstop.

Give Riggleman credit for working the young guys into games as much as he has.

He has used the DH spot to get Clement and Johjima at-bats while occasionally plugging Johnson behind the plate, where in one start Wednesday at Texas he showed how accomplished he is defensively. Felix Hernandez raved about how he called that game.

Riggleman is doing the same with Lopez and Valbuena at second, and Beltre and Tuiasosopo at third.

But, in a September that offers nothing but an opportunity to evaluate and build for next year, why not play these guys more than once or twice a week?

What is there to lose? Another game? Like M’s fans haven’t been through that for five months already?

If Tuiasosopo could get 20 at-bats a week, we might see how ready he is for this level or, possibly, how much more he needs to develop. In the least, semi-regular playing time this month might take the nervous edge off him in the event the Mariners need to call him up at any point next year.

Sure, it would be a diversion from Riggleman’s plan to give Beltre a chance to finish strong offensively. But didn’t he have the same chance to build numbers in April and May, when he batted .235 through the first two months?

And besides, getting Beltre off the field might give him a head start on healing a battered body, particularly his ailing left wrist and thumb, for a strong run in 2009.

The arrival of Johnson, and his impressive work behind the plate, revives the debate over what the Mariners should do about their catching in 2009.

With four guys for one spot — five if you include Adam Moore, who played impressively at the Class AA level this year — something’s got to change.

It’s easy to assume Jamie Burke, who’ll be 37 next year, won’t be back. But that’s been an easy assumption a couple of years now, and Burke has done nothing but make himself a valued backup who the pitchers love. It would be difficult to give that up without assurance the Mariners will replace him with a veteran.

Clement has gotten every opportunity this year to win the No. 1 catching job, but he’s still got a lot of developing to do defensively.

There’s little doubt that Clement will become a quality major league hitter. But the Mariners must decide where his ceiling is defensively, how long it will take to get there, and what it means to Johjima.

Right now, the Mariners are still hoping Clement can become their version of Jason Varitek. If they’re convinced of that, and committed to the plan to develop their own talent for years to come, then Clement should start in 2009 and the Mariners should be prepared to ride the highs and lows that will come with it.

And, they’d better determine a firm plan for Johjima, who has resisted the notion of being anything but a catcher. This season notwithstanding, he can help this team offensively and if it means he’s the DH or first baseman, that’s where he should play.

Spring training should offer an intriguing glimpse at how the Mariners plan to deal with these issues in 2009. But, they have three weeks left in the 2008 season to get started on it.