I'm sure most of you noticed that Vlad is the DH today and not roaming the outfield as he usually does. Perhaps Scioscia wanted to give him a day off his feet and out of the sun, but there is another possibility. Perhaps Mike is sending a subtle message to Vlad: Clean Up your Act in the Outfield. Perhaps both things are going on.

Vlad made a VERY ugly error last night, dropping a soft flyball to RF. Fortunately, Frankie came in to shut the door, but Vlad's bonehead play opened the door for the M's in the 9th and could have been a disaster.

Seeing that both Rivera and Anderson are better fielders than Vlad, it makes sense for Vladdy to see more time as our DH.

Don't get me wrong; Vladdy does have an incredible throwing arm and discourages many runners from taking that extra base, and even throws out his fair share of baserunners trying to stretch a double into a triple. The question is, does he save more runs with his arm than he surrenders with his glove? Can anyone provide an enlightening stat on this?

What we do know, for comparison sake, is that GA has ZERO errors in the outfield this year while  Vlad has TEN. That's alot of errors for an outfielder. Rightfield is after all probably the easiest defensive position to play (not to say that any position is truly "easy"). There's a reason that Little League coaches all over America traditionally put their worst player in right field. You know, little Tommy who picks his nose and couldn't catch a cold in Wisconsin in the wintertime.

Anyway, Vlad is simply awful as a fielder. His bat of course is awesome, but does this mean he absolutely needs to play in the field? After all, his compatriot David Ortiz continues to earn his salary with Boston while almost never playing in the field.

So, my plea to Scioscia: Vlad should be the DH at least three times per week, maybe more.