Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Spring Tidbits
Damn, I gotta say, I am pumped for this season. Having Cirillo (by the way, he is 1 for 22 this Spring) gone is a breath of fresh air, and we are going to see big things from the new guys, and from Freddy too. Money is left in the coffers for a midseason trade which should make everyone in Marinerland happy - just not making a big trade is becoming a large monkey on the back in the minds of many.
Edgar is going out with a Championship.
Okay, these words of unfettered optimism are brought to you by Jeffrey at The Safe, and Paul at Ahoy the SS Mariner, who have both sent me email in the past few days with words of encouragement. Take a look at their recent posts, and you can see the optimism beginning to sneak in there.
Anywho... I started this entry about 15 hours ago, and work and sleep be damned, I'm gonna finish it and somehow find time to make my bracket selections for the office pool, but with Rice gone, there is no longer a clear favorite - I just wish Gonzaga was an underdog again.
Where was I... oh yeah, trade rumors
ESPN has a Top 10 Most Likely to be Traded story that mentions both Junior and Alfonso Soriano as possible Mariners in the near future. Junior makes for a better story, but the now-28-year-old Soriano does not have the long-term contract and risk, and his cost is known($5.4 million this year and arbitration-eligible next, and a Scott-Kazmir type pitching prospect - Nageotte?). Where he would play is a question mark (LF, CF, 3B, SS), but the fact that he is a 40-40 guy who crushes lefties makes him a nice fit on this ballclub, even if he mucks with Melvin's Righty-Lefty-Righty 3-4-5...
Latest cuts
Clint Nageotte and Matt Thornton will head to Tacoma to head the most dominating rotation in the Minors, and be ready if anything should happen to our front five, six or seven. For those of you scoring at home, Travis Blackley is still in camp, but I think he'll be sent down soon as well. Justin Leone, Greg Dobbs, Jamal Strong, Jose Lopez, and Bucky Jacobsen all remain in camp, and with Dave Hansen gimpy, will certainly get a close look. If you look for news and links on any minor leaguers, the place to go is Mariner Minors. In other news, former Mariner Brian Sweeney was sent to minor league camp by the Padres today, despite a 3.00 ERA in four appearances.
Blogger All-Stars
My favorite baseball blogger, Aaron Gleeman, has just put out his Top 50 prospect list. I like that Aaron is willing to go out on a limb by not ranking Clint Nageotte as the top M's prospect, instead giving that title to overall #25 Felix Hernandez. And he doesn't stop there, tabbing Travis Blackley 36 just ahead of Nageotte at 39 and Jose Lopez at 45. Four in the top 50 is pretty nice.
Aaron's list is located over at his new endeavor, The Hardball Times, which looks like a Blogger All-Star team. I guess Peter White's All-Baseball.com team now has someone to play against. Man, I've been blogging for two months now, and I'm already obsolete. The story of my life - heck, I kept my bellbottoms so long that by the time I threw them away, they were back in fashion. If you're blogging alone and ain't cross-referencing each other with a slick searchable interface, then you're behind the times. Oh well, I'm sure that if I keep plugging away, I'll get the call.
And in a final note, the submariner goes over the top
Peter Gammons reports that while Mike Myers is still throwing sidearm to lefties, he has changed to being over the top to righties, and hit 89 on the gun. I don't think I've ever heard of a pitcher who two completely different motions to overcome his lefty-righty split. Right now, I think Myers and Ron Villone will be making the team while Terry Mulholland ponders retirement and Kevin Jarvis is jettisoned.
Edgar is going out with a Championship.
Okay, these words of unfettered optimism are brought to you by Jeffrey at The Safe, and Paul at Ahoy the SS Mariner, who have both sent me email in the past few days with words of encouragement. Take a look at their recent posts, and you can see the optimism beginning to sneak in there.
Anywho... I started this entry about 15 hours ago, and work and sleep be damned, I'm gonna finish it and somehow find time to make my bracket selections for the office pool, but with Rice gone, there is no longer a clear favorite - I just wish Gonzaga was an underdog again.
Where was I... oh yeah, trade rumors
ESPN has a Top 10 Most Likely to be Traded story that mentions both Junior and Alfonso Soriano as possible Mariners in the near future. Junior makes for a better story, but the now-28-year-old Soriano does not have the long-term contract and risk, and his cost is known($5.4 million this year and arbitration-eligible next, and a Scott-Kazmir type pitching prospect - Nageotte?). Where he would play is a question mark (LF, CF, 3B, SS), but the fact that he is a 40-40 guy who crushes lefties makes him a nice fit on this ballclub, even if he mucks with Melvin's Righty-Lefty-Righty 3-4-5...
Latest cuts
Clint Nageotte and Matt Thornton will head to Tacoma to head the most dominating rotation in the Minors, and be ready if anything should happen to our front five, six or seven. For those of you scoring at home, Travis Blackley is still in camp, but I think he'll be sent down soon as well. Justin Leone, Greg Dobbs, Jamal Strong, Jose Lopez, and Bucky Jacobsen all remain in camp, and with Dave Hansen gimpy, will certainly get a close look. If you look for news and links on any minor leaguers, the place to go is Mariner Minors. In other news, former Mariner Brian Sweeney was sent to minor league camp by the Padres today, despite a 3.00 ERA in four appearances.
Blogger All-Stars
My favorite baseball blogger, Aaron Gleeman, has just put out his Top 50 prospect list. I like that Aaron is willing to go out on a limb by not ranking Clint Nageotte as the top M's prospect, instead giving that title to overall #25 Felix Hernandez. And he doesn't stop there, tabbing Travis Blackley 36 just ahead of Nageotte at 39 and Jose Lopez at 45. Four in the top 50 is pretty nice.
Aaron's list is located over at his new endeavor, The Hardball Times, which looks like a Blogger All-Star team. I guess Peter White's All-Baseball.com team now has someone to play against. Man, I've been blogging for two months now, and I'm already obsolete. The story of my life - heck, I kept my bellbottoms so long that by the time I threw them away, they were back in fashion. If you're blogging alone and ain't cross-referencing each other with a slick searchable interface, then you're behind the times. Oh well, I'm sure that if I keep plugging away, I'll get the call.
And in a final note, the submariner goes over the top
Peter Gammons reports that while Mike Myers is still throwing sidearm to lefties, he has changed to being over the top to righties, and hit 89 on the gun. I don't think I've ever heard of a pitcher who two completely different motions to overcome his lefty-righty split. Right now, I think Myers and Ron Villone will be making the team while Terry Mulholland ponders retirement and Kevin Jarvis is jettisoned.
