Mariner Optimist

Best Home Run Call Ever

2009-10-02T14:41:00.003-05:00

By both Dave Niehaus (calling the home run) and Mike Blowers ("calling" Matt Tuiasasopo's 1st career home run down to the 2nd at bat, 3-1 count, 2nd deck, left field - amazing!)

Shannon's Blog with audio of home run call

Better Late Than Never...

2008-12-08T19:40:00.002-06:00

Just two posts and 230 days ago, I advocated for the signing of Russ Branyan as a low-cost 1B/DH alternative.

I like this Zduriencik fella...

And now Mr. Z has brought in a possible platoon-mate in Chris Shelton. Combined, these two will make about a seventh of what Richie Sexson did.

Very nice.

And while part of me is loathe to part with JJ Putz, another part is very intrigued to see what Mr. Z could get for him.

And now, a brief musical interlude

2008-05-03T11:20:00.004-05:00

Something to take your minds off the M's current losing streak. This little ditty is sung to the tune of "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks...

"Unpurchased Players"

Just the other night, at the Giants baseball game
The other pitcher sucked so bad, their fans were all ashamed
And as I watched them losing, the past came back to me
And I couldn't help but think of the way things could have been

Barry was the pitcher that GM Bill thought was so fine
And each night Bill spent improving an offer for him to sign
And if he'd only sign up for five or six long years
We'd have the missing piece and finally win the World Series

Sometimes I thank Bill for unpurchased players
Remember when you're judging the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't spend doesn't mean he don't care
Some of Bill's greatest moves are unpurchased players

Zito wasn't near the pitcher that he had been back in the past
His curveball wasn't breaking and his fastball wasn't fast
He tried to throw it like the old days
But each rare strike went o'er the wall
I guess Bavasi knows what he's doin' after all

And as he got yanked early I thought of GM Bill
And then and there I thanked him that
Our best try was 90 mill

Sometimes I thank Bill for unpurchased players
Remember when you're judging the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't spend doesn't mean he don't care
Some of Bill's greatest moves have been unpurchased players

Some of Bill's greatest moves are all too often unpurchased...
Sadly, some of Bill's greatest moves are unpurchased players

DH I'd like to see

2008-04-27T11:07:00.002-05:00

With Greg Norton breaking out a big game yesterday, and the blogosphere pushing hard for Jeff Clement, it seems like everyone is talking about improving the M's DH productivity.

We know that Greg Norton is not a long-term answer, but I agree that he is an improvement on the reanimated corpse of Jose Vidro.

I just wanted to throw another name out there for a part time DH candidate who should be available on the cheap.

Russell Branyan.

Yes, that Russell Branyan. He is currently sporting a 406/465/734 line for the Brewers AAA Omaha affiliate. He epitomizes the Three True Outcome hitter, and his power/lefthandedness would be a great fit for Safeco field. He is Norton with pop, and could spell Beltre, Ibanez, Wilkerson, or Sexson with much more possibility for scoring than Willie Bloomquist. Heck, Richie could take nights off and we wouldn't be able to tell!

That's my vote for a short term solution at DH and the bench.

Then, in June, bring up Clement and Wlad, when the M's are ready to give them every day playing time.

Yoda Can NOT Catch a Break

2008-04-20T16:37:00.002-05:00

Just five days after hitting a pinch-hit home run to ignite a Phillies rally and re-ignite the imagination of Seattle sports fans who worship at the Cult of Doyle, this comes on Rotoworld:

Phillies placed outfielder Chris Snelling on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 17, with left knee inflammation.

The Baseball Gods SUCK.

Knuckleballer Goes Tonight

2008-04-18T11:27:00.003-05:00

I am pretty darn excited to watch the first Mariner start of newborn knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. If you're like me, then you may just be learning about Mr. Dickey, so I thought I'd put in a few links in one handy place.

His wikipedia page mentions that he had been unsuccessfully sued for stealing the pitch that he used to call "The Thang", and has now become his bread and butter pitch. More impressively, he has no ulnar collateral ligament (the ligament replaced in Tommy John surgery) in his pitching arm!

In late February, he got some national attention with this article in the New York Times which is a must-read for any Mariner fan. His story is fascinating, and if he can get batters out with his fast-knuckleball, we may have a third must-watch pitcher in the rotation and a tougher decision on what to do when Erik Bedard returns.

Most of the blogosphere seems excited about the arrival of a knuckleballer. USSM sees it as a low-risk, high-reward move. Dr. Detecto does its usual good job with his Player of the Day writeup (POTD).

I'm a longtime fan of the knuckleball, and I can't wait for tonight and can only hope that its the start of a long love affair between Seattle and Mr. Dickey.

Will 2008 Be the Year of the Optimist?

2008-04-09T21:31:00.002-05:00

2-5 start says... no.

But a weakened Angels team and the 1-2 punch of Bedard and Felix means this team could eke out a playoff berth, and from there be a nightmare to face. If the Marlins can win two World Series, then I say, why not us?

Bats will emerge this year - its just a question of who? Jose Lopez is the early candidate, but don't count out Richie Sexson having a return to relevence. Or a surprise candidate like Jeff Clement or the Wladinator.

And if we are hanging out near the playoffs come July, we have plenty of talent available to trade, and you know who will be dangled by the Reds? Well, besides Adam Dunn? Ken Griffey returns to the Mariners for their first World Series title.

Its gonna be one heckuva ride.

March On

2008-03-13T10:33:00.002-05:00

Saw my first Spring Training game as we stopped in Tucson to watch Mike Morse and the M's light up Brandon Webb in Tucson. Highlight for me had to be seeing Bryan Price greet Norm Charlton with a rub of Norm's expanding waistline and a comment that coaching is obviously treating Norm well.

Tucson Electric is a neat little ballpark in a neat town. I highly recommend the Sonora Desert Museum if you are ever in town, and that is where we skipped out to later in the day.

Bring on Bedard

2008-02-06T16:34:00.000-06:00

The suspense is killing me...

Though I am amused that USS Mariner is finally recognized as the site of Mariner Pessimism.

Even if they have been right to be pessimistic.

Man, I am pumped for the 1-2 punch of Bedard-Felix!

Almost enough to make me forget about the Seahawks playoff collapse.

Almost

Felix analysis at The Hardball Times

2007-12-09T10:56:00.000-06:00

A nice little bit of analysis on the 2007 season of El Cartelua can be found at The Hardball Times.

It has some interesting breakdowns of the King's year by pitch selection and comes up with a nice conclusion or two including:

- Felix relies on his sinker in two strike counts too often.
- Felix has a ridiculously high HR/FB ratio that should "regress to the mean"
- Felix suffers from a ridiculously high BABIP (.338) - see "mean, regression to"
- Felix got great run support last year

So, bad pitch selection combined with some bad luck led to a high ERA (3.92) but with good run support this was still good for 14 wins.

Playoff Push Begins TONIGHT

2007-08-20T10:03:00.001-05:00

So, the M's embark today on a 7 game road trip that may represent the easiest 7 games they'll have the rest of the season. We play the next 20 days without a rest, and the schedule as mentioned before, is brutal:

8/20-8/22 at Minnesota, who has owned us.
8/23-8/26 in Texas for 4 games in 100+ degree heat ending with a Sunday NIGHT game before flying back to Seattle to play the Angels in a critical 3 game series. And, oh yeah, our last 4 game series in Arlington involved us going 0-4.
8/27-8/29 vs Anaheim with Wednesday game an afternoon affair so they can fly to Cleveland for one game makeup. Don't think the Angels won't be rubbing their off day in the M's faces all during this one, making the 8/29 game a true must win for the psyche of the Mariners.
8/30 in Cleveland so much for an off day. Instead a late flight to Cleveland, battle the Indians, and back to the airport to head to Toronto.
8/31 - 9/2 in Toronto A breather? Lets just say I'm hoping its more holiday and no Halladay.
9/3 - 9/5 in New York with the first game being a 1pm start on Labor Day

The Yankees meanwhile have a tough stretch of 16 games ahead of them with 3 at L.A, 4 at Detroit, 3 with Boston, 3 with, ahem, Tampa Bay and then 3 with us.

And we better put some distance between us and the Yankees somehow over that stretch, cuz after that it is smooth sailing for the Yanks with only 3 of their last 22 games against teams in the playoff chase while we play 11 of 22 against playoff contenders (with only 2 off days and 1 doubleheader against Cleveland).

So even without the travel, here's the number of games each playoff contender has remaining against another playoff contender.

Seattle: 18 of 41
Yankees: 16 of 38
Indians: 15 of 39
Angels: 14 of 39
Tigers: 13 of 38
Red Sox: 6 (Yankees only) of 38

A week from today, here's what the same list will look like:

Seattle: 18 of 34
Yankees: 16 of 31
Indians: 12 of 33
Angels: 11 of 32
Tigers: 6 of 31
Red Sox: 6 (Yankees only) of 31

So this is a HUGE week for the Mariners as we need to gain on the Yankees and Angels before our schedule truly ramps up to brutal. We need to put a hurting on the Twins starting tonight.

On Felix, Batista, and... Santana?

2007-08-19T10:32:00.001-05:00

Great article from Shannon Drayer on how Miguel Batista is helping out Felix Hernandez.

The article ends with this quote from Batista:

“This is how a veteran player can make an easier life for a young player. I wish I had that person when I was younger. I wish I would have had that opportunity with people taking the time, but I ended up doing it on my own, because I was very curious. I asked the biggest superstars in the game, picked their brains about what was pitching. I knew it wasn’t hard work because nobody worked harder when I was little. I would work 12 months a year. Work here then play winter ball. The training was exhausting. Then a veteran finally told me it is not how much you work, you can do too much.

With him it will be interesting to see how much he can learn. I believe what we all want him to do is make him understand some things about pitching so when he gets to be twenty five he can be a phenom not because of his ability but because of how he uses it.”

And today, Larry Stone chimes in with the ultimate dream: Johan Santana joining the M's. Johan Santana is entering his final year with the Twins and has already voiced his displeasure that he hasn't been traded yet. He proposes the M's go after Santana with everything they've got (short of Felix) to create the greatest 1-2 tandem in the game.

Adam Jones + Jeff Clement + Brandon Morrow + Ryan Feierabend for a 1-year rental on Santana.

I do it in a heartbeat. Given the M's lineup is primarily built for today, and that we have blocked the two hitters here with Ichiro and Johjima which reduces their value to us. But with the Twins looking at Torii Hunter's impending free agency, they could use Jones in CF and also deal Hunter, and acquire enough young talent to build around for another 5 years of winning.

The M's then feature a rotation of Santana, Felix, Batista, Washburn and Weaver or some other #5 starter, and are the favorites for the AL West, if not the World Series, from March on. The M's have the money to sign Santana long-term as well, so it may not be just a rent-a-player.

Dare to dream...

Dare to dream...

Absolutely Brutal Schedule

2007-08-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

Lets hope the Mariners win the next two games riding on the momentum of Richie's dramatic blast and then really enjoy their off day on Thursday.

It will be their last off day for 3 weeks. And their third-to-last off day until the playoffs start.

Yes, the Mariners play 20 games in 20 days beginning on Friday. And with lots of yummy travel in between. Just look at this schedule:

8/17-8/19 vs Chicago

8/20-8/22 at Minnesota

8/23-8/26 in Texas for 4 games in 100+ degree heat ending with a Sunday NIGHT game before flying back to Seattle to play Angels in a critical 3 game series

8/27-8/29 vs Anaheim with Wednesday game an afternoon affair so they can fly to Cleveland for one game makeup. Don't think the Angels won't be rubbing their off day in the M's faces all during this one, making the 8/29 game a true must win for the psyche of the Mariners.

8/30 in Cleveland

8/31 - 9/2 in Toronto

9/3 - 9/5 in New York with the first game being a 1pm start on Labor Day

Not only is this tough from a travel standpoint, but we have been abysmal in the state of Texas this year, and we have must-win series with the Yankees and Angels in here.

Their next off day comes on September 6th, which the M's get to spend traveling from New York to Detroit. Yuck. At that point, they get 17 more straight days of baseball with no rest with the last 4 games being a critical series at Anaheim. I think we M's fans need to chip in and hire a whole bunch of Swedish masseusses to be waiting for our tired team in Detroit...

The M's are going to need to get EVERYONE some rest during the next two brutal months and for that reason alone, the addition of Adam Jones at this time is going to be critical. Ben Broussard, Willie B and Jamie Burke should see lots of playing time too, and it will be interesting to see how McLaren juggles the lineup and rotation.

Every win we can get against the likes of Johan Santana while getting a full day of rest to Adrian Beltre and Jose Lopez is critical to this team making the playoffs.

I'm a Weaver Believer

2007-08-12T16:09:00.001-05:00

If Mr. Weaver keeps pitching like this, and in general, how he has since his DL trip, then $8M might be a bargain to keep him for 2008. Perhaps we should look at extending his contract now.

After surviving a near home run in the first, Weaver settled into a groove that earned him a 115 pitch, 83 strike shutout. Yes, introducing Jeff Weaver, the major league leader in shutouts.

Weaver's stats since June 9 are downright sweet...

IP: 77
H: 77
HR: 6
K: 43
BB: 17
ER: 27

ERA = 3.15
WHIP = 1.22
K/9 = 5.0
K/BB = 2.5
HR/9 = 0.70

The K/9 is mildly disappointing, and until it can get back over 6 it looks unsustainable, but its headed in the right direction. Today's 8 K outing looks like a more dominant pitcher. And if he gets the K rate up and keeps the HR rate down, this is the profile of a dominant pitcher, and someone who I look forward to seeing pitch in a Mariner uniform in October.

In May, I never would have believed it possible, but count me in now as a Weaver Believer.

Welcome Back Adam Jones!

2007-08-04T14:30:00.001-05:00

A smashing 2007 debut from Adam Jones yesterday! First, a big catch in the first inning showed his no-brainer value to the club as a defender. Then, his first at bat of 2007 is a solid single. But it got better.

In his second at bat, he fouled off pitch after pitch from Jon Lester and on the tenth pitch of the at bat, dunked a shot into left field for a hit (though against any other left fielder but Manny and probably Ibanez, it was probably an out). This at bat was seemingly the undoing of Lester as he walked Jose Lopez on four pitches (now THAT is hard to do!) and then gave up a 3-run blast to Yuniesky Betancourt to give the M's their first lead.

But he wasn't done yet. His speed on the basepath completely got under the Sox skin in the pivotal sixth inning. Leading off in a 4-4 game, Jones hit a slow roller to short, but his speed forced the shortstop to throw quickly and offline. Jones had to avoid a tag, ran past first base but managed to reach down and graze first with his fingertips. At this point, he had former Mariner Mike Timlin's full attention, who sent several throws over to first before unleashing a wild throw that allowed Jones to go to second. Timlin then fielded a weak Jose Lopez bunt (dude needs some serious work on his bunting), and attempted to throw out Jones at third, but Jones beat the tag.

A groundout later, Jones was crossing home plate, giving the Mariners the lead for good and the M's their NINTH STRAIGHT win over the Red Sox at Safeco. If the M's manage to make it eleven, this could be the biggest story backdrop of the playoffs. After the game, Jose Guillen, who had criticized the callup of Jones on Thursday made sure to be one of the first to run over to Jones and congratulate him on the job well done.

And while the M's management continues to say that Jones will not be a regular, this is a flawed team with enough holes that Adam could easily take the Mark McLemore route to near-full-time play in August, and be a "regular" in September. We now have a legitimate center fielder to give Ichiro some well deserved rest, and he'll also be used to spell Ibanez, Guillen, Vidro and Lopez (with Vidro or Bloomquist playing 2B). And when he doesn't start, Jones gives the team a big bat off the bench that can stay in the field, so look for more pinch-hitting in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings.

The Mariners still have holes and flaws, but yesterday, they got significantly better by adding one Adam Jones.

Followup
Baseball HQ followed up with yesterday's post with more details on Adam Jones:

Mariners call up top prospect Jones...In a long-awaited move, Seattle called up 22 year-old Adam Jones (OF, SEA) in time for Friday night's game against the Red Sox. Back in the spring, Baseball HQ Minor League Analyst Deric McKamey listed Jones as the top prospect in the Seattle organization, and ranked him as the 51st best prospect in all of baseball. Jones made his major-league debut in 2006, but he struggled badly, batting just .216 with a 70% contact rate and .242 xBA in 74 AB. Can we expect a better performance this time around?

Year AB BA HR SB bb% ct% h% Eye PX SX SBO
===== === ==== == == === === == ==== === === ===
2005# 228 .286 6 8 9 81 33 0.51 89 107 18%
2006* 454 .273 16 15 6 81 31 0.34 102 111 19%
2007+ 420 .314 25 8 8 75 37 0.34 N/A N/A 14%

#MLEs
*Includes MLEs
+Non-MLE Triple-A stats

The most interesting aspect of Jones's game right now is his surging power trend. We don't have an MLE PX mark for 2007, but using Linear Weighted Power, the basis for PX, he has a score of 53, which is very good. As the Baseball HQ glossary puts it, "Baseball's top sluggers usually top the 50 mark." However, the power increase has come at the expense of his contact rate. Trading contact for power isn't uncommon among young, developing hitters, but the drop in contact combined with his high hit rate calls into question the legitimacy of his .314 batting average. Jones's running game has also suffered this season -- not only has he been running less often, but his success rate has fallen from 76% to 53%. Overall, he looks like a typical young player, going through some bumps as he refines his strengths and weaknesses as a hitter.

The Mariners aren't declaring what Jones's role will be just yet (manager John McLaren said Jones is "not going to be an everyday player"), though it's a reasonable assumption to think that they didn't call him up just to have him sit on the bench. As Market Watch analyst Jock Thompson pointed out on Friday, Raul Ibanez (OF, SEA) could be the biggest playing time victim, due to his rapidly declining skills. Jones is a tempting target for the final two months, but he may still go through some growing pains, especially with the shifts we've seen in his skills this season. Long-term, his outlook remains strong, but don't overpay for the remainder of 2007.

Fanalytics Take on the Adam Jones Callup

2007-08-03T09:07:00.000-05:00

From Ron Shandler at the excellent Baseball HQ, comes one unbiased "fanalytical" opinion on what the callup of Adam Jones means.

Jones call-up threatens Ibanez’ playing time...When rumors first circulated regarding SEA uber-prospect Adam Jones’s (OF, SEA) MLB call-up shortly after the All-Star break, the conventional thinking was that the move would take playing time away from punchless Jose Vidro (DH, SEA). But while Vidro no longer hits for power, his .306 BA, .371 OBP and 91% ct% serves the #2 slot in the Mariner lineup well. Which is more than can be said for Raul Ibanez (OF, SEA) in the middle of the lineup these days.

Year AB BA xBA bb% ct% Eye PX HR OPS
==== === === === === === ==== === == ===
2005 614 .280 .284 10% 84% 0.57 98 20 791
2006 626 .289 .286 9% 82% 0.73 132 32 872
2007 364 .254 .255 8% 84% 0.51 94 6 701
Last 31 99 .192 .212 7% 77% 0.35 78 0 525

It’s clear now from the numbers two-thirds of the way through 2007 that Ibanez’ 2006 was a serious aberration, and that unless he's hiding an injury, he no even longer measures up to his 2005 performance. Both his Eye and power have declined, and his xBA along with a 29% h% suggests that his 2007 hasn’t been a product of bad luck. Thanks to Vidro’s lack of pop, and Richie Sexson’s (1B, SEA) sub-Mendoza-line performance, Ibanez may not take a permanent seat on the bench. But judging from the past month, he’s likely going to be there more often, and there’s nothing in his performance to-date that suggests that anyone should be too optimistic for a turnaround.

BaseballHQ analysis also thinks that Richie Sexson has been fairly unlucky on his hit rate, and while the power indicators have dropped a little, his BA should rebound.

And their last update on Jose Vidro...

7/15/2007 - Despite reports that he may soon be replaced, Vidro continues in lineup...Jose Vidro(DH, SEA) continues to play regularly despite a widely circulated report published in a Seattle newspaper during the All-Star break that he would soon be out of a starting role. Our concern here is the extent of Vidro's value, and whether his performance is likely to allow him to maintain his current role. To that end, Vidro's stats entering Saturday's play are displayed below:

Statistics: AB R H HR RBI BA OBA SLG OPS
=== == == == === === === === ===
305 44 89 3 26 292 357 354 711

Clearly, Vidro's surface numbers are not impressive, especially for a DH, a position occupied on most AL teams by a power bat. Vidro appears a bit of an anomaly for the position, with his meager three HR in 305 AB's. The Slugging Percentage is particularly low also. Let's examine the BPI's to enlighten the discussion:

BPIs: bb% ct% h% Eye PX SX xBA GB/LD/FB
=== === == ==== == == === ========
2005: 9% 90% 29% 1.03 92 47 315 44/25/31
2006: 8% 90% 31% 0.85 65 45 282 46/22/32
2007: 9% 91% 31% 1.19 40 33 226 53/17/30

While Vidro continues to maintain excellent strike-zone knowledge, and the ability to make contact, the type of contact he's making has changed. Vidro's power (PX), expected Batting Average (XBA), and Line-Drive percentage have eroded for two consecutive seasons from their 2005 levels. Each of the three indicators declined in 2006, then has declined even more precipitously this season. The XBA of .226 indicates that despite the relatively normal 31% hit rate, Vidro's .292 BA may be somewhat of a mirage. The low Line-Drive percentage, and virtually complete absence of power (PX=40) indicate that Vidro may have a difficult time maintaining the current BA level. Vidro is unlikely to provide much, if any, value moving forward despite his playing status.

So, a numeric analysis indicates that Raul Ibanez is likely to be the short-term loser of playing time with Richie Sexson losing PT at 1B. But that at some point soon, Vidro will slump, and one of those two will likely grab that playing time from our punchless DH.

Of Doyle and Conspiracy Theories

2007-08-02T23:24:00.000-05:00

I posted this in comments on Geoff Baker's blog, where we digressed into Chris Snelling/Doyle talk, somehow, and looking at it, its somewhat amusing.

I guess I accidentally started it when I wrote the FACT we got Jose Vidro "For $15M for two years. And for Chris Snelling". In hindsight, I shouldn't have mentioned it.

To which, Go Cougs responeded with the inflammatory post "Why the hand-wringing over Chris Snelling? Do you really think he's ever going to amount to anything? The guy can't stay healthy and can once again be found in his customary position on the 60 day DL. I wouldn't have grabbed a declining Vidro because of his salary but I don't think Bavasi gave up too much to get him." Sums up the Snelling was overrated camp nicely, doncha think, but nicely includes the personal attack on Doyle bound to raise the ire of Doylites.

thewyrm takes the bait and follows the USSM-inspired Cult of Doyle line, perfectly stating the case that Snelling is everything Vidro is, except younger, cheaper, and with upside. But missing the "MLB Veteran" shiny seal of approval. Eloquent and succinct.

And finally, Mr. X chimes in with the brilliant, "you can't spell Doyle without DL."

Amazing how the mere mention of Chris Snelling's name brings out this little microcosm of pro/con Doyle angst, and yet so eloquently summarized by four posts.

I'm wondering if anytime Snelling's name is mentioned if a similar capsulized debate breaks out. Kinda interesting, really. We M's fans are so well read that we know the opinions by heart and can pull them out at will. They may have originated as our own opinion, but through practice and repetition they do begin to sound alike.

A Conspiracy of Joses

The interesting thing to me, is, why did Bavasi make the Vidro for Snelling/Fruto trade in the first place. Bavasi knew how beloved Doyle was to the Mariner "blogosphere," and how they would hate this trade. He's taken the time to speak at USSM sponsored events and he knows the high regard they have for Doyle. But the hard-core fan who reads blogs is most likely not going to give up on the team at this point, even if they trade Snelling.

But, 11 days before trading for Jose Vidro, Bavasi signed one Jose Guillen, who now has gone out of his way to indicate his displeasure at the callup of Adam Jones. One Adam Jones whose presence directly threatens the playing time, not of Jose Guillen, but of Jose Vidro. Jose Guillen has been Jose Vidro's teammate for the past two (relatively calm for Guillen) years in Washington.

Coincidence? I think Guillen has got Vidro's back and somehow, for whatever reason, Bavasi wanted Guillen bad enough to take both Jose's in a package deal.

And knowing he was going to take the RF/DH package of Joses, Bavasi did the right thing for Chris Snelling. He gave him a chance at major league playing time by trading him to the Nationals. I don't think the Nationals even wanted him. Based on the amount the Nats played him (sparingly), and how quickly they shipped him off to Oakland, I truly believe the inclusion of Snelling in the deal was Bavasi's goal, and not the Nationals.

The next question would be, why would Bavasi want Guillen and Vidro over someone like Snelling and some other hitter. Guillen was the best bat available for a 1-year contract, and probably the best bat besides Soriano and Lee megacontracts on the market. Interestingly, he also has a history of fighting with his manager.

Somehow, the conspiracy theorist in me can't quite find the picture, but the pieces are there. Hargrove won't play Snelling. Ichiro suffered next to two rookie cneterfielders in another losing season. Ichiro threatens free agency. Guillen and Vidro are connected somehow and Bavasi gives up Snelling to acquire both Joses. Neither Jose sees the bench in first half when Vidro definitely deserved it. Hargrove resigns out of the blue. Within days, a happy Ichiro signs contract extension. Bavasi Mission Accomplished? Were these his goals for the first half of the season - lose Hargrove by giving the clubhouse over to the Joses, and thus keep Ichiro? Hmmm... And now, there purpose served, its time to make the playoffs. So lets get Adam Jones, and even trade for Jose Vidro's eventual replacement in Mark Loretta. Is Jason Ellison connected also? He's all-field, no stick, but supposedly another "good clubhouse guy" who has now served his purpose.

There is a pattern here, but I can't quite figure it out. But I prefer to think of my GM as an evil mastermind than a bumbling idiot so I'll continue to ponder...

Applauding the Front Office

2007-08-02T17:12:00.001-05:00

Reading comments at several forums, I see the Mariners front office being attacked for a lack of vision, saying they have no strategy. I think it is silly to say that the Mariners front office did not/does not have a strategy. We can certainly debate its merits, but the strategy is apparent.

Use big pockets to chase talent, but do not overspend on anyone. Buy quantity of pitchers, preferably groundball-throwing pitchers, and hope the quality shows itself over time. Use scouting reports from 2003 (tongue-in-cheek). Ride the veteran-laden offense and youth up the middle.

And to a large extent, the strategy HAS worked beautifully. Not too many pundits picked the M's to be in a pennant race in 2007.

Batista has been solid, post-DL Weaver has been solid, and HoRam has stunk. The relievers we sent in trade have been adequately replaced (despite whatever Sky is Falling cries you heard at the deadline) from within as we continue to grow relievers like wheat in Tacoma (next up... Mickolio). Plan B for this was to use Baek (to mixed results) and Feirabend. Maybe we'll see Jorge Campillo soon. Attack with quantity and hope to find quality.

Unfortunately, several key veterans (Sexson, Ibanez, Vidro) have regressed offensively and defensively.

But there has been a Plan B for that as well, as we are seeing with Ben Broussard and soon with Adam Jones. Perhaps we'll even see Wlad if Sexson/Ibanez/Vidro continue to struggle.

There are a couple of areas where there is no Plan B (or at least no Plan B other than WIllie B who is a great 25th man/pinch runner, but should not be getting 200 ABs for a contender). Middle infield not hitting seems to be one, and Bavasi is at least thinking about that as evidenced by his trade deadline pursuit of Mark Loretta. And of course, this plan goes up in flames if something should happen to King Felix.

We can quibble about how much rope the M's give the veterans, the lack of outs that we let George Sherrill throw, the in-game management.

But I don't think you can say that there hasn't been a plan, and one that is fairly well executed. Use our pocketbooks to pursue bats, grow relievers in the farm, and exploit Safeco's cavernous outfield by going quantity over quality (many at $8M instead of 1 at $16M) in the rotation. Dig for pitching, but don't give up the future for a 3-month rental.

The M's are just entering the realm of competitiveness again. And while we need starting pitching, the other positions where we are weak are the easiest to fill (DH, 1B, LF) in the future. Our core up the middle is solid and signed for years, with a true ace and a lights-out bullpen. Jones could be another piece of the championship puzzle.

All in all, we've taken a significant step forward this year. If you are reading this, that is proof enough, as you are obviously hungry to read anything about the Mariners. The Mariners are relevent again. Enjoy!

Adam Jones To The Rescue!

2007-08-02T01:31:00.001-05:00

McLaren in postgame has indicated that Adam Jones will be in a Mariner uniform on Friday. Jason Ellison will be DFA'd.

No word yet on his role.

His role better be starting in the outfield.

Trade Deadline Comes and Goes

2007-08-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

Well, the blogosphere has covered this pretty well, with USSM and LL both ecstatic that Bavasi at least did nothing to hurt the team, while Dr. Detecto laments that no moves were made during a playoff push.

I tend to side with the "glad nothin happened" group, as the cost of pitching seemed way to extreme when contrasted with our needs. To give up a top prospect for 20 innings of Al Reyes seems the equivalent as the offseason gaffe of giving up Rafael Soriano for HoRam.

And its not like out relief pitching has been the problem this year. Heck, as inconsistent as the starting pitching has been, they have been solid for the past two months, with mostly postitive outings.

I would contend that the M's are going to live or die, make the playoffs or not, based on the strength of their bats in August and September. Right now, it is apparent that this improvement will have to come from within. And the M's brass seems to agree as the apparent platoon of Ben Broussard with Richie Sexson begins tonight, and Bavasi mentioned yesterday that Adam Jones is "in play". And this is right in line with the drums the blogosphere have been beating for months. Jones for Ibanez in left, make platoon mates of Broussard and Sexson, Ibanez and Guillen, and give Vidro less playing time.

But what was MOST interesting for the trade deadline is that our last minute efforts were spent trying to add a middle infielder, in the form of Mark Loretta. This shows the glaring offensive hole that has been our young middle infield, and that Bavasi wants to provide at least a non-Bloomquist option for the middle infield as well. The indications seem to be that the Astros pulled Loretta back at the last minute, probably because they realized how low the market on hitters had fallen.

Too me, this attempt to get Loretta hints that the callup of Adam Jones may NOT be imminent. If the team acquired Loretta, then who gets released? Jason Ellison seems to be the logical choice. But then who gets released for Jones? Unless the M's are ready to give up on Vidro or go to a 6-man bench.

I'd like to think that the plan would have been to still call up Jones (tomorrow?) and go to a longer bench, while exposing Vidro (or Sexson) to waivers to see if they can shed one of those contracts in an August deal. But I'm guessing this would have even further delayed the arrival of Jones.

Or would it have meant a demotion for Yuni or Jose?

If done properly, I think it would have been a good move for this team. We have little depth in middle infield as Vidro shouldn't be playing 2B anymore, and I'd much rather Willie B stick to pinch-running. Yuni and Jose could use something to push them, and better depth behind them in case of injury or slump.

And Loretta could easily be available in August, so this move may only be delayed for now. Hopefully Lopez and Betancourt use this to motivate themselves to a stronger stretch run. We could use more run-scoring from the bottom of the lineup!

From Arlington to Griffey

2007-07-25T11:16:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful day for baseball - much cooler and more pleasant than usual Texas July. I had learned from past hellish experiences behind M's dugout and bought tickets just behind the Rangers dugout where you sit in the shade all day. These season tickets came with entry into the "Cuervo Club" where you can get a bottle of Sam Adams for $4.50 (as opposed to $6 for Miller Lite in the ballpark) and really mediocre food in air conditioned room behind home plate. For an extra $100 you can rent a leather recliner (with A/C coming out of the seat) for the night. On some days in Texas, that would be a bargain, but not on this beautiful evening.

So, after a 3+ hour drive from Austin, with my beautiful wife by my side, I was ready to watch the M's win two over the hapless Rangers. I was hoping to see a Beltre home run, and Ichiro stolen base, a Feierabend pickoff move, and two Putz saves.

Only the pickoff move happened, and I was in the restroom when it did. The Mariners went out and did absolutely nothing. No life. No energy. No smiles. They looked like the Mariners of 2005 out there, playing out the string. Not a team with playoff aspirations.

And the Rangers are so bad, that they still coulda pulled out one or both games without deserving either. Heck I almost laughed myself silly when a phantom foul-tip allowed Raul a second chance and he used it to give the M's a 2-run lead in the nightcap. But the M's immediately came out and stomped out the good times by walking the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the inning and giving the two gift runs right back.

The expletives I vented on the late night drive home are not fit for this blog. And now during the morning after, the anger with the M's performance has mostly faded and the embarassment of rooting for the M's has almost gone.

Y'all could turn off the TV. Heck, the blogosphere seems as numb about this sweep as the M's did. I had to sit in a stadium with 20,000 of the most ignorant fans in history, looking at the "storied" franchise that is the Texas Rangers. 3 AL West titles to show for 47 years of ineptitude. Johnny Oates is one of three retired Rangers numbers. Rusty Greer has a banner! Jim Sundberg is in Rangers Hall of Fame. My previous foray to Ameriquest Field Rangers Ballpark in Arlington next to Six Flags halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth on Tom Landry Drive was for the fabled Jim Sundberg bobblehead night. You don't know joy until you see the look in your kids eyes when you hand him a Jim Sundberg bobblehead.

This doubleheader should've been a gift two wins. Rheinacker and Loe? Thank you. We should have won by a combined 23-7. But when two first inning rallies led to a total of one unearned run, the team packed it up.

The baserunning blunders were symptomatic.

In game two, in the fifth inning we get runners on first and second with no one out. And Yuni gets picked off second by the catcher??!!?! Laying the blame on Yuni for the pickoff is not really fair. Willie Ballgame already failed to lay down a bunt on strike one and was up there bunting again. The pitcher throws one down the heart of the plate, so Yuni assumed it would be bunted. Willie B takes strike 2 and Yuni is left hanging out to dry.

You know the team is not trying its hardest when Willie Bloomquist starts both games in a double header. This left the team without the thing it needed most in game two. A decent pinch runner. The M's sent out Yuni, Ellison and Willie Bloomquist as the bottom of the lineup. They got three straight hits to lead off an inning from this trio and managed a single run thanks to a seemingly rejuvenated Jose Vidro.

Jason Ellison particularly bothered me in this game and the 9th inning debacle in game 2 was icing on the cake. After the Yuni pickoff, Ellison gets a single. Ichiro than comes through with a clutch strikeout. Two outs, tie game, 3-2 count and Ellison on first. Instead of running hard on the pitch, he barely jogs three steps watching the hitter all the way. An inning later, Michael Young in a similar situation is running full speed on a couple of consecutive 3-2 pitches, showing Ellison how baseball is supposed to be played.

At that point, Ellison became persona non-grata to me, and should be the man released when Adam Jones is called up (TODAY PLEASE?!??!). He is a lousy pinch-runner when we don't have Bloomquist as evidenced by the nightcap blunder. And if he can't at least hustle nonstop when given an opportunity, then I have no use for him.

Ichiro epitomized the M's flailings all night long. With several opportunities to be clutch - runners in scoring position and less than two outs, Ichiro whiffed. No putting the ball in play to score the run. No sacrifice fly. No suicide squeeze even. Just whiffed against the likes of John Rheinecker and Cameron Loe. Yuck.

So, just gut reactions to the game, but i do the following.

- Release Jason Ellison, call up Adam Jones and give him the right field job.
- Platoon Jose Guillen and Raul Ibanez in LF
- Platoon Jose Vidro and Ben Broussard at DH
- Quit worrying about Richie Sexson - he will be fine. Dude is stroking the ball. I might move him down to 6th/7th for awhile because the platoons above should be productive.
- Never start Willie B again so that he will always be around as a pinch runner. This is a job he excells at and his flexibility allows us to liberally PH whatever platoon mates are not in starting lineup.
- Find another middle infielder and alternate him with Lopez and Yuni in hopes of lighting some kind of fire under their buts.
- Waive Chris Reitsma to find said middle infielder. His existence is only confusing the coaching staff and making them think he should be used.
- Make Ryan Feirabend your LOOGY. He has the added bonus of being able to pick off any base runner.
- Stretch Brandon Morrow out further, and give him the #5 job, moving HoRam to long relief. Morrow pitched three strong innings after a shaky start, and looks like he could help us as a starter.

And most importantly, if at all possible, acquire Ken Griffey Jr. This team needs an energy infusion in the worst way, and he would do it. If it means no room left for Broussard and Ibanez, and that Guillen becomes DH, so be it. Ichiro is too low key, Beltre too spastic, and Richie slumping too hard to be the emotional leader on the field. We need a sparkplug in the lineup every day, and Ken Griffey would bring a constant energy and enthusiasm.

And just imagine the crowds at Safeco.

Okay, that cheered me up for now. But if not Griffey, than bring in something to stir this pot of talent. The team needs fire to cook up this collection of fine ingredients into something tasty.

Lets Play Two!

2007-07-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

Yes the M's are slumping and have now lost three straight games, each of which threatens to be more disappointing to the last.

But the Angels are on the skids too, so we remain just two games back in the AL West.

And best of all, I've got tickets to see the M's play a real life genuine not day-night doubleheader! From the 3rd row behind the Rangers dugout no less!

So I'm leaving work early and road tripping to Arlington for the 4pm start time which I would never dream of doing in any other Texas July, but this year, the high should only be 92-94, instead of 107.

The Ballpark in Arlington, or whatever its called now, has a lot more character than the old Arlington Stadium, but its still unbearably hot in the summer. For that reason, kudos to the Rangers for not attempting to torture its fans with a 1pm start time and making this into a day-night affair. Instead of a day game with 10,000 fans, the Rangers may have their last chance of 2007 to sell out their stadium to a non-Yankees/Red Sox crowd by providing actual value.

And while you are sitting in the beautiful Seattle summer, think of us Mariner fans who will be sweating hard within Ranger Nation, cheering on your Mariners to a sweep!

A Nice Welcome Home

2007-07-02T15:34:00.000-05:00

I come home from a three-day weekend visiting Boston for the first time (but skipping the $250 scalped Fenway tickets unfortunately) and at 3 in the morning turn on my XM radio and hear the fantastic news.

The Mariners won their eighth straight AND Mike Hargrove has quit.

My wife can attest to the happy dance I did in the empty airport parking lot that woke her back up.

Mike Hargrove did a few good things, and I wish him well in retirement.

But I'm really looking forward to a Groverless future for the Mariners. I look for the team to continue its winning ways, and maybe we'll see a little more bench usage and an opening for Adam Jones and maybe Jose Vidro will find his way to the bench where he belongs.

Maybe not, but for today at least, there is fresh hope that the M's will be managed with less bunting more use of our depth and rest for our regulars. The M's have won eight straight and are playing fantastic baseball, and have room still to get even better. Baseball is fun to watch and follow. Any games the M's are close in you feel they can win.

Life is good. Enjoy!

Dream Job

2007-06-27T12:43:00.000-05:00

Went to find more information about MLB Advanced Media’s Pitch F/X system that Dave at USS Mariner has been posting data from, and the second link was to Monster.com, who is partnering with Major League Baseball to find people to attend games and provide these statistics. If that's not a Dream Job, I don't know what is. Since I don't live anywhere near a baseball park, it will not be my Dream Job, but maybe it can be yours.

This Monster Link will send you to three possible careers:

Stats Stringer - Score MLB games from the press box.
Sports Reporter - Cover live MLB games across the country, as well as MLB news of the day off the field.
Pitch f/x Operator - Track every pitch for television, Internet and stadium video production.

Yes, you could become the MLB statistics keeper for the Seattle Mariners. I clicked on "Stats Stringer", which was posted June 1, and the listing shows:

Stats Stringer:
MLB.com, the Official Site of Major League Baseball, is seeking stats stringers for the 2007 season. Stats stringers are responsible for digitally scoring games from one of the 30 MLB ballparks, which provides the live data used on MLB.com in our award winning applications, including MLB.com Gameday. This is a perfect part-time job for a diligent, responsible employee who happens to be a big baseball fan.

Responsibilities include:
- Arrive at the ballpark no later than one hour prior to the scheduled start time;
- Double-check and verify all pre-game information: rosters, umpires, weather conditions, etc.;
- During the game, enter the results of every pitch and game event (plays, substitutions, etc.) using our proprietary software and coding language;
- Work closely with our game-night support staff (via instant messenger) to ensure proper scoring of all game events and accuracy of data;
- After the game, enter all post-game information: winning and losing pitcher, saves, holds, time and attendance
- Validate all stats in software box score against the official box score provided by the Official Scorer, and print out a final box score and game text for the club PR staff

Qualifications include:
- Exceptional (and demonstrable) knowledge of baseball and how to score a baseball game;
- Strong computer proficiency (Windows OS and Windows-based software) and the ability to quickly learn and operate new software;
- Regular availability to attend games in-person nights and weekends;
- A "team player" with a great attitude, including but not limited to a willingness to make and learn from mistakes and the ability to work closely and cooperatively (and take direction from) our game-night staff;
- Professionalism. It's a fun job and we pay people to watch baseball, but it's also an important job and we want people who will take the responsibility seriously.

Note: Stats stringer job openings are subject to business requirements, and, as such, MLB.com positions may not be available with respect to all MLB teams. Only applicants that apply online will be considered. No phone calls please.

Man, I want this job. Good luck!

Jeff Weaver!!!!

2007-06-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to turn the fortunes of Jeff Weaver around, I picked up the free agent and gave him the start tonight for my fledgling franchise in the D-O-V Smackdown Fantasy baseball league

Suffice to say that Weaver's performance has exceeded my wildest dreams! This is what facing the Pirates (and Astros and Cubs for that matter) is supposed to do for your pitcher and your team!

He retired 16 in a row from the 3rd inning pickoff until a 2-out double in the eighth. A four pitch walk and a 1-out double (did you see Ibanez hustle to maintain the shutout?) looked to be the end, but Weaver induced popup after popup and got Jason Bay to flare out to Betancourt to get a COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUT!!!

Standing ovation to you, Jeff Weaver!!! Who woulda thunkit?!?!!

What a Crappy Day

2007-06-20T20:51:00.000-05:00

Rice loses to North Carolina 6-1 to setup an elimination rematch tomorrow.

Oregon State (boo Beavers boo) looks like they'll advance over the Anteaters 6-1.

M's going for their seventh straight loss against crappy teams.

Adam Jones is still in Tacoma.

My happiness for the evening is in the hands of Jeff Weaver.

Sigh.

Best Laid Plans...

2007-06-17T12:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! My Father's Day gift was supposed to be a road trip to Houston to see the Mariners in beautiful Minute Maid Park. Unfortunately, those plans were laid to waste by a piece of metal edging in a neighbor's yard. Last night my eight-year old son, Connor, got a visit to the emergency room thanks to the meeting of said edging and bare feet as a game of tag took a turn for the ugly.

Seven stitches and one poor night of sleep later, the road trip for Kelly, me and the three kids has turned into a more laid back day. Connor wasn't able to walk this morning so Father's Day has turned a bit into Cheer up Connor Day. And tomorrow's planned birthday party for newly 8 Connor and his newly 10 sister Samantha has become challenging as well, as a stitched up foot is not supposed to get wet, but we cleverly planned a pool party.

So instead, we just got back from watching Shrek 3, which I HIGHLY recommend for any parents out there. An amazing amount of grown up humor thrown in there while the kids aren't looking and so once again Dreamworks has made a kids movie that is enjoyable for the parents as well.

After the movie, Connor was able to hobble out of there, so he's up and moving again, and he's catching a nap before we get ready to watch the M's take on Roy Oswalt on FoxSports instead of up close and personal. And more good news is that we won't miss any of the Rice-North Carolina tilt tonight! Go Owls!

Its nice that the M's right now are just the appetizer of our sports day, as its hard to have confidence in this team today as they are coming off their fourth straight loss, facing the Astros ace, and the team sounds tired. Its unfortunate that the last four days have undone much of the good of the last two weeks. But a month ago, I would have been happy to be five games over .500, so I'm gonna choose to be happy.

We need to get Beltre back in the lineup, Lopez back into the two spot, and our top two pitchers to pitch well again. That starts today with Jarrod Washburn who could provide the team a huge boost by putting them on his back, and carry them to a win that will make Monday's well deserved day off much more relaxing.

So lets get ready to enjoy our Mariners on Father's Day, and see if they can surprise us by once again taking a good pitcher to the woodshed. Mix in a little US Open golf and Rice battling in the CWS, and it may turn out to be my best Father's Day yet, even without Ichiro's autograph. Go M's, Tiger, Owls!!!

College World Series Game 1 - Of Rallies and WPA

2007-06-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Took Friday afternoon off of work (sorta, sat with laptop while watching) to watch Game 1 of the College World Series as my heavily favored Owls (now there is a statement I still can't get used to saying) managed to quickly fall into a 5-0 hole to the scrappy "happy to be here, nothing to lose, team of destiny" Louisvill Cardinals.

After two innings of scoreless ball extended our record CWS scoreless streak to 25 innings (thank you Robin Ventura and ESPN for the countless reminders) and falling down 5-0, things appeared bleak. My daughter left the house in a pique of disgust once we were down 2-0, and my sons left after the three run blast made it 5-0.

But, lo and behold, good things began to happen in the bottom of the third. Our good friends arrived, I cracked my first beer of the day, and the Owls bats awakened, as four consecutive two out singles netted a 4 run third to cut the lead to 5-4. But the good times quickly ended as Louisville homered in the fourth and fifth to bring on our third pitcher of the day and heading into the bottom of the fifth the Owls were trying to figure out how to escape the 10-4 dungeon they found themselves in.

Here is where things got interesting. A botched double-play grounder let Rice stay alive in the fifth and scratch out three unearned runs capped by a Jordan Dodson two run double. In the sixth, Phillies first round pick Joe Savery hit his sixth home run of the year to make in 10-8, and in the seventh, Hector Luna homered to make it 10-9. By this time my sons were back riveted to the screen, and my daughter had been banished from the room because all the good things happened while she was gone.

This set up the pivotal 8th inning. Rice's #2 reliever, Bobby Bramhall, came on and promptly gave up a walk, fielders choice, double, intentional walk to find the Cards with the bases loaded and one out. Bramhall got ahead 0-2 on Cards RF Pete Rodriguez before putting three straight fastballs into the dirt. On the critical 3-2 pitch, Bramhall unloads a hellacious breaking pitch that Rodriguez is way out in front of for strike three. The next batter drills a line drive but thankfully it is RIGHT at our leftfielder to end the threat and the Owls enter the bottom of the 8th still just one run down and momentum fully in our favor.

The Cardinals brought out their closer, a fella named Trystan Magnusson. Trystan means "the noisy one", but it was the Owls that made the noise. A single was followed by a spectacular sacrifice bunt that was so good it turned into a single. Joe Savery followed with a RBI single to left (with the Cardinals OF playing at the warning track, no throw was possible) to tie the game. Then, my favorite Owls, catcher Danny Lehmann thankfully failed to bunt twice and on the 2-2 pitch laced a double to the wall to give the Owls their first lead of the game. Jeremy Dodson broke things open with a double of his own, and the Owls cruised to a 15-10 win.

One of the more interesting things I saw in the program, was that as the Owls scratched their way back from 5-0 and 10-4 to the improbable 15-10 win is that ESPN is now featuring "Win Probability" on their broadcasts. Jeff at Lookout Landing would have cringed at Robin Ventura's "I'm no good at math" comments, but fun to see the Owls go from 12 and 16 percent chances to 99% entering the ninth with a five run lead. Looks like ESPN is adopting Win Probability and I would not be surprised to see WPA as an ESPN standard in the next five years.

Another thing that won't surprise me is to see the Owls win their second National Championship in five years, and I hope its a rematch against those irritating Oregon State Beavers who we owe a serious beating to.

Go Owls!!!

Jeff Weaver Rocks!!!

2007-06-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

Jeff, I'm sorry.

You have the ability to hold a lousy NL lineup (Struggling Soriano, Derrek Lee and not much else) to just no runs in five wonderful innings. I'm sorry I ever doubted you.

What had all the makings of a disaster turned into a quality start and a Mariners win as Jeff Weaver goes 6 innings, and only gives up three first inning runs on ten hits, with one walk and even two strikeouts thrown in.

Jeff put 2 baserunners on with just one out in both the third and sixth innings, but worked out of the third with a double play grounder from Mark DeRosa, and out of the sixth with pop ups from Jacque Jones and Alfonso Soriano.

But that's only half the story.

Jeff Weaver woke up the offense by getting plunked in the top of the sixth inning. At this point, Weaver became just the Mariners second baserunner of the game. But the fact that he hit Jeff Weaver seemed to completely unravel the Cubs defense and Jason Marquis, who followed the plunking of the Weaver with walks to Ichiro and Guillen sandwiching a run-scoring error on Mark DeRosa. Then Marquis surrenders the M's second hit of the game and its a bases-clearing double from Rauuuullllll Ibanez.

Following that inning up by NOT imploding even though he gave up a couple of singles earned Weaver his first win of 2007 and an apology from me.

It may be ugly, but you can win a LOT of games in front of this Mariner offense by giving up 3 runs or less over 6 innings. Seven would be better for our bullpen, but that's quibbling. Maybe now the offense will start scoring earlier and more often with Jeff now that he has taken one for the team.

Unfortunately for Jeff, Brandon Morrow has decided that Weaver and the M's DON'T deserve the win and given back two runs (and maybe more to come) to the Cubs. Keep your head up, Jeff!

Weaver - How Much Rope?

2007-06-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

Just watched the first inning as the Cubs crushed everything Jeff Weaver threw up to them and pounced on a 3-0 lead. The M's offense, meanwhile, looks tired and ready to travel to Houston.

So, the question is, how much rope does Mike Hargrove give to Jeff Weaver in this outing?

Given the current state of the bullpen and the need for it to get much rest, and combine that with the fact that Jeffy could easily be DFA'd after another pathetic outing, one strategy would be to give Jeff the ball and tell him - "its your game, you're going seven innings regardless", and see what happens.

If he surprises us, maybe 7 innings from now, the Cubs only have 4 or 5 runs.

Or, more likely, the Cubs could have 10+ runs in the 4th inning, and Hargrove keeps Jeff in there no matter how many mopey, whiney faces he makes on the mound.

I'm watching this game like I do any disaster movie, as this has all the makings of a spectacular trainwreck.

M's Fail to Consolidate The Break

2007-06-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

When you play tennis and you break your opponents serve, it doesn't count (okay, unless you broke at 5-6), if you don't hold your own serve in turn. You'll hear Johnny Mac calling this "consolidating the break."

Well, tonight, the M's failed to consolidate the break they earned in a 13-inning marathon last night when Yuniesky Betancourt's botched throw allowed one Little Lord Fontleroy to deliver a 2-out bases loaded single and the M's could not mount a rally in a 3-2 loss.

Combined with the A's and Angels winning, and the M's are just back on serve for this road trip, despite a stellar 5-1 record on the trip. The good news is that the bullpen got some much needed rest heading into Jeff Weaver's early morning start tomorrow. Maybe this will be the time for Jeffy to give the M's his first quality start.

That would be a break of a whole other level.

Turbo Magic

2007-06-12T23:03:00.000-05:00

Willie with the game winning hit and Jose Vidro grabbing enough oxygen to score from second thanks to a mental lapse from the Cubs catcher who was so stunned to see that Turbo was still 10 steps away that he forgot to catch the ball.

Grover's streak of 5 straight 1-run wins though is seemingly foiled when Jamie Burke drives in an insurance run.

But, J.J. Putz to the rescue.

Nope, not quite - Putz refused to give up a run even though he loaded the bases.

So, the streak is over.

But at the least the M's have won five straight!

Hargrove Had a Plan

2007-06-12T21:41:00.001-05:00

After yelling at the TV to get Sean Green out of there at the START of the 8th inning, and cursing each successive hit (though to be fair, Green struck out the last batter he faced but the horribly inconsistent home plate ump did not agree), I've calmed down a bit. I now see Hargrove's plan.

He wanted Green to face three batters just so he could use Morrow & Sherrill to perfection against Pinella's Cubs. Working the right Morrow to walk Cubs best pinch-hitter lefty Cliff Floyd before inducing a right-handed tapper to force the out at home.

In comes Sherrill to face "Prince" Felix Pie who's only move at the plate was to repeatedly suck in his stomach in hopes of fooling the home plate umpire. The ump calls two strikes balls, but on the pivotal 3-2 pitch, blue comes to his senses and Pie sits down. Then Sherrill sits down little Lord Fonteroy in similar manner to get out of the bases loaded, none out jam.

This now sets the M's up to win the game by one run in their final at-bat, keeping an improbable streak alive.

Hargrove is getty cocky. He doesn't just want to win. He wants to win with style.

Please make it stop...

2007-06-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

Kellie Pickler not only butchers Take me out to the Ballgame, but then we get to hear her in the Cubs booth the next half inning.

Gems like...

"I almost said 'Apple Jacks' instead of 'Cracker Jacks'. Is that a cereal?"

"I love all these fa-a-ans. They are so loyal."

"Is that the outfield? I'd like to go camping out there."

"I don't even know what day of the week it is right now"

"I do like Cracker Jacks better than Apple Jacks. You gotta have milk with that. They don't sell milk at baseball games, do they?"

I could feel my IQ dropping just listening to her smalltown country charm. I live in Texas, and I've never heard anyone sound so hick unless it was a young coed who could turn "drunk" into three syllables when saying "I'm soooooo dru-u-unk!"

The Cubs broadcast is an interesting contrast in styles to a Mariner broadcast. The M's are about baseball or else about Dave Niehaus. Not so the Cubs. The cameraman apparently gets paid by how many crowd shots he squeezes into the broadcast. For the first six innings, they average two crowd shots for every at bat, and I am not exagerrating. And where the M's broadcasters would feel compelled to make some comment about each darling 3-year-old captured by camera ("there's a happy fan"), the Cubs announcers never say a word.

The Cubs are selling the ballpark experience. All shots of fans are kids having fun, couples in love, or the elderly filling out their scoresheets. Of course, they also include the voyeuristic thrill of spotting a hot babe, zooming in on their cleavage, and then looking away before they notice.

And once you notice this feature of a Cubs broadcast, it is all you notice. Very few times do you go more than two pitches without a fan shot. Its pretty distracting.

In the baseball game, strange decision by Grover to pull Washburn after six innings and only 94 pitches. Considering he has more RBI than Jason Ellison all year (or at least it feels this way). With no one out, I think Washburn coulda laid down a bunt, and stayed in to give our tired bullpen an extra inning or two of rest.

Then to have Morrow and Sherrill up and throwing in the 8th, but to let Sean Green throw to Derrek Lee seems like a bad plan...

M's up 3-2 in the 8th, but not having a good feeling about Green against the Cubs in the 8th.

Go M's!!!

Refuse To Lose 2007

2007-06-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

Hot streaks are fun, but they are even more fun when your team shows resilience, mental fortitude, sticktoitiveness, or what have you. Essentially, the M's are taking games they would have lost over the past three years, dialing the clock back to 2001 and Refusing to Lose.

The M's have now won 8 of their last 9 games, but what makes the streak even more impressive is how they have won these games. In each of these games, the M's either trailed or had lost so much momentum, that the 2005 version of the team would have rolled over and died. But not the new Refuse to Lose M's of 2007:

June 3rd - the M's trail the Rangers 4-1 in the bottom of the 4th when they use a Jose Lopez double to score 5 in the 4th and roll to a 11-6 victory giving Ryan Feierabend his first professional victory.

June 4th - Down 4-3 with 2 outs in the 8th, the M's rally on singles by Yuni, Willie and Vidro before Ichiro blows things open in a 7-4 win.

June 5th - trailing Baltimore 4-1 in the bottom of the 7th a "hungry" Ichiro again finishes off a 4-run rally, and gets home early so he can eat.

June 6th - M's run out of gas and give up a 4-0 lead in 9-6 loss to Orioles.

June 8th - Raul Ibanez rediscovers his power and hits the game-winning homer as the M's win 6-5 in 11 innings

June 9th - M's score 3 in the 7th, add a Sexson solo blast in the 8th and score on a Jose Lopez single in the ninth to rally from a 5-1 deficit to a 6-5 lead. Not only that, but Jeffy Weaver gives up fewer ER (1) than innings he pitched (4)!

June 10th - Down 3-1 in the 7th, the M's rally to tie it, and win the game by scoring a run in the ninth against one of the greatest closers of all time.

June 11th - The M's slowly and painfully give up a 7 run lead, but manage to stay tied heading into the ninth. Raul Ibanez finishes up a monster ninth with a run-scoring double to go with 2 HR and a triple to give the M's an 8-7 crushing defeat of the Indians.

Two constants in these nine games. In every game the bullpen kept us close, and almost always once we got the lead they shut down the opposition. And more importantly, the offense is relentless, knocking out 8,9,10+ hits in every game and putting forth its best at bats in the late innings. You know that the M's are not out of any game.

If you're not watching the Mariners right now, you are missing a fantastic show. Somehow, out of nowhere, this team is channelling the spirit of 2001, and baseball is fun again in Seattle!

Rauuuuuuuuuulllllllllllll

2007-06-11T19:10:00.001-05:00

Ibanez goes 159 at bats without a home run before clubbing the game winner in Saturday's come from behind win over the Padres.

Today against the Indians, the Cleveland broadcast team snickers about the fact that Raul won't be hitting a home run.

They were right. He's hit two. And as I write this, it is just the 4th inning.

If Raul Ibanez is rediscovering his power swing, then an offense on a tear has just gotten even scarier to the rest of baseball.

If our starting pitching can even come close to league average, the 2007 Mariners are going to win 90 games, easy.

Streaking Time!

2007-06-06T07:50:00.000-05:00

Readers of the Optimist know my fascination with the winning streak, and my obsession with the 5-game winning streak.

For the third time this season, the M's have won 4 in a row. And despite Jeffy looming on the horizon, they face a stretch of schedule that traditionally has afforded the M's their best winning streaks as Interleague Play looms!!!

The next five games look pretty tough...
1 vs Baltimore (Daniel Cabrera looks tough, but all we need to do is get to the bullpen)
3 vs San Diego (Germano/Wells/Young vs Batista/Weaver/King(?) could be troublesome)
1 vs Cleveland (Ouch!!! No rest for the weary as our travel day from San Diego is lost to a snow makeup with a tough Indians squad)

But then the fun begins with a tour of the joke that is the NL Central. Look at this upcoming schedule and try not to drool...
3 at Wrigley against Lou's Cubbies
3 at Houston against the slumping Astros
An OFF DAY - Wow, who woulda thunk it!
3 against Pittsburgh
3 against Griffey's Reds

By the time Boston arrives in Seattle on June 25th, the Mariners could be 10 or 12 games over .500 and maybe even ESPN will notice! Okay, maybe not.

Unfortunately, the Angels are likely to keep pace or better it, as you just substitute the Dodgers for the Padres and the Cardinals for the Cubs and take out the horrible makeup game at Cleveland. And when Boston come a calling to Safeco at the end of the month, the Angels will be enjoying a leisurely tour through the Royals and Rangers.

Oakland, meanwhile, suffers by the schedulemakers this year. Instead of the Cubs or Pirates, the A's get to enjoy a three game trip to Shea. Unfairness, thy name is Unbalanced Schedule!

So, the M's MUST stay hot through the month of June just to keep the Angels in their sights, but their is certainly a shot of putting some daylight between themselves and the A's.

Tonight is the chance to collect the always tough 5 game win streak and there may be longer streaks just around the corner!

Poor Raul

2007-06-05T23:58:00.001-05:00

Remember the movie Parenthood, where Steve Martin's kid can't catch a ball, and so the star player on the team ranges from shortstop to right field to try to catch a ball in front of him?

Raul Ibanez lived that moment twice tonight in left field.

The first time, a routine flyball to left and all of a sudden, there is Ichiro, with time to run over from centerfield while Raul just stood there thrilled that the team star came over to bail him out.

Then, in the 8th inning he gets up the gumption to call for a short hit ball but Yuni isgnores him and barely avoids the collision.

I can just hear it now...

Yuni: "Move a little toward the line, Raul!"
Raul: "Is this good?"
Ichiro: "Keep going..."
Raul: "How about now"
Willie B: "A little further toward the line..."
Yuni: "Actually Willie, you could move over toward the line as well"
Raul: "How about now"
Ichiro: "Now, just get over that wall there"
Raul: "In the stands?!?"
Yuni: "Perfect! Willie, why don't you go get Raul a coke, we've got this side covered."
Willie: "Awwww maaaann, you guys never let me play"

Actually, it seems kind of strange that Ichiro has the time to field a ball hit right at Raul, but several times in this series I see balls hit to deep right center and the only person I see in the picture is Jose Guillen as the ball bounces on the warning track and over for a ground rule double.

Perhaps Ichiro needs to shade just a little bit more to right field?

Two Out Rally

2007-06-05T07:59:00.000-05:00

Ya gotta love the two out rally in the 8th. Down by a run, closer looming in the ninth, and the first two hitters look pathetic.

Yuni gets it started with a single, and Willie delivers a solid single. Than Jose Vidro comes off the bench with a clutch pinch-hit single to tie the game. Ichiro gives us the lead with an opposite field double, and Jose Lopez finishes the rally with an opposite field shot of his own.

A 4-3 defeat turns into a sweet 7-4 victory... beautiful.

On a night when the King was still nowhere to be found, the M's got to explore the new territory of 4 games over .500 on the back of their offense, which chipped away for a run here and there until the decisive 8th.

I love the look of the offense with Lopez in the 2-hole. I think the M's need to stick to this lineup for awhile. Moving Kenji to the cleanup spot and moving Ibanez down the ladder would be welcome changes as well. I could easily see Broussard getting to enjoy more fielding adventures in left field if Raul's power drought continues.

But the offense is totally gelling. They are a relentless attack 1-9, and our only holes seem to be our biggest bats who can still drill a mistake a long way.

The key to 2007 will be the pitching. We need the King to return, and I've no doubt that he will, but it may be 2 or 3 starts away. But I think once he returns it will be to stay. As the offense clicks, you can see Batista getting more comfortable. Baek has been a welcome surprise, and Washburn looks smooth.

Finding a true #2 stud would go along way from turning this team from a team that is scratching for a chance to lose in the first round of the playoffs to a team that is ALCS bound. Jeffy Weaver gets his chance to re-audition for the role this weekend, but lets just say I'm not holding my breath.

The Rest of the Story

2007-06-04T19:29:00.000-05:00

From the PI:

Jeff Weaver's simulated game Sunday morning didn't offer much clarity on his immediate future.
...
Because most of the reserves were in Sunday's starting lineup, only backup outfielder Jason Ellison was available to hit against Weaver. Batting practice pitcher Brett Merrick and conditioning coach Allen Wirtala also stood in against him. To give Weaver a look at a left-hander, McLaren took a turn in the left-handed batter's box without swinging.

What was left on the cutting room floor is the more important part of the story.

The impromptu 4-man squad scored 11 runs on 14 hits including three Wirtala bombs, while McLaren was walked an amazing 7 times in 38 pitches.

Will Felix Return to Stud Form Soon?

2007-06-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

If you play fantasy baseball, a great premium site for fantasy information is Ron Shandler's Baseball HQ site. One weekly feature is a speculation on the latest injuries. Today includes a scary blurb on our favorite pitcher, El Cartelua:

Felix Hernandez (RHP, SEA)
Did you watch Felix Hernandez's latest start? He allowed seven runs, nine hits and three home runs in six innings of work. Needless to say, it wasn't a confidence-building outing by any stretch of the imagination. While he walked just one, and for the most part he had enough control to avoid getting behind every hitter he faced, he didn't have good command of his pitches. They were up in the strike zone, as evidenced by the three homers and the fact he missed the catcher's glove high more times than not.

One veteran baseball observer I discussed his outing with felt Hernandez was struggling with his release point. That would help explain the command issues. He added that Hernandez looked more like the 2006 version than the supposedly new and improved 2007 version. Could his post DL struggles be related to the flexor muscle strain he endured last month? It's likely because he hasn't gotten over the psychological barrier of being hurt in April. Maybe the back stiffness and reduced flexibility in his torso from his prior start was still an issue also.

The bottom line is this: Hernandez is not the same pitcher he was in his first two starts of 2007 when he dominated. The elbow and forearm problems may be the answer as to why he's struggling. Because he's so young, and doesn't have a lot of professional baseball experience, it will take him a while to right the ship.

Sounds like we may have a few more rocky Felix outings ahead of us, but at least no one thinks the King is currently hurt. We'll be hoping to see the Felix that dominated Boston earlier this season.

Why?

2007-06-04T09:12:00.000-05:00

One Kenny Lofton age-defying play away from a four game sweep over the hapless Rangers, and the M's find themselves over the hump at three games over .500, but still 5 1/2 games behind the white-hot Angels.

And now, according to multiple sources, the Mariners are going to send Ryan Feierabend back to Tacoma so that we may once again enjoy the meatball stylings of Jeffy Weaver, after Jeffy has spit in the face of the organization paying him $8 million by refusing to show he has the ability to get AAA batters out.

Amazing.

So how many starts will Jeffy have to blow before the M's show him out the door. How much better will Jeffy be than Feierabend showed. Here are Feierabend's two starts.

6.2 IP - 4 ER
7.1 IP - 4 ER

Here are Jeffy's starts for 2007
2 IP - 7 ER
6 IP - 7 ER (best start of the year!)
3 IP - 3 ER
0.1 IP - 6 ER (against Kansas City!)
5.2 IP - 6 ER
5 IP - 6 ER

6 starts, 6 losses, and 6 hangdog walks back to the dugout.

I guess the M's are hoping for a turnaround like Jeffy had in 2006. Here are Jeffy's ERA for each month in 2006.
April: 7.48, May: 5.97, June: 5.47. At this point the Angels gave up on the 3-10 Jeffy and sent him to the Cardinals to try his hand with the NL.
July: 6.46, August: 5.67, Sept: 4.15, Oct: 2.43

So, all we have to do is survive three more months of the lousy Jeffy pitching, and we can dream of him leading us to October glory. If Jeffy throws three months of 5.00 ERA (wouldn't that be amazing!), who thinks we will give him the ball in game four of the ALDS?

Why are we even wasting our time with this guy? Are we hoping that he puts up two great starts and somehow we can trade him to the Yankees? Or is the concern that if Feierabend were to falter (not sure how this organization defines falter if it isn't a picture of Jeffy Weaver), that Jorge Campillo couldn't show up and through up a 5.00 ERA?

Jeffy has the veteran status that allows him to turn down a rehab start. It just disgusts me that he did. Its not like he has to travel on a bus - its just a start or two in Tacoma. Show that he can get AAA hitters out so that we have some reason to play him. But since he did turn down the rehab start, there is no reason we can't banish him to the bullpen, and only allow him to pitch if the M's are already down 8 runs in a game. Or maybe we can take a cue from Pinella's Cubs and let Jeffy get into a fight with Kenji that would leave Weaver with a longer DL stint?

I hope the M's are smart enough to at least keep Feierabend on the roster, because if Jeffy starts on Friday, we are going to need a long reliever.

Once more into the Hump

2007-06-01T09:51:00.000-05:00

I gotta say, I love watching the Mariners beat the Rangers. Because I live in Austin, the Extra Innings package does not send me Ranger games, so I am at the whim of our local broadcasting crew. And while the Rangers announcers are nondescript (no irritating Hud-Dog garbage), they still irritate me in the way they tend to talk down about the Mariners.

Last night, once the Rangers were down 7-0, they went into a long shpiel about how the Mariners are a long downtrodden franchise, and that our best memories of the 70's and 80's are tied into promotions like Funny Nose & Glasses Night.

Now, this is true, of course, but bringing up our inglorious past as a way to distract your viewers from your teams terrible now, seems a bit, well, disingenuous. But I probably read too much into announcers trying to fill time during a 40-minute first inning. Vicente Padilla throws each pitch as if it pains him to put it out there, and with the way the M's dinked and donked him to death, it probably did.

Cha Seung Baek "followed the baseball code" by plunking the Rangers best hitter to lead off an inning. But its a somewhat stupid code. The code should instead require a pitcher to bean the first batter he faces once there are two outs so there is less chance of the beanball coming back to bite him in the ass by kicking off a five run inning.

Of course, I think bunting to break up a no-hitter is perfectly acceptable as long as the bunting team is within 3 runs.

All these "baseball code" items need to be framed in the more important context of winning the freaking baseball game.

That's all for now. Jarrod Washburn goes tonight while Kevin Millwood returns for the Rangers. It should be a good pitching matchup, and hopefully our bats stay hot enough to get us back over the Hump!

Need a new 3B Coach!

2007-05-30T22:16:00.000-05:00

Bases loaded, one out, down by two and Ichiro slides a single through the right side of the infield. What do you do?

You've got decent speed in Yuniesky Betancourt rounding third, but you are contending with the arm of Vladamir Guerrero.

The key to this whole decision is the realization that you have Mr. Double Play, Jose Vidro, on deck.

You have gotta be aggressive and go for the run and the tie game!

Predictably, the Mariners strand all three baserunners and trail by one heading into the bottom of the fourth.

If we lose this game by a run, it will be the second loss in a week where blame can be laid squarely on our third base coach (ran us out of several runs in 13-12 loss to Devil Rays a week ago).

I've about given up on my dream of the M's firing Hargrove, or any coach for that matter, so maybe its time to aim lower and just hope to get Carlos Garcia sent back to coach 1B where he can't do so much damage.

Come on M's, Rally for the King, and get us back over the HUMP!

Coincidence?

2007-05-30T11:56:00.001-05:00

Jeff Weaver opens his mouth, and essentially tells the M's brass that he should be re-inserted into the rotation.

Later that same afternoon, the juggernaut that has been the M's offense comes to a screeching halt after letting Ervin Santana off the first inning ropes.

Coincidence?

So far, the M's are holding firm to idea that Weaver needs a rehab start or two in AAA. This is not setting well with Jeffy, though, who has never pitched a rehab assignement. The article in the Times this morning reads:

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove admits he doesn't think Weaver "will be too happy about it" but will try to talk him into pitching two minor-league games.

"He hasn't pitched competitively in three weeks," Hargrove said. "It's just to see how he'll do in different game situations."

Three weeks? Weaver hasn't pitched competitively in seven months!

Hargrove is talking politely in the media, and we'd all like to see Jeffy succeed as a Mariner, but there is no reason to even consider letting Weaver near the M's until he has proven he can get AAA hitters out.

The fact that Jeffy is whining about it in the media is amazing to me. Maybe he truly thinks he has earned the right to pitch in the majors. But he can't have it both ways. If his "injury" is the reason he sucked this year, then that level of suckitude merits a rehab start or four. If its not the reason for his injury, then he deserves to be let go for his performance, with the knowledge that he has seen his last big dollar contract.

I would think the quotes I would see from Jeffy would look more like: "Yeah, I haven't helped the team so far, but my arm wasn't right. I've got the issue taken care of, and I'm just looking forward to showing that I can help this team win. I'll do whatever the team asks, and if that means spending some time in AAA, then let me go and give the Tacoma fans a treat."

Maybe he thinks he can force the M's to release him, and then get the "Safeco Bounce" of success that has happened to so many ex-Mariners in recent years. If this is not his goal, then he should keep his mouth shut and do what the organization who is paying him $8 million asks him to do.

Weaver on the Horizon?

2007-05-29T21:05:00.000-05:00

From Rotoworld:

Jeff Weaver, on the DL since May 11 because of tendinitis in his shoulder, threw close to 70 pitches over four innings in a simulated game Tuesday.
Weaver hopes to return this weekend without making a rehab start first. If he gets his wish, then it will be one and done for Ryan Feierabend.

This "simulated" game is too close to reality for me as it still is taking Weaver 70 pitches to get through four innings. I'm guessing his line looked something like 4 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 7 ER against a lineup of 9 Willie Bloomquists.

Can't wait for his return. I think I'll go claim him in the D-O-V Smackdown League tonight just to enjoy the mockery, and to ensure my leaguemates think I'm an easy mark.

Honestly, I'm hoping that Weaver has figured out whatever is wrong (or that *wink,wink* he has healed) and if he returns to the big leagues, its because he has proven that he remembers how to pitch like he was a World Series hero, and not the pathetic sod we saw put up an impressive (is depressive a word?) string of 6 losses in 6 starts . The optimist in me hopes that he still has the ability to get major league hitters out, because it would be great to get the good Jeff Weaver that has been unicorn-rare since he last wore a Tiger uniform.

I'm hoping that this little press release was engineered by Jeffy and his agent, as I can't imagine that the M's brass want to repeat Dream Weaver's April without being able to point to some stellar AAA outings as proof that he can do anything other than hurt the M's.

Cuz if the M's bring Weaver back to pitch in a Seattle uniform and he looks like he did in April, then heads deserve to roll in the M's front office. Fool me once... Personally, I'm hoping that Feierabend pitches so well tonight that it gives the M's the time to leisurely evaluate Jeff with 30 days of AAA rehab starts that better include at least one where he throws six shutout innings.

Or at least where he gives up fewer runs than innings pitched, right?

Update: Here is the link to Geoff Baker's blog where the story probably originated.

Now pitching.... Ryan Feierabend

2007-05-29T17:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to the Show! And here's the hopes and dreams of the 2007 Mariners, which we'll place on your left arm.

Don't get me wrong, kid, you'll get some help in the form of a fantastic defense and an offense that is averaging 10 runs a game for the past week.

And its not like we have high expectations, as to keep your job you only have to pitch better than Horacio Ramirez and Jeff Weaver.

But, if you fail, and the M's get it in their crazy heads to bring back HoRam or Weaver again....

Then the Mariner nation may never forgive you.

Here's a quick link to his 2006 and before minor league stats and his 2007 stats. The stats show a guy who has consistently struck out about 7 a game, which is borderline solid. His walks per game have slowly crept up with each promotion, but with rounding is staying in the 3 walk range. He has been fantastic at keeping the ball in the park, giving up less than 1 HR per 9 innings his whole minor league career and half that in AAA.

Our favorite Insider, Jason Churchill, had a nice writeup on Ryan last year. Here's a short excerpt.

Strengths: Feierabend is an intelligent pitcher whose best attribute may be his ability to put what he’s learned to use on the mound significantly quicker than most young arms. His pick-off move is second only to fellow southpaw Travis Blackley in the entire system and his physical tools grade very high.

His command has been an enormous key to his success this season and his confidence is a driving force.

Weaknesses: Feierabend’s stuff is solid but it’s not good enough to hold up when his control goes south and certainly won’t get him through many starts when he falters when things get dicey. But he’s improving in all areas and is truly a work-in-progress that’s actually progressing, and well, too.

It may be wise for Feierabend to continue working on a cutter or a true slider to use versus lefties, though he’s yet to hit the wall against the power bats from that side of the plate.

Once deemed a project, Feierabend is now a success story. Even at 20.

Amazingly, if you Google "Ryan Feierabend", this link comes up #5 on the list. Back in 2004, when I was a more prolific blogger, others were comparing Feierabend to a young Barry Zito. Last year, Churchill compared him to Noah Lowry. This year, Baseball Prospectus uses the more pedestrian description of "innings eater". Here's what Baseball Prospectus wrote about Feierabend when ranking the M's prospects this offseason:

6. Ryan Feierabend, lhp
DOB: 8/22/85
Height/Weight: 6-3/190
Bats/Throws: L/L
Drafted: 3rd round, 2003, Ohio HS
What he did in 2006: 4.28 ERA at AA (153.2-156-55-127), 3.71 ERA at MLB (17-15-7-11)
The Good: Southpaw with consistently improving stuff to complement ever-present plus pitchability. Lively fastball sits at 88-90 mph with excellent location, and hitters are kept off balance with the best changeup in the system. He's very mature, and pitches fearlessly.
The Bad: Feierabend doesn't have a usable breaking ball at this point, and its development will be the key to his career, as he has the body, delivery, and stamina of a starter, and has only marginal value as a reliever who doesn't miss a lot of bats.
The Irrelevant: Feierabend's hometown of Grafton, Ohio has produced one other big leaguer. Shortstop Ed McKean is one of the all-time great Cleveland Spiders, though he spent the final year of his career, 1899, with the St. Louis Perfectos, avoiding having any part of the worst team in big league history.
In A Perfect World, He Becomes: An effective innings eater in the rotation.
Gap Between What He Is Now, And What He Can Be: Low – Feierabend will remain young for his level, beginning 2007 as a 21-year-old in the Triple-A rotation.

That's it, Ryan. That's all we need you to be. An effective innings eater, replacing the ineffective ones that the M's spent $10.65 million dollars and one stellar setup man on. Do your job well enough, and one day the Mariners may overpay you to be a lefty innings eater someday too.

Or maybe you can still be Barry Zito (and better yet, get Barry Zito money). Either way, you're not Jeff Weaver, and that's enough to make me very excited for tonight's start. Mariner nation will be rooting for you to eat those innings and give the M's a chance they never had with Jeffy on the mound. A chance to win.

Over the Hump!

2007-05-28T22:58:00.000-05:00

Given Batista's start, I would not have thought we were gonna win this one...

Happily, Adrian Beltre arrived to save the day with two bombs, and we opened up a can of Whoop Ass on the Fat Man, Bartolo Colon.

The M's have officially arrived, back into relevance for the first time since 2003.

ESPN won't notice for several weeks, but your Seattle Mariners are a playoff contender.

Now that this monkey is off our back, it is time to get back to the business of chasing down the Angels, pummelling them mercilessly, then laughing while they choke on our dust.

The M's are in the hunt, the Yankees are in the cellar with the Devil Rays, and Scott Spiezio, Jeff Cirillo and Rich Aurilia are all safely tucked away in the National League where they can't hurt us.

Enjoy it! If you're reading this, you're a diehard like me, and you deserve any pleasure you get from the M's after the last three years of abject misery and unappreciated optimism.

Ryan Feierabend looks to take the hill tomorrow with a well-rested bullpen behind him and Felix waiting in the wings for Wednesday. M's need to take it one game at a time as they sweep the Angels...

Happy Memorial Hump Day!!!

2007-05-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

2 games over .500 and facing the white-hot Angels. Miguel Batista appears overmatched by Bartolo Colon. We're on the road. And we haven't been 3 games over .500 since 2003.

Previous Hump Day efforts in 2007 have led to a 6-game losing streak just once (April 16-22). The other three times, we lost 3 of our next 4 games. With a rookie going Tuesday, but Felix going Wednesday, you can see where probabilities lie...

A losing streak could seal our doom for 2007 and leave us 7.5 games out headed into June, when young men's thought turn to the draft and the upcoming trade deadline season. This may please some of my more pessimistic readers. If so, I gotta ask, "What are you doing reading my blog?!?!! If you want pessimism (you may call it realism), head over to USS Mariner!"

For the first time in 4 years, the Mariner attempt to get over the .500+2 hump falls on a national holiday! That's gotta mean something! Enjoy the barbecue, and go M's!

Happy Hump Day!

2007-05-16T15:10:00.000-05:00

And no I don't mean Wednesday.

Do you realize that the Mariners have not been THREE games over .500 since the 2003 season when we finished 93-69? Remember those heady days? Since then, every time we get to two games over .500 (which has been rare), we lose, and usually we lose badly. Not only do we lose badly, but it usually kicks off a streak of losing badly, as the M's rapidly roll backward down the hill and Jill comes tumbling after.

So, in recognition of the magnitude of this hump that we can't seem to cross, I'm going to point it out every time it happens in hopes that I can jinx it. A win tonight and we can finally get on with winning the AL West by putting two games over .500 firmly in the rear view mirror.

Past Hump Day disasters include:
- 5/5/07 (13-11 vs Yankees) Jeff Weaver (you'll see a theme here) pitches "well enough to get another start" in an 8-1 loss. The M's lose the next day, and have just now recovered from this loss.
- 4/17/07 (5-3 vs Twins) Jeff Weaver nightmare 11-2 loss kicks off a six game losing streak.
- 4/3/07 (2-0 vs A's) Batista gets smoked 9-0. This is followed up by four straight days of snow and a 14-3 loss to the Bosox.
- 7/2/06 (42-40 vs Rockies). Rockies win 4-3 in 11 innings after we blow a 2-1 lead in the 8th. This kicks off a six game losing streak.
- 4/7/06 (3-1, and Felix on the mound!) Joe Blanton shuts out the M's and Felix 5-0 in the first of many bad defeats in 2006. This was start of four game losing streak
- In 2005, we never even got to the hump with our best record all year being 12-11.
- 2004 was even worse as we went wire to wire with a losing record, and the closest we got to the hump was 6-8.

Tonight's Hump looks like another tough one to cross with Cha Seung Baek facing John Lackey and Vlad the Impaler in game two of a three game set. But I think TODAY is the day we get over this hump and move back into the discussion of playoff contenders!

Happy Hump Day!

Funk Bruthers

2007-05-15T22:58:00.000-05:00

It seems as if the Mariners have the newest pair of Bash Brothers. Only there are no steroids involved with this slugging tandem. Instead, they just support each other in that any game where one homers, the other feels obligated to homer as well.

Last night marked the third time this season when Kenji Johjima and Jose Lopez would crush home runs in the same game, and all three times, the Mariners have won.

Being that 2007 is the year of the Funk Blast, we'll drop the Bash moniker, and instead dub Kenji Johjima and Jose Lopez, the Funk Bruthers.

Remember April 25th? 2-0 win against Oakland with a game winning blast from Kenji Johjima. The next night, Lopez homers in 4-2 win to complete the sweep of the hated A's.

The next day, the Funk Bruthers got in sync as they would both homer in a 7-4 win against the Royals.

A week later, they would both homer in the May 4th 15-11 thrashing of the Yankees.

Kenji would slip in a home run on Friday's 3-0 win over the Yankees, with Jose begging off as he had places to go on a Friday night. And now last night's heroics would reunite the Funk Bruthers.

Jose now leads the Mariners in home runs with six and Kenji is nipping at his heels with five. More importantly, the M's are 7-1 in games where either of these player find the bleachers, and 3-0 when they both do. Dating back to last year, the M's are 24-8 in games where either one homers.

Heck, the downfall of the M's can be traced directly to the dreadful August swoon. During the month of August last year, the Funk Bruthers combined for a single home run.

So, next time you are looking for the big bats of Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Raul Ibanez or Jose Guillen to go yard, think again...

As go the Funk Bruthers, so go the M's.

Guess the Return of the King

2007-05-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

From Rotoworld today...

The Mariners have pushed back Felix Hernandez's return from an elbow injury another six days. He's now scheduled to return May 15 against the Angels.

Of course, it's better than 50-50 that he'll be pushed back again. "He's fine, but we feel this is the smart thing to do with him, and he felt comfortable with it," manager Mike Hargrove said. "He will throw a simulated game on Tuesday [in Detroit], have another bullpen on the 11th, and if everything goes well, he'll start on the 15th." The Mariners are doing the right thing by being careful here. What they did wrong was to keep setting dates for his return in the first place. First it was May 4, then May 9 and now May 15.

They don't get it. The Mariners are not making mistakes announcing multiple return dates for Felix Hernandez. This is a shrewd ploy to bump up attendance. After seeing the spikes in ticket sales for the Yankees May 4th and Tigers May 9th game, the Mariners have decided to see if they get a similar spike for the May 15th home game against the Angels.

At this point, you can only be concerned or at best cautiously optimistic that the Return of the King is not too far away. In the meantime, the Mariners offense is playing well, while their rotation is a mess.

The team really needs 2 of Batista, HoRam and Weaver to step up and approach mediocrity. My money is on Batista and ....

What the heck, I'll guess that Weaver turns it around and beomes mediocre instead of terrible.

How Bout Dem Seahawks

2007-01-07T13:20:00.000-06:00

As a Seahawk fan living in the heart of Texas, nothing could be sweeter than to beat the Cowboys in the playoffs.

While everyone talks about the Romo gaffe and claims that without it we woulda lost, two plays that were every bit as important or moreso are forgotten.

1) Lofa Tatupu stopping Jason Witten at the 1 1/2 yard line on 3rd down before the ill-fated FG attempt. When the ref initially signalled first down, I screamed in disgust at the call, and the fact that somehow the Cowboys had gotten the one thing that would kill us. They had gotten the ability to be the last team with the ball in a 1-point game. If they had gotten that first down, the FG attempt would have been tried with 10 seconds left, on 3rd down, rather than with 70 seconds left on 4th down. Heck, the announcers were thinking like I was, that the Seahawks should just let the Cowboys score a TD on the next play and see if we could score in a minute. I wonder if Parcells would've taken a gift touchdown and hope his D could stop Matt & co, or taken the knee to setup the FG?

2) After we get the ball on the 1 1/2, I'm still thinking of all the things that could go wrong. How many times had Cowboy defenders been in the backfield during Shaun Alexander runs. If they did so this time, it would mean the Cowboys get a game-winning safety. And the 'Boys had three time outs. If we go three and out, we are punting the ball back to Dallas from our own end zone and with 50 seconds on the clock. Do you think our D woulda held at that point?

Thankfully, Shaun Alexander gets his only big gain of the night, getting us out of the shadow of the endzone, and more importantly, a first down that will make it so the Cowboys get the ball back with :02 on the clock instead of much more time.

Hooray that we won that game and live to fight another week. There have been some memorable finishes in football that I have witnessed this year. The Romo-Nogo, The Boise State Hook & Ladder to Statue of Liberty BCS win, and or course, the Rice Owls starting a 6 game winning streak that would send them to their first Bowl game in 45 years in a game where they threw a game-ending interception with 20 seconds left, only to see the defender try to run the ball back and fumble it to us at the 20 yard line, and 2 plays later superstar WR Jarrett Dillard catches the game-winning TD with no time on the clock!

None of these games may have an effect on the Championship (though I'm still holding out hope for the Seahawks), but each is a memory I will treasure for a long time. Especially when any Cowboy fan comes up to me after a win and says, "How about that Tony Romo?"

Hello Yoda!

2006-07-26T13:48:00.000-05:00

And goodbye C-Rex.

The Mariners continued to overhaul their roster with the long overdue move of DFA'ing Carl Everett and bringing up Chris Snelling.

"Our primary focus is to win games right now," Bavasi said. "We are a better team today with Eddie Perez, Greg Dobbs and Chris getting more at-bats in the DH spot. In addition, today's move does not preclude us from continuing to look for more offense in the trade market."

I could NOT be happier!!! The team is still just 3 games out of first, and with a win tonight, survives a tough 12-game stretch with a 6-6 record including 3 extra inning losses.

Snelling and Greg Dobbs, along with Eduardo Perez will replace Everett and maybe take some ABs away from Raul Ibanez against lefties as well, making the Mariners a much more potent offense, replacing the Wilson Valdezesque numbers put up by Mr. Everett. Now, we'll see if the lack of "veteran leadership" somehow puts the team into a tailspin, or if youthful exuberance can win the day... and the AL West!

Trading Adam Jones?

2006-07-19T15:36:00.000-05:00

This blurb from Rotoworld shocked me...

The Nationals have reportedly started to scout the Mariners organization very heavily as the two teams attempt to work out a deal for Alfonso Soriano.
The Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are also interested in trading for Soriano. National scouts were reportedly watching Mariners' outfielder Adam Jones during a recent game against the Yankees. Jul. 19 - 10:23 am et

A click on the link to the Washington Post article reveals...

In New York, Nationals scouts were specifically keeping an eye on rookie outfielder Adam Jones, just recalled from Tacoma. Jones hit .277 with 14 homers and 55 RBI in the minors and is considered the Mariners' center fielder of the future.

All I have to say, that if we are trading our future CF, then we better not just be renting Soriano, and we better have someone in mind besides Willie F Bloomquist for CF.

Last night's loss to the Yankees just #$&#^$ me off and I loved Jeff's rant at the umpire in Lookout Landing, which is so over the top that I was able to smile again. M's leading 4-2 in a freakin' downpour with lightning and thunder and the first base ump has to give away a call like that when the players are doing there best not to get hurt. What a crock!

Today, GilgaMeche! came to the rescue once again. It is seriously time to start putting together a contract offer for that kid. He is not the same player he has been, and his pricetag just keeps going up.

So now we win 2 of 6 in a roadtrip where we have lost three extra inning games, two lost by managerial indifference/incompetence and one by an umpire's brutal call (followed by managerial indifference/incompetence in the form of Julio Mateo being brought in again in extra innings).

Hard to believe that with us 5 games out and 5 under .500 that we would look to deal the kid for Soriano. I actually would love a trade for Soriano, but think that Jones should not be involved as we need him for this year. Send Choo! Heck, send Jeremy Reed! But don't send Adam Jones!

Frustration in Fourteen

2006-07-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks to having to work yesterday, I was able to follow the Mariners through the joy of ESPN Gamecast. If you think its tense watching an extra-inning game, try watching a little yellow dot head from a mound icon to a home plate icon, while you are trying to figure out if its a strike or not. And reading 10 meaningless statistics (B Molina 2005 w/RISP: 26 for 101 (.257) 1 HR 8 RBI), while hoping it will turn into the sentence "Incoming pitch has been hit in play..." and then trying to guess if the little yellow dot which is heading toward the wall and getting fatter to indicate it is airborn is going to be a game-tying home run in the 8th (it was!)

I think I'll rest my eyes today and watch on the satellite, now that Fox can't blackout my market and try to force me to watch a GD Yankees-White Sox blowout (can't we switch games to the 14-inning thriller - nope).

I didn't get to see the early double-HR combos which caused us to fall in such a hole, but reading articles this morning, it sounds like Adam Jones may have been at fault for both doubles due to poor jumps. The difference in the game was in those non-catches, and Vernon Wells stellar D robbing the M's in the 13th. I just can't find it in me to be mad at Jones, but it shows you some of the value of Jeremy Reed who likely would have made those plays.

The worst part of yesterday's loss had to be knowing that our closer was going to come in to face the NEXT batter when the game-winning hit off of rookie Emiliano Fruto happened. This just adds to the irritation factor. When your best reliever doesn't get into the game in a 14-inning nail-biter, that looks like you are just NOT TRYING. C'mon Hargrove! Please, Mr. Bavasi, find a way to make this joker of a manager disappear.

Kudos to the bullpen for a great effort, and to the Mariner bats for coming back on the likes of Roy Halladay and bullpen. A prime chance to catchup to the West leaders was lost, and now we must bounce back and take game three of this series and build some momentum toward facing the Yankees tomorrow (thankfully, we get to face Sidney Ponson on Tuesday).

As for me, its back to work!

Back to Back Jack

2006-07-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

The game last night was a nice pedestrian affair. Adam Jones made his major league debut and got a lot of action. He didn't look fantastic at the plate, but he did work a walk in his first game, so that's nice. His play in the field seemed fine, though it looked like he could have caught up to a 5th inning double that led to the Jays first run, but that he was wary of the wall and slowed just enough so it fell out of reach.

But the real story of this game to me was Gilgamesh, our Babylonian warrior who rose from the dead this year to become our staff ace. He not only started two consecutive games for the Mariners, but won them both. Can anyone tell me when the last time a pitcher started and won two consecutive games for their team (in a single season). I don't think I've ever heard of it happening, but then I can't ever recall a four day break for an All-Star Game either, so my memory may just be shoddy in this area.

Pitching on four days rest, Gil came out strong, but hit the wall HARD in the sixth as he came out with nothing on his fastball (dropping from 94 to 89 MPH) and gave up no-doubt-about-it home runs on consecutive pitches. Amazingly, Meche got through the rest of the inning with only a long flyball causing real fear, and the M's shutdown bullpen of Sherriff, Smoke, and Fire dominated the Jays. Victory!

Unfortunately, the end result of last night was that the M's gained no ground as the AL West went out and b***h slapped the AL East, and our reward this afternoon is a date with Roy Halladay. No worries, old man Moyer is on the hill and Adam Jones is due to get his first hit of the year.

We got robbed

2006-07-13T15:57:00.000-05:00

I thought we had done well, getting Travis Chick for the remains of Eddie Guardado.

That was until I saw today's trade the Reds made sending Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez and Ryan Wagner to the Nationals for relievers Gary Majewski and Bill Bray along with middle infielders Royce Clayton and Brendan Harris and prospect Daryl Thompson.

This may hasten the end of the Eddie Guardado will close for the Reds experiment.

Seldom do you see two productive 26-year-old hitters traded for a pair of relievers.

I figure Nationals GM (and former Reds GM) Jim Bowden must have worked the political channels of the Reds perfectly, knowing all the right putdowns to put on the guys he got, and knowing exactly how to make his players appear beautiful to the Reds.

Or else he has compromising pictures of Reds ownership.

In the meantime, the Adam Jones callup is official. Unfortunately, the M's take a step back with the demotion of Choo and return of the Dobbster. No Doyle, and C-Rex remains the Mariner DH and closes in on vesting his 2007 option. I don't get that one either. Of course if Austin Kearns gets you Bill Bray, than Carl Everett would probably only get us Bobby Ayala back.

The Russian Roulette of #5 starters continues. It started when Jeff Weaver was DFA'd to be picked up by the Cardinals. The Cardinals in turn DFA'd Sidney Ponson. Ponson was now picked up by the Yankees, who recently DFA'd Shawn Chacon. Can Joel Pineiro be far behind. C'mon Bill, everybody's doing it!

Adam Jones in Center

2006-07-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

Pretty darn exciting stuff! The M's are calling up there latest phenom in Adam Jones to man center field. I see some are a little nervous that this will be somehow bad for Adam Jones. Bleah.

If he gets platooned, or benched and rots, THAT is bad for Adam Jones. And I will be leading the pack of wolves calling for Hargrove the Horrible's lynching if that should somehow happen. (Might be worth it if it hastens the firing of Horrible).

Seeing playing time in the big leagues is a GOOD thing, and one to be hoorayed mightily. If he's not ready, he'll show it, he'll go back to the minors in a few weeks, and he will STILL be a top prospect.

If he is ready, the M's may have found a piece toward the 2006 pennant.

I don't buy this stuff that promoting a guy too aggressively will cause him to regress as a ballplayer somehow. He'll either sink or swim. If a turn in the big leagues somehow destroys a ballplayer, then he was likely NEVER going to be a big league ballplayer.

Adam Jones is a major leaguer. Enjoy!

Boy is my arm tired

2006-07-11T11:06:00.000-05:00

And no, I'm not channelling Gil Meche, who was moved into the Sunday start, and may then also come back and pitch Thursday. Not sure why, unless the goal is to milk as many miles from Good Gilgamesh before we lose him to (free agency/injury/Bad Gilgamesh). It does save miles on the arm of Prince Felix (who has some work to do before I recrown him, but he'll always be El Cartelua to me), so that's good. I get leery when I see that Gil is averaging 105+ pitches per outing this year.

Interesting debate on Gil Meche is going on. Has he turned a corner, and therefore we should lock him up before he becomes a free agent. Or is this another Gilgamesh illusion like the end of 2004 and we should look to trade him for quality prospects as his value will never be higher. USSM takes the pessimistic (surprise, surprise) view that Gil is done because of the fact that his HR/FB ratio is luck and he hasn't really reduced FB because FB/GB ratio has not changed. Got that? My seemingly-fellow-optimist, Dr. Detecto, counters with the fact that these statistical analysis are not set in stone, and you can tell by the way batters look inept against Gil that he is a new pitcher.

My brain REALLY wants to side with USSM, and avoid putting my heart out there that Gil Meche has truly turned a corner. I am a math guy, and I actually like Dave's arguments. But there is no doubting that the hitters look more off-put against Gil than I ever recall. I believe we are seeing the new improved Gilgamesh and will for awhile.

Here is my thought on what to do. Offer Meche a 3-year, $20M contract TODAY. Its half what we blew on Washburn, and represents a tough chunk of change for Gil to turn down (could you turn down $20M if you had Gil's history). Take the discount while you can get it. If Gil says that he wants to go the free agency route, then he is traded before July is over. There is too much risk in both his mental and physical makeup to get in a bidding war over Gil Meche that may see him get Jarrod Washburn like money. Pitch him only at home until then to maximize his success and keep his trade value up and then send him off to someone (the Mets!) for an outfielder (Lastings Milledge) and some pitching prospects (Mike Pelfrey). Throw in a cranky RF (Carl Everett) with World Series experience if you must.

A side context to this whole debate is whether the M's should be buyers or sellers in this offseason. The two trades appear to send mixed signals, as we dealt a prospect for a veteran in one, and a veteran for a prospect in the other. Yet, it is clear that Bavasi is gearing up for a playoff run, by trading an ineffective veteran to help the M's win more games, and acquiring a much-needed lefty masher. Now, if we can just get Hargrove the Horrible to get on board the same train we'll be okay. I've never seen a manager so misuse the tools given to him by a team.

With all are deals, we should be looking at both 2006 AND 2007. This team is poised for a big step forward in 2007, as its got most of the young pieces in place to allow us to spend a bit on a CF upgrade and top of the rotation pitcher. It will also contend in 2006, and the AL West is ripe for the taking. After two seasons of pathetic play, Mariner fans deserve a playoff run. Combine that with the fact that Bill Bavasi likes his job, and I think the M's will be buyers in July. I trade involving Jeremy Reed seems like a distinct possibility.

Oh yeah, my arm. I know the reason y'all have even read this long is to find out how I did in my tennis tournament. Better than I had hoped. I lost in the semifinals of 4.0 singles to the eventual champion (think a 4.0 Rafael Nadal), and am in the third set of the 4.5 doubles finals (3rd set washed away and to be finished on Wednesday). Unfortunately, it left me without enough energy/game to win an all important mixed doubles pairing with Mrs. Optimist against the club champs (collapsed in the third set). So, all my good tennis counts for nothing on the homefront, and I need to find ways to make Mrs. Optimist happy again. Tonight, I'll be "resting" at home with the kids while Mrs. Optimist takes out her frustrations on the tennis courts. That means I'll be able to see Jose Lopez homer in the All-Star Game, and can look forward to seeing more of Gil Meche on Thursday.

Friday Pepper...

2006-07-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

Its official, JJ Putz is the best closer in baseball. While you may debate the merits of these statistical rankings, there is no denying the emergence of the Fireman. Does Putz have a nickname - he sure needs one. Reason #1 why we won't miss Eddie Guardado.

The Reds Todd Coffey showed why they traded for Guardado. After the Reds scored 5 runs in the ninth to tie the game, Coffey promptly came in and gave up a double and a run-scoring single in the tenth to lose it. Sounds like Guardado is going to be moved right into the closer role for the Reds. High risk, but maybe they'll catch lightning in a bottle and be able to use Coffey where he was so effective early in the year. Now I just have to figure out if I try to FAAB Guardado in my NL-Only league. How much tolerance for risk do I have?

Rumor rumbling at New York Post has Yankees sending last year's savior and this year's flop Shawn Chacon to the M's for Joel Pineiro. I'd take that in a heartbeat - at least Chacon has upside.

Ichiro on YouTube, beginning with cute ad for NTT. Dude just oozes charisma.

Weekend of tennis for the Mariner Optimist. I'm playing 4.0 singles and 4.5 doubles in the Lost Creek Open, which is a small tournament at my home club. No consolation round if I lose, but consolation keg on tap is nice. I am also looking forward to watching the men at Wimbledon (go Not Federer!). Speaking of men at Wimbledon, the "Ladies" final is now being referred to as Boy Meets Man.

Last week, I went through my old cassette collection and found a number of tapes to let my kids play on their old cassette player. "Safety Dance" works for the eight and under set. The nostalgic trip down memory lane caused me to order some CDs online to get some oldies but goodies that I have missed like Boston's "Don't Look Back", a Bryan Adams greatest hit CD, REM "Green", and Van Halen's "5150". "Dreams" has been a favorite of mine ever since a fellow Rice student used that as the theme song to a commemorative videotape of Jones College first Beer-Bike win. While, I was online, I decided to get the All-American Rejects and the latest from the Houston band Blue October and both are excellent albums.

In the span of a week, my three year old has gone from clinging to the side of the pool in fear to doing somersaults underwater while swimming between his mother's legs. Kid is a natural at so many things. We are going to try him out at a tennis camp in a few weeks. He already has a better backhand than his old man. I figure if I can get him with the right training, I can gravy train onto his career and tour the world watching tennis. The three year old might be the next great American hope for tennis (sad state that it is in).

If you blog, and no one knows it, are you really blogging?

So long, Eddie

2006-07-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

According to KJR, the Mariners just dealt Eddie Guardado to the Cincinatti Reds for Travis Chick

Righty who struggled in first year at AA last year at age 21, handling it better this time around, though he has not gotten his K/BB back to his A ball levels of 2004. Entering 2005, Baseball America ranked him as the San Diego Padres 4th best prospect, with the "best fastball."

Reds may intend Guardado to close, with the recent struggles of Todd Coffey. I wish Eddie the best of luck, he was a fun guy to root for, and its been painful watching his struggles this year.

This move may look like a dump trade, signalling that the Mariners are no longer contenders after dropping 5 of 6 in horrific fashion. I think this is the wrong way to look at this. Instead, I see this as getting something for nothing, and finding a way to prevent Hargrove from running Eddie into crucial situations in games.

Lets hope the moves continue. If Bavasi can manage to find similar value for formerly-but-no-longer-effective players like Carl Everett and Julio Mateo, then I will be thrilled. And lets hope we can find a way to pick up some relief and rotation help to fill the void left by these departures.

White-hot Detroit comes in for three and we need to win two, to enter the All-Star Break on an up note.

Other links to Travis Chick:
Chick emerges as top pitching prospect down on farm (2/22/2005)
Reds trade Randa for young arms - Swap with Padres nets right-handers Germano, Chick (7/23/2005)
2005 Top 10 Prospects - Cincinatti Reds (11/30/2005 - Chick at #10 for the Reds)

Still Feelin' Good...

2006-07-05T11:38:00.000-05:00

Yeah, we've lost three straight games to fall back under .500. And our manager is really really really bad. And we lost our centerfielder for the year possibly.

But I didn't watch the game yesterday. And while waiting to see the score on the ticker, I thought - "Hey, Meche is pitching, we'll probably win!" And then, of course, I saw a score of 14-6, and panicked - "Oh no, good Meche is dead again!". Gil gave up 14 runs!

Well, it wasn't as bad as that. Gil left with a lead, and it was overused Julio Mateo who coughed up the rest of an early 5-1 lead. It shows that we still need some pitching help, both in the rotation (the pitcher formerly known as Jo-el) and in the bullpen (another reliever or two besides Putz and Soriano to rely upon).

But the key thing here, is after 2 1/3 brutal years, I had a crazy thought like "Hey, Meche is pitching, we'll probably win!" If that's not a sign that the M's are back, then I don't know what is.

Its been a bad stretch of five games in this homestand, but today is another day, and with Jamie Moyer pitching, we'll be back to .500 and start reeling in the A's again. This time, we pass them.

An open letter to the M's new manager...

2006-07-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

Dear Bill Bavasi,

Yes, I'm calling for you to become the new manager of the Seattle Mariners. Why not? It worked for the Miami Heat, when Pat Riley fired one of those Van Gundy boys and proceeded to take an underachieving squad to its first NBA Championship.

Mr. Bavasi, you can NOT be too pleased to have traded a significant prospect in Asdrubal Cabrera for a benchwarmer. Watching Eduardo Perez sit in two consecutive close games against a team with a left-handed closer has to grate on your nerves. Yesterday's game went from ninth inning win with a Perez fly ball to an extra innings loss that cost you not only first place, but a centerfielder and a reliever as well. All due to the horrible mismanagement of the game by our current manager, who is making me long for the Bob Melvin era.

So, fire Hargrove already! He is killing us, and gonna cost you your job! And before you go to the Dan Rohn well, stop and think long and hard about making yourself the manager. You know what situations you brought players in for. Your GM job is on the line, so do you really want to go to some other option. Rohn can help you with the tactical decisions if there are any you don't grasp. Hard to imagine that you could possibly do a worse job than Hargrove. Don't bunt Jose Lopez, let your bench bats hit and even get the occasional start, try not to make runners steal when their have been six throws to first base already.

In this day and age, it is always the coach/manager who wants and gets more GM responsibility. So why can't the GM want and get more coaching responsibility? All these coaches think they can do the GM job without any business experience. Surely it would be easier for a GM who has grown up at baseball parks to do the manager job.

It would allow you to do everything you want to do with the Mariners. Serve youth by bringing up Snelling and Choo, knowing that your manager isn't going to just hinder their development by letting them rot on the bench. Leverage the great bench you built by actually using Perez and Petagine as pinch-hitters. Send Everett to the bench so that your option year that you never envisioned Everett approaching (and certainly not with a 300 slugging percentage) never vests. Actually try out a sixth starting pitcher. Let your dominant bullpen dominate.

If nothing else, the M's get a little more airtime on Sportscenter. Why should the next GM of the Mariners and whoever his handpicked coach is get all the glory for the M's resurgence? It can happen this year, if we can just get rid of the biggest obstacle to success.

The one major team that has won a championship in Seattle, the Supersonics, sparked the run by firing their coach in early season and bringing in Lenny Wilkens. This team has the pieces to make a run to the playoffs, and once there, anything can happen with this offense.

The window of opportunity is there to salvage this season, and your stewardship of the Mariners. You just have to get rid of the guy who is undermining your team, and replace him with a guy who understands the game.

You, Mr. Bavasi. You.

A Lefty Masher

2006-06-30T14:26:00.000-05:00

Since the dawn of time... or at least since 2003, the Mariners have stunk against lefthanded pitchers. So Bill Bavasi has gone out and traded an excellent prospect, Asdrubal Cabrera, to the Cleveland Indians for one of the top lefty mashers of the 21st century, Eduardo Perez.

Currently, Perez' (330/355/693!) 1048 OPS is the 30th best against lefties for players with more than 50 plate appearances. The top Mariner is Ichiro (375/439/477) at 916 followed by... Willie Bloomquist (333/397/386) at 783. Perez provides power against lefties that was completely nonexistant in our current lineup.

Yes, Asdrubal Cabrera is a good prospect, but he is well behind where Jose Lopez was at the same age, and was likely to stay well behind Jose Lopez and Yuni Betancourt for the foreseeable future. Is it nice to have depth? Sure, but we have other middle infielders in the system, and Cabrera wasn't going to provide depth this yea Could we have gotten more for Cabrera? I have no idea. But in a player for player trade, I doubt it. Cabrera could have been used as part of a package to chase a Barry Zito, a Tim Hudson, or even a Dontrelle Willis. But we have other pieces that could fill that role.

And, of course, there is the psychological aspect of this trade. There is no Stand Pat here. The Mariners looked at 2006, identified a weakness, and attacked it. Early. Tell me a better hitter we could have gotten for Asdrubal Cabrera. The team now knows that the GM is in the fight with them. The rest of the league now knows that the M's are buyers and are willing to give up good prospects for talent. The teams who strike early in the trade market often get the best deals.

The Mariners of 2006 got better today. The momentum is building. The A's hear footsteps. Soon they will be eating our dust.

5 in a Row... Redux

2006-06-30T10:54:00.000-05:00

Less than 2 weeks ago, over at Sportspot, I dropped my Optimist hat long enough to rail that the Mariners would never get over the Mountain by actually winning five games in a row.

The reverse psychology (in my mind at least) worked, and the Mariners were happy to prove me wrong by winning their fifth in a row. Now, just a week later, the M's have done it again, this time in dramatic fashion with two runs in the ninth to beat the DBacks 3-2.

Baseball is fun again!

The blogosphere is going nuts, and are starting to conceive of what a month ago would have been considered ludicrous:
- Adrian Beltre may finally be the hitter we signed
- Raul Ibanez' contract extension was a good idea and a bargain at that.
- The A's aren't that good, and the M's are the team to beat in the AL West

And today's coup de grace:
- Gil Meche has arrived and the Mariners should sign him to a long-term contract extension.

You know, as many times as Gil Meche has gotten my hopes up, you think I should know better. But right now, I'd be happy to give Gil a 2-year, $12M contract, and he should be happy to sign it. I don't think either will happen and some GM will probably give Meche more in free agency. And that may be for the better.

But maybe, just maybe, our solid TOR starter that we are looking for is already here.

Good times!

Happy Days are Here Again

2006-06-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

When Arizona went down by a run late, the DBacks announcers (including former Mariner Ken Phelps) began discussing how they need to come back quickly.

My first reaction was the same as that of Agent Smith in the opening scene of the Matrix, talking to the police outside the building where fellow officers had "cornered" Trinity.

"No lieutenant, your men are already dead."

I think my response may have been exactly, "Dudes, your team has already lost and you don't even know it."

If the M's get a late lead, we are going to win. If they don't have a late lead, they are going to come back. Its once again fun being an M's fan!!!

That's More Like It

2006-05-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

God bless the Devil Rays! Felix is finally King for a day, and, just as importantly, the Mariners are out of the AL West cellar thanks to those stumbling, bumbling Angels.

Believe it or not, your Seattle Mariners sit a mere 3.5 games out of first place in the surprisingly slow AL West.

I've about given up on Beltre, but I think we can get Richie on track again. Combine that with a solid pitching staff, and a surge from Reed or Everett to go with fine play from Ichiro, Lopez, and Johjima and....

Well, stranger things have happened.

Free Roberto Petagine!!!

2006-04-13T10:06:00.000-05:00

The Seattle Mariners have the hottest hitter in baseball. And they refuse to play him.
BA: 1.000
SLG: 3.000
OBP: 1.000

3 plate appearances - 1 home run, 1 near home run double, and a walk.

And instead of getting to see this masher hit, I am forced to watch the repeated flailings of Jurassic Carl.

It should not mattered what a player is paid. It should matter what they produce between the lines.

Free Roberto Petagine!!!

Long time, no blog.

2006-03-22T09:55:00.000-06:00

After a prolonged hiatus, I wanted to check in and let y'all know what I've been up to.

The good news is that I started a new job.

The bad news is that with the new job, new house, and ever growing family (added 2 kittens and a frog to go with boys 3 and 6 and a beautiful 8 year-old girl), I have had little time to wax optimistic on the Mariners.

Thankfully, optimism is once again en vogue in the M's blogosphere with everyone giddy about Felix Hernandez, and Dr. Detecto pumping up the youngsters up the middle.

If our starting pitching can surprise, then we may be looking at an exciting season ending in a World Series appearance.

Before you laugh, think about the ride the Seahawks just took you on, and how the team is continuing to look awesome through the offseason. It could happen with the M's. King Felix ~ Lofa Tatupu

Go Mariners!

Great New Blog

2005-10-31T09:52:00.000-06:00

If you came here looking for a voice of Optimism for your Seattle Mariners, I apologize for my current hiatus. May I be so bold as to redirect you to one of my favorite new spots for Mariner reading, Detect-O-Vision, Inc.

Excellent analysis, well written, entertaining, usually optimistic, and a fantastic addition to the M's blogosphere. And voluminous as well - there seem to be multiple long posts added every day.

Sites like this one let me rest easier knowing that a voice of optimism still exists in the M's blogosphere!

My Extended Hiatus

2005-10-13T09:33:00.000-05:00

My apologies to those (2 or 3 - Hi Mom!) of you out there who have enjoyed my blog the past two years. This summer I moved, things picked up at work, and with three kids to boot I found that I had to make some choices with how to spend my free time.

With the Mariners struggling, yet the blogosphere rocking with great writers, I decided to shelve my blog for a few weeks, which has not turned into a few months. For now, I would consider myself retired from blogging, but Spring may bring new inspiration to your Mariner Optimist, and I hold out the possibility of a return.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing what the M's do this offseason, and of course, my hopes are extremely high for 2006.

Go Mariners!

You knew this was coming

2005-08-04T10:44:00.000-05:00

From the

New York Daily News

SELE ON DECK? The Yanks haven't been afraid to pick up discarded players this year (see Al Leiter, Alan Embree and Hideo Nomo) and GM Brian Cashman is considering doing it again. Cashman recently spoke with Aaron Sele's agent, Adam Katz, and while no offer was made, the Bombers do have some interest in adding the righthander. Sele was an All-Star in 1998 and 2000 but was designated for assignment by the Mariners after struggling to a 6-12 mark this season.

As with Nomo, the Yanks are interested in signing Sele to a minor league deal and seeing if he can pitch his way back to the majors at Triple-A Columbus.

You can smell the desperation emanating from the Bronx. Ahhhhhhhhh....

How to Watch King Felix Today

2005-08-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

Felix Hernandez makes his major league debut in less than 2 hours, but if you are in the Seattle area there is no way I know of that you will be able to watch it. There is no television coverage from either Seattle OR Detroit, so don't bother calling your local sports bars.

If you are not in the local Seattle area, you can watch the game on MLB.tv. This is NOT available in the Seattle local viewing area unless you know how to get around MLB.com's ability to block IP addresses. If you are purchasing mlb.tv just for this game, you have two options to pay for it.

1) You can pay $3.95 for the day (or more for monthly or annual subscriptions)
2) You can follow this promotional link and sign up for 4 trial issues of Sports Illustrated and get two weeks of MLB.tv free. You do have to remember to cancel your Sports Illustrated subscription or else you will be paying $49 for a year of SI.

According to the Tribune, FoxSports tried to get this televised once they heard who was pitching but could not line up sponsors in time.

NO FELIX ON TV: Today's Felix Hernandez start, probably the most anticipated pitching debut in Mariners history, must be enjoyed the old-fashioned way (in person, on the radio) or in a very new-fashioned way (MLB.TV, via MLB.com), without an option in between.

With an unappealing 10 a.m. Pacific start time -- on a Thursday -- Fox Sports Northwest had no plans to televise the game. Neither did Fox Sports Detroit, presumably for a similar reason.

That left FSN officials working feverishly after the announcement that Hernandez would make his debut.

"We spent the last day or two working with the team, trying to get enough sponsorship and move programming, but the logistics were too difficult in the end," said Mark Shuken, FSN's vice president and general manager.

"It was on the schedule as a 10 a.m. game, and it was just too late to put everything together."

The Mariners should have sponsored the entire game as a treat for fans who have had to suffer through the 2004-2005 seasons. They could have just run all their commercials from the past 10 years, mixed in with highlights from the 1995 season. Would have been a PR coup. Sigh.

I live in Austin, where I will be watching on mlb.tv. If you are looking for a running commentary, I will be joining a thread at Sportspot, hope to see you there.

Come Watch These "Kids" Play!!!

2005-08-03T08:53:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a game! The Mariners beat the Tigers 4-1 to start the post-trade-deadline era at 1-0. And the game was just full of energy.

First, Jorge Campillo gets his major league debut, and promptly goes out and "tweaks" his elbow. He is now going to return to Seattle for medical tests and the early word is that Clint Nageotte is going to get called up in his place.

However, I would guess that Nageotte gets the call as a reliever, because 30 year old journeyman Jeff Harris was rock solid in his major league debut, shutting the Tigers down easily for four innings. Harris looks like Ryan Franklin without the contract or the steroids. He probably is best suited, just like Franklin, to be a swingman providing long relief out of the bullpen, or getting an occasional spot start, but the M's may reward him with his first major league start for this performance.

Adrian Beltre does what we paid him for, providing the M's an early run with a home run.

Of course, he also has a defensive lapse as a ball caroms off his chest for an apparent error.

That is, until Yuniesky Betancourt comes over, picks the ricochet out of the air and guns out the baserunner by two steps in a play that is now running on the MLB website (8/2 clips at about 1:54 mark).

And this after Yubet knocked in the winning run with an RBI double as part of a 3-run 7th.

The inning was sparked by something I've rarely seen. Our DH, Dave Hansen, was sacrifice bunting with Jeremy Reed on first, and laid a nice bunt down the third base line. Jeremy didn't hesitate at all at 2nd and just kept on chugging, and barely beat the throw back to third base where catcher Pudge Rodriguez was covering. It was a pure hustle play, and the kind that can spark not only wins, but winning streaks.

I think this team is going to be a blast to watch for the next two months, as youthful energy (and probably youthful mistakes) take over and all veterans know they better put up quick or be sent down.

And, of course, El Cartelua makes his major league debut for the Mariners on Thursday. I can't wait!

Spanking the Monkey

2005-07-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

Nothing can be quite so sweet as taking a broom to those monkey-dung-flinging Angels.

Betancourt Making Waves

2005-07-09T07:07:00.000-05:00

Today's PI has a feature article on the defensive prowess and future of Yuniesky Betancourt. He's been with Tacoma for all of 34 games, but he already has his manager, Dan Rohn, spewing superlatives.

"He's one of the best shortstops I've seen. Ever. I compare him to Ozzie Smith. I know that's putting a lot of pressure on him, but instincts-wise, he's one of the best I've ever seen.

"There's not a lot we can do for him. Just let him play. I'm not smart enough to help him. He's too good.

"He's fun to watch. Bottom line."

His offensive stats in Tacoma are not awe-inspiring (284/302/425 in AAA), but they offer more promise than 2005 defensive wizards Wilson Valdez and Pokey Reese. My favorite enterprising predictor, Dr. Detecto, sees a clear comparison between Betancourt and the offensive prowess of Alfonso Soriano.

So, we have raves over his defense, and promise of his offense. I know I'm intrigued.

The Mariners have an interesting decision with what to do with Yuiesky Betancourt. I haven't seen it written much, but I noted his contract details in my blog entry on his signing.

Seattle is giving him a $1.31 million signing bonus and salaries of $316,000 this year, $350,000 in 2006, $400,000 in 2007 and $450,000 in 2008. In addition, his 2008 salary could rise by as much as an additional $700,000 if he has 1,000 plate appearances in the previous three years... If Betancourt accumulates enough service time by the end of the 2007 season to become eligible for salary arbitration. 2008 would be voided.

When he signed, most of us ignored the fine print, thinking there was no WAY that Betancourt could possibly be a super-two arbitration guy by the end of 2007. But if he were called up at, say, the All-Star Break, he probably would be, and instead of growing his $400K salary to $1.1 million, he might grow it even further.

I don't think it is going to affect the M's decision to promote him at all, but I am impressed that both sides thought that this was a realistic enough possibility to include it in the contract talks.

I note that in the past I always saw his contract listed as 4-year, $2.8 or 2.9 million, but in the PI it is listed as 4-year, $3.6 million. Look for this to be the beginning of a trend. It sounds like people are starting to believe he may be our starting shortstop for the next couple of years.

I will be watching the Futures Game over All-Star Weekend closely, as this may be the only chance this Texan gets to watch our future Gold Glover before he debuts for the Mariners later this year (September?).

Getting Back on Track

2005-07-09T07:03:00.000-05:00

I apologize for my lack of posting over the past three weeks. I just met a project deadline at work while simultaneously moving into a newly built house. If you've ever had to go through two crunch times like that at the same time, you'll understand why I had to let the blog go for a few weeks.

During this downtime, its been my displeasure to see the M's reeling falling to 16 1/2 games behind the Angles at the hands of the Oakland A's, Texas Freakin Rangers and, ulp, Kansas City Royals.

It has been a dark time for the Mariners, and a particularly bad time for your Mariner Optimist to be off the job. So let me get back into posting and see if we can find the light at the end of this storm of suckitude.

Its a Start

2005-06-21T05:35:00.000-05:00

Over the past few weeks, the Mariners front office has done a nice job infusing new life into an anemic offense by bringing up Michael Morse, Jose Lopez, and amazingly, Rene Rivera. The team won 7 of 12 from the NL East, and have been very entertaining to watch.

The M's recognized that Wilson Valdez and/or Willie Bloomquist were not the answer at shortstop, and surprised us all by calling up Michael Morse, who has lit up major league pitching to a .400 average and 1000 OPS over his first 18 games. The gaping hole in the order that was Bret Boone has effectively been replaced by future All-Star Jose Lopez.

But lets not stop there. There are at least four or five other major league contributors currently playing in Tacoma who could continue the turnaround of the M's back to respectability. Lets look at holes in the Mariners roster, and how the M's could look to repair them.

1) Randy Winn. What?!?!?! Are you crazy? Winn is red-hot! He's a sparkplug. He's got great speed. Great defensive left fielder! And you want to drop him?

No, I want to make him a fourth outfielder, which is where he belongs. Randy Winn is a model of consistency, sporting an OPS of 771, 773, 762 over the last three years. 2005 comes with a little twist in that the slugging average has dropped from the 425 levels of the past two years to 395. Essentially, Winn is not hitting the long ball anymore (14, 11, 14 home runs in 2002-2004, but just 2 in 2005).

Of the 30 major league left fielders, Winn ranks 26th in OPS. A 770 OPS just does not cut it as a corner outfielder in the big leagues. 770 in center field, with stellar defense? I'll take it. But I need run production from my left fielder.

And look at it from a marketing standpoint. Who comes to the ballpark to see Dwight Randolph Winn? No one I know. He does not have a bubbly personality, he doesn't make highlight reels, he doesn't have a history of big hits. Frankly, he won't be missed.

Give the starting left field spot to Chris Snelling. He is a true spark plug, fun to watch, and absolutely murdering the ball in AAA. Move Winn to the bench and rotate him in 3 days a week for Snelling, Reed, and Ibanez. Improve the left field offense and the bench in one fell swoop.

2) Willie Bloomquist. His 12 game debut in 2002 was great, but he's done absolutely nothing since. He hustles, is willing to play multiple positions poorly, and is in the prime of his hitting career. At age 27, he's not likely to get any better. His on base percentage the past three years? .317, .283, and now .250. Well, at least he provides power, right, look at these slugging numbers - .321, .330, and .258. Okay, maybe not. Well, there are all those memorable clutch game-winning hits that Willie has racked up over the years. Nope.

Bloomie does not hit well enough to occupy the utility spot on the bench. His one talent is speed, having stolen 20 bases in 24 attempts over the past three years, but you know the old adage about not being able to steal first base.

We have better backup options in the outfield (Ibanez, Snelling!), corner infield (Hansen, Leone, Bucky!), and middle infield (Boone, Leone). To me, Bloomquist symbolizes the frustrations of the past four years, as the Mariners front office seemed willing to settle for mediocrity or worse. Its time for Willie to move on, or get back to the AAAA career that is rightly his.

Give his bench spot to Scott Spiezio, and give him a chance to provide a power bat off the bench. Or Jamal Strong if we want speed. Or Justin Leone if we want a utility guy. But please, lets just move on. Whoever we pick will likely be a placeholder until Bucky returns. Its time to turn the page on the Willie Bloomquist era.

3) Matt Thornton. Alright, we get it. He's a lefty who throws heat. He also can't find the strike zone, and has no business being in any close game. He has walked 19 batters in 24 innings spanning 22 games. Oh, and did I mention the 6 home runs to go with it. Lethal combination.

Imagine being a player in a close ball game, and then seeing them trot out this youngster who can't throw strikes? That's gotta be demoralizing.

Lets bring back George Sherrill, a lefty who was fantastic for us in 2004, and was fantastic in the one batter he faced in 2005. And did I mention how pumped up the crowd gets when Sherrill enters the game. He's a fan favorite and being completely wasted in Tacoma.

4) The 12 man bullpen. Enough already. We need a spot for Randy Winn on the bench, and it should come from one of our righthanders, Hasegawa or Nelson. Neither of these guys inspires confidence when they enter the game. Find a home for them elsewhere, or just let them go.

With that extra spot in the bullpen, insert a reliever we have learned to trust. Ryan Franklin. Dude makes a great long relief man. As a starter, he continually pitches just well enough to lose. With his assortment of pitches, he can provide a change of pace to just about any pitcher coming in out of the bullpen.

We need a fresh face in the rotation. El Cartelua is the natural choice, but if he is experiencing shoulder pain, then the team should tread very carefully.

Instead, lets bring up Jorge Campillo. He's proven himself at AAA with a 2.98 ERA in 11 starts. He has 38 strikeouts and 16 walks in 60 innings, so he's got command of the strike zone. And his nickname is Popeye. What a great bobblehead marketing opportunity!

Give him 4 or 5 starts to see whether he sticks. And once Felix is healthy, bring him up too. Bringing up Popeye puts the rest of the staff on notice that they are pitching for their jobs. The continued mediocrity up and down performances of our rotation will no longer be tolerated.

The M's have turned a corner in 2005. But there is more work to be done to turn this team into a playoff contender. The talent is there in Tacoma, as has been shown by the kids we've already brought up. Let the youth make the team a joy to watch once again, give much-needed experience for 2006, and who knows, you may just find that we can contend in 2005.

Jose Lopez Rejoins the M's

2005-06-17T19:35:00.000-05:00

Welcome back, Jose! He is starting at third base tonight.

Greg Dobbs gets the well-deserved boot back to AAA.

The offense gets a boost while Adrian Beltre heals up. The question becomes, then what? Does Bret Boone find his way to the bench? Does Lopez waste away on the bench or return to AAA?

Lets hope for a fast start from Lopez so that the M's are properly motivated to tenure Mr. Boone the Jon Olerud retirement plan.

In far worse news, Felix Hernandez will miss his next start with shoulder bursitis. Combine that with Jorge Campillo going on the DL and you get one big load of Oh Frickin No!

Thankfully, Joel Pineiro came through last night, so that a AAA callup is not needed this morning. Lets beat the Mets tonight, and go from there!

Pineiro Needs a Big Start

2005-06-16T09:31:00.000-05:00

While Aaron Sele continues to be THE MAN for the M's pitching staff, the team ace, Joel Pineiro, has struggled.

Joel is in the second year of a 3-year, $14.5 million deal, but he has not come close to earning his money.

In his last 5 starts, he has not earned a decision with 2 crappy starts (3.2 and 4.2 innings giving up 14 runs) and 3 decent starts (5.1, 6.1, and 6 innings giving up a total of 7 runs).

The disturbing thing is that even in his good starts, his is eating no more than 6 innings, handing over the game to the bullpen which blewup his last start in a 9-3 loss to the Nattys.

Here is the average start from the Mariners rotation over the last 6 games.

Pitcher    IP    ER   ERA 
Sele     40.1     7  1.56
Meche      36    14  3.50
Franklin 33.2    19  5.10
Moyer    33.1    19  5.17
Pineiro    33    27  7.38

With Felix Hernandez and Jorge Campillo dominating AAA and making their bid for a rotation spot, someone is going to have to go to the bullpen, or even back to Tacoma. Franklin's erratic starts and the fact that the team won't score for him make him a natural choice to go to the bullpen to make room for El Cartelua.

But if Joel doesn't get things righted and soon, I would have no problem with sending Mr. Pineiro to Tacoma to straighten things out there. He had a decent start last time, but he needs to get past the 6th inning with a quality start. Lets hope that begins tonight.

The Aaron Sele DGS Update

2005-06-10T13:13:00.000-05:00

Fueled by the continued success of Aaron Sele, the Mariners have now won 8 of their last 11. Mr. Sele has won 3 of 4 including two shutouts!

So lets take this opportunity to update the Mariner "Darned Good Starts", which I last updated through May 12th. Since then, the M's have gone 13-11 and are providing us with some hope that they can still contend in 2005.

Pitcher (Darned Good / Quality / Ugly, 
M's record DGS , M's record QS, M's record US)
Jamie Moyer     (8/6/4, 6-2, 4-2, 1-3) 
Aaron Sele      (8/6/4, 6-2, 5-1, 0-4) 
Ryan Franklin   (7/6/4, 3-4, 3-3, 0-4)
Gil Meche       (7/5/5, 5-2, 4-1, 0-5) 
Joel Pineiro    (5/1/4, 3-2, 0-1, 2-2)
Other           (0/0/2, 0-0, 0-0, 0-2) 
Mariner Total   (35/24/23, 23-12, 16-8, 3-20)

Since the last update, 9 of our 24 starts have been Ugly (2 each from Franklin, Meche and Pineiro), but finally the M's have won an Ugly start, going 3-6 when the M's starter implodes.

Moyer, Sele, and Franklin are holding the staff together, getting two good starts for every ugly one, while Pineiro and Meche seem to alternate between good and ugly starts. At least Good Meche is Quality Meche. Joel Pineiro has gone more than 6 innings and allowed less than three runs just once in nine tries this season.

But the offense at least seems to show up for Mr. Pineiro, as the M's have won 2 of his 4 Ugly Starts, while they have won only 3 of 7 Ryan Franklin Darned Good Starts.

Interestingly, the M's win at the same rate whether it is a Quality Start (.667) or a Darned Good Start (.657). However, my definition of an Ugly Start (3-20, .130) seems more predictive than a non-Quality Start (10-24, .298)

Lefty-Mashing DH

2005-06-09T15:49:00.000-05:00

Grrr... the M's let a potential lefty mashing DH (and backup catcher) get away as the Orioles traded a non-prospect A-ball player to the Royals for the recently DFA'ed Eli Marrero.

But there is still hope. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday DFA'ed 27-year old Josh Phelps. Over the last three years, Phelps has put up a nice 272/340/486 line. And best of all, against lefties, those numbers jump up to 309/373/535 with 20 HRs in 346 at bats.

This is a guy we could platoon with Raul Ibanez at DH, and would immediately be our best bat off the bench. His one downside is that he is redundant when Bucky Jacobsen returns as both play the DH/backup 1B role.

Soriano at the All-Star Break?

2005-06-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

How's this for some good news. The Times is reporting that Rafael Soriano believes he'll be able to return to the Mariners for the second half of the season.

He has joined the Mariners after pitching 12 innings in extended Spring Training, where he reportedly was throwing fastballs 90 to 94 MPH. He had his first bullpen session yesterday, and is expected to have two more on the current road trip.

In a bullpen where Putz has imploded and Jeff Nelson is looked to as the right-handed setup man, the addition of a healthy Soriano would be a welcome sight indeed.

And then we could start all the fun Soriano "rotation vs bullpen" arguments all over again. Sigh... I miss those.

Get well soon, Rafael!

The news is not as good for infielder Pokey Reese, who is also traveling with the team, but is at least 6-8 weeks away from returning, putting his timetable at August at the earliest.

Finally, let me just say that I have no baseball draft expert, so I won't pretend to be. May I refer you to good stuff on our new draft picks over at the Sportspot forums.

M's Dominating the NL East Through One

2005-06-08T11:18:00.000-05:00

Great start for the Mariners last night, as they put together just enough pitching and offense to capitalize on Marlin mistakes and win 4-3. The win pulls the M's within 6 games of .500. And on a night when every other team in the AL West lost to a NL East team, the M's are back within 7 games of the first place Texas Rangels of Anaheim.

The M's have now won 7 of 9, with 11 upcoming games against NL East foes. Everyone keeps saying how strong the NL East is, and all I have to say to that is ... Poppycock!

The Marlins have padded their .500 record with a 10-3 bit against the Reds, Rockies, and Astros, three of the worst teams in baseball. Washington? C'mon y'all, its just the Expos! In a new uniform! They've been SWEPT by the Reds this season! Ditto the Mets. And the Phillies? Don't get me started. These are four mediocre teams who would be crushed by a schedule that featured 32 of 56 games against the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Angels, Rangers, Twins, and White Sox.

And they are about to feel the wrath of the 2005 Mariners. A team that has been held down since the end of 2003, is starting to feel good about themselves, having won 5 of their last 7 series.

Tonight, Gil Meche faces off with Dontrelle Willis. At the surface, this looks like a Marlin edge, with Meche sporting a 4.57 ERA and 33/27 K/BB ratio over 65 innings while Willis has a 1.85 ERA and 60/18 K/BB ratio over 78 innings.

But over their last three starts, Meche has stepped up a bit, while Dontrelle has come back to Earth.

In 17 innings, Meche has given up just 5 runs on 13 hits with 7 strikeouts. The danger sign is still there with Gil, as he gave up a horrible 11 walks during this stretch. In 22 innings, Willis has given up 7 runs on 24 hits with 14 strikeouts and 7 walks.

The M's could help Gil a ton by putting a run or two on the board early, and allow Gil to pitch instead of nibble.

Comebacks!

2005-06-06T09:02:00.000-05:00

Back on May 27th, I lamented over the Mariners lack of come from behind wins. It seemed like once they were behind in a game, they stayed behind. Since then, the Mariners have won 6 of 8 games, including 3 come-from-behind wins. They have climbed back to within 8 games of .500, but more importantly, they have given us a reason to stay tuned to the ballgame even when the M's are down after 5 innings.

Everyone seems to think we are in for a whooping as we head out to Florida to face the excellent pitching of Brian Moehler (I'm not a believer, but he does have a 2.59 ERA this year), herky-jerky lefty Dontrelle Willis (9-2, 1.85 ERA), and Josh Beckett (7-3, 2.58 ERA). They just don't scare me.

The M's just got done beating two of their biggest nemesisesesses (didn't know how to end that word) of the past.

In the past few years, rookies have owned the Mariners. If the M's don't have years of footage on a player they are apparently useless against them. The MLB debut of Doug Waechter (2-hit shutout in September 2003) was the most memorable example, but we have seen it continue this year with rookie Chien-Ming Wang beating us twice in a span of a week. And we know how lefties have owned the Mariners this year.

So imagine my fear on Saturday when a LEFTY ROOKIE took the hill against the Mariners. And with Scott Kazmir pitching a 3-hitter with a 5-2 lead in the 7th, it looked like another loss for the M's. But, we pushed him past 100 pitches, and we got to face the Devil Ray bullpen, and lo and behold! A comeback!

And then on Sunday, we had to face another nemesis, Former Dodger Stud Asian Pitcher Who Has Sucked Since Leaving Dodgertown. Yes, our first look at Hideo Nomo, he of the 6.61 ERA, had me trembling. He looked like the second coming of Chan Ho Park to me. Park has been 14-18 with a 5.85 ERA since leaving the cozy confines of Dodger Stadium. But the M's always brought out the Dodger Blue in him, as he owned a 4-1 record with a 2.29 ERA.

If we can beat a LEFTY ROOKIE, and a FDSAPWHSSLD, AND overcome deficits in both games to do it, then the Marlins have nothing that I fear.

Bring them on.

Bucky Timetable

2005-06-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

According to the Seattle Times, Bucky Jacobsen made an appearance in the Mariners clubhouse yesterday, and gave us a long-awaited update on his status.

He says he sees and feels improvement in his surgically repaired knee every day. Next week, he'll be heading to Arizona to being running and doing work in the field. He hopes to be in rehab games by the end of the month.

That would have him returning to the Mariner lineup as a much-needed lefty-mashing DH at the All-Star Break.

I can't wait!

Other injured Mariners have been sighted recently as well. Mike Hargrove hopes to have Pokey Reese back for the team's next road trip, that begins June 7th. Michael Morse's time to impress the team may be limited.

Wiki Gonzalez will also make the team's next road trip, though whether he will be ready to be activated remains in question. His return would free Rene Rivera to work on his game every day in the minors.

Scott Spiezio is likely to go on an injury rehab assignment in the near future. You can read into this that the M's don't feel any particular need to rush Spiezio back, as he does not fill a vital role with the 2005 M's. We can hope that he would at least provide a solid bat off the bench.

Rafael Soriano has also completed a rehab assignement, and will begin pitching at Class A Inland Empire soon. Don't be looking for him to return to the Mariners anytime soon, though. Reports have him low on velocity and movement, and the M's don't want to do anything to rush his rehab. He'll build up arm strength with 1 and 2 inning outings.

Move Beltre From the 3-Hole

2005-06-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

I have every faith that Adrian Beltre is going to start hitting sometime. But right now, he is killing us in the #3 spot in the batting order. Lets move him outta there!

In his monster 2004 season, Adrian Beltre batted #3 all of 15 times. He started the season slow, and was relegated to the #7 spot and slowly worked his way up the order (68 ABs at #7, 64 ABs at #6, 96 ABs at #5) to the cleanup spot. For the two years before that he hit 5th through 7th most times.

Big contract or not, he is not doing us much good in the 3 hole most nights. Perhaps a move down in the order will help take some of the pressure off of him because we already have a lead by the time he comes to bat.

A lineup that looked like this might shake up the offense, and keep our currently hot hitters (Winn, Reed, Sexson, Ibanez) batting more often with runners in scoring position.

RF Ichiro! (L)
LF Winn (S)
CF Reed (L)
1B Sexson (R)
DH Ibanez (L)
3B Beltre (R)
2B Boone (R)
SS Morse (R)
C Borders (R)

With our current lineup with Beltre 3rd and Reed down at 7th, we are hitting the black holes of Beltre and Boone with runners on base, making it runners on base and two outs for our hotter hitters, or worse, having Beltre and Boone ending innings.

A lineup shakeup is overdue. Its 2005 and Adrian Beltre has stunk at the plate. Lets try the same remedy that worked in 2004 and move him down in the lineup.

Michael Morse Called Up

2005-05-31T21:01:00.000-05:00

In an effort to inject some life into the bottom of the order, Michael Morse has been called up from Tacoma and looks to be the starting shortstop for the foreseeable future. Interesting that the third piece of the Freddy Garcia trade gets the call a day after the second piece was sent down to Tacoma.

Thus ends the Wilson Valdez Era in Seattle, as the defensive-oriented shortstop has been designated for assignment. My ill-fated campaign to get him elected to the All-Star Game did not provide the proper motivation to Mr. Valdez' bat nor garner sufficient votes to land him in the Top 5 in AL All-Star Voting. It is quite possible that Valdez will clear waivers and be sent down to Tacoma. But it looks like he will join Ramon Santiago in the "unable to do much with my major league opportunity" bin.

So, what can we expect from Michael Morse? That is the question. My gut feel is that he will be similar to Jose Lopez last year. Occasional flashes of power with bouts of futility at the plate. Decent fielding, great arm, and every error will be discussed in length. This is a low-risk move by the Mariners as Morse can't be any worse than the Will ValBloomdezquist creature that had been flailing away out there recently.

Should be fun to see what the kid can do, and maybe he can help the M's win a game or two.

The next move needs to be moving Adrian Beltre down in the lineup. With Reed heating up, move him to third, and drop Beltre down to 7th. It worked great for the Dodgers in 2004...

Meanwhile... if you've ever wanted to run your own blog, but were intimidated by all the free tools out there like blogspot that make this real easy, then MLB is willing to take your money. Introducing MLBlog! Frankly I know little about it, but since MLB is already trying to corner all fantasy baseball sites, it is frightening to me that they are getting into blogging. Before you know it, they'll make me pay a fee for using "Mariner" in the title of my blog...

Just for grins, here's part of the pitch from the mlb.com site.

Best of all, for only $4.95 a month (with a 30-day free trial) or $49.95 per year, you'll be part of a constantly growing and eclectic community of people who already have thrown out the first pitches. We've assembled our own All-Star team of baseball bloggers that includes:

• People around the game like Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda, Brewers broadcaster Daron Sutton and longtime MLB groundskeeping guru Murray Cook (think lawn tips), with lots of players and club personnel to come.

Woo Hoo! I started this because I wanted to be part of an eclectic community with Derek Zumsteg and Steve Nelson, but forget that! I could be with Tommy and Murray for $4.95 a month!

Rivera up, Olivo Down

2005-05-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

Its official. Miguel Olivo now gets to work out his problems in Tacoma. I hope he is able to break out of his slump, and soon.

Pat Borders ain't getting any younger.

More Borders, Less Valdez

2005-05-30T10:55:00.000-05:00

The Seattle press is abuzz with news that Miguel Olivo may be sent down to Tacoma, and that Willie Bloomquist may have taken over the starting shortstop job.

Neither Borders nor Bloomquist could possibly be seen as a long-term solution at catcher or shortstop, but right now, they are a vast improvement over Olivo and Valdez. Both bats are an improvement over what we are currently getting.

Bloomquist obviously comes with the price of poor defense, as evidenced by his blunder of a pickoff yesterday, and that is basic stuff. But this team is so desperate for an offensive spark, that we can take the risk. Hopefully, this is a short-term switch until Jose Lopez can return from sore hands that currently have him sidelined. Certainly a return to health for Pokey Reese will end the Shortstop Willie experiment.

With Bloomquist starting, our bench gets even weaker. A Chris Snelling callup to provide more outfield and hitting depth may be imminent.

Borders may be the best solution for 2005, though, if he can keep Aaron Sele and Jamie Moyer pitching strong. Any offense he provides is an upgrade over Olivo's .150 batting average. Unfortunately, Borders catching mojo seems to only work on pitchers close to his own age.

Another poor Joel Pineiro start yesterday, this time with Borders catching, and I'm officially worried. He has now given up a huge 63 hits in 48+ innings and only 27 strikeouts to 18 walks. That is approaching Evil-Sele-esque. Many are guessing that he is hiding an injury.

If Pineiro can't right the ship, will we see King Felix on the horizon? I hope so, but his 5 walk, 4 hit, 4 strikeout in 5 inning performance yesterday won't help force the hand of management. Perhaps the M's will give Jorge Campillo a chance before they run Julio Mateo out there again.

The M's have indicated that they are going to shake things up. Removing Valdez and Olivo from the starting lineup is a good start, but there are other problems to address.

My apologies, Mr. Sele

2005-05-29T10:27:00.000-05:00

In recent entries, I have called for the dismissal of Aaron Sele, but it appears that Mr. Sele still has something left to give this team. What has changed?

Sele's first 40 innings...

17 strikeouts, 24 walks

Sele's last 17 innings

8 strikeouts, 1 walk

The strikeout rate still needs improvement, but may be the best we can get from the 87 MPH fastball.

But, if Sele can keep the walks away like this, he may be a viable #3 starter the rest of the year.

M's Playing Just Bad Enough to Lose.

2005-05-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Jeff at Lookout Landing tried to dispel the notion that the M's pitching and hitting don't ever show up at the same time.

Jeff showed that the M's averaged 4.2 runs in the 15 games where the opponent was held to 0-3 runs, and that the offense averages 4.1 runs in the 30 games where the opponent has scored 4 or more times.

Jeff was trying to show that our offense has stunk whether or not the pitching showed up (and also that since our pitching gives up 4 runs or more in 2/3 of the game that the pitching stinks too). I disagree with the conclusion. I think it is very obvious that the Mariners ARE suffering from the fact that their pitching and hitting never show up at the same time. The averages that Jeff shows just prove that there are also times when NEITHER show up.

April 4 - April 29 (23 games)
Games won by 4+ runs: 4
Games won by 2-3 runs: 5
Games won by 1 run: 3
Games lost by 4+ runs: 4
Games lost by 2-3 runs: 4
Games lost by 1 run: 3

Games scoring 5+ runs: 11
Games scoring 4 runs: 4 (note that we NEVER scored 3 runs)
Games scoring <3 runs: 8

In the first part of the season, the M's were 4-4 in 4+ run games, 5-4 in 2-3 run games and 3-3 in 1 run games. About what you would expect in a .500 team.

April 30th - Yesterday (23 games)
Games won by 4+ runs: 2
Games won by 2-3 runs: 2
Games won by 1 run: 2
Games lost by 4+ runs: 5
Games lost by 2-3 runs: 8
Games lost by 1 run: 4

Games scoring 5+ runs: 8
Games scoring 4 runs: 5
Games scoring <3 runs: 10

Since April 30th, though, the M's have been close, but no cigar. Yes, they were 2-5 in blowouts. But in games decided by 3 runs or less, they were 4-12. This while the distribution of the M's offense has been similar (3 less games with 5+ runs).

This indicates that the last 23 games have seen the M's hitting just well enough to lose by 3 runs or less. The 3 game sweep from the Orioles epitomized the feeling of despair that seemed to come as soon as the M's fell behind by a single run. The game would quicken at that point. The M's seemed to go down without much of a fight as stretches of 10,15 hitters without a runner on base became common against the Wangs and Cabreras of the world.

Another interesting stat. Here are the results of games before/after April 30th

Never Lead: 10 / 7
Lost despite leading after 1-5: 3 / 2
Lost despite leading after 6: 4 / 2
Never Trailed: 4 / 7
Won despite trailing after 1-5: 2 / 3
Won despite trailing after 6: 0 / 2

Essentially, since April 23rd, we have only won 2 games where we ever trailed, and no games where we trailed after 6 innings. But our opponents have won 7 games where they trailed, and 4 of those they trailed after 6 innings. That's the kind of lifeless play that leads to 6-17 over 23 games.

Our pitching has done okay. The backend of our rotation has pitched better than expected while the frontend has pitched worse. The bullpen has had its ups and downs. But through it all, our offense seems unwilling to stage a rally to come from behind, our defense seems willing to make key mistakes to allow a team to beat us, or our pitching only throws well when we are comfortably behind.

The good news is that this is curable. A clutch hit here, a big strikeout there (instead of freakin' grand slams!) and the M's win 6 of 7 and put this stretch behind them. The bad news is that I don't know how to get that clutch hit. A spark from AAA is what I've been promoting, but I can see why the M's management thinks that the current group of players should be able to get it done. It looks like its up to Beltre to fix Beltre, and Olivo to fix Olivo.

Hopefully, they will fix it soon, before it is too late.

Left leaning ways

2005-05-26T15:41:00.000-05:00

I wrote most of this yesterday, but must have "Saved as Draft" instead of "Publish Post". Note that Hargrove has learned his lesson and pinch-hit for Valdez in the top of the 8th. Of course, he left Miguel Olivo in to hit with runners on 1st and 3rd and two outs, down two runs in the top of the 7th, but did pinch-hit Dobbs for him with no one on in the 9th.

That said, both pinch hitters failed yesterday. And this team obviously has much bigger problems than its late inning pinch hitters when it scores 3 runs in 3 games against the Baltimore Oriole pitching staff.

Anyways, read my thoughts on our pinch-hitters if you wanna, and lets hope we can win the series against the Devil Rays this weekend.

---

The last two games have seen the Mariners within 3 runs of the lead in the ninth inning. In both games, the Mariners have allowed Miguel Olivo and Wilson Valdez to bat against Baltimore's left-handed closer, B.J. Ryan. And, as you would expect, the Mariners lost.

Over the past three years, Miguel Olivo has put up his best numbers against lefties, so I can forgive that. He is slumping this season, but past history shows he is best against lefties, as you would expect from a right-handed hitter.

While Wilson Valdez is similarly right-handed, his 199/223/304 line against lefties shows that he should not be anywhere near the plate with the game on the line. Frankly, it is inexcusable to me that Mike Hargrove would allow him to be the final out in our last two games.

The one pinch-hitter we saw in either game was Willie Bloomquist (284/340/407 vs. lefties), who pinch hit for Jeremy Reed in the first game of the series. Willie got the job done nicely with a 2-out single to bring the tying run to the plate.

But why pinch-hit for Reed? Reed has hit 231/355/346 in 26 at bats against lefties this year. Not great, but certainly nowhere near the levels of Valdez. If we pinch-hit for Reed, then don't we HAVE to pinch hit for Valdez. At least to show we are trying.

Yet, we have TWO pinch hit specialists on the bench who are both left handed. Greg Dobbs and Dave Hansen. In his two years, Dobbs has been allowed to hit 4 times against a lefty, and has three hits in those 4 at bats. No matter HOW bad he is against lefties, he HAS to be better than Wilson Valdez. Ditto Dave Hansen, who has only seen 18 at bats against lefties, but still has a 417 OBP in those situations.

I can only guess that Mike Hargrove is completely enamored of the lefty-righty matchup. Because Dobbs and Hansen are left-handed, they simply cannot be used against a lefty, so Wilson Valdez, the right-hander should bat. But then, there is Pat Borders, who is right handed and has a 333/333/519 line in limited action against lefties. Again, all I can do is assume that Hargrove didn't want to use his bench because Borders might be needed in the 15th inning, or something.

Since Grover seems to have players pigeon-holed into roles, I believe it is up to Bill Bavasi to give Hargrove the tools for this situation, and that means adding another right-handed bat to the bench.

Unfortunately, our best choices from AAA are hurt. Bucky, of course, will not be available for at least another 3 weeks. Justin Leone would have been the next choice, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of him since he was hit in the hand by a line drive back on May 3rd. Chris Snelling and Aaron Rifkin are both left-handed.

So, what can we do?

1) Have faith in Jeremy Reed. We have two hitters in our lineup who are substantially worse in Olivo and Valdez, so save our pinch hitters for them.
2) Don't be afraid to pinch hit for Valdez with ANYONE late in the game. Maybe Hansen can coax a walk.
3) Bring up Jose Lopez as soon as possible. At least give us a chance to see a reasonable bat in there. If Jose screws up badly in the field, there will be plenty of time to send him back down and work on second base.
4) Scan the waiver wire for a right-handed bat off the bench to use until Bucky or Leone are healthy.
5) Bring up Bucky/Leone as soon as possible. Go to an 11 man pitching staff at that time.
6) Bring up Chris Snelling and put him into a rotation with Winn/Ibanez/Reed. Whoever is left out will certainly strengthen our bench.

Ugh

2005-05-24T21:58:00.000-05:00

What a nauseating loss...

Take a 1 run effort from Joel Pineiro and waste it.

Ichiro on base every time - waste it.

The bullpen, defense (get the out, Beltre!), and a lack of clutch hitting all combine to cost the Mariners a game they should've won.

Wilson Valdez did his worst. Runners on 1st and 2nd, one out, he grounds into a double play. Jeremy Reed on first and no outs in the 7th, Valdez pops up the bunt. Bottom of the 8th of a 2-2 game he drops a pop up in foul territory. A couple of pitchers later the same batter hits a home run to give the O's a 3-2 lead. And somehow he gets to be the final out in the game on an inept attempt at a check swing. C'mon Grover, at least try! Send up Gil Meche to bat! Anyone! Ugh.

Jose Lopez, D'Angelo Jimenez, Pokey Reese, someone, anyone...

El Cartelua Throwing Gasolina

2005-05-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Joseph Yencich has an excellent writeup of Felix Hernandez' latest mastery of AAA hitters over at Inside The Park.

He ends it with a translation from Daddy Yankee song "Gasolina"...

"Be prepared for what's coming, but don't expect to be capable of handling it."

The curve is now coming in for strikes, so hitters can no longer look for the fastball. That is going to lead to a lot of frozen stares at strike three in Tacoma.

His last 6 starts show there is still some room for improvement, but with the strikeouts going up and the walks going down, he is on the path to domination.

  IP H HR BB  K ER
 7.0  4  0  2  9  0
 1.2  3  1  1  3  4
 7.0  2  0  1  8  0
 7.0  2  2  4  3  3
 7.0 10  1  3  5  4
 5.0  4  0  4  6  1
---- --  - -- -- --
29.2 21  4 11 28 11

It is time to bring up this Badass. He has made his adjustment to AAA, and its going to get ugly for opponents from here on out. What better way to ease him into the majors then three more starts against the AAA hitters from Tampa Bay and Washington. Three starts in the bigs is all I'm asking, Mr. Bavasi If he's not ready, move him back down to Tacoma, and I'll be quiet.

But leaving him down in Tacoma is doing a disservice to the 2005 Mariners and their fans. We deserve our best starting rotation. We deserve a pitcher who is flat out fun to watch. We fans are prepared for what's coming and can handle it.

Quick Felix Update

2005-05-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

7 IP
9 strikeouts
3 flyouts
9 groundouts
2 walks
4 hits
0 runs

Yummy

W's and O's

2005-05-23T21:02:00.000-05:00

Looks like we are coming to Baltimore at just the right time. The Mariners have won two in a row, and the Orioles are starting to struggle, having lost three of four to the Phillies and Royals, and given up 7 or more runs in 4 of their last six games. Here's a look at the pitching matchups coming up in this series.

It starts tomorrow as Joel Pineiro returns from his rehabilitation in parts unknown to face Bruce Chen and his surprising 5-2 start. Chen has been good for 6 innings and 3-4 runs each time out, with two very good starts mixed in. Pineiro has pitched poorly all year, with 6 starts giving up 3, 4, 4, 5, 6 and 6 runs, but he has at least eaten 7 innings or more in 4 of his 6 starts. We know what Joel is capable of, and a good start by Pineiro could lead to a great three-game set with the O's.

Game two features Rodrigo Lopez against Jamie Moyer in a battle of changeup masters. Lopez' fastball may reach Sele-esque 88 MPH on a good day, and like Moyer he relies on location and change of speeds. This is a battle of two pitchers whose season's started out great, but who have slumped since. After four games, Lopez sported a 2-1 record and a 1.91 ERA going 6+ in each of his four starts. Since then, he has an ERA of 8.00 spanning five starts, including two against the Royals. Moyer's story is similar, as he had a 4-0 record and 2.53 ERA after five starts, but in his last four starts, he has given up 23 runs in 14 innings. Ouch. The good news is that Moyer owns the Orioles to the tune of a 2.01 ERA against them in 50 innings over the last three years. This is where Jamie gets it turned around.

The final game in Baltimore sends Ryan Franklin to do battle with 23 year old Daniel Cabrera. Daniel is a fastball/curveball pitcher with a mid-90s heater and a sharp-breaking curve. The package is volatile as Cabrera averages about a strikeout per inning, and five walks a game. Cabrera has gotten out of the fifth inning in just half his starts en route to a 5.91 ERA. But he has been better in May, with three darned good starts before failing to get out of the 4th inning in his last start against the Phillies. Franklin got off to a hot start this year before getting shellacked in Texas. Since then, two bad starts (5 walks and 5 runs in each) sandwiched around two great starts against Boston. Franklin is currently second in the best in the AL in batting average against with a stingy .215 mark. This game seems to belong to the pitcher with the best control.

This is a big series for the 2005 Mariners. Big starts from Pineiro and Moyer could go a long way toward righting the good ship Mariner. A series win could propeacl them on a nice run with 6 games with Tampa and 3 with Toronto coming up next. Meanwhile, the Angels will be playing 9 of their next 12 against Sox of various hue and without Vlad or KRod. Great time to pickup some ground.

Shutout!

2005-05-22T20:53:00.000-05:00

Well, shows what I know. I was invited to post my thoughts on how to Right the Mariners Ship on the new blog, Mariners Roundtable. Honored, I was. And so I went for the easy task and immediately called for the demotion of Aaron Sele.

To make room for Felix, say farewell to Aaron Sele, who has shown that he will not help the M’s to win a pennant.

So what does Mr. Sele do in response? Pitch a 4-hit, 1-walk shutout, for our second straight win over the Padres. I should have stuck with my first draft where I had Sele demoted to the bullpen because he obviously loved pitching from the stretch.

Congrats, Aaron on the great start. I hope that the light has come back on for you, and you can build off of this performance. Joel Pineiro returns Tuesday against the Orioles as the Mariners go for their second 3-game winning streak of the year.

D'Angelo Jimenez

2005-05-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

Derek at USS Mariner suggests picking up D'Angelo Jimenez, who was recently waived by the Reds, and using him in place of Wilson Valdez at shortstop. Jimenez would be a good offensive upgrade over Valdez (as would my cat), but it might cost us defensively.

Unless the Reds work out a trade with someone, he is going to be available to any team that wants him in another seven days.

For the Mariners to land him, would require either a trade with the Reds, or committing to giving him the starting shortstop postion. Other intereseted teams could include the Yankees (where he was a hot prospect once) and the Cubs amongst others.

He no doubt has talent, but I don't think the M's will bite, because it would certainly reduce the infield defense. Also, Jimenez was released in large part because he showed up in camp out of shape and failed to perform for the first six weeks.

Would I acquire Jimenez if I were the GM. I'd much rather see us give the shortstop job to a hot-hitting Jose Lopez, and reward a young player for hard work, then just give the job to Jimenez. And since that is what it would likely take to sign him, I would not see successfully being able to sign him.

However, I would approve a minor deal that landed Jimenez, if the only cost would be a fringe prospect. Then, we could be free to make Jimenez a bench player, and let him earn his time at shortstop, or at second in the event Bret Boone gets traded later this year.