Turtle Power!

Mariner Magic's favorite ninja reliever, Rafael Soriano, is back for another year. I didn't even realize he wasn't under contract, but woo hoo!

I'm using a Mac right now, and because Mac's like to make everything more difficult, I can't put the article (that was e-mailed to me by Magic faithful Chris) in as a direct link, but here's the address if you wish to take a look:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/253999_mari30.html

Bavasi says they won't be doing anything until after the 1st of the year, but let's be honest. We all know nothing else big is happening.

Thoughts before the Holidays

Neddyballgame was in my living room last night and yelled up that the M's had signed Matt Lawton. We all know this by now.
Opinions are varied, but I think it's a decent move. Cheap, good bench bat. Much better than the Greg Dobbs and Scott Spiezio's than rode the pine last year.

A lot of people's first thought was that this means a Reed deal is imminent. That, of course, makes me cringe as I think of an outfield with Raul Ibanez and Carl Everett limping towards balls. But, it really has me wondering why the M's would even consider trading Jeremy Reed. You're talking about the only non-sucking, non-steroid using guy left from the Freddy trade. At the time, Reed was considered a top prospect. He didn't have a great year in 2005, but I don't see why the Mariners would be ready to move him. But, a couple of reasons come to mind (note these are from the Mariners perspective):

1) Bavasi needs to win this year. If moving Reed for a starter means the M's can win 80+ games, then Bavasi would have to think about it. I don't necessarily think that Reed for Clement or Arroyo would mean that kind of improvement, but if Big Bill feels that way, then he has to consider it. I can't imagine him surviving the winter if 2006 is anything like 2004-2005.

2) The Mariners think Adam Jones is the real deal in centerfield. If the M's think this is true, then Reed becomes expendible. They may not think Jones is ready for the big time in the spring, but are willing to get by with an outfield of Ichiro, Ibanez, and rotating Lawton and Everett. I'd have to think Ichiro would see some time in center with that group. Move Reed and have a rotation of Felix, Washburn, Clement/Arroyo, Moyer, Piniero. Survive with the guys you have, and wait until Jones is ready.

Reason #2 has me intrigued for sure.

Oh, and one more thing. I read that the White Sox are shopping Jon Garland for bullpen help. We definitely could provide some of that bullpen help. The only problem is that Garland is a free agent after this year so we may not get him back. Guardado for Garland?

So the offseason has blown so far, but I think there is reason to believe the M's will be better in 2006. Let's not forget that the 2005 M's had Bret Boone, Miguel Olivo, Scott Spiezio, Wilson Valdez, and Aaron Sele for half of the year. I'm excited to see improvements from Beltre, Ichiro, Reed, Betancourt, Lopez. A whole year from Felix too. Playoff contenders? Doubtful. .500 and hope for 2007? Maybe.

I'd expect things to be slow here at Mariner Magic until the new year with the Holidays and traveling and whatnot. So.....enjoy your respective holidays.

Moves.....

The Cubs get Jacque Jones. It's a three-year deal. I have to wonder whether the M's had an offer on the table. Regardless, it makes my decision to keep Derrek Lee on my fantasy team that much easier. Jones and Pierre hitting in front of him? Nice.

Buster Olney doesn't think Millwood is coming to the Mariners. Whatevs.

That's about it.

It gets better and better....

Jarrod Washburn for 4 years.

Why? Why? Why?

Crapola

It's official...ish USS Mariner is saying the Everett signing has happened. I really can't put it any better than they did, so check out the link.

I'm really interested to see how the M's management spins this. His numbers don't justify the move, he's no help in the field, you could find plenty of people who will give you his production for way cheaper, and he's a total jackass. What can they possibly say?

Update: It's official.

Here's what they're saying:

Bavasi-"Carl Everett is a clutch-hitting run producer with power. As a switch-hitter, he provides our lineup with added versatility. Carl is a winner, most recently as a member of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox. His experience and intensity will be welcome additions to our clubhouse." My head is spinning from trying to count the cliches in that quote.

Hargrove-"Having him in my lineup gives us some of the left-handed sock and run production we were looking for." Everett hit .246 left-handed last year.

Mike L-"This move sucks."

Look at the stats that the official site brought up:
-He did not make an error over 22 starts in the outfield last year. OOOOH! Put him in center with those numbers!!!

-Everett is one of six switch-hitters in Major League history (and the only player to accomplish the feat in successive seasons) to record 100 RBI in each league (108 with Houston in 1999 and Boston in 2000). I'm dusting off my time machine as we speak.

Let's face it, the M's have signed a homophobic, dinosaur-hating, switch-hitting version of Bret Boone.

Not much going on....

But I don't like not having a new post for too long.

Matt Morris is going to the Giants. I know the Big Daddy is a fan, but I don't think he's worth what's he getting.

Tejada is now saying he didn't demand a trade. Hmmph.

Ok that's it.

Oh yes...and the Seahawks are ridiculous. 83-3 in the past 7 days. Wow. Shades of Warner, Largent, and Fredd Young.

Hmmmm....

Carl Everett's agent says the rumors are exaggerated. You'll notice in that same article that Boras is trying to get Millwood 5 years. Back away from the super-agent Mr. Bavasi.

By the way, for those who support the idea of waiting until next year's crop of free agent pitchers, Peter Gammons says the top guys in that crop are Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Kelvim Escobar. Personally, I like Escobar the best of that crew (for no real reason), but I like all three better than who's available this winter.

M's bring back Jamie for one more year.

Oh-and Tejada wants out of Baltimore. Bavasi said Betancourt's untouchable, but....come on. Tejada! He wanted to be a Mariner-let's grant his wish this time.

Most importantly, Paul Posluszny beat out the toolish Buckeye AJ Hawk for the Bednarik award. And Paterno won coach of the year.

World Baseball Classic

Amidst all the Carl Everett for Mickey Brantley trade rumors, something else has caught my eye in the baseball world. Next spring's World Baseball Classic is going o include some freaking good players.

Check out some of these squads:

Dominican Republic
Beltre, Colon, Vlad, Pedro, Big Papi, Pujols, Manny, Soriano, Tejada

Puerto Rico
Beltran, Delgado, Pudge, Piniero (where's Edgar?)

USA
Bonds, Buerhle, Chavez, Clemens, Crawford, Damon, Guardado, Halladay, Jeter, Peavy, Rollins, Teixeira, Utley, Willis, etc.

Venezuela
Abreu, Freddy and Carlos!, Mora, Santana, Zambrano

If all these players end up playing, this is going to be pretty sweet.

Millwood 4 for 44?

Thats the rumor I just heard. The Mariners have offered Kevin Millwood 4 years at 44 million. I dunno. Is he better than much of our staff from last year? Yes, is he the guy that makes you go Heck ya I am fired up...........Unquestionably NO. This of course is not offical but from what it sounds like it is likely to happen


************************************************************
EDIT 12/07/05

Larry Stone wrote in today's seattle times:
"With or without Moyer in tow, the Mariners are in hot pursuit of pitching help. But it turns out that the reports of a four-year, $44 million offer to Kevin Millwood on Monday were greatly exaggerated, if not outright fiction.
The truth is, the Mariners didn't even meet here with Millwood's agent, Scott Boras, until Tuesday afternoon — their first session with Boras since the GM meetings in Palm Springs, Calif., last month. While they remain interested in Millwood's services, the Mariners remain just as highly reluctant to go five, or even four years for a pitcher."

this sounds much more like the mariners to me than the above report of 4 for 44. I knew they were there somewhere.

Is it worth it?

The offseason has barely gotten going, but we've already seen some craziness. We already know about the insane deals for Wagner and Ryan, and today Paul Konerko signed back with the White Sox for at the hometown discount price of 5 years, $60 million. (Although, Steve Phillips thinks Konerko was the best free agent available this offseason. Maybe that's why Phillips is on TV instead of running a team. What the hell was with those mock press conferences by the way?)

We all know the Mariners have several holes to fill before they are going to contend for anything besides a top 5 draft pick. Pitching is the obvious concern. But should the M's get in on this market? No one out there is that exciting and it seems like everyone is going to be severly overpaid. I'd like to see Kevin Millwood or AJ Burnett in the Teal and Blue (hehe-teal), but at what cost?

If things keep going the way they have, I think the M's need to find some other, creative ways of improving the team. Johjima was a good start, but the best way to improve the team may end up being through trades and finding some hidden talent. Any good ideas? I know Snave is good for a trade proposal or two.

It's good to be a closer

BJ Ryan gets 5 years, $47 million.
Billy Wagner gets 4 years, $43 million.
Good lord. Looks like picking up Eddie's $6 million option was a bargain. Lesson? Teach your son two nasty pitches and he'll be set for life. If you can make him left-handed, that's even better.

Also, Billy Beane decided Esteban Loaiza was a good idea. 3 years, $21+ million. There are some within the Mariner nation who thought Loaiza would have been good to go after. I think of all the pitchers out there, that could be the cheapest deal we're gonna see. I'm not crushed by the M's not getting Loaiza, but if they don't get Millwood or Burnett, and have to overpay for some chump like Jarrod Washburn, losing out on Loaiza is going to look worse.

Scratch off Delgado

MLB.com says Delgado has been dealt to the Mets

 

But....now this is juicy....the Boston Herald says Manny Ramirez is interested in coming to the Mariners. I love that on so many levels:

 

1) Manny is a beast and wouldn't have to play LF in Seattle

2) We'd be denying the Angels a Vlad-Manny middle of the order

3) Manny is hours of entertainment even if he doesn't hit.

 

If the only reason the M's aren't interested in Manny is that he's right-handed, that would annoy me. He has his issues, but he is still an elite hitter and I don't think you can pass up an opportunity to get someone like him.

 

Back to the real world....the Denver Post brings up the possibility of the M's and Rockies swapping Yorvit Torrealba and Larry Bigbie. I like that idea. Bigbie would be a nice 4th OFer to have. He didn't hit much after being traded to Colorado, but he put up decent numbers with Orioles. Plus he's a lefty. Maybe coming back to the AL would do him some good.

 

The Hot Stove has been preheated....

OK now that the first big moves of the offseason have been made, it's time to start coming up with outlandish rumors, trade proposals, and scenarios. The Johjima signing has me excited, so what better way to spend my lunch break than building the M's?

 

I propose to you, the Magic faithful, two scenarios for the Mariners offseason. Whether either of these are realistic is beside the point. I'm not factoring in money, years, players in a trade, or anything else that would actually give this site some credibility. This is all hypothetical. I leave it up to you to decide which you would prefer:

 

Scenario #1 (aka "The Power of Carlos"):

 

Trade for Carlos Delgado

Sign Esteban Loiaza

 

Scenario #2 (aka "The Arms Race")

 

Sign Kevin Millwood

Sign Matt Morris

Sign Jacque Jones

 

In scenario #1, the M's would have a sick lineup, a nasty bullpen, and mediocreish starting pitching. Flashes of the 2005 Red Sox and Yankees?

 

In scenario #2, you're looking at a solid lineup, good starting pitching, that same filthy bullpen, and great defense. Slightly resembles the 2001 M's.

 

So....put aside any "that could never happen" biases you may have, and tell us which scenario you would rather see. I'll make my choice in the comments section.

 

It's official

Johjima is a Mariner! 3 years, $16.5 million.

 

I don't know why, but this signing really has me excited. I think it's a creative and ballsy move on the part of the Mariners to fill a hole at position that was garbage for the team in 2005. Most important, they didn't have to sacrifice any prospects or draft picks. I suppose the argument against this singing is that it's a lot of money to spend on a guy who hasn't played a day in the majors. But you know what, I don't think Bavasi would make a move like this if they didn't really believe Johjima was the real deal. Big Bill has to be feeling the heat after the last two seasons, and if he didn't think this was a signing that would have an immediate impact I don't think he would have done it. I like the out-of-the-box approach here and am interested to see what else Bavasi has up his sleeve.

 

2006 lineup as of 11/22/05 (as I see it):

 

Ichiro RF

Reed CF

Beltre 3B

Sexson 1B

Ibanez LF

Johjima C

Lopez 2B

Morse? DH -Eeeeew.

Betancourt SS

 

They need one more bat. I like the Delgado trade possibility, but I have my doubts about whether that will happen. I've heard some Brad Wilkerson trade rumblings, that intrigues me for sure. Jacque Jones would fit in well too.

 

Now the real question is....where would you take Johjima in your fantasy draft?

Kenji Jojima

The TNT (I'm dynamite!) is reporting the M's are close to signing Japanese catcher Kenji Jojima. The beauty of this blog is that even though USSMariner et al have already put this out there, I don't think our regular readers frequent those blogs. So it's like we're breaking big news or something. I don't know a lot about Jojima except that he's got some pop and plays good defense. The deal is for 2 years, $8 million.

His English skills are lacking. Kenji you need to learn the following terms by March:

"Hum babe."
"Hey Vladimir-I've got some good pictures of your sister."
"Stop being such a baby Gil."

What's this all about?

Rob Neyer wrote a little something about his experience in Arizona today. This is an Insider article from ESPN, so you may not be able to access it. Most of the article isn't all that interesting, but there was one line that raised my eyebrows:

"I'm contractually prohibited from revealing anything I learned that might be particularly interesting -- for example, the reason the Dodgers weren't all that interested in re-signing Adrian Beltre a year ago.."

Wonder what that reason is. That doesn't make me feel too good about Beltre going into next season.

Random Notes

Here are some goings on (all from the Times-mainly b/c the stories have little depth so there's no point in getting them from a better paper):

Kenji Jojima and Matt Morris look to have varied levels of interest in coming to Seattle.

AJ Burnett too.

Ugueth Urbina is insane.

Wow.........Team option picked up for Ready Eddie

I didn’t think this would happen but the mariners exercised their club option on Eddie Guardado. It’s a one-year deal for 6 million plus. I don’t know if this is a good thing. I love that Eddie is back but for 6 million? I just don’t know if that is a smart move

Stand Pat to Stand Alone in Philly?

Its rumored, well really pretty much fact that former Mariner GM Pat Gillick has been hired as the new GM of the Phillies. This really isn’t surprising to at least this mariner fan. Its no secret he wants to be on the East Coast. I thought Pat did a good job for the mariners in bringing them to power in the late 90's early 2000's. However he did not really build for the future and that is something the mariners are paying for dearly now.
I wish him the best of luck and I am sure he will do well in Philly.

To keep Eddie, or not to keep Eddie? That my friends it the question

One of the first issues surrounding the mariners this off-season is what to do with team closer and partial team leader Eddie Guardado. Eddie's contract has a team option for the 06' season and if the team decides not to pick that option up then Eddie himself has an option he is able to pick up at a lesser dollar amount. I believe the dollar amounts to be around 6 million for the team option and around 4 million for the player option. My numbers may be a bit off but they are in the ballpark.

Eddie has been a valuable commodity for the mariners sporting a more than serviceable 2.71 era, 48 strike outs in 56 1/3 innings, and a solid 36 saves for a team that won only 69 games. Folks he saved over half the mariner’s wins this season. That’s nasty, simply nasty.
The problem with Eddie is that you really don’t know how long his shoulder is going to hold out. This year he looked fine. But a year prior there was a point when many felt he would never pitch again. He has a tear in his rotator cuff. Eddie assured everyone via the radio waves that he feels fine. However, they are going to take a closer look just to make sure.

The question begins, is Eddie worth the risk? And for what dollar amount makes that risk worth while? I for one do not think that 6 million over the next year is worth the risk for, lets face it, a team that is most likely not going to be in contention. I think the mariners are feeling this way. Rumors are spurring that they will not pick up the team option on Eddie. Additionally it is believed that the mariners do not want Eddie to pick up his option and in return they would work something out with him for possibly more years at less per year. This may bee a good thing but what if the shoulder isn’t ok, do we want to be on the hook for a contract that will see no on the field results.

First off if you, as the mariners, had no intention of picking that team option up, and to top that off did not want Eddie to pick up his end of the deal why did you not move him at the deadline to a contending team that could have helped you build for the future?? Hello, you can not tell me that Boston did not want a left handed closer as dominant as Eddie was in the first half of the season. Just one team that comes to mind when I ponder this quandary.

Secondly what makes you believe that Eddie would be willing to work out a deal less than the two potential ones he already has on the table? From everything I have heard about Eddie, via interviews, articles, and his demeanor on the field it becomes clear to me that Eddie is a stand up loyal guy. And perhaps this is why the mariners feel they can work something out with him. Eddie has said its not the money that is important but rather the respect a-team shows him and that is a stand up thing to say.

So let’s say hypothetically the mariners let Eddie walk. Who rolls into that closer roll? The popular answer is "My Boy" Rafael Soriano. They guys has all the tools to become a dominant closer, however he needs time. Remember this kid has only been pitching for a short time career wise as well as the fact he is coming off Tommy John Surgery. Lets give him a full season before we throw him into a pressure-cooking situation.

Here’s the overall deal. Eddie needs to come back. The dollars and terms of the deal are what are in question. Is 4 million for one year worthwhile? Yes I believe it is. By locking him into the one year 4 million dollar deal you save 2 million and you still have him as trade bait come the 06' trade deadline. Especially is he can prove to go through the first season with no ill effects from his shoulder. In fact I would almost insist that you deal him this year if you sign him to a one-year deal or he picks his option up.

He is a boisterous (good word) leader that exudes fire and emotion on the mound, something I think the team lacks in almost every other position. When was the last time someone other than Eddie showed any sort of emotion on the field, being up set by an error, excited by a amazing catch or celebrating a game breaking hit. He is a positive influence in the clubhouse, something these young guys need to see.

I'd like to hear from the Magic Faithful. What’s the consensus here is Eddie worth the risk, the mariner fan believes so.

Not wasting any time....

The World Series hasn't been over for 24 hours, and the M's already have made their first moves of the offseason. The M's named their new hitting and pitching coaches today. Rafael Chaves is heading up I-5 from Tacoma, and Jeff Pentland is moving from the worst offense team in Kansas City to another crappy offensive team in the Mariners.

I like the Chaves move if for no other reason than he and Felix have a good relationship. The Pentland signing is kinda random, but whatever. I like the idea of bringing Tim Wallach on board since he was the guy who worked with Beltre in 2004, but no big deal.

So it begins....who's next?

Griffey, Cameron,......Jones?

The next great Mariner centerfielder may be being molded in Arizona right now. Adam Jones, the M's 1st-round pick in 2003, has been moved from short stop to centerfield. Yuniesky Betancourt's brilliant play with the big club this year has Jones being moved to the position that George Kenneth owned for so many years in Seattle. His successor, Mike Cameron, wasn't too shabby himself.

An obvious question is what will happen to Jeremy Reed? I'd say move him to left. Would a ball drop in an outfield of Reed, Jones, and Ichiro? Reminds me of the Winn, Cameron, Ichiro outfield of a couple years back.

It's doubtful that Jones will be ready for the big-time in 2006, but it'll be fun to keep an eye on his progress.

The World Serious

So that this blog doesn't die due to inactivity, I thought it'd be a good idea to talk about something non-Mariner related. We've got a couple of weeks until the Hot Stove is fully heated (right now it's on preheat). So let's talk about the World Series.

I am slow on posting this, but there was a great article on ESPN the other day about how the Astros and White Sox are two teams who have torturous histories, but whose fans haven't whined and complained about it *cough* Red Sox *cough* Cubs *cough*. Because of this, neither of them get the national pub of those other woe is me ballclubs.

I think the trend of the last 2 years is very encouraging for the Mariners. The Red Sox win last year, ending an 86-year drought. The Astros or White Sox will win this year, ending one of their droughts. The Mariners are probably a few notches down the list of teams that need a World Series, but if things keep going this way, we should expect a championship by 2010.

As far as the series itself, I'm not sure where I'm leaning. The Astros have the edge with their starting pitching and bullpen, but the Sox have a better lineup. "They" always say pitching wins championships, so I guess Houston would be the smart pick. But my American League/Freddy Garcia allegiance has me rooting for the Sox.

Go M's!!!!!

Buh Bye Bobby

Here is another Story that came across my desk, You heard it here first!
Bobby Madritch has been claimed off of waivers by the Kansas City Royals. Bavasi said they had no problem with the claim and that they wished bobby the best of luck.
Figuring to be a major part of the 06' rotation the mariner’s are now forced to bring in more pitching help than previously expected!! At least in my opinion they are.

Sweet Lou on the broadcast!!

For the american league championship series our boy Lou Pinella will be doing color comentary. My friends this is comedy gold. I can listen to Lou talk for hours.

AJ Burnett....POST 100!

This is a special moment Mariner Magic faithful. The 100th post and we're still Refusing to Lose!

The Toronto Sun is reporting that the M's will be going after AJ Burnett. They are expecting the asking price to be somewhere around $65 million for 5 years. Yeesh. Is he worth that? I don't know.

In other free agent pitching rumblings, USS Mariner compared Burnett to another highly coveted FA when they looked at him and Kevin Millwood.

Here is my problem with this whole free agent pitching class-I don't like any of them. Burnett, Millwood, Matt Morris, Jeff Weaver, and Jarrod Washburn are the top guys out there. I'm not including Roger Clemens because there's no way that's happening. None of those guys excite me. They're all going to be way overpaid too.

But if I'm Bill Bavasi and since I've come on the team has lost 99 and 93 games, I'm going to try to make a big splash in the offseason. That means bringing in a big-time pitcher to fix a rotation that's a complete mess. I think that can be done, but I'd really feel better about it happening through a trade.

Bryan Price Out

According to today's Seattle Times, Bryan Price is resigning as the M's pitching coach.Check it out


Interesting to note that the article says that Don Baylor is likely out as hitting coach. This is assuming he's hired for one of the six kajillion manager openings.

This is annoying. Now the M's have to spend time, resources, etc. filling out the coaching staff instead of going after players. Hopefully these spots can be taken care of quickly, before the free agent frenzy begins.

Price was a pretty good pitching coach. Anyone who can get through to Lou should be commended. We wish him well wherever his career takes him next.

Captain Ichiro?

From this week's mailbag at the Mariners official site:

 

Q: Will the Mariners name a team captain in 2006? How about Ichiro?

 

A: Manager Mike Hargrove's preference is not to have a team captain, so it is unlikely that there would be a team captain in 2006.

 

Ichiro for captain? Are you kidding me? Trav here's a great opportunity for you to chime in with your Raul for captain campaign.

---

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Pre-Hot Stove Hot Stove News

Start stokin' those embers.

The first nugget of Mariner-relevent offseason news comes today. The Florida Marlins have fired A.J. Burnett. Yep, the soon-to-be number one free agent starting pitcher was canned just hours ago. Pink slip in the locker. "Hang 'em up," they said "That's enough of you. You're not a team player."

You'll be pleased to know that I was there, dutifully reporting for Mariner Magic. I think I heard Jack McKeon mutter, "And that aqua-colored jock strap too, you toad! We paid extra for that."

Seems Burnett was given the royal foot to the hiney in classic Nellie fashion. He said too much. Spoke out against his team. "What a bunch of negative people!" he said of the organization. "Scaredy-cats!" he called the players. ...Or something to that effect.

Why does Burnett's release affect the M's you ask? For one, it eliminates one team from the competition for his services. The Marlins will not be asking him back. And for that matter, might that just eliminate the Mariners from the Burnett sweepstakes before the bidding even starts? We all know they don't like the outspoken, dissenting type.

I'm not sure they would have been big players for A.J. in the first place, but this might narrow their prospective starters list even more. One would assume they would at least give him a call...

Just something to mull...

Let it begin....

Yeah yeah 6 games left Felix pitching tonight whatever. It's time to start talking offseason. Larry Larue sat down with Bavasi and he had a lot of interesting things to say about the offseason plans. Check it out.

It sounds to me like Bavasi's got a plan that most of us would agree with. Starting pitching, a lefty-bat, and anything else from there is gravy. My favorite quote from the article is from Pat Gillick: "That first offseason was a mess for Bill," Gillick said. "I saddled him with a lot."

Since Bavasi has come on, the M's have flat out sucked. Spiezio and Aurillia were disasters. Since that first offseason, I think he's rebounded well. Let's see how he does this winter

Important statistical analysis

Number Muncher for the last week of the season:

Jose Lopez has blasted 17 doubles in 48 games this year. Extrapolated over a full season, the second half of our double play combo would leg out an Edgar-esque 57 doubles.

Thank you.


* This statistical analysis was brought to you by Number Munchers.

Those of you who have played the game, which features an angular frog with an insatiable appetite for numbers, will understand and appreciate their sponsorship. We hope this feature will become a regular in the season to come.

Meche to the 'pen?

OK it's clear that no one cares about the M's before but dammit (most people spell it damnit, but I like to be different) this blog will not die like this season.

 

Gil Meche. We all know I cursed him when I bought his jersey in 2003. But, he did something very intriguing last night. Pitching for the first time since going on the DL August 20th, Meche pitched 2 innings in relief. His line:

 

2 IP, 2 K, 19 Pitches

 

Gil had this to say after the game:

 

"It's a different mindset coming in from the bullpen. You can get after it; you don't have to pace yourself. I'm just looking forward to getting into a couple more games."

 

What's Meche's problem been all year? He tries to get cute with his pitches, doesn't go after hitters with his great stuff, and throws tons of pitches. But that quote sounds like he's pretty comfortable coming out of the bullpen. I think it'd be really interesting to see what he could do as a set up man. He's got a great fastball and curve, and could just come right in a go after people. No nibbling, no nothing. 

 

However, he's moving back into the rotation and Jeff Harris will be in the bullpen. Am I the only one who would like to see more of Meche as a reliever?

---

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THE SKY IS FALLING!

Felix had a bad outing!!!!

What is going on?

The Mariners just finished their second sweep of the Angels this year. No I didn't follow this game, which has become a habit lately for me, but it turns out Yuniesky Betancourt was the hero. Betancourt is like Charles Gipson version 2.0. Actually, he's like a combination of Omar Vizquel's defense, Carl Crawford's speed, and Gipson's bat. I wonder if Ricky grew up hitting balls against a wall and then immediatlely fielding them.

That's win #64 on the season. The M's won 63 all of last year, and there are 17 games left. So say they go 9-8 the rest of the way, that'd be a ten-game improvement from last year. Hmmm....is that worth getting excited about? Doesn't feel like it. But, these games they are playing do have meaning. The Angels are in first place, and taking 2 out of 3 from the A's last week (I think...who the hell knows) is pretty cool too.

There's something to be said for learning how to win. A strong finish could carry into next year. Maybe 81-81 next year and in playoff contention in 2007? Or not. Who knows. What a garbage team.

Dan the man.....DONE?

Another story that came across big daddy's desk today regarding Dan WIlson the long time fan favorite catcher of our boys in blue. Dan will be holding a press conference at 4pm pst time at the safe. Details as to what the news conference are not known but it is speculated, at least by me, that Dan will announce his retirement. I will post details after I hear the news conference.

Daddy's return! What is going on with our minor league system!

Today this came across my desk:

"The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball today announced that Michael Morse of the Seattle Mariners has been suspended 10 days, effective today, for violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program"

Yet another Mariner. This team is by far and away the leaders in positive tests. What is going on here!!! Morse is our boy and I believe what he has to say found HERE .

I really don't know why this keeps happening but I freaking tired of it!! Discuss:

EDIT:

It sounds like Morse is being punished 3 times for the same steriod. I am still a bit fuzzy on the details but it doesnt sound like he really has done anything wrong recently.

Reasons to keep watching.....

We realize that we've been slacking a little bit here at Mariner Magic. There are plenty of excuses, but the biggest reason is simple: the Mariners aren't that interesting to talk about right now. Once the season is over, we will have plenty of discussion about the future of the M's, free agent pickups, etc. But we need to find more to talk about for the next month. More importantly, we need reasons to follow the Mariners at all. Here a few things I think are worth watching:

1) Felix.
Do I need to elaborate?

2) The Bullpen
The 2006 bullpen stands to look a lot different than this year's. That's pretty clear. The Seattle P-I noted this last week. Villone is already gone, and I don't see Shiggy or Nelson coming back. That leaves Thornton, Mateo, Putz and Guardado as the only members of the bullpen that spent most of 2005 on the big league roster. I personally hope Thornton is gone. Sure, he's a lefty and he throws hard. But the guy is 29, has poor mechanics, and has shown no signs of being able to put anything consistent together. I may be able to be convinced that he's worth another shot, but I think he should be on a short leash.
However, there are some arms that should get some good work this September. The first is George Sherrill. He's had a couple of rough outings, but it will be interesting to see if he can develop into a good lefty-setup guy. Another is our favorite Ninja, Rafael Soriano. Also from the P-I, he's should be up early this week. The big story of that article is a third reliever, Scott Atchinson. Let's see if any of these guys can give us hope for a strong bullpen in 2006.

3) Joel Pineiro
Ah Joel. We had such high hopes for you. So inconsistent this year, but it seems like he may be coming back around. USS Mariner did a nice analysis on how we shouldn't quite get our hopes up though. His last start against the Yankees was very good, and I think it's worth watching to see what he does down the stretch. The rotation for 2006 is in shambles, but Joel being able to be the 3rd or 4th starter would help with that.

4) Adrian Beltre
He's been a big disappointment this year, but has shown some signs of being the player we hoped he would be. From April to June he had 6 HRs and 36 RBI. In July and August he put up 12 HRs and 40 RBI. His .288 BA, .336 OBP, and .538 SLG in August are also encouraging. Not earth-shattering numbers, but a definite improvement. Let's not forgot he's only 26 and about to enter his prime years. A strong September would be nice to see.

5) The middle infield
This has already
been discussed here, but it's still worth watching.


Yes this season has sucked. Yes football season has started. But there are still some reasons to follow the Seattle Mariners before the offseason talk heats up. Any other ideas?

The Unit vs. The King

This is huge. Huge.

The best pitching prospect to come along since Todd Van Poppel. Wait, let's make that Dwight Gooden.

The best left-hander of his generation.

Tonight. At SafeCo.

Felix Hernandez vs. Randy Johnson. ...Choir...Organ....Angels singing....

I can't believe this game isn't on national TV.

Discuss.

Here's what Jim Caple has to say.

Up the Middle-The Future is Now

Willie "I am either the best 25th man or the worst everyday player in the majors" Bloomquist has been placed on the 15-day DL. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Bloomquist-hater, and his grit is admirable, but he's not an everyday player. He's a great defensive replacement, and he's a great base runner. Thus, a great 25th man. But nothing else. It's not his fault that Mike Hargrove is the least creative manager ever and was struggling to produce from the 2-hole.

Jose Lopez is up. This is third time he's been up with the big club this year. His first two stints weren't overly successful, but he was raking at Tacoma.

This means we'll see a lot of the Betancourt-Lopez double-play tandom that, if all goes well, will be dazzling us for many years in SafeCo. Lopez is the hitter, and Ricky's a friggin magician at short which will give him a long leash while he works on his hitting. Yay.

Team captain and our new "Boy"

Sitting with Pete Friday night at the safe we got to talk. Me approaching 3 sheet to the wind, and Pete sober and ready to rumble, began to argue about the team’s captain. We no longer have one, was the only thing we could agree upon. Pete felt that the team did not need one, or if they did it should be anyone other than who I suggested.

Slurringly I blurted out Raul Ibanez. Everytime Raul came up to plate I jumped up and shouted Team Captain time to get’er done!!!

Seriously though Raul is the constant professional and lets face he is the teams most consistent guy. He is the first guy to diffuse any situation. Take the game a while back when Betencourt was pissed for being drilled by Millwood. Raul was the first guy out there to calm him down. Raul gets along with all his teammate’s. Even Ichiro has a soft spot for good ole Raul. The pair teach each other languages. Raul learns Japanese while teaching Ichiro Spanish.

Look they guy has put in the time, gone through the system and proven he is a quality major league player. The young guys listen to him and it is a roll I think he has fallen into already. Richie is not really interested in that roll and neither is Bletre. My vote is for Raul!

On a second note Pete and I have deemed a new boy to join Morse here at Mariner Magic. He is none other than Mr. Hustle Yorvit Torrealba. Every time I watch him play I am impressed. He is fast and hustles. He seems to have a moderate stick, which is a bonus. I always say any production you get from catcher is a positive. Clearly this is a guy we can count on till Clement is ready. Plus his name is really fun to say.

Felix and Freddy

According to today's Seattle Times, Felix and Freddy Garcia are good friends.

The pessimist:
1) Freddy and Ozzie Guillen are going to recruit Felix to play for the White Sox in a few years.
2) Freddy...he, uh, see, he's not the best role model.

The optimist:
1) Freddy seems to have gotten himself together. He can show Felix which road not to follow.
2) They talk about everything BUT baseball, so Freddy's...er...issues won't rub off on Felix.


OK so this isn't that interesting. But anything Felix-related is always more interesting than anything else that's going on in Marinerland lately.

Willie Bloomquist is hitting .229 over the last 30 days. Why does he bat 2nd everyday?

Stay OFF topic

Big Daddy I know he's your boy but.... Franklin. Ugh. Bad attitude, bad pitching. Cheater. Go away.

 

I was thinking since there is really nothing interesting happening with the baseball games that the Seattle Mariners play, we'd do a something a little different here at Mariner Magic. This post has no topic. And every comment should be completely off-topic from any previous comment made. The only rule is that the comment must be somehow related to the Mariners. So if you want to say

"I think Jeremy Reed looks like an alien"....feel free.

 

Go for it. Felix pitches soon, there will be something worth watching.

 

Beltre's been better too. Woo.

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Vote or Die

Richie Sexson is a nominee for the Viagra Comeback Player of the Year Award.

The Big Sexy, Viagra.....that just lends itself to thousands of corny one-liners. I expect the Mariner Magic nation to supply plenty.

Memo to the Seattle Times: Steve Kelly is Pile

Seattle’s Worst Sports Columnist opens his large overzealous pie hole again. Steve Kelly is a glorified crybaby whose opinions are flaunted upon the pages of Seattle’s largest newspaper. I have read this scumbag’s column for a while now and not once have I come away thinking you know what Steve makes a good point here. He uses the smallest of incidents to create drama and publicity for his articles. In his most recent article "M's better off without selfish Franklin" Kelly blasts Ryan Franklin for being Selfish and an embarrassment to the team.

First off Kelly, you complete waste of space, get your facts right. Franklin did not go after an argument with Brian Price. He came into the dug out pissed off BP told him to cool down in the back so Franky left to let off steam. When BP said that was enough that’s when the argument ensued. In no way did Franklin chase down BP as you insinuated in your article.

You go on to say that Franklin is a crybaby about getting no run support. What the hell man!!! He hasn’t gotten any run support for the better part of two years including a year were he was in the top 5 in ERA in the entire league. His ERA this year is unimportant when you give up 2 runs and are pretty much guaranteed a loss. Let the man finally say something about this. He has been quiet this whole time until recently. Let the man say something.

I feel strongly that you, Steve, are out of line here. It’s a frustrating time for all Mariners and to let of some steam is expected. BP can handle himself, Franky can handle himself. They both don’t need you to call them out or ask management for a release. I know I am not the only Mariner fan that doesn’t think too highly of your work. Stick to WNBA basketball, maybe they can teach you some solid fundamentals and perhaps some respect for someone who needs support right now, not to be ridden out of town.

If you would like to read the article I am referring to click this link here:

PILE OF CRAP

While I believe Franky's time here to be over I in no way have any harsh feelings for the guy. He is a competator and a horse. 3 years he had filling the 5th man whole and he did it admirably. I wish him the very best and hope he finds a home somewhere in thE future as I find it hard to believe managment will bring him back. Cheers franky and don't listen to a bum like Steve "I think I am god and always right" Kelly.

END RANT

Spiezio = Goodbye

Many wishes have been granted. Scott Spiezio has been released.

2004-the offseason from Hell:
-Signed Rich Aurillia-CUT! 2004
-Signed Scott Spiezio-CUT! 2005
-Traded Carlos Guillen-ALL STAR! 2004
-Didn't sign Miguel Tejada-BEST SHORTSTOP IN THE GAME!
-Didn't sign Vlad Guerrero-MVP! 2004

One thing you can say about Bavasi-he knows when he's screwed up.



Maybe I'll "catch" on somewhere else. Or maybe I won't even catch this ball.

M's 11 Royals 5...Recap from MAAAAAH

One of the Mariner Magic faithful attended yesterday's game and is going to give us a first-hand look. Here's what MAAAAH has to say:

 

Thursday, August 18
Mike L. has picked the perfect game for Maaah to recap. This was the game to take a beginner to or to convince a newcomer that baseball can be fun. Overlooking the fact that the M's played a really horrible team that would have a hard time competing at the AAA level even, there were some great 'stand on your feet and cheer' moments. What a treat to see the bases loaded and Beltre make something of that opportunity by hitting a grand slam. When was the last time you saw that at Safeco? Usually that is an opportunity for a strikeout or two or three.

Certain fans leaving home from the Eastside were bundled up in sweatshirts and raingear, grumbling about wasting an afternoon freezing under the roof. The same fans were later to be found in the bleachers stripped to t-shirts and rolled up pants and sipping beverages to keep hydrated. What a day! Those same seats were the perfect angle to watch Moyer's pitches sail straight down the pike for strike after strike. What a beautiful sight. It was enough to make Maaah murmur after the game that resigning the guy for next year was probably a great idea. (Maaah has yet to be convinced to actually like Moyer, but she won't let personal opinion get in the way of admitting he is a heck of a pitcher. I know he is a Mariner Magic favorite, but as yesterday's comments prove, we all have different taste!)

So relax fellow bloggers and revel in a blowout without picking it apart and getting all bent out of shape about the flaws in the game. The park was filled with groups of very young fans from the Boys and Girls Clubs in the area. They all seemed to be having a great time and maybe we made some real fans out of some of them for the future. Remember when a baseball game was just a baseball game? Remember before the magic moments of '95 when you would take any great moment? Tomorrow you can go back to your analyzing...I'll be right there with you planning what to wear for the World Series run. I will probably choose my Piniero shirt. (I'm guessing PWhit doesn't have one of those.) Will Mike L. be wearing his Meche jersey?

 

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M's 4 Royals 3......someone's been taking notes

Anyone who plays in a head-to-head fantasy baseball leagues knows the value of a "two-start" pitcher. These are the pitchers with two starts in a given week, giving your squad a better chance of accumulating stats. Right now I'm in the middle of a battle for a playoff spot, and I need all the help I can get. This week I picked up one Joel "don't call me Jole" Piniero as a two-start guy with favorable matchups against Kansas City and Minnesota. How does Joel respond? 8 strong innings and a win after a shaky start.

 

But something tells me Mr.Piniero didn't step it up for my fantasy team (affectionately named the Briley Backers for one of the 6 gazillion left fielders to play next to Junior). Something tells me Joel Piniero is coming around. We've put the pressure on Joel here at Mariner Magic, and deservedly so, but his last 3 starts have been very encouraging. Take a look:

 

6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

7 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

8 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

 

Granted, these have been starts against the most potent offenses in the league, but that argument doesn't hold a lot of water with me. You're not going to face Texas, Boston, and New York every time out. Joel Piniero has had 3 straight strong outings. Period.

 

People have worried that we wouldn't see the old Joel. But let's think about this. After season-ending surgery in 2004, he didn't start again until April 15th. He didn't have spring training. I think it's fair to say he needed some time to get himself back. We'll see how he handles a tougher lineup. There's also something to be said for the inspiration King Felix has provided. He's putting this rotation on his back, and Joel's gladly hopped on. Care to follow Gil?

 

Take a look at Lookout Landing. Jeff has brought up some good points about Piniero, namely that he has been pitching to contact, and not striking out a ton of guys. He's gone against 3 weak lineups, has a great defense behind him, and is throwing in a pitcher-friendly park.

 

For now, Iet's give Joel Piniero credit. He's stepped up his game, and may not ever be the ace we had hope he would be, but could be a solid middle of the rotation guy. Add a #2 starter to go behind Felix, and the 2006 Mariners rotation is looking much better.

 

Oh-and nice work Yuniesky!

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King Felix Strikes Again

Being a Mariner fan definitely has its ups and downs. In the 80’s we suffered through sub .500 season after sub .500 season. The 90’s gave little relief early on. The team seemed plagued with faulty bullpens, however hope was given to us with a solid offense and a pretty steady defensive output. Many a year the Mariners would lead the league in homeruns and double plays turned.

Then 1995 came and with it all the magic. To those outside of Mariner nation this year meant very little to you. To the Mariner fan however this year meant everything to you. Proof of this is shown by the celebration at Safeco field commemorating the 10th anniversary of the dramatic 95’ run.. The 95’ team changed not only the average Mariner fans but the everyday man, women, and child in Seattle.

I remember being in a laundry mat watching the game while washing some cloths. It was the 9th inning and the angels had 2 on. This was early in the season and we had no idea what the season was going to hold. A man came up next to me and asked what the score was. The M’s are up 1 I replied and the Angels have 2 on and 2 out. "They’ll blow it" the man said. I gave him a nasty look but he just laughed. Sure enough a deep fly ball was hit. Way back, way back. The Words "I told you so>>>" started to come out of the man’s mouth only to be cut off. Niehaus erupted "Buhner makes an unbelievable catch crashing into the wall in right center." BALLGAME OVER. Almost beaming with Moosly pride I returned to my Laundry and the man who so predicted a failure erupted with a new found mariner pride. "YAAAAAAAAA!!!! He got it!!" The City had found their golden boys that were the Seattle Mariners, hence began the 95 run for me.

Now in Seattle we have been blessed with some of the best major league talent the game ahs ever seen. Some may say come on man slow down the best ever? Yes I would argue this look at who has roots in the Seattle organization. We have produced arguably the games greatest Left-hander in randy Johnson. Yes he was with the Expos first but he really made his initial make in Seattle. We have also produced one of the games greatest Center Fielders in "The Kid" Ken Griffey Jr. Who has amassed numerous stats most of which with Seattle and Likely will be the Mariners first entry to the Hall of Fame. The next name should come as no surprise, this man WILL be the one to break Hank Aaron’s HR record. Alex Rodriguez, as much as I hate him for leaving, is one of the games greatest players EVER to play. He is don’t argue this fact.

These three alone rank up there with some of the greatest all time, of course we have others in the likes of Edgar Martinez, Ichiro, Omar Vizquel, David Ortiz, Derek Lowe, Jason Veritek etc etc. All solid names, not of the caliber of the ones above but still very solid.

I bring this up for a reason. Last night we were given a viewing of the next major prospect to come from the Mariners system. Felix "The King" Hernandez is that man. This is the 5 time I have gotten to see him pitch and by far this was the most dominating I have seen him be. His line, 8 Innings, 1 run, 1bb, 11k’s on 99 pitches is just sick. At no point was he ever on the ropes. Even when the Royals scored their one run Felix was in complete control. He gave his defense not one but 2 chances to get out of the inning un-scaved, only to have them falter.

Felix overpowered the Royals with 98 MPH heater and knee breaking curves. He even dawned a change that came across in the mid to upper 80’s. Folks when you throw 98 MPH there is no way you should be throwing a 86-88 mph change, that’s just unfair.

Ninety-nine pitchers and 8 innings after the play ball call Felix was done. Laughing it up in the dug out as Joel Pinero and Ryan Franklin gawked over the score sheet. Seeing numbers they have been unable to obtain for 3 years now.

Today I am beaming with Mariner Pride. This 19-year-old kid is going to save this franchise. No joke, the Mariners are in a tailspin, but on the arm of a 19-year-old wonder kid we affectionately call the King, the Mariners will return to the team of the late 90’s. The team that changed the sports fan base of Seattle.

Adrian Beltre-one year wonder?

As Mariner fans we have lived through too many trade deadlines and winters without the front office making a big splash. Sorry, but getting Vince Coleman in 1995 or John Olerud in the 1999 offseason doesn't exactly have me longing for yesteryear when the team was aggresive. I have to watch Miguel Tejada here in Baltimore knowing he should have been a Mariner, but the M's wouldn't match the O's offer.

That changed last offseason. The M's brass spent over $100 million in a 48-hour period on Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre. Remember? Sexson was nice, but Beltre was the icing on the cake. Here was a kid who everyone had been waiting to tear up the league, and in 2004, it finally happened:
.334 AVG, 48 HR, 121 RBI, 104 R, 1.017 OPS
And he was only 25. The Mariners locked him up for 5 years, when he would only get better. Needless to say, 2005 has been a major disappointment:
.253 AVG 14 HR, 60 RBI. The most glaring number has to be 72 strikeouts to just 22 walks. He had a decent June, hitting .321. I thought maybe that would lead to big things in the second half. Obviously not. It's fair to say 2004 has been a bad year. But does that mean that this is what we should expect for the next 4 years? That's a question I'm going to try to address here. Is Adrian Beltre a one-year wonder?

Well, that's pretty tough to figure out. There's not a whole lot of statistical data, trends, or otherwise to go by when looking at something like that. But one thing we do have is history. We can look at some of the biggest one-year wonders in recent history to see if we can come to any sort of conclusion. Here are five players who had one big year, and nothing much else in their career. This is by no means scientific, but it could be interesting. I'm gonna do a brief synopsis of each player's career year, then discuss at the end.

#1: Brady Anderson-1996:
Perhaps the most ridiculous 50-HR season of all time. The most mind-boggling numbers from that year are 50 HR and 110 RBI. This was following seasons of 12 HR/48 RBI and 16 HR/64 RBI. The two years after 1996? 18 HR/73 RBI and 18 HR/51 RBI. Now, Brady Anderson wasn't a bad player. He scored 100 runs 4 times, had 10 triples twice, and 20 steals seven times. But that 1996 season was absurd. The interesting thing is that none of his other numbers were exactly through the roof compared the rest of his career. He had career highs in average (.297) and runs scored (117), but only the power numbers were way up from the rest of his career.

#2Rich Aurillia-2001:
Speaking of crappy M's offseason signings. This was an insane year for Aurillia:
.324 average, .369 OBP, 37 HR, 97 RBI, 114 runs, 206 hits.
If you put his career highs together in those categories outside of 2001, it would look like this:
.281 average, .339 OBP, 22 HR, 80 RBI, 76 runs, 157 hits.
It's nice to hit in front of Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds isn't it Rich?

#3Ben Oglivie-1980:
Wow. Now that brings back some baseball card memories. Looking for players who have had only one huge year has been tough, but Oglivie's 1980 season qualifies. Take a look:
.304 AVG, 180 hits, 41 HR, 118 RBI, 94 runs.
1981 was a strike year, but his 14 HR, 72 RBI, and .242 AVG don't stack up. He did have some good power years in 1979 (29 HR/81 RBI) and 1982 (34 HR/102 RBI), but 1980 stands out. I actually think he is a good guy to compare with Beltre. His numbers were decent for a couple years building up to his big year, and I'm sure Brewers fans loved him during the World Series run of 1982. But Ben Oglivie makes the list mainly because I can still see his 1985 Topps card in my head.

#4 Ken Caminiti-1996:
1996 was an unreal year. Not only Anderson and Caminiti, but players like Henry Rodriguez were crushing homers all over the league. We all know about Caminiti, and I debated about including him, but it was tough to ignore:
.326 AVG, .408 OBP, 40 HR, 130 RBI, 109 Runs.
Caminiti was pretty good, but he didn't even reach 30 HR or 100 RBI once before or after 1996.

#5 Kelly Gruber-1990:
First things first-Kelly Gruber's hair was mullet-esque. Gruber's 1990 batting average wasn't anything special for him, but his 31 HR and 118 RBI dwarf his next best years of 20 HR and 81 RBI. He did hit for the cycle once too and I think his face is on the SkyDome's (I don't like it's new name) wall because of it.


There are definitely others and I would welcome anyone to add to this list. We've seen what these guys share with Adrian Beltre-one big year preceded and followed by a lot of so-so years. But how do they differ from Beltre?

1) Beltre was 25 when he had his big year. Anderson was 28, Aurillia 30, Oglivie 31, Caminiti 33, and Gruber 28. Those guys were all in there prime years.

2) Beltre was in the bigs at 20 and was a highly-touted prospect. I hadn't graced the world with my presence when Oglivie was coming up, but I don't remember any of those other guys having the expectations that Beltre did. My point? Beltre is flat-out more talented than those guys.

3) Anderson and Caminiti were playing in the juiced-"ball" era. Let's not make accusations, but everyone was hitting like crazy then.

4) I mentioned the lineup Aurillia was hitting in. Sorry, but Shawn Green and Milton Bradley aren't Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.

5) Beltre is the only one of those players to switch leagues following his big year.

6) Beltre's 2004 was the best overall season of any of those players. That doesn't really mean much, but...



Like I said, this wasn't a scientific exploration. I just wanted to see how common it was for a player to have a season like Beltre did last year, and never reach that level again. I think the most important factors are Beltre's age, talent level, and switching leagues. I also think that he put a lot of pressure on himself this year because of the expectations that came with his signing. Although there may be even more pressure on him to perform next year. Only time will tell, but I for one am going to keep my hopes up. I think Mariners have a chance to make a run from 2007-2009, and Beltre will be in Seattle for all those years. If he can bounce back from this awful year, that run could be awfully special.

What are your thoughts Mariner Magic faithful? Should we be hopeful?

Not gonna do it....

Nope. Still in Felix heaven. That sporting event that took place at Safeco Field didn't happen for all we care. Remember this picture from 2001? Pretty.

"And I just did it"

"Poise? I don't think we're talking about poise here. I think we're talking about a 97 mile an hour fastball with a curveball from hell. I think you can overlook the poise part. Let's just say great stuff."
-Ron Gardenhire

"I wish I could have been in here [the clubhouse] watching, instead of out there opposing him... That was pretty impressive. I hope I don't have to lock up with him too much in the future."
-Kyle Lohse, opposing pitcher

"On the first pitch, I called a two-seamer [sinker] and it just exploded on me and I dropped it. I peeked at the radar reading and it said 97. I thought, 'Wow, a two-seamer that hard.' The next pitch, I dropped that, too... I said to myself, 'Oh, my God ... the way this kid is throwing, I've got to be ready.'"
-Wiki Gonzalez, steady-handed catcher

"I was comfortable. I was actually a bit surprised, I was more comfortable than I had been in my first start in Detroit ... really, more comfortable than I've felt all year. And I just did it."
-The King (That last sentence has to be the coolest thing he has ever said in his life).

On overcoming a bewildering play by unnamed third baseman:

"...Felix came through. He didn't scoot around and feel sorry for himself. He just went back to work and picked up Beltre. Whether a pitcher is 19 or 90, you want to see him pick up a teammate, and that's exactly what Felix did for Adrian. You better believe Adrian appreciated that."
-Mike Hargrove

On going out for the eighth with a 1-0 lead:

"Going out for the eighth I told him, 'Don't change anything; this is just like the first inning.' Felix pointed at me, like he was saying, 'Let's go.'"
-Gonzalez

"I felt more emotional going out to pitch with a lead. Now it was my game and I had to win it."
-The King

And finally, drumroll...

"He seemed like he knew what he was doing."
-Matthew LeCroy, still befuddled Twins hitter

Humbly, At Your Service...

His Royal Highness.

Award-winning photography provided by Mariner Magic: Refusing To Lose.

Go to SafeCo tonight

The 2005 Mariners have not been to follow. The Future, The Franchise, The King is on the hill. Go to SafeCo. I would I didn't live 3000 miles away. WOOT!

Game 111 Mariners 5 Twins 4

Woohoo. The Mariners won on a walk last night. I can hardly contain my excitment. Eddie Guardado had the quote of the century: "More of these, and it would be a different record..". Couldn't have said it better myself. If the Mariners had won more, they would have a different win-loss record.

There are definitely some things to be excited about as a Mariner fan. Felix is making his SafeCo debut tonight. That is definitely cool and I wish I could be there to see it. If anyone goes, be sure to share your thoughts here.

There are some other bright spots too. George Sherrill has yet to give up a run since being called up. That's huge. It'd be great if he could lock down that lefty set-up role for next year. Snelling and Reed were the biggest contributors to last night's win. Let's hope to see a lot of that in the future.

But I'm having a hard time feeling anything too positive about the Seattle Mariners right now. Look at what the A's are doing. They have lost great player after great player, have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, and still have found a way to be in contention every year since 2000. The M's have lost great players, have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, and are in the middle of the franchise's worst two-year stretch since the early 1980s.

How about the Braves? Written off every year but still end up in the playoffs. Some will say that it's meaningless since they've only got one World Series to show for it. But I think that makes it even more impressive. Years of playoff frustration, but they still bounce back every year. When the M's lose in the playoffs, everyone feels sorry for themselves.

My point is that there isn't a culture of winning surrounding the Mariners organization. A lot of that has to do with never winning it all. Because of that, every time something goes wrong it's "here we go again". 2002 and 2003 are great examples of that. Those teams had plenty of opportunites to make a run to the playoffs, but all we heard was bitching and whining about a lack of moves at the deadline. I would hate to see the Mariners fall into the Red Sox/Cubs category of lovable losers.

Do we really think 2006 will be that much better? I can't help but think that this year is going to be tough to bounce back from. There was a lot of optimism to start the year, and it's been just as bad as last year. The good thing is that there are a lot of new faces. Let's hope that those new faces can instill a new culture in this organization. And let's hope that new culture leads to a different record.

Dull weekend in Mariner land

Pineiro avoided going to the minors by pitching a fairly solid game, going 6 and a 1/3 innings and striking out four. I think he only did it cause he went against Garcia who is like his best friend. Moyer pitched well too, he is so constant no matter how old he is getting. I would like them to bring him back next year cheap and just let him throw, he eats innings and keeps you in ballgames.

Jeff Harris I felt pitched well enough to get another opportunity. But from hearing Grover I am not totally sure he is going to get one. That’s unfortunate but I’m not paid to run the team he is so not sure how much a fuss I can raise. I would like to see spezio, shiggy and hansen gone now please. Why are they still here?

I don’t have much to say, let me get a good look at tonight’s game for a more in-depth post tomorrow, then of course Tuesday is the biggey of course as the King is making his 1st home start, that is exciting stuff. How energized will that crowd be???

After some digging the correlation’s are glaring

Something about the Palmeiro thing really started to rub me the wrong way. Why would a guy like Palmeiro do something like this? Speaking with friends and Colleagues I received a similar answer from them. He wanted to get ahead and at the time it wasn't tested for. This seems to make more sense to me after I dug up some of Palmeiro‘s stats and combined it with some other names. Let me start this by saying I am only considering full seasons which I consider to be 400+ AB. Injuries can dwarf numbers and in one of my examples I do list a injury season but he was still able to obtain 400+ AB.

Palmeiro’s career started in 1986, however he didn't make a full season by my standard until 1988. In 88' Palmeiro registered 580 AB, .306 AVG, 8 HR, and 53 RBI. In 1989 Palmeiro moved to Texas.

Over the course of the next 4 seasons Palmeiro had the following stats:

89' 559 AB, .275 AVG, 8 HR, 64 RBI
90' 598 AB, .319 AVG, 14 HR, 89 RBI
91' 631 AB, .321 AVG, 26 HR, 88 RBI
92' 608 AB, .268 AVG, 22 HR, 85 RBI

Now, that is pretty standard growth of a player. He learned pitching got new strength and conditioning workouts etc etc. The interesting year is 1993.

The jump is very large:
93' 597 AB, .294 AVG, 37 HR, 105 RBI

If you average out the prior 5 years of his Career we see him hitting 15.6 HR a year. Take out his "Rookie" year by my standard he hit and average of 17.5 HR. His 93 numbers are more than double his career numbers. Palmeiro was 28-29ish that year and for sure in his prime. But the correlation I found most interesting came from a players signing the Rangers made in 92-93. The rangers acquired one Jose Canseco that year. HMMMMM........

More interestingly was what Palmeiro did the following year in 94'.
94' 436 AB, .318 AVG, 23 HR, 76 RBI

That’s a pretty large power drop off. Apparently Palmeiro noticed it too as the next year he:
95' 554 AB, .310 AVG, 39 HR, 104 RBI

After 95 all the way until last year Palmeiro never hit less than 37 HR. He constantly was 37- upper 40's in HR's. Interestingly enough in 96' another person had a monster year along with Palmeiro from Baltimore. One Brady Anderson out of the blue hit 50 HR's. His career best prior to that was 21. He typically averaged 18 HR's a year.

These stats and correlation's are hard to ignore. Couple that with the recent report of what drug made Palmeiro fail his test has at least lead me to believe he is Lying through his teeth. Palmeiro as reported by several sources has tested positive for a drug called Stanozolol.

"Stanozolol, known by the brand name Winstrol, is most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada, who was stripped of his 100-meter gold medal in 1988. It is not available in over-the-counter supplements and is known as a powerful strength-builder, casting doubt on Palmeiro's claims that he ingested the drug unwittingly."

See now the thing is this drug is not a Supplement. This is something that according to the article linked everyone knows is an anabolic Steroid. Anyone taking it would know what they are taking so by saying you werent careful in reading lables or just not know what you had been putting into your body is flat out BS.

It doesn’t look good for Palmeiro, if this is what he was taking then he openly lied to congress, his teammates, his family, and his fans. This of course is just my opinion, but still with what I have brought to the table how can you not question this guy now.

31 year old Harris Shines

Campillo got the start last night, and after giving up a double, completed his first inning of his first major league start. Something was wrong though. Team trainers along with Grover and BP hovered around the kid in the dugout after the first. Watching the Telecast you could clearly see Grover turn to BP and say, "Get someone up." So the call was placed.

Now imagine yourself in Harris's shoes. Your 31, you have been in baseball all your life. You have bounced around from minor league teams to independent leagues. All this time trying to realize a dream you have had since you were just a kid. Finally you get the call to pack your bags, your going to the show. Giddy as can be you hop on a plane and fly to Detroit to join the Seattle Mariners. You sit in the bullpen taking in the sights and sounds of a major league park. You've been before but it’s different now. Today you’re the ticket, you’re wearing the uniform and people are pulling for you to succeed.

Harris was happy just to be sitting there in the bullpen. Then it happened. Bullpen coach Jim Slaton hung the phone up turns to Harris, "Get up. You've got the next inning." At this point do you even have time to get nervous in a situation like that?
When asked about that Harris said "It all happened so fast, I didn't have time to think about it," and that is so true. He had a short top half of the second, which featured a Beltre blast to put the Mariners up one. Enter Harris. Sweat on his brow, butterflies in his stomach he methodically worked the bottom of the 2nd 1, 2, 3.

Harris proceeds then to go another 4 strong innings allowing 3 hits and no runs. 2 of the three hits came in the 3rd, which was his only trouble inning and by trouble I mean 2 on and 2 out, so nothing to terrible. The big key was that Harris threw strikes. He had zero walks, Meche, Joel did you watch that?? Zero Walks!! A fast worker he didn’t get intimidated by anyone. Firing strike after strike and letting his defense play. After all most of them he had played with before and you could tell he trusted them.

Upon compellation of the 6th inning in what was another 1,2,3 inning for the 31-year-old rookie, he received the quintessential pat on the ass from Grover and high fives around from his teammates. Had this happened at the Safe Harris would have left to a standing ovation on the first base line as he entered the Mariners dugout. A scene that surely would have given him chills. Harris left with not only a solid pitching performance but a 1-0 lead that gave him an opportunity to get his first win.

Mateo promptly let Pudge go opposite field in the leagues largest ballpark to tie the game. Opposite field................ It’s ok though Pudge is awesome and Mateo has been very solid all year long.

The youth movement paid off in the 8th as Reed lead the inning off with a single. Hansen then; still playing for the M's.........I sound myself asking where is Choo, and where is Dobbs, laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Reed to second. Reed then did a veteran like move and recognized that the third basemen was not at third. With no hesitation he rounded the bag at second and full of steam headed to 3rd. The throw from Shelton at first was wide and even with Reed over sliding the bag he was able to get his hand back to it in time before the tag of Rodriguez covering third in full catchers gear.

A walk next to Wiki put runners on the corners with 1 down. Up comes Yuniesky Betancourt, a miniature brick house. Yuniesky Promptly doubles in Reed to put the Mariners up 1 again. The tigers Walk Ichiro, and a pop up later brings my vote for Captain of the team to the plate, one Raul Ibanez. Raul did what he has done all year, deliver in the clutch. He singled in Wiki and Yuniesky Betancourt giving the Mariners all the runs they would need to pick up a well-deserved victory.

The youth are here and they are exciting to watch. Congratulations go out to MR. Harris for a Job well done, and at least this fan hopes you get another shot.

MY BOY FRANKY

ON ESPN JUST NOW 10:27 AM

"Seattle Mariners pitcher Ryan Franklin has failed a drug test and will receive a 10-day suspension under the terms of Major League Baseball's tougher steroids policy, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN.com.
Franklin
An official announcement from MLB is expected Tuesday afternoon.
MLB officials could not be reached to comment, and the Mariners wouldn't confirm news of the suspension. A representative of the Franklin-Frye-McCann agency, which represents Franklin, also declined to comment."


He is my Boy I back him more than anyone here..................words can't describe what I am feeling right now

Bill Bavasi Interview -- Felix Baby!!!

As I do every morning I listen to Mitch in the Morning on Sports Radio KJRAM. This morning they have Bill Bavasi and Mitch got right to the point. Where is Felix he asked. Bavasi replied with Campillo will start tonight, then Meche, Then Felix on Thursday. Mitch asked then if Felix would be with the team for the rest of the year to which he replied that was their intention with this move. As long as he is learning at the big league level he will remain here Bavasi said.

This is some good stuff, they went on to talk about the deals. Yorman Bazardo, the Marlins guy, is going to be a starter in Seattle. Bavasi said that there is an outside shot we could see him this year but most likely next year. The ceiling on this guy is huge and that is what Bavasi liked about him.

Next its the most intriguing deal, the one that included Foppert. They need to work with him but for now he is going to AAA and they are gonna begin stretching him out. Once he gets some arm strength he will be starting and the will go from there. He has a tremendous arm but mediocre control, I read Matt Thornten here, but lets hope they can work some magic.
He talked about Olivo, I don’t care about this he's gone that’s good.

Bavasi won’t talk about trades not made. He was adamant on this part which is unfortunate because I really wanted to know if the reported players from Houston were the actual ones. Chris Burke would have been a NICE PICKUP!!!! Anyway I love Jamie so I don’t fault him for exercising his right.

Palmeiro and steroids

Unless you were living under a rock that blocks out all baseball news, you know that Rafael Palmeiro has tested positive for a banned substance. Everyone is weighing in on this, so I think I will.

"When I testified in front of Congress, I know that I was testifying under oath and I told the truth," he said during a telephone conference call Monday. "Today I am telling the truth again that I did not do this intentionally or knowingly."

Accusing people of having taken steroids is a worthless conversation. Everyone has their ideas of who they think did and didn't but until now we haven't had any proof.

What's even more ridiculous about the steroid witch hunt is how easily some people have chosen to assume that people DIDN'T take steroids. Because Rafael Palmeiro pointed his finger and used a stern tone with Congress, he didn't take steroids. But because Mark McGwire avoided the question, and Sammy Sosa used a translator, they did. (By the way-what the hell was Curt Schilling doing at that hearing? I wish he'd shut up once in a while). Is it possible that Palmeiro is just a convincing liar? Haven't we all come across people like that in our lifetimes. Your college roomates who lied about eating your pizza? Your child who lied about where he was last night?

So now Palmeiro tests positive and says he never knowingly took a banned substance. If you are an athlete the caliber of Palmeiro, you know what you're taking. If you don't know, ask the trainer, the coach, someone on your team. If you truly care about making sure you are not taking banned substance, it is very easy to find out. I swam in college and we were able to find out if certain energy and protein drinks had banned substances. This is Major League Baseball, if you don't know what you're taking, it's your own fault if you get caught.

I don't believe Rafael Palmeiro for one second. He cheated. He got caught. He deserves what he's about to go through.

WOW stuff is going down!!!!

Sele..................GONE!!!!!!!!!!! On the heals of the trades the shake up in the mariner nation continues. Campillo is getting called up and it is widley speculated that King Felix is starting this thursday!!!! I am going to bar and I am going to take in every minute of his first start.

Rumors continue that the next shoot to kill shot fired by Bavasi is Shiggy. He could be gone as well by the end of the week. This is exciting stuff. Campillo is starting tomorrow and felix on thursday. Wow can't wait to see whats next.

Here is a tidbit from USSMariner:

"Before tomorrow’s game, the Mariners will recall Felix Hernandez, Jorge Campillo, and Jeff Harris from Tacoma. Aaron Sele, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and a third pitcher (unconfirmed right now, hearing several names) are going to be waived. Hernandez will start Thursday’s games, though will be limited to 80 pitches, and he may not stay in the rotation, as the team is going to be very careful with his workload. "

In other news...

The Mariners played a baseball game today. They lost 9-7 to the Indians.

Piniero was awful. Something is seriously wrong with him. Is he hurt? Will he ever get back to where he was pre-surgery? Is it mental?

George Sherril came in and pitched two strong innings. A lot of people of have wanted to see him up, and the Villone trade made that possible.

I am excited to see what the rest of this season will bring. Snelling will now get regular playing time now that Winn is gone (although he won't be up for a few days because he was just sent down), Olivo is gone so we'll see what happens at catcher, maybe Beltre will put up some consistent numbers.

Oh-and Felix is supposedly starting this Thursday at Detroit.

Winn Traded....and Olivo....and Villone

Randy Winn has been traded to the San Francisco Giants for Jesse Fopert and Yorvit Torrealba.

We'll get more details later, but Fopert was a top pitching prospect before Tommy John surgery. He's a young arm, so we'll see. Torrealba is a backup catcher.

UPDATE:

Miguel Olivio traded to the San Diego Padres for catcher Miguel Ojeda and reliever Nathanel Mateo.


So far, I think Bavasi has done pretty well. We'll give a more detailed reaction after all the dust has settled.

UPDATE:
The Mariners have dealt Ron Villone to Florida for Yorman Bazardo and Mike Flannery.



My general thought at this point is that Bavasi is building an army. Getting rid of Villone's contract is impressive.

Jim Caple

Mr. Caple, who wrote one of my favorite baseball books, "The Devil Wears Pinstripes" has a wonderful article on Ichiro found on this link, check it out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=ichiro

Game 101 Indians 6 Mariners 5

I decided to write the most boring recap ever.

Migeul Olivo homered. The ball went really far.
Gil Meche left early with shoulder tightness. I bet that hurts.
Yuniesky Betancourt tripled in his first major league at bat. That's really neat.
The Mariners used 6 pitchers. Boy, that sure is a lot of pitchers.
The Mariners scored 3 runs in the seventh to tie. The Indians won though. Shucks.

What is that man wearing?

Here he is folks. Jeff Clement. The future of the Mariners. I compare him to Mike Piazza, but left-handed, without a mustache, not peddling shampoo-conditioner hybrids, and not a total tool.

But more importantly, this is the first uniform the poor kid had to wear in professional baseball.

The Richie Sexson Show

Two bombs in last nights win. The first of which was a mammoth upper deck shot to left field. It is bombs like that, that really make you believe this guy could hit one out of the Safe itself. The second shot was really impressive as well as Richie went out deep to right center. He had fouled off several pitches and finally went with one the other way.

Secondly Moyer was really solid, in what could be his last start as a Mariner?!?! I doubt that but he shut the tigers down for 8 innings. Jamie has been solid pretty much all year, which is great and sad at the same time. You like to see Jamie Excel but at the same time you long for that guy to be Joel or Gil and not Jamie.

Back to the game, the Tigers dropped a routine fly ball that cost them three runs, which sort of summed up their game last night. They never really were in the game. Marroth didn’t have good stuff. He was out of the strike zone all night.

It was just good to see a win.

On a side note, this morning like I always do I listen to Mitch in the morning on KJRAM. They had a Twins beat reporter on who said in his opinion Brett Boone will not be with the twins after the trade deadline; not because he was traded but because he had been out right released. It is really sad to see this happen to Brett, his demise was fast and you really like to see a player go out with at least some dignity.

Any new trade news? No, I just have this feeling that they are going to stand pat. I don’t know why I feel that way but I do. Please prove me wrong......................

****************************EDIT*******************************

The USSMARINER is reporting something from the tacoma news tribune that I found really interesting, discuss

"The News Tribune also is the only paper that made it public that Felix Hernandez is going to start for the Rainiers on Saturday, after working out of the bullpen in scheduled relief appearances since his return from his bout with “bursitis”. Saturday is Bobby Livingston’s turn in the rotation, but he was assigned to Everett’s roster to make room for Jorge Campillo, who made his return to Tacoma yesterday.

Now, it may be a bit confusing as to why Livingston got sent to Everett, but its an on-paper move only, a way to clear a roster spot for a few days. A roster spot will reopen for Livingston this weekend when Felix Hernandez is recalled from Tacoma and joins the Mariner bulllpen. Saturday’s start is Felix’s last with Tacoma. He’ll go back to pitching scheduled relief appearances for the M’s during August, and then make several starts in September. "

Incredible.

Lookout Landing says Snelling has been sent down for Dave Hansen. Good god-WHY?!

Travis and I were talking the other day and figured that the M's would stand pat at the deadline. As much as the non-moves of 2001-2003 pissed me off, I think that could take it to another level. There are certain, very tradeable, players on this team that aren't going to be any part of a successful run in the future. This Snelling move really makes me wonder whether they are going to make a move. Let's make it clear-I am a HUGE Randy Winn fan, but there are some major holes on this team that could be patched (not filled) by moving him. Moves need to made in order to improve the organization. Snelling has earned his chance to see what he can do with regular playing time in the bigs. I just can't believe they did this. WHAT IS THE POINT OF DAVE HANSEN BEING ON THIS TEAM?!!?!?

Okay that's enough venting for now. Prove me wrong Bavasi.

Catcher In My Pocket

The Mariners have announced they've signed their first round draft pick, catcher Jeff Clement, out of the University of Southern California.

The details of the contract have not been revealed. A press conference will be held today at 1 p.m. at Safeco Field.

I say assign him to the AquaSox today, then promote him to the big club to start tonight.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Game 98: Mariners 5 Tigers 3

When the Mariners signed Richie Sexson this past winter, I was definitely excited. As long as he stayed healthy, the M's would finally have the prototypical cleanup hitter that had been missing since the late 90s. He had 40 HR, 120 RBI potential. But, I felt like he alone wouldn't make the Mariners lineup scary. There was already some speed with Ichiro and Winn, and some decent power in Ibanez. All we needed was a good #3 hitter. Someone who would put up great all-around hitting numbers the way Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, ARod, etc. do. Basically, Sexson with a higher batting average. When the Mariners signed Adrian Beltre, I thought we had that.

Here was a 25-year old who had just come off one of the greatest seasons by a third baseman in history. Some people called it a fluke. But Beltre was someone who had always been talked about as having stud potential, and I felt like he had finally reached that potential. He was approaching his prime years, and it was going to be fun to watch. Needless to say, 2005 has been a disappointment.

But not last night. Last night was what the Mariners shelled out all that money for in the offseason. BelSextreson went back-to-back in the third inning last night, giving Ryan Franklin all the run support he needed. (OK well that's not true, it took a few more hits later in the game, including and RBI single from Beltre and JJ Putz got the win, but whatever). When the M's spent over $100 million in a two-day span in December, it was for July 25th. Without a doubt.

Will there be more to come?

What A Road Trip

Another loss to complete a masterful 1 and 5 road trip. There isn’t much to say about this game. I watched the later innings when the mariners gave the game away. I three run bomb moved the game out of reach for our Hometown nine. Hitting on this tripe started out great but as the trip moved on I saw a lot of 4 hit or less games, or at least I feel that way.

What can we say, Beltre hit a HR, Sexson is still the MVP on offense on this team. Morse needs some Defense work but still hits like a machine. Yawn lets get some excitement.
I really am bummed about this team of late, I am hopeful though that a trade will be made to better the mariner's Future. There is no way we can get pavano for winn, don’t even kid yourselves. But prospects would be nice. This morning on KJRAM they are going over how the mariners worry about their image and how that is going to hurt them in the long run. They may feel to loyal to certain players to do what is best for the team.

I just long for the old days, the miracles that happened. Long Win streaks, high offense, great pitching. The town was abuzz with mariner pride. I remember when John Keister, the host of our Local "Almost Live" Show, came out in a mariners Jersey. At one point would have been considered a joke to start of the Comedy show but instead he was fired up and the crowd gave a standing ovation, hooting and hollering, Pumping their fists and High fiveing each other reminiscent of the Hive Fiving White Guys. Where have those days gone?? Its hard not to get fired up for the days of old, but that’s the problem, I can get fired up for the days of old, but I cannot for what lies ahead. The luster is gone, but hopefully Mariner nation can somehow bring it back.

I really don’t want them to overpay for a guy, but perhaps teams will overpay us. There really isn’t a guy out there that makes me think wow if we can snag him.....fill in the blank. Right now there are a bunch of Jeff Suppans, and guys like that. Not someone I think the mariners need.

Hop on the Trade Rumor Bus

Everybody in! We're going to take a wild ride on the Trade Rumor Bus over the next 6 days. From todays' Seattle Times:

"Yet, Winn going to the Yankees remains an intriguing possibility. What would Seattle get in return?
One guess is pitcher Carl Pavano, who is on the disabled list but someone the Mariners had great interest in as a free agent last winter."

Very interesting. I wasn't too fired up about Pavano in the offseason, but to get him for Winn would be a good deal I think.
Pavano is 29, and had his best season in 2004 (18-8, 3.00 ERA, 222.1 IP) which made him a lot of money this past offseason. I still don't think he's worth what he's making, but maybe the Yankees would agree to pay part of the deal. Looking at the M's starting pitching situation for 2006, Pavano might be a good move.

Also, Travis brought up the rumor he heard of Meche to the White Sox a few posts back. Jayson Stark had mentioned Jose Contreras and prospects. The White Sox are being mentioned by Peter Gammons and others as being involved in the AJ Burnett sweepstakes. The name being mentioned the most is BrandonMcCarthy. If McCarthy were one of the prospects that the M's could get in return for Meche, I would like that deal. He is the White Sox top pitching prospect, and has been called up at least once already this year. It's unlikely that McCarthy is one of the prospects that would come along with Contreras, but it'd be very nice.

Anyway, none of these rumors may come to fruition, but it's fun to talk about. Especially after that pathetic road trip.