Friday, February 17, 2006

Rafael Chaves-Visionary?

So it seems the M's new 38-year old pitching coach has it all figured out. He'll be taking a revolutionary approach to improve the M's staff. He's going to have the pitchers....wait for it.....throw strikes. Wow. Where has this guy been?

Just kidding Rafael II. I'm excited to see what he can do. There was something from that article that bugged me though:

Former Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price also was a stickler for throwing first-pitch strikes. But when he realized late last season that the congregation wasn't listening to the preacher, he decided to turn the job over to someone else.

I don't know if I buy the whole "they stopped listening to him" thing. You don't just stop listening to a guy. Either they never listened to him, or they actually suck. Are you telling me Leo Mazzone didn't say the same things over and over in Atlanta? Seemed to work there.

7 comments:

  1. Maybe the M's staff was getting tired of Price saying the same old things over and over. Maybe they needed to listen to him just the same! Anyway, maybe Chaves can help a couple of them get turned around. I'm also excited about seeing what he can do, particularly with Meche, Pineiro and Thornton.

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  2. I still feel not keeping price was a bad idea. If the pitchers were not listening to him then I say get rid of the pitchers not a guy who coached a pitching staff to over 300 wins in 3 years. I think that will come back to bite the mariners in the ass. I mean seriously how many times have we heard that the fate of the season rests on the performances of Joel and Gil. Maybe its time for them to go? I dunno I am a big Joel fan so I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

    Anyway I am happy with our new guy keeping the talent in house and all. Now if we can just get rid of Grover.

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  3. I agree Big Daddy. At this point it's on Joel and Gil whether or not they are going to be successful.

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  4. Anonymous6:33 PM

    Let's watch Mazzone carefully in B'more this year--was he brilliant or how much does it help to have Glavine,Smoltz,Maddux as your pupils--maybe Big Daddy is on to somehting --can't hold on forever to prospects,at some point they have to produce and do it consistently..but Joe Mama is really exciting me --a strong ,active catcher can kick some butt

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  5. Mazzone definitely had talent. But I think the true measure of how good he is were guys like Russ Ortiz, Jaret Wright, Paul Byrd, etc. who had their best years in Atlanta.

    Johjima! I've been enjoying the articles about him. He deserves a post soon.

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  6. That sucks if that is true, and if you are the Jason Churchill I know of then I am going to take your word for it. Price I thought was a really good coach but you make a valid point, when they hear it over and over it could get old. As a fan of the team and one who follows them closely it seems to me though if they were tired of hearing what price said maybe instead of tuning it out a better plan would have been to oh I dunno IMPLEMENT WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO TEACH THEM?? Time will tell on this staff this year. I’d like to see more guys get a crack at the rotation.

    Jason can you maybe post a little update on what you know of Travis Blackely's progress. I had always heard he was a young Jamie Moyer esc pitcher. I Actually attended his first major league start and as I recall he pitched rather well. What’s his status/progress?

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  7. Interesting perspective Jason. Thanks for your insights!

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