Mariner Magic - Refusing to Lose

I'm concerned, but kinda not

2010-05-06T16:03:00.001-07:00

Coming into this season, my general attitude was hope that the pitching and defense could keep the M's in the race until the trading deadline, when Jacky Z would go get some help on offense. I figured the offense would be the weak point, but would be improved from last year. Well, yikes. This offense is baaaaaaaad. Bad dude. Bad. But, amazingly, the M's are still only 3 games out in the West.

Oh, snap! As I write this, it looks like Saunders is on his way up. Ok, I like it.

Alright this post is crap and not finished. I should probably not publish it but I need to go and the Magic needs some fresh verbiage.

Game One In the Books

2010-04-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

There is a lot to talk about after opening day so let’s get right to it. First off the cynical side of me thought for sure they were going to blow it when Oakland tied it up. But this is a new team, they have a new dynamic, it was the other side of me that thought hey if they can just get one of the bottom three on then the top of the order is going to roll around and they will have a chance. Sure enough they get a walk from Robo Rob and that rolled the order over which turned out to be the difference.

Let’s discuss a few of the new parts. Kotchman was outstanding. Lookout landing tweeted a blanket statement about him and it really rings true. They said simply “Kotchman saves runs”. That is so true he looks great at first digging low throws, adjusting to wide ones, and snagging grounders. This is a small sample of what this guy can do however I for one was really impressed with what I saw. Of course Kotchman will be talked most about today for his bat. Rightfully so he did everything you could ask of him hitting in the three hole and let’s be honest he was jobbed out of a third hit on a ball which was clearly trapped. He was great all around last night and I am excited to see what he can bring to the team over the year.

I would like to also talk about Figgans. He didn’t get a hit last night but he was on base 3 different times and when on base he completely took the pitcher out of their game, Sheets especially looked so uncomfortable with Figgans on base. He stole two bags and on each steal he made Suzuki make two bad throws which allowed Figgans to get to third and score. Let’s also not forget he legged out that grounder in the 9^th which also forced an errant throw. He was fantastic; the combination of Ichiro and Figgans at the top of this order is simply going to fun to watch all year long.

Felix was dominant at times, he did walk a bunch of guys but I honestly feel you could erase a bunch of those due to the umpire simply not giving him a low strike. You can look at this as the umpire costing him or you could say after 3 innings of not getting the call perhaps Felix and Rob should have adjusted their game plan to match that of the umpire. Either thought is fine I think I preferred them to stick with throwing it low and trying to get the call since almost every bit of contact was a grounder of some kind. Keep the ball on the ground with this defense and you’re going to win.

Lots of people didn’t like brining Sean White in was Wak’s first mistake of the year. I agree with Baker on this though that if you think Sean White is good enough to be in the pen then he is good enough to be put in that situation. That being said I think Felix had enough to get one more hitter.

Couple last things, Lopez looked pretty decent at third. He made a great double play where the ball was hit shapely to him and he ran to the bag and threw cross body to Kotchman at first to complete the play. If he can just be good enough at third this is all going to work out.

I know I kind of bullet pointed around in this post but all things said this was a solid opening day, and a sign of good things to come. The moved runners along and got some clutch hits, pitched really well and played absolutely lights out defense. I am excited for game two tonight!

Ben Sheets? ...Uh, good luck dude.

2010-04-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the rest of our Mariner Magic lives. Breathe it in.

No commentary needed, only the necessary information to enjoy this occasion:

Ben Sheets will take the mound at 7:05pm Pacific. Why does he bother? I'm not sure he even knows.
Felix, King of Mariners will take the mound some period of time after that.
Here is our our lineup, via Shannon Drayer:

RF Ichiro
2B Chone Figgins
1B Casey Kotchman
LF Milton Bradley
DH Ken Griffey Jr.
3B Jose Lopez
CF Franklin Gutierrez
C Rob Johnson
SS Jack Wilson

There you have it. May that lineup be remembered as the seminal list of an amazing season of baseball.

I won't bother posting Oakland's lineup. Frankly, I don't know it and I have to get to class. And does their lineup even matter? It's Felix.

See you after class. Get out at 7pm, and I will be scurrying to the nearest TV, unaware of the unsuspecting people I trample on the way.

Until then...

Fake Opening Day

2010-04-05T13:30:00.001-07:00

As you all know, last night was Fake Opening Day. I'm not a fan of the senseless glorification of those two teams -- as if we don't know who they are and need a reminder.

I was not able to catch any of the game last night, but I'm pretty sure it looked something like this:

This is one of the most horrifying images I've ever seen. I don't think I even need to comment. I'll only say that when I saw this picture, I looked something like this. This picture makes me very sad...

In other, less-visually-disturbing news, today is the real deal, non-fake Opening Day. Really, it's Mariners Opening Day! I've been waiting for this day, in a toe-tapping frenzy, since about mid-September. The King will take the mound in a few hours. Can you stand it?! I can't. I feel jittery from excitement.

Opening Day lineups and other nonsense coming soon.

"Roll a new love over"

2010-02-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

-Adam Duritz, Counting Crows

Let's face it. After 2001, the aughts were pretty awful years for us, Mariner Magic faithful. Not a magical decade. There were 93 wins apiece in '02 and '03, but there were no playoffs and no energy -- we were still reeling from that spirit-killing, disheartening ALCS in '01. The triple-whammy of losing Randy, Griffey and A-Rod began to set in. The 116 wins had allowed us to forget the superstars for a little while. But then Lou left too. And Edgar retired in '04. I was there, I cried a little. The team felt empty. The last of the Mariner Mountains was gone, and we were left with... Bob Melvin? No. Not even Bo-Mel would be around to save us.

The second half of the dark decade was marred by the Bill Bavasi and Mike Hargrove parade of stupid. Their stubborn ineptitude brought into question the ownership's intentions and sanity. Bavasi, Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong became symbolic co-captains of the Good Ship Mariner, now rudderless, and crashing repeatedly onto the rocks at Alki with each tsunami wave of choices.

Rightfully, we called for their heads. Rich Aurilia and Scott Spiezio? Ramon Santiago? Horacio Ramirez? A dude named "Yorvit"? What the hell is a "Wiki Gonzalez"? Seriously. Later there would be Jose "DH" Vidro, and Carlos "Hamburglar" Silva. The list of characters is long.

And for every eyebrow-raising acquisition, another real Mariner wandered out Safeco's gates scratching his head. Magic favorite, Rafael Ninja Soriano went poof. Belltown bosom buddies Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen were forced to suffer through a tearful breakup -- they just couldn't do the distance thing. Jamie Moyer went away to win a World Series. Kaz-Man Sasaki? ...Well, we're still unclear on what happened there. But even Kazu's perpetual schoolboy grin could not endure this hope-shredding, soul-crushing era.

Don't get me wrong, I still loved the Mariners. I was no less a fan. But being a fan almost felt like a chore. Aside from getting my Felix fix every fifth, watching the team play became an exercise in excruciation. Even the good players got into the act. Worse than watching Richie Sexson's decline was witnessing Yuni's transformation from a sparkling Gold Glove into a little ball of goo rolling around on the infield dirt.

It was enough to make even the most loyal Mariner Magician drop his wand and cast a slew of crass four-letter curses at the TV.

I don't think I realized just how pessimistic and jaded I had become during that period of baseball until I went to Mariners Fanfest this past weekend, and noticed that not a single sniff of Bavasi's swirling sewer of decisions remained. No more Hamburglar. No more Yuni. No more maddening Morrow, or positionless Clement. Batista? Nowhere to be found. I could only smell Figgins' snazzy cologne. And hot dogs. And that was heartening.

That's where Duritz's lyrics come in. We've been invested in this team all along, but the time has come to really love the Mariners again. Without having to peer through squinty eyes, afraid to watch.

The past year has been like taking a bath -- loving the Mariners doesn't feel dirty anymore. Does that make sense? It's time to love them like we loved them when Junior was 26. Like we loved them when The Unit shouted down a victim, and his sweat-soaked curls clung proudly to his pelican-like neck. Back when Edgar made the Dome's outfield walls look like his own personal pinball machine. Our baseball innocence has been restored. So roll a new love over, Magic.

The cast of the next great Mariners team is beginning to take shape. They aren't all here yet, but soon enough. You know the headliners by their first names. Felix and Ichiro and Cliff. Franklin and Chone. Supporting roles are played by flamethrowers Aardsma, League, and Lowe, and a left fielder who can actually hit -- and who also manufactures a nifty line of boardgames. Jack Wilson is standing in for Little O. There's an Australian southpaw, and a pudgy yet friendly-looking Venezuelan at ~~second~~ third base. Heck, even Papa Griff is around to lend a hand and a homer or two. Or 50.

Some of the cast will surely shift and change, but most of the headliners are here to stay. Finally. This feels like the genesis of something pretty cool.

Walking around at Fanfest with a favorite album piping through my earbuds, I smiled just as I did when I took the pre-opening tour back in 1999. The energy was back at the Safe, and it was only January. This team feels fresh. It might not feel this way for long, but it's a good feeling, and I'm going to ride it.

Who's with me? Magic, I know you're out there. Time to grease the wheels. Let's get our Mariner train rollin'. I know we're a little rusty, but October isn't too far down the tracks.

Not sure if you've heard. The aughts are over. Amen.

[I think August and Everything After by Counting Crows is the most timeless album I own. Beginning to end, it never gets old. It would feel weird to say out loud, but with a gun to my head and forced to choose just one album, August... would probably be it. Dig it out if you have it.]

Hi there

2010-02-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

We are trying to bring the Magic back. Don't hold your breath.

This entry, as well as Mike's Twitter alert below, are a little buffer to fill space, and build some needed momentum. Please click the link below to enjoy one of the many Magic-al moments of 2009 below:

Suck it, Rivera.

Was it really snowing? I don't remember that. If so, dang. That's even more awesome.

P.S. Did you know that you can download 1995 Game 5 for $1.99 in iTunes, and own it forever and ever? You totally can. I can't imagine I've ever spent a better two dollars.

The Magic is on Twitter

2010-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

And tweeting a lot. Check us out. Posts will come. They will come.

The re-birth is coming.....

2010-01-03T18:27:00.001-08:00

Who will bear witness?

One month Down

2009-04-30T11:32:00.001-07:00

So let’s be honest here. Who among us expected the Mariners in the first month of the season to go 13-9. I will stand at the front fo that line. There was no way I thought that would have been possible. This has been a pleasant surprise and I hope that they can continue this streak.

Let’s take a moment to talk about that for thought. Can they continue this streak? Well I would argue that they might very well be able to. First it’s obvious that the offense can be, and has been at times, awful. Let’s also agree that it cannot get much worse than it has been at its bleakest points this year. You have to assume that guys like Ichiro, Beltre, and Lopez will come around and hit for their normal averages. So that being said you have to expect the offense is going to get better, maybe it is only going to be marginally better, but better none the less. What this means I don't know. Maybe a run or two a game? Maybe less. But the fact is it will get better.

The pitching has really been nothing short of superb. Felix and Bedard have been lights out, Bedards start yesterday was not a great one but he gutted it out for 5 innings tried to go six but he just didn’t have his good stuff. But with those two at the top of the rotation you have streak starters and stoppers. The last part of our rotation is interesting; Silva is a great clubhouse guy but not a great starter. I realize the M's are stuck with him and his absurd contract so lets just hope that he can gut out 5-6 innings a start with 3-4 runs each time. That could result in a .500 record in his starts and I would take that. Washburn you just have to hope he can pitch like he has in the beginning of this season up to the trade deadline. Keep that rolling and lets get something decent for him at the deadline.

Jakubauskas is an interesting guy. He has been pretty solid, other than the bad Game against Tampa that Pete and I had the pleasure of freezing though along with Dozens of other fans. He keeps you in the game which is all you can ask for from a 5th starter. Ideally I would like him to replace Silva in the rotation with RWS comes back but all indications are that the battle is between Jakubauskas and RWS. It's unfortunate but true. Perhaps after the trade deadline we can get both these guys regular spots in the rotation.

The point of all this is that the rotation has kept you in ball games and as long as they can do that this team can win.

There was a post on Geoff Bakers blog the other day about the team defense metric. It was really interesting. This team leads the league in errors however that is not a good way to show how good this team D is. This team has the ability to get to more balls than anyone else in the league. The ground the outfield can cover is nothing short of insane. Beltre is such a good defensive 3rd basemen. The plays he makes on a regular basis are fantastic. It is going to be sad when the day comes that he is no longer a mariner, and I believe that day is coming.

The team is winning on its pitching and Defense which is exactly what Jack said he was building the team for. Pitching can be up and down but defense is a pretty stable commodity. The hopes of this season will rest on this Rotations ability to continue to keep this team in games. The offense will get better and the defense will continue to run everything that is hit down. All that rotation needs to do is keep it close and see more winning months.

Back to work now, I have rambled enough.

One last note a few years back mike and I did a post about which the mariners should go get. We both posted a young talent and stated why they mariners should go get him. I posted Zach Grienke, this kid really has put it all together. How great would he look along with Felix and Bedard……

Has the Magic Returned?

2009-04-16T10:31:00.001-07:00

Is it time to get excited for this team? I am admittedly one who jumps way ahead of things and gets overly pumped up about minor details. But am I way off base here? They are a grass field away from being 8-1 to start the year! 7-2 is freaking incredible considering what happened last year. This team is fun to watch again, and you can tell just from their demeanor that everyone on that bench is having a good time. I even saw a clip from last nights game where Griffey was sitting with Silva and Bedard and Bedard was not only smiling but laughing with teammates. I was shocked!

This has been a great beginning ride and I hope they can continue. There are things we could pick apart, like how Endy Chavez is not going to hit .400 for the season, Washburn is not going to have a sub 3 era and pitch deep into every ballgame. Our bullpen is not going to continue to get away with walking 2 batters an inning and get out of it like they did two nights ago.

But for now I say forget all that lets enjoy this! Baseball is back and its fun to watch again!

Seriously?

2009-02-12T10:06:00.001-08:00

Is this really happening?

I was really prepared to write seriously about baseball this season. This could get silly in hurry.

Truth or Dare: if you had to make out with a male professional athlete, who would it be?

[Note: This T or D scenario may or may not have some foundation in fact come April. Stay tuned.]

Why steroids prove MLB is better than the NFL

2009-02-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

I'm not surprised by the reaction to A-Rod (no I'm not going to link to any A-Rod stories because you know what the hell I'm talking about). Dave Cameron has developed a new metric for the absurd reactions of the media, and he's absolutely right. The sports media is what it is. Much like anything with the media nowadays, it's not about reporting the news, it's about being obnoxious. So, it's pretty much par for the course that this A-Rod thing would be the end of the world.

But, every time this steroids stuff gets brought up, I think about how baseball is treated differently. People proclaim that they're done with baseball. (By the way, google is great.) Or that football is America's new pasttime. Really? What about Shawne Merriman? Or entire Super Bowl teams? Or the great football dynasties? Why does football get a free pass?

I'll tell you why. Because baseball is better. People get up in arms over this because baseball is more interesting than football. Scandals like this are part of baseball's fabric. Baseball is interesting. The stadiums are all different. Guys like Jim Bottomley and Mark Whiten have major records. The championship clinching game takes three days. There are all sorts of interesting stats.

The NFL? Sure, it's okay. I love the Seahawks and watch every Sunday. But it's robotic, corporate, and antiseptic (no I don't really know what made choose antiseptic but something seems right about that word). And it's just not as interesting as baseball. (For what it's worth, this is also why I think college football is better than the NFL).

So when people say they are done with baseball, I say good. Go away. I'll still love the game because this is what is. It's not perfect. It's a screwy sport and I like it that way.

In other words...yay steroids!!

Vindication

2009-02-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'll keep this appropriately brief.

If there was any remaining doubt, the issue has been cleared up this weekend. Without argument or debate, let the record show...

The greatest baseball player over the past 20 years is Ken Griffey Jr.

Drink it in. Long live The Kid.

Back In Action!!

2009-02-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

Football is over, and that is a good thing. That superbowl was not good for any Seattle fan. Lets hope that this year, 2009, will be better than 2008. It has to be right? Look at what went down in 08'

The mariners trade away their top offensive prospect in Adam Jones, a highly touted young arm in Chris Tillman and just to salt it up a bit more they toss in George Sherrill who ended up having a very solid season as the birds closer. Now I was for this trade when it happened. Bedard was a front end lefty starter who in this park I felt could really explode. That didn't really happen as we all know. I would like to think he just was hurt and that against the teams better judgment hid this injury for longer than he should have. I want to believe that, I need to. But the fact remains this guy is just a pain in the ass. I listen to a lot of his interviews and I just don't get how he can act the way he does. Listen up Eric your getting paid millions of dollars to play a game for a living. Giving interviews is PART OF THE DEAL. If you don't like it your more than welcome to come back to the real world and work a 9-5 job in front of a computer all day where you don't have to have conversations with random people about how your fastball felt today.

Sexson went even further into the tank and ended up being released. People really gave him a hard time and I was one of them. But he did have a few decent years here before he just "lost it". That happens to players and its sad to see it go, we here in Seattle have seen it however all too much.

Both Manager and GM were asked to leave. Bavasi made some bad moves, but hind sight is 20-20. I don't think there were many of us out there who were not ecstatic over the Sexson and Beltre Signings. I remember when mike and I met Bavasi at a steak house after a spring training game in which both beltre and sexson played. My exact words to him "You have made two life long M's fans so happy!"

Those signings where huge at the time. Mcleran is a nice guy and a great coach, I don't know if Manager fits him, but we gave it a shot and he just couldn't control the club house. Oh and lets not forget that they still ahve yet to sign Josh Fields, who by many accounts is Major League ready and we may have traded our closer......

Anyway as we all know the Mariners had a rough year, battling it out for the top pick which they had locked up until for whatever reason they decided to win like 3 of their last 4 games, yeah great job.

But this is all the past lets look to the Future.

Jack Zduriencik is awesome, I had no idea who he was when he was hired but man I love what he is doing. Stock piling young left handed arms that remain under team control for foreseeable future. Also revamping the defense, so far it would appear that not many balls are going to get down in that outfield and that will be a nice change.

My concern is where will the offense come from. I love the front half of our potential rotation in Felix, Bedard, and Morrow. I'd love it if Rowland-Smith made the 4th spot and let the two pieces of garbage, Washburn and Silva, battle it out for the 5th spot. How about Don Wakamatsu flips a coin each 5th day, heads Washburn starts tails Silva.

Anyway with the front half being so good its fair to say we could see a lot 4 run games or less from them. The challenge will be how will this team score more than 4 runs on any given night let alone a run at all? This needs to be addressed and I don't know how. In fact I don't see how this year. Good thing this is a re-building year.

I'll end with this, everyone hope and pray for Bedard. I want us all to will him to a dominating 1st half. Then if the mariners can dump him for 75 cents on the dollar of what they gave up.... Just remember who the Marlins got for Josh Beckett...........Hanley Ramirez. We can only dream though.

Just a few thoughts as we are only days away from Pitchers and Catchers reporting to camp!

Baseball's back!

2008-04-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Is there a better day than Opening Day? I don't think so. Especially when you're in grad school and don't have class until 4:40 PM and can watch real and fantasy baseball all day. I think when I do get a job again I'm taking Opening Day off every year.

I won't write a recap of Game 1. Go to Lookout Landing for that. Most important thing to take from Jeff's writeup:

Jim Joyce's strike zone wasn't helping matters, either. But this is the take-home message: on an off-day during which he struggled with his command, Erik Bedard allowed one run on five innings. He got a bunch of swinging strikes, kept the ball on the ground, and wasn't letting the hitters get good swings. This was an off-day. If for whatever reason you're still kind of skeptical about what Erik Bedard's going to bring to the team, get over it and hop on the wagon.

Bedard will be fine. The offense? That's going to be painful to watch at times this year. But, I did like that they drew seven walks and that Jose Lopez had the big hit. If the M's want to contend for anything, Lopez is one of the guys that needs to step up.

Felix tonight which makes me happy. What does not make me happy is that it doesn't start until 10 PM on the East Coast and I have to get up early tomorrow.

1-0! First place!

Bedard

2008-02-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time folks. A long time. I wanted to wait until this trade was official, and it finally looks like it is. Erik Bedard is a Mariner. And I think that's cool. But, I don't think I like this trade. I know
Lookout Landing doesn't, and I know USS Mariner doesn't. And I know they know more about baseball than I do. But, I don't need an expert understanding of the game to see why this trade wasn't a good idea. Erik Bedard is awesome. He's filthy. Nasty. Sick. Pitches well. But not worth your best prospect, best left-handed reliever, and three other prospects. And even if he is worth all of that, he's not worth it to the M's. This trade has been hashed and rehashed, prehashed, then hashed again so I don't want to go on and on about it. But, here are my reasons, in brief, why I'm not a fan of this trade:

1. The Mariners aren't an Erik Bedard away from competing with Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, or Anaheim. This isn't like the Sox trading Hanley Ramirez to get Josh Beckett. The lineup is terrible, the outfield defense is going to be bad, and now the bullpen takes a hit. Plus, the rest of the rotation is mediocre at best.

2. The timing makes no sense. Why trade Jones now? One thing Bavasi has done pretty well is build up the farm system. Jones is ready, Clement and Balentin are close, and Morrow is at least contributing in the bullpen. So why send away all this young talent when it's on the verge of makin an impact? I didn't like Stand Pat Gillick's non-moves in the summers 2001-2003, but I think this is the other end of the spectrum.

Ok, that's really it. It's not that I don't like Erik Bedard. I think he's the best player Bavasi has signed or traded for. I think Bedard and Felix at the top of the rotation is going to be amazing. If the M's find a way to make it to the playoffs, Bedard and Felix with Putz waiting in the bullpen? Incredible, no doubt. But, I just don't think they're going to make it that far. Unless, of course, they decide to move Morrow, Clement and Balentin to get a big bat or two. I hope I'm wrong and Bedard and Felix are co-MVPs of the World Series this year, but we'll see.

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate the trade. I mean Bavasi's done worse. A lot worse. And I'm really excited that we have Erik Bedard on our side. But, I'm not sold on this as being a good idea.

Thoughts loyal three readers?

At the break....

2007-07-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Up until I was 17, my best and favorite subject in school was math. I owned math. It was never hard, it was fun, and it all made sense. But then came my senior year in high school. That's when I met AP Calculus. I had done well in math every year and assumed it would continue. In fact, I figured my major in college would have something to do with math. And for the first month or so of that class, things remained the same. I remember understanding limits really well and I'm pretty sure I got an A on the first test. But then things abruptly changed. We had to write a paper in math. The rest of the semester when something like C on that paper, and nothing above a D on anything else. My final grade for that semester was a D. For the first time in my life I had to drop a class because it was too hard for me. Sure, senioritis had something to do with it, but I was really just in over my head.

I'm hoping the second half of the 2007 baseball season isn't to the Seattle Mariners what AP Calculus was to me. They've had a great first half, and every time I think they've come back to reality, they've proved me wrong. Two and a half out in the West, and a game and half back in the Wild Card. I think they can stay in it, but I also thought I could handle AP Calculus.

Let's check in on what I said at the beginning of the season:

3 REASONS FOR HOPE

1. The King-Well, he's been amazing, injured, and inconsistent. But, thanks to the power of blogging, he has looked much better lately. The M's are going to need him to be an ace in the second half.

2.Infield Defense-
Did I really say that?

3.A pretty solid lineup
The M's third in the AL in batting average, sixth in OBP, eighth in runs scored, eigthe in SLG, tenth in HR, LAST in walks, and LAST in strikeouts. Hmmm. Looking at that, the M's offense hasn't been all that impressive.

3 REASONS YOU'LL BE COUNTING THE DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL SEASON

1. The gruesome foursome. Eh, not bad I guess. Weaver was atrocious but has turned in around. Batista has his moments. But they still need another pitcher if they are going to stay in this.

2. Mike Hargrove and Bill Bavasi. Mike Hargrove quit. That was weird. Bill Bavasi-well Jose Vidro as "DH" hasn't really worked. The pitchers have been okay. But, I'll judge Bavasi based on what he does at the deadline.

3. Jose. I'm fine with Guillen and Lopez, but Vidro has to go.

So, now what? I don't think the Mariners are good enough as they are right now to keep up with Boston, Anaheim, Detroit, and Cleveland. So, some changes need to happen. I'd like to hear what the loyal 4 readers have to say about that.

Check out Dave Cameron's suggestions. They mkae some sense and can all be done without bringing anyone in from the outside.

Aw.....

2007-07-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

Crap.

From the M's official site:

Ryan Feierabend couldn't get comfortable against the Royals

Feierabend (L, 1-3) 1.1 IP, 8 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 2 HR

Ya think?

Let the Buerhle rumblings begin...

2007-07-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

Okay, maybe not technically begin. I'm sure it's been brought up before. But, Dave at USSMariner has brought up the Mark Buehrle trade talk. And I'm pretty sure I agree with him. Buerhle had a rough year in 2006, and I was thinking he may be on the decline, but, as Dave points out, he's bounced back this year. Maybe he's playing for contract and will regress again next year, but whatever-the M's probably won't re-sign him anyway.

By the way, does re-sign need to have a hyphen? I think so, because otherwise it becomes resign. Mike Hargrove resigned from his position as Mariners manager. Will the Mariners re-sign Ichiro? AAAAAAAANYWAY....

The most important point that Dave makes is this:

The Mariners wouldn’t be trading a package of prospects for three months of Mark Buehrle. The Mariners would be trading a package of prospects for three months of Mark Buehrle and another package of prospects.

If you're worried about giving up prospects for half a season from one guy, the draft pick compensation from those lost prospects should make you feel a little better. And the fact is, you never know what you're going to get out of prospects. I was pretty excited about the Freddy Garcia trade when it went down, but it's turned out to be a complete flop. The M's won't trade Adam Jones, so I say go for it.

Plus, I just made a trade to get Buerhle on my fantasy team, so making him a Mariner would give me double reason to root for the guy.

Thoughts on Buerhle from the 4 loyal Magic readers?

Alright, Alright

2007-07-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'll post already. The M's keep winning, telling me I need to write about them. The blog has been pretty slow as I was moving from here to here I realize the only people still reading this blog are the administrators, my parents, and hopefully snave, but there's too much to talk about.

When a team has three crapbag seasons in a row, and comes into the season with Jeff Weaver and Horacio Ramirez as anchors of the rotation, it's hard to be optimistic. And then when a team is winning games but Jeff Weaver has a quadruple digit ERA, Felix Hernandez is hurt/struggling it's more of a "okay, when are they going to lose 6 games in a row?"

But, when they bounce back from that, win a couple series, sweep the new evil empire (sorry Dad), and keep going strong even when the opposing pitcher is eleventy billion times better than ours, it starts feeling like we have a good baseball team on our hands.

I made it pretty clear that I wasn't overly optimistic about this team coming into the year. And, even though the M's kept winning, I was still skeptical. Weaver was awful, Felix couldn't pitch anymore, the bullpen was being worn thin, Sexson and Ibanez were doing nothing, etc. But, the recent winning ways have shown me some things that have me pretty excited about the rest of this season:

1. JJ Putz is the best closer in baseball. By far.

2. There are no holes on offense. Ichiro is the only superstar, but every one else in the lineup can contribute. And that includes the bench players. That's the kind of team that stays in the hunt through September.

3. Jeff Weaver and Miguel Batista can pitch. Sort of. They are the kind of pitchers you hope to get 6 solid innings out of, keep you in the game, and let the offense and bullpen win it for you. They've shown that lately, and I hope it keeps up.

4. Mike Hargrove can make a good decision or two. He's managed the bullpen very well this year. He uses Putz in high-leverage situations instead of saving him only for save situations. I'm still not a big fan of his, but this is an optimistic post.

Sure, there are concerns. Felix is pitching like a 21-year old, Putz's arm may fall off, and the rotation still needs help. But I'll stick with being excited for now. I'm hoping they can win today against Toronto, then take or split the series with KC and Oakland, then get rested up for the big series against Detroit after the break.

Let's go M's!!!!!

5 in a row!

2007-06-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

I too am excited about the promise this team is showing. It was this time, however last year that Mike and I were sitting in a bar in kirkland watching the mariners crush the Diamondbacks. I am taking this streak with a skepticle grain of salt. The bullpen ahs been incredible and teh offensive attack is really vastly superior than what I ahd expected. The main question I still have revolves around our rotation. Felix needs more time to get abck to wehre he was at the start of the year. Washburn appears to be in a rut. Baek should ahve been in the rotation at the start of the year, and his alst start was disappointing but cleavland is a very strong offensive club. I still hate that they insist on trotting weaver out there, admit you F-d up and jsut chaulk it up to a 8 million dollar mistake. Call up fearbin and let him roll in the 5 spot he gave you a chance to win.

There is a lot of time left but Raul is coming on like a house of fire and with his bat to an already hot offense i think this year could be a really exciting one up to the end. They need to decide what route they wish to take with Ichiro. I personally think you sign him, he is the best elad off hitter in the game bar none. However if they want to sign him do it now do not wait for him to hit open waters where you will be compeating agains tthe likes of the yankees and red soxs for his services. That is a mony game i do not want.

Tonight its Miguel. The bullpen really is in dire ened of a strong outing by one of our starters here. And by strong I am talking 7 or 8 innings. They are overworked and if the trend continues there will be no arms left for the push in late summer. The offense needs to come right out of theg ates and puta 4 spot up to give miguel some room and then just go to work.

Go M's 9 games over 500 for the first time in years!

I am excited

2007-06-11T21:06:00.001-07:00

The M's are exciting me right now. I am just too busy to write about it.

WOW WOW WOW

2007-04-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Up yours Dice-K.

I love stats. I really do. I'm no sabermetrician, but I'd rather hear about stats than grit. But, not tonight.

Felix. Hernandez. He did things tonight that trump any statistical measurement. He took Dice-K, ESPN, obnoxious Red Sox fans, and the entire nation and slapped them across the face. Then he stole their lunch money and ran away with their girlfriends. Then he dropped out of school and started his out business. And that business was dominance. Then he took dominance public and became the richest man ever. Then he bought the world and sold it to himself. Then he put the world in a little box and carried it in his coat pocket. Right next to his monacle. Then he had God paint a portrait of himself while he ate the world like a grape. Then he beat the Red Sox.

The Mariners are going to contend this year. And Felix Hernandez is why. He takes all of Jose Vidro's badness and farts it onto his recliner while playing NCAA Football 2007. I don't care how garbage-like the rest of the pitchers are. You can't be a professional athlete on the same team as F-F-F-Felix and not step up your game. and if you don't, go amateur.

I'm fired up!

How about some baseball?

2007-04-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

For the sake of all that is good and holy can the Mariners please play a baseball game?

2007......

2007-04-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's been three seasons since our favorite navy and teal baseballers finished the year with a winning record. Three seasons since they kept our interest past June. And I'm finding myself inching ever so closely to that dreaded place that all sports teams want to keep their fans out of: indifference. Even though the M's have stunk for the last three seasons, I was excited about something going into the season. In 2004, they had just finished winning 90+ games for the fourth year in row. In 2005, the front office finally opened up their pocket books and signed some big bats. Even last year, I was excited to see what young guys like Felix, Betancourt, and Lopez could do and if Beltre would rebound. But this year is different. This is the least excited I've been about the Mariners in a long time. And I don't like that. But, without further ado, here are my thoughts going into the 2007 season. Let's do this in threes:

3 reasons for hope

1. The King. Felix was pretty inconsistent last year, but some of his underlying numbers were still pretty good. Most importantly, he seems to have a new focus and is ready to take the hill tomorrow. And he's only 21. We could see him develop into the top 5 pitcher that we all hope he can be.

2. Infield defense. No, seriously. The M's management took the approach of signing groundball pitchers this offseason. The reason? One of the best defensive infields in all of baseball. Beltre and Betancourt just may be the best left side of the infield in the land. If those groundball pitchers (Felix included) can keep the ball on the ground, there could be a lot of easy outs this year.

3. A pretty solid lineup. If that sentence doesn't tell you why I'm having a hard time getting excited about this team then nothing will. The lineup is what it is, but what that is is pretty good. How about that sentence? Dave from USS Mariner puts it nicely when he says,

The opening day line-up is going to have Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt batting 8th and 9th in some order. Both are projected to be nearly league average hitters, and they’re filling out the last two spots in the batting order. What the offense lacks in thump, it attempts to make up for in balance.

3 reasons you'll be counting down the days until football season

1. The gruesome foursome. After Felix, the rest of the rotation is.....uh....suspect. I didn't want the M's to join in the spending madness that was this offseason, and I'm glad they didn't sign Meche, but Washburn, Ramirez, Batista, and Weaver are all back of the rotation starters at best. If the M's had a more potent offense or top-notch bullpen, they may be able to survive with that. But, methinks no.

2. Mike Hargrove and Bill Bavasi. Hargrove for everything he does that sucks, and Bavasi because is either extremely unlucky or a poor evaluator of talent. Now that Jeremy Reed has been sent to AAA, it seems the Freddy Garcia trade was a complete bust. Not to mention Jesse Foppert being released, making the Randy Winn trade worthless. Plus the Vidro and Ramirez trades, the Batista signing, Beltre, and, you get the point. I've been pretty patient with Bavasi because I think he was handed a crappy situation when Gillick left, but that patience is wearing thin.

3. Jose. All three of them. Vidro as a DH? Guillen as a teammate? Lopez's second half? Those three could make or break a lot of 2007.

Overall, I don't really know what to think. They don't look awful, but they don't look amazing either. The AL West isn't much of a division, and I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that if a lot of things break a certain way, the M's could be playing meaningful baseball in September. Let's hope that's true.

Other (aka better) previews:
Seattle Times
USS Mariner

Also, read this hilarious tribute to Dave Henderson at Lookout Landing.

Baseball!!! Yay!!!

Dustin' off the old blog

2007-03-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

To do list:

1. Re-commit myself to the Magic.

2. Give a proper goodbye to Gil Meche

3. Make sure the Magic readers see this.

4. Decide what I think of the 2007 Seattle Mariners.

Still here.....

2007-01-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

Now that the Seahawks are done (thanks to a kicker Penn State fans know as The Wedding Singer), and the Sonics blow, I suppose it's time for Seattle sports fans to start thinking about the upcoming baseball season. Yay! And how can you not be excited after this offseason? I mean, Miguel Batista is a Mariner! For three years!

You know what? That's all I really have to say right now.

Sorry Bill

2006-12-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

So, I was wrong about Miguel Batista's contract. And it looks like he is more excited than Vidro about joining the M's. I was holding out hope when I read the paper on Saturday, but I guess the Jose Vidro trade actually did happen.

The interesting part of the Batista article was Bavasi seeming to get defensive about his horrible moves:

Asked if he was concerned about negative fan reaction, general manager Bill Bavasi replied: "I'm the one dealing in the market. I know what the market is. I know what's available. The reaction is probably a whole lot different if I drag you with me for a month, and you see what it's like."

You think the Magic is getting to him? I'm sure that Bill Bavasi knows more about baseball than me. But, what do you think his response would be to Keith Law? Law, after all, worked in the Toronto front office, so I assume that he knows what he is talking about. Yet, his reaction to the trades for Horacio Ramirez and Vidro (scroll down for the Ramirez deal, you can't miss the headline) were only slightly less restrained than ours. And he writes for ESPN.com, so I would assume that he has to be a little more diplomatic than we do. Here are some of Mr. Law's choice comments (and you really should take the time to read the whole thing; they aren't very long) on the Vidro deal:

I have no idea what the Mariners were thinking. None. I had to take two ibuprofen tablets after I learned about the deal so that I could write this analysis.

And on trading Rafael Soriano:

The Braves picked up their probable future closer in exchange for a player whom they almost certainly would have non-tendered next week. The Mariners made themselves worse for no apparent reason other than fear.

This is an outside observer with no rooting interest.

I have a hard time believing that the M's couldn't have gotten more for Soriano than they did. The rumors surrounding Mike Gonzalez involve the Pirates getting Melky Cabrera, who, along with Phillip Hughes, had previously been considered off-limits for trades. Soriano is younger and better than Gonzalez. How did the M's only get Horacio Ramirez?

Maybe the market is that bad. I mean, what do I know? Still, I'm no economist, but if the "market" was only allowing Bavasi to get less than fair-market value for good prospects, well, then maybe it was a good time to stay out of the market. The Ramirez trade could be justified by reasoning that the M's needed a starting pitcher to throw the ball every fifth day. So, I suppose there is an argument to be made that Bavasi was in a position where he had to take less than full value to get a starter to fill out the rotation.

But, is trading for an expensive, injury-plagued contact hitter to DH out of the second spot in the line-up really going to make a noticeable improvement in the team's offense? I can see not wanting to rush pitchers up from the minors before they are ready to take the full-load of a major league season, but why not just call up Jeff Clement to DH instead of getting rid of a young, talented hitter who just can't seem to stay healthy and a young, hard throwing pitcher who needs to work on his control? Those seem like the players that you gamble on. Why gamble $16 million over the next two years on Jose Vidro staying healthy at age 33?

It has been a frustrating week to be a Seattle sports fan. The Seahawks fell apart and failed to clinch against the 49ers at home. (For those who are reading this immediately after coming out of a coma that began in 1991: Joe Montana doesn’t play for the 49ers anymore.) The Hornets' owner announced that they are going back to/staying in New Orleans, leaving Oklahoma City without an NBA franchise. One would think that since the M's are not playing that they could at least avoid depressing their fan base. I guess that would be too much to ask.

Farkin' Hell

2006-12-14T15:51:00.000-08:00

So when I said this...

We'll see what Bavasi is made of.

I didn't think Bill Bavasi would proceed to make baseball moves that a learning-disabled ferret could make.

I was planning on my next post being a heartfelt goodbye to Gil Meche, but then shit happened.

The hardest part about living across the country from the teams (and parents-love you Mom and Dad!!) you love is not being surrounded by fellow fans and therefore not being able to share your joys and frustrations on a daily basis. My Mariners lunch box (complete with the old school trident) isn't noticed by my co-workers, and certainly the majority of people I run into in Baltimore don't give a rat's ass that the Mariners have gutted their future for mediocre players.

Mariner fans have seen some bad trades. Especially this combination of deals. But, at least those were in the middle of a pennant race. The M's won the AL West that year. And, they filled a need. I'm just not seeing what Bill Bavasi is doing this time around.

I think there are three kinds of bad trades in baseball. The first two are judged immediately, and the third is judged in the long term:
1. Giving away quality players to get lesser players in return.
2. Trading for a similar player that comes at a much higher price.
3. Giving away prospects for veterans to "win now", only to see the veterans not produce and the prospects go onto stardom.

The Soriano trade covers the first one. The Vidro trade may just cover all three of those. Seriously....

1. Snelling and Fruto combined are more valuable than Vidro. Snelling and Vidro have essentially the same issues (injuries), but Snelling is younger, cheaper, and better. Fruto, as Chris pointed, is not the type of arm you just give away. Oh wait, the Mariners do just give away those types of arms.
2. Even if you consider Snelling and Vidro about even, Snelling comes much cheaper.
3. Vidro is declining, and the Mariners aren't going to win the Sequim, Washington 12-year old All-Star tournament with the team they're throwing out there this year.

This f'ing sucks.

What's Goin On?

2006-12-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

The text message I received from Mike this morning:

The M's are killing me with these moves

But, before I address the Mariners directly, allow me to comment again on Daisuke Matsuzaka. When I saw that he signed for six years and $52 million (and yes, as far as I can tell, that was the front page, above-the-fold story in the Boston Globe this morning), I did some quick calculations. Now, I used to teach third graders about estimating, so I am pretty well versed in the art of mental math, and it comes out to less than $9 million per season for Matsuzaka. Of course, the Red Sox will have shelled out around $103 million total for Matsuzaka, or an average of over $17 million per season, but he will see just over half of that. (When I opened the paper this morning, I saw that Thomas Boswell came to the same conclusion: Scott Boros might actually be in the right this time.)

This made me immediately think: Wait a second, didn't the Mariners just sign Miguel Batista for 3 years and $27 million? And doesn't that come out to an even $9 million per year? And doesn't that mean that after all of the hype around Matsuzaka that Miguel Batista will be cashing bigger paychecks for the next three years? And isn't Batista 36? At least he doesn't pitch with his birth certificate.

And, then: Wait a second, didn't Gil freaking Meche just sign with the Kansas City freaking Royals for more money and fewer years? So, five years from now, Gil Meche will have made more money than Daisuke Matsuzaka and have the freedom to sign with any team he wants to the following year?

Something is obviously wrong with this whole posting system when the Seibu Lions just got a check for more than triple their entire payroll. Workers of the world unite!

Anyway, back to the Mariners. Welcome Jose Vidro. I actually heard about this trade last night on the local news here in D.C. George Michael reported on a trade that the Nationals had just completed with the Seattle Mariners, and did not at any point during the report identify the two minor leaguers that the Nationals had obtained. He closed his report thusly:

So, the Nationals have traded Jose Vidro (with an inflection that indicated that he equated Vidro's worth as somewhere in the range of Honus Wagner - a living Honus Wagner that is) for two minor leaguers that you will never hear of . . .

At this point in his sentence, it seemed to dawn on Mr. Michael that these two guys were going to play for the baseball team that his network covers on a regular basis, so he added:

until they become huge stars in the major leagues. And it will happen, but it won't happen in my lifetime.

It reminded me of my mother complaining about George Michael's anti-west coast bias in his national "Sports Machine" broadcasts when I was young. (But, if you are ever in the DC viewing area, don't miss the local NBC news on George's account - though, to be fair, I actually think he is pretty good most of the time - because Jim Vance of NBC 4 is probably among the top five news disseminators of all time. He is really that good.)

So I checked this morning, and it turns out that the Nats will be getting Chris Snelling and Emiliano Fruto. I guess getting rid of Snelling could be justified: he can't stay healthy, and the M's have a glut in the outfield. And, it's not like the M's just gave away an electric bullpen arm. Why would they want to hold on to a pitcher like Fruto and his 55/21 K/BB ratio at AAA last year and his 9.9 K/9 IP combined between AAA and the show who is only 22 and now has some major league experience under his belt and has improved in his second year at each level through the minors? Dime a dozen.

Well, at least they got something good in return. What did they get? I guess that depends on who you ask. ESPN.com suggests that they got a 2B and that Jose Lopez would move to 3B, allowing the M's to trade away Adrian Beltre. The P-I notes that Vidro played some at 1B last year. So, are they implying that Sexson gets traded? Finally, the Seattle Times lets us know that the only reason that Vidro waived his no-trade clause is because he was promised to be able to DH so he could rest his oft-injured legs. Nothing ironic there? You traded for a guy by convincing him that he will have a chance to rest the chronic injuries that have put his career in decline? And you agreed to take on the bulk of his salary to get it done too? Bavasi should be a hostage negotiator.

At least Jose is excited about his new team. Here is what he had to say in today's Washington Post:

I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to go to the American League and play for a team that has a pretty good shot. They have a legitimate lineup, and they're going to sign some pitchers. It's looking very good.

I wonder if he thinks the M's have a really great sense of humor too. "Pretty good shot" at what? Do you think by "legitimate" he meant that they had a good chance of finding nine players to fill each of the spots in the lineup?

You think he got a promise that Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez weren't the end of the road? Or, maybe he just forgot that the M's had already signed a pitcher. I wish I could.

No Schmidt Sherlock

2006-12-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Or, as Fox put it-Schmidt happens.

So, it's Schmidt to the Dodgers. Interesting. Extremely interesting.

I wasn't a huge fan of signing Schmidt, but the M's absolutely have to bring in at least one quality pitcher. But, who? Zito has already been offered 6 years by Texas. No reason at all to give him 6 years. I don't even know if Johan Santana is worth a 6-year contract. That leaves Ted Lilly, who I like. Kinda. But, I worry about what he's going to demand on the market, especially now that Schmidt is gone. Meche? Um, no. Rumors have him gettin $10 million. Sorry, Gil, you know have a special place in my heart, but it's time to let go.

I commented on this in the other post, but I'm a huge fan of this this rumor. Essentially, it's Sexson and Soriano for Tim Hudson and Adam Laroche. Absolutely love that deal. Laroche is a good lefty power bat, and Hudson is not Gil Meche. If that goes down, the rotation would be:

Hudson
Felix
Washburn
Warm Body
Warm Body

Warm bodies = Woods, Baek, etc. I like the John Thomson idea as the #4 guy. That would be a pretty solid rotation. Not 95-win solid, but better than last year.

We'll see what Bavasi is made of.

Things happen on weekends

2006-12-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

Especially when you don't have access to the Internet. Apparantly the Mariners have signed Jose Guillen. I like the signing for a few reasons I'll get into, but it inspired one of the funniest things I've read in a while from Jeff at Lookout Landing:

I imagine a party with Jose Guillen involves Tecate by the gallon, militant graffiti, and at least one guy getting stabbed.

But, I do like the signing because it's low-risk and it shows Bavasi isn't getting sucked in by the this winter's insanity. Of course, there are plenty of crappy deals to be given to crappy players. Guillen can be flat-out nasty (both the good and bad) at times, but if he isn't (or is, depending on your definition), it's only a one year deal and the M's aren't stuck with him.

It looks like John Thomson is going to be a Mariner too. Again, I like the move for basically the same reasons as the Guillen signing. If the only crazy move the M's make this offseason is Jason Schmidt, I'll be fine with that. I can handle waiting until 2008 or 2009 to be competitive if it means avoiding this winter's insanity.

MLB.com owes me some sort of commission for the amount of links I just provided to their website.

New World Order

2006-11-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Keeping with the 80s-Republican-presidents-theme: remember the first Bush? He was fond of speaking of a new world order. I remember it mostly from samples on the second album released by the rapper Paris, an album that was more than slightly critical of Mr. Bush and his policies. (To avoid having Alberto Gonzales shut down the Magic, I'll skip a link to that album, and merely say that its title song and cover art spawned an investigation by the secret service. It was an interesting moment in time where crazy militia freaks hiding in the hills of Oregon and hip hop heads from the inner city had a common enemy in the new world order conspiracy theory.) Well, it seems that Theo Epstein and those poor, down-trodden Boston Red Sox who just can't keep up with the Yankees' payroll have ushered in a new world order in baseball.

The financial side of this new world order - and its ripple effect - look a lot like the conspiracy theory. I mean, $51.1 million just to talk to a pitcher? While I liked Matsuzaka, I have to agree that the numbers don't add up here. (Though the chart in the first linked article - showing the pitching staff that you could have for less than $51.1 - is really misleading. Most of the players listed there are not eligible for free agency, and no team could get them for anything near their current salaries on the open market.)

But, let's talk about the "world" part for a minute. With Tampa Bay picking up a star 3B from Japan (nevermind that the last thing the Devil Rays need is more bats to squeeze into their lineup), and the M's possibly among the teams looking for a cheaper pitching alternative from the Far East, baseball is starting to look more and more like a truly global sport. And Thomas Boswell agrees. Is it bad if MLB becomes to baseball what Europe is to soccer: stealing the best talent from everywhere else in the world for their professional leagues? Would it be possible to ever have competing leagues in different countries, to be a global sport more in the mold of soccer than basketball? Why can't the MLB owners stop the season for two weeks to let the best players in the world compete in the World Baseball Classic when they are in shape, like the NHL does with the Olympics? Besides being totally awesome - it really seems like it would would be in MLB's best financial/public-relations interests to make baseball appear to be a globally shared sport, rather than an imperialistic, American one.

Another question: Does Bavasi think anyone believes him when he says that teams are calling to see if he would be willing to deal Beltre? I'm sure they could get rid of him if they were willing to pay a big chunk of his salary, but I have never really understood the point of paying players that play for other teams.

I don't like signing Jason Schmidt, at least not for more than one year. I'd rather get Ted Lilly for less money and hope that he breaks out than hope that Schmidt somehow becomes less injury prone as he gets older.

Okay. Enough out of me. What do you all think?

Well....

2006-11-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

Remember Ronald Reagan ? Remember how he used to say "Well.." in his very grandfather-like voice when he answered questions? When I was 5 years old, it seemed kind of comforting. Of course, I didn't know what trickle down economics involved then.

Aaaanyway, that's what I would say if I were Ronald Reagan if someone were to ask me what I thought of the M's opting to not pursue Daisuke Matsuzaka. "Well...ok then." Of course my initial reaction was actually "You cheap bastards." But, I'm not sure that it's a terrible thing now. It sounds like Matsuzaka is a bit of an, um, "well", arrogant ass. In fact, Dr. Deteco compared him to A-Rod.

So, moving on then. There are lots of other free agent options. Clearly, bringing in a pitcher or seven needs to be the number one priority this winter. Unless of course we're okay with a rotation of Felix, Washburn, Baek, and....."well", there you go. Take a look at this list and decide who you like. Now, I don't know how many of those guys have club or player options for 2007. But, at first glance, the guy who catches my eye (like a pie in the sky) is Ted Lilly. The big names are Schimidt and Zito, but the contract that those guys are going to demand may be absurd. They're both fine and dandy, but Lilly may come cheaper. Plus, Lilly had better K/9 and K/BB than both of them.

By the way, this site is way better for looking at free agents. I love Google.

So, I'm done with this post now. I could say more but it's been a long time and the Magic faithful are getting restless. Go get Ted Lilly!

Heat up the Stove

2006-10-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

Wow. When the last post is about good feelings engendered by the Ben Broussard trade, clearly things have fallen off. So, let me try to get some discussion going with a little M's news round-up.
(There was some theme music playing in my head when I typed "news round-up." I think that it might have sounded something like the intro music for Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. Further, but related, aside: Did anyone watch 30 Rock? I didn't, but I wanted to. What are our thoughts on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? I think it's really warming-up, but I wish they had just put Sports Night back on the air, instead of trying to re-do it.)

Breaking news today: The P-I reports that the M's have cut Jesse Foppert. It would have been nice if he had panned out, but it doesn't seem like he is going to live up to the pre-injury hype. I like the little dig in the article about Randy Winn. I still can't understand why everyone was so keen on letting him go.

Yesterday, Art Theil reminded us that the M's need to build from within, rather than spending money on overpriced, homophobic-dinosaur-hating veterans who missed the entire previous season with injury. (Okay, Richie wasn't really a bad signing, but his deal is still symbolic of knee-jerk, throw-money-at-the-problem thinking.) He points out, correctly, that even though we like to think that the Yankees buy championships, when they were winning it was with home-grown talent and shrewd spending. Now that they have really tried to break the bank, they haven't won a World Series for six years. And, speaking of the devils - John Hickey explains to us how cost-effective it would be to bring back A-Rod. I don't think this article was even a joke.

The biggest news for M's fans has to be that the Seibu Lions have decided to "post" World Baseball Classic MVP pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. John Hickey wonders whether the M's can/will hang with the big spenders when it comes time to place a bid. I hope so. The previous link only had Daisuke's stats through 2005, but this season he was possibly even more dominating. Over the last four years he has struck out 768 batters, while only walking 188, over 741 innings. That's a 4-to-1 K/BB ratio and 9.32 Ks/9 IP. He has given up 602 hits, for a WHIP of 1.06, and has an ERA of 2.51. To put all of that in perspective, Johan Santana's numbers over the same period look like: 4.75-to-1 K/BB ratio, 9.70 Ks/9 IP, 0.99 WHIP, 2.81 ERA. So, Santana is still the best pitcher on the planet, but Daisuke compares pretty favorably. (Note: The Pacific League season is shorter than MLB's, so Santana's absolute numbers are significantly higher, that's why I used the ratios. And, 2003, the first season in the analysis, wasn't a full season as a starter for Santana.)

So, how about Daisuke Matsuzaka as the first discussion of the off-season. Mike, Trav - let's see some new posts in reply; loyal readers - let's see some discussion in the comments. What do you think of him? How far should the M's go to get him on the mound in Seattle next season?

Good feelings

2006-07-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

I feel good about a few things:

1) Survival 6-6 against the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. Winners of the last 2 series. And....3 games back. The Mariners have survived, in my opinion, the toughest stretch of games they will encounter in the 2nd half.

2) Changes
The Ben Broussard trade is good because
a) The M's got a solid lefty bat without giving up too much
b) Carl Everett is gone
c) A platoon with Eduardo Perez at DH is sweet
d) All of the above

3) Hope
Three games back. I don't care that they're in last place or 3 games under .500. I don't care that if they were in any other division in the AL, they'd be out if right now. All I know is the Mariners have weathered the storm(s) of Guardado, Everett, and Felix sucking and are still in it. Imagine if the Mariners had started with this exact team from Opening Day. Do you think they'd be three games better? I do. The difference between Putz and Guardado alone could make that up.

I'm still cautiously optimistic, becuase one more lousy week or two can pretty much sink the Mariners for the season. But, one more fantastic week or two can put them in first place. And even if they don't end up making the playoffs, think about what the experience of a pennant race could mean for Lopez, Betancourt, Felix, Jones, etc. This could be a fun two months M's fans. Stay tuned.

Misc.

2006-07-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Rob Neyer has an interesting piece today that supports Mike's don't-trade-Adam-Jones-for-Soriano plan. His conclusion is that "deadline deals" rarely make a difference, so trading a top prospect for a pennant push rental is a bad gamble. (See: Varitek, Jason; Lowe, Derek.) Plus, with Everett gone, and the former Cleveland platoon in place with Ben Broussard on board - the offense is actually not too bad.

Page 2 has a great story on baseball card memories. My favorite baseball card of all time might be a Ken Griffey, Jr. Donruss Diamond King. I don't remember the year. I do remember that Mr. Griffey himself autographed it after batting practice at the Kingdome. So, it must have been 1990, maybe '91 at the latest. Any later and there was no way that Griff was signing autographs at games.

I have a funny feeling...

2006-07-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

The Mariners are going to win the AL West.

Seriously. I don't know why. And I'm not typically a blue and teal glasses wearing homer.

That is all.

Also-please don't trade Adam Jones to get Alfonso Soriano.

Fairweatherness

2006-07-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

EDIT: I apologize for the post below. I read it over this morning and was like, "Damn yo, you be sounding like you think your better than people." Which I don't. I'm just mad about the Sonics. So, sorry Seattle fans.

Yes yes. We're still alive. Although the chances people are still coming here are pretty slim, but whatever.

I'm done stressing about the 2006 Mariners. I came in thinking an 80-82 season with hope for 2007 would be nice, and that can still happen. So, at this point, I couldn't care less about wins and losses. This way if they do end up making it to the postseason, it will make me do lots of smiling. And if they don't, well I'm not expecting them to anyway.

Earlier today I was feeling disappointed in myself. I've always been a "stick with the team no matter what" kind of fan. I've always despised fairweather fans. And growing up in Seattle is like being in some sort of fairweather fan breeding ground (more on that later). But, I'm not giving up on the team. I'm still excited about the future with Betancourt, Lopez, Felix, Soriano, and now Adam Jones. And how about Mark Lowe? He's filthy. I do believe the future is bright for the Mariners. Whether it's 2007 or later, they'll be contenders again. And, more losses could mean less Mike Hargrove. It's just hard to get excited about this team right now, and I'm not going to lose hair or years off my life stressing over every win and loss. It's just not worth it. My loyalty isn't any weaker, it's just gained a little bit of perspective.

There is something happening in Seattle does have me worked up. I'm sure we all know that the Sonics could be moving to Oklahoma City. Now, nothing's official yet so I'm going to hope for the best. But, the fact that the Sonics might move isn't what has me pissed off. It's the fact that Seattle "fans" aren't going to care.

Things aren't as bad as they used to be, but Seattle is the defintion of a fairweather sports town. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Should we admire Philadelphia or Chicago for their insane fan bases? Maybe not. But what irks me is that I get the impression that most sports fans in Seattle won't think twice about the Sonics moving. Why? Because they had one bad season. So they must suck. So that means people don't pay a bit of attention to them. Nevermind the fact that they were the first pro franchise in Seattle. Or that they're the only team with a championship. Or that they've had BY FAR the most success of any of the major pro teams in Seattle. Or that they could be pretty damn good next year. I'm not in Seattle, but I've had enough experience with Seattle fans to know what they're like. Can we review the fact that the Sonics had ONE BAD SEASON?! They had one of the most exciting seasons in years in 2004-2005.

Reading some of these comments only drove the point home for me. For whatever reason, Seattle fans can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Right now, the Seahawks are the gum. They're the team having the most success. Of course they are going to be the #1 draw in town. That'd be true in any town. But, take yourself back six or eight years. If this OK City thing was going down then, I'm going to assume a lot more people would be upset about it. And the Seahawks were barely being acknowledged. I will say that I've been impressed with the level of loyalty fans have shown the Mariners. Maybe it's Safeco, maybe it's the Hall of Famers that have played for the M's over the last 15 years, maybe it's the M's marketing department, or maybe Seattle is a halfway decent baseball town.

I realize I'm rambling so I'm going to stop. I think seeing people say things like "good riddance" on Lookout Landing sparked something in me. I could be dead wrong. Maybe the fans of Seattle will come out in droves and fight this thing. But, unless the Sonics do some winning this year, I just don't see it happening.

Go Mariners.

What a difference a sweep makes.

2006-07-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Crap crap crap. Why did I get my hopes up? Dave at USSMariner wants me to calm down, but the last three days of Mariner baseball have been hard to deal with. It's not just that the Angels swept us. They beat us down. The recent hotness and subsequent happy feelings have gone straight down the crapper and I'm finding myself hating them again.

I had a funny feeling this might happen. Despite their good play, I was worried when I looked at the M's July schedule. Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Cleveland, and the Yankees. That was a stretch that was certainly going to test the Mariners. But, based on a recent history of ownage, I thought they could at least take 2 of 3 from the Angels. Guess not.

To make matters worse, Meche and Everett are bitching. Seriously Carl? You and your .233/.308/.372 line AS A DH????????? Where does he get off? Meche might have a better case since he's actually been halfway decent this year, but what a joke. Do you think Lou would have put up with that crap? He would have punced Everett in the face and farted on him.

Am I overreacting? Of course. Isn't that what being a fan is all about? They're still only 3 back and taking the series against Detroit could be a fantastic way to enter the break.

one game

2006-07-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

So the mariner’s are one game out of first........................... Did I really just write that. It has to be a typo right? Nope it’s true one game out. And lets be honest they were in every game over the weekend the breaks just didn’t go their way. It happens. This is a big series here against the angels. If they can take 2 or dare I say sweep that might be a nail in the coffin for the angels and one less team to worry about.

I think with the Reed injury this is going to force the M's hand. They have to make a move for a outfield bat. Mike and I both want Carlos Lee as much as we want Jessica Alba. This guy would be perfect. I think Ichiro has to move to Center and you slam Raul and Lee on the corners. You can then bring up Chris "Doyle" Snelling to ether DH or play a corner spot and give Everett his walking papers. This is a division the M's can win and I think they know that so lets hold our breath and hope they make the right move.

I’m fired up for this week it could be a really good one for M's Fans!

Singles night at the safe..........Ladies Holler at me

The Victory Sock

2006-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

'Twas June the 15th when I was flying from Baltimore to the Emerald City. I was in the air when the Mariners lost to the A's again. Once again, the Athletics of Oakland had deflated the fun out of a recent Mariners hot streak. The loss knocked the M's six games below .500. I had gotten myself a little excited, but the A's took care of that quickly. How did the Mariners respond to my arrival in Seattle? With a victory of course. Then another. And another.

The Mariners ended up going 9-2 while I was in Seattle. Clearly my presence in Seattle had something to do with it. I couldn't leave could I? The Mariners might fall into a tailspin if that happened. Then Big Daddy came up with a brilliant plan. I could leave a part of myself behind. What could that be though? A piece of my flesh? That seemed a little harsh. Cut off some hair? Nah. Other people's hair is sorta nasty. Then we got it. A dirty sock. That way, some of my DNA would be left behind and I wouldn't have to sacrifice part of my body.

Of course, my mother (being the wonderful mother she is) had cleaned all of my clothes. I didn't have a dirty sock to leave behind. I acted quickly. I put a clean sock on and wore it while I packed my bags. And I left the sock behind. I got on the plane yesterday hoping it would pay off. And it did! A come from behind, late-inning victory that Jeff from Lookout Landing thinks allows us to take the M's seriously. So, without further ado, I give you...

The Mariners Victory Sock! You hear those footsteps Oakland? That's the Sock comin' for ya!!!!!!!!!

5 hunny!!!

2006-06-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

.500

.500

.500

They are .500!!!

This is great, its been so long since this has happened, and I am entirely too fired up about it. I still don't know what to think, are they good? Are they just lucky? O r is it somewhere in between. I really don't know. They look good. But it may be a mirage, they may be trying to suck us in get our hopes up and then turn around and squash us just like they often do. I remain cautiously optimistic. I am having fun watching them again. I keep getting this feeling that hey we can win this with every game. I remember that feeling from 01 where every night I was like ya we have a better than 50-50 shot at winning this.

Tonight its Felix and a chance to go 1 up. Who better to take this large step than the cornerstone of your future. Let’s go kid get it done!

Yo, Adrian!

2006-06-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

The M's are hot. From May 30 through last night, they have won 14 out of their last 20 games. Even more impressive, their WOO - without Oakland - record is 14-3 during that stretch (that's an .823 WOOning percentage). WOO! Why May 30, Chris? That was, after all, a loss at Texas. Well, 20 is a nice round number, but, more importantly, that night began the Adrian Beltre Hitting Second Experiment. Entering that game, Beltre was hitting .221 with 2 HRs, 14 RBI, 17 runs scored, and 6 doubles over the M's first 53 games. During the last 20 game stretch, Beltre is hitting .314 with 5 HRs, 17 RBI, 21 runs scored, and 6 doubles. He still strikes out more than he walks, but he has drawn 9 walks and struck out 13 times while hitting second (0.692 walks per strikeout), while he drew only 13 walks compared to 40 strikeouts (0.325 walks per strikeout) before the Experiment began.

I think that there can be three explanations for this great stretch: (1) Beltre is heating up enough that his final numbers will look something more like the .275, 25 HR, 85 RBI season that we would have realistically expected from him. (2) This simply a hot stretch, and we can expect him to start sucking again soon. (3) There is something magical about the second spot in the order.

My guess is that somewhere between (1) and (2) lies the truth. His last two games - where he has gone 5 for 7 with a homer, 4 RBI, 6 runs scored, and 2 doubles - really skew the numbers quoted above. If you take those out, and assume that he was just fired up to see his old team, his average in the second spot goes back to .278 - which seems about right. And, if you were to extrapolate those numbers (not including the games in L.A.) out for 550 at-bats, you get: .278, 28 HRs, 90 RBI, and 104 runs scored - which also seems about like what we would expect. He is at 280 at-bats now, so if he gets to 550 (and, to be fair, he is on pace for 612 at-bats, so these predictions are a bit conservative), he has 270 at-bats left. If he stays on the same pace over those 270 at-bats, he would have 13 HRs, 44 RBI, and 51 runs scored left in him - bringing his totals for the season to .267, 20 HRs, 77 RBI, and 90 runs scored. Not bad. Not worth $65 million, but to be fair - not many people are.

Now, the magical lineup spot does seem to have some merit. Can it really be coincidence? I suppose there were signs that he was heating up before the move - he had hits in four straight games, and eight out of nine, before being move up to the second spot. But, what is really surprising, and counterintuitive, is that he is producing more runs from the second spot. Six out of the eight 2 RBI games (and, no - he hasn't had a game with more than 2 RBI all season) that he has had this season have come when he was hitting second. So, he has produced more runs with the eighth, ninth (which has been the pitcher the last two nights), and first spots hitting ahead of him than he did with the first, second, and third, or second, third, and fourth spots hitting in front of him. Some of the explanation would come from the fact that the team is hot in general. Or, maybe Travis was right - and he is seeing more fastballs with Ichiro on in front of him. But, maybe, just maybe, this means that Beltre is best in the second spot, and dropping him back to the middle of the order would be a mistake. Or, maybe the line-up needs to be shuffled completely, so that Beltre can hit lower, but still hit behind Ichiro and Betancourt, with Lopez and Sexson protecting him. What do the Magic Faithful think?

Legend of Zelda Hero, Plural

2006-06-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

So, the M's won last night. Beltre hit a homer, and that's good for the Mariners. Brad Penny lost, and that's good for the Low End Theorists. I listened to a few innings on XM radio. Mike and I have extolled the virtues of XM radio, and how awesome it is that one can listen to any major league baseball game being played, and hear the home announcers for each team. Bob Uecker calling Brewers games. Jon Miller calling Giants games. You can even hear the Yankees go to unnecessary excess with about six people in the broadcast booth. So, last night it was beautiful to listen to Vin Scully calling the M's against the Dodgers. The man has been calling Dodgers games for 57 years. He has called three perfect games. There have only been seventeen perfect games ever, and only seven in the National League - and two of those were in 1880. At one point he was describing Ichiro's father giving him foot massages, and it was beautiful because it was Vin Scully. But, when he started talking about how Pat Gillick turned down a trade that would have brought Scott Rolen to the M's in exchange for Joel Pineiro, I threw up in my mouth a little.

Lack of Links and Wind Tunnels

2006-06-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

"They" say you learn something new everyday. Well, here's what I learned at today. Oh, I'm in Seattle by the way and was at both Friday and today's win. Ok so...

1) For whatever reason, this iBook G4 I'm using doesn't allow me to put in links to a post. So, if you're reading this at work, I apologize. No fun links to keep you from actually doing your job.

2) If you sit in the right (or I guess wrong) area at Safeco in JUNE, you will freeze your ass off. It was like sitting in a wind tunnel. People had blankets. I almost didn't bring in my hooded sweatshirt. Thank God I did. It's June Seattle. Seriously. I loved it though. So much better than the stifling heat I would be experiencing in Baltimore.

3) Richie Sexson's walk to the batter's box song is "Hypnotize" by Biggy Smalls. Am I the only one who thinks that's weird? I guess the whole Big Richie thing, and Biggy Smalls was big. Er something.

4) It's really fun to watch Barry Bonds strike out.

5) It's even more fun to watch Barry Bonds strike out three times.

6) It's the most fun to watch Barry Bonds strike out to end a game and complete a THREE GAME SWEEP!

7) My mother is still a little bitter about Griffey. You know, there really are a lot of people who don't like how Griffey left. And, rightly so. I will fully admit that I'm blindly loyal to my first real baseball hero. I think the M's should retire #24, and that if Griff isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer, there's something wrong with baseball.

So, all in all, I learned a lot today. Let's update the "if the Mariners didn't have to play the Athletics" board:
Record vs. A's: 1-9
Record vs. the rest of baseball: 33-28.

9 games in NL West stadiums. They're keeping me interested. I have this feeling the A's are going to start to separate themselves from the rest of the division. But for now, the Mariners are making baseball fun to follow.

down two can the salvage?

2006-06-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ok all the optimism over the past few days has kinda flown right out the window. They cant be blanton then they roll out the next night and look even worse than before. And get this today they were going to face Esteban Loaiza but he was arrested for driving under the influence while going 120 mph on a local Oakland freeway........I don’t think he is going to start. And who goes 120 mph anyway...... SO you know what that means right? The mariners will be facing some chap they have never seen before so we will get like 2 hits. Never fails.
the optimism of this post seeps from every word.

This time I'm not crazy....

2006-06-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

First things first, we've got to acknowledge the SWEEP of the Angels. Felix throws his first CG in the majors. 94 pitches. Felix was the Emperor today. Just filthy. That makes 9 of 11 for the Mariners. Fun fun.

But...guess who's next? You got it. The A's. The last time the M's were headed to Oakland, I thought it was big. This is a big one though. Not big as in, "win this series and the M's are for real!". But more like, well....hmmm. Ok how about this:
Right now, I'm kind of feeling like this in my Mariners watching chair. Take 2 of 3 in Oakland, and I'll be sitting like this. Not overly-fired up, but my interest will definitely be piqued. So, we'll see.

Ichiro's Greatness

2006-06-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

Ichiro gets 4 hits. Ho hum. Ichiro's hitting .350. Woopty doo. Ichiro's leading the league in hits. What's new?

Maybe it's just me, but are we taking Ichiro for granted? He came to the Majors facing more media scrutiny and pressure than anybody since Jackie Robinson, and wasted no time showing he belonged. He started hitting from day one. Literally. 2 for 5 against Oakland on April 2, 2001. With his four hits last night, he now has 89 for the season. That pace projects to 240 for the year. WHether that happens remains to be seen. But, Ichiro has proven his worth in the majors. THe question I ask is-where does he rank agains the all-time greats?

Since Ichiro's greatest accomplishments have involved hit numbers, I thought it would be interesting to compare him against the all-time greatest "hit machines." I thought it'd be interesting to look at at bats per hit. I thought since we hear a lot about at bats per home run when talking about the great power hitters, this might be an interesting statistic.

So, first things first. Who are the these "hit machines"? Well, here is the "hit" list. Rim shot! I'll compare Ichiro to the top guys in terms of at bats per hit. Ichiro's has 1219 hits in 3655 at bats. That's one hit for every 2.998 at bats.

1. Pete Rose: 4256 hits in 14,053 at bats. At bats per hit = 3.30. Ichiro's better than The Gambler.

2. Ty Cobb: 4191 hits in 11,429 at bats. At bats per hit: 2.72. The Georgia Peach has the edge on our boy.

3. Hank Aaron: 3771 hits in 12,364 at bats. At bats per hit: 3.28. Ichiro wins out again.

Just going down the list, here are the other rates among the top 5:
Stan Musial: 3.02
Tris Speaker: 2.90

Of the top 5, only Speaker and Cobb have a better rate. Musial and Aaron were better all around hitters though. A couple more recent notables:

Rod Carew: 3.05
Tony Gwynn: 2.95

I could go on, but I think the point is clear. Ichiro is right there with those guys. Now, Ichiro has the advantage of the majority of his years in the majors being during his prime age years. A more in-depth analysis may show that his hit rate during his prime years is not as strong.

But, Ichiro is absolutely amazing, and I think we're forgetting that. We've had some great ones come through Seattle over the past 15 years, and he's the next great one. The question I have is-how many more years of this production will make him a first-ballot hall of famer?

Oh by the way-Ichiro just led off the bottom of the first with a HR.

3 of 4 but it was the Royals

2006-06-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Winning three of four games is never anything to complain about. But I want every to keep in perspective who the Mariners were playing. In all honesty not sweeping the Royals is a Disappointment. That being said things have been getting a bit better. This new Lineup is really working out. Lopez continues to be the man. As I stated earlier get out and vote people we need this guy to go to the all star game. WHO HAS BEEN BETTER??? And Raul continues to be Mr. consistency. Beltre, while I will not use the word Flourishing, seems to be enjoying the fastballs he is getting behind Ichiro. I say don’t move him let him ride that spot out for a bit.

Now today is an important day in many ways. It really is a fantastic match up at the Safe tonight. King Felix vrs the Twins I guess king prospect, as Santana is their king, Liriano. I have Liriano on my Fantasy team much to the dismay of Chris and Mike, and have been monitoring his progress with a careful Zen like eye. This guy is the real deal and the last time these two locked up it was a fantastic pitchers duel. I expect the same tonight and I will be in attendance both rooting for Liriano and the Mariner’s it will be a rough night for me haha.

Secondly today is the MLB draft. The mariners have the 5th overall pick and it appears that they are looking to draft a college pitcher. The key is College pitcher, I doubt they want another Ryan Anderson situation with a High school kid. The M's seem to have their eye on several guys: Andrew Miller, Brad Lincoln, Brandon Morrow, Tim Lincecum, & Luke Hochevar. All pitchers all college players. The homer in me really wants the to take Lincecum out of the UW and from I think Lincoln HS here in Washington, but all accounts are pointing to that being unlikely. And if there is ever a team to disappoint me with their personnel decisions it’s the Mariners so I am saying Lincecum is off the board. Jason Churchill of Prospectinsider.com, a great prospect site you all should check out, has the most recent mock draft up saying that the Mariners are likely to take Andrew Miller. Take a gander at Jason's Break down over there its very informative. We will post what the Mariners do a little after 10 am when they make their pick today.

Last bit of info from em today, is really a story that makes you kind of sick. Take a look at this and puke along with me. What Ryan Anderson is doing now
In this article it says, "The culinary training helps Anderson feel at peace. His tuition is $76,000, with the Mariners paying $35,000, Anderson says."
ugh so typical isn’t it.............

At least they're not the Royals.....

2006-06-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

Despite, today's 9-4 loss, I can still say with confidence that the Royals are much worse off than the M's. Although, I guess that'd be like looking like this and saying, "at least I don't look like this." Or maybe it's more like feeling like this and saying, "at least I don't feel like this."

Jarrod Washburn for 3 more years folks. Nice work on that one Bavasi.

Like Travis told us, we need to get the All-Star vote out for Jose Lopez. You can do that here. By the way, 25 vote maximum? I used to vote 25 times by the fourth inning back in the Dome.

And what's with the poll on the M's official site? "Situational hitting" is what the Mariner nation thinks the biggest problem is. Hmmmm....

Breaking him down to build him up...

2006-06-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

I think I figured out Mike Hargrove's plan for Jeremy Reed. After reading this article from the TNT this morning, it all became so clear. See, Hargrove figures that the best way to turn Reed into a good player is to break him down. How is doing this:

1) Taking away his ability play defense

“You work on everything you can before the game, including fly balls during batting practice,” Reed said Friday. “But it can’t be the same. In batting practice, hitters don’t get fooled. In games, they do – and you have to know how to react to those swings.

“The other night in Texas, Michael Young hit a ball I thought I should have had, but it just went off my glove.”

2) Robbing him of his confidence

“I’ve tried to stay positive mentally, to be tough,” Reed said. “That is the hardest part. Coming to the park not knowing if you’re going to play is just different. I’ve never been a bench player, so that’s been an adjustment.

Look, Reed hasn't exactly earned the right to play every day with his performace at the plate. But, he has to be given a chance to prove whether or not he is going to be part of the Mariners future. Hargrove either 1) doesn't think Reed can cut it as an everyday player, 2) thinks his best chance to win now and thus save his job is to sit Reed against lefties, or 3) has a man crush on Willie Bloomquist.

So, what do we think? Should Reed be getting the chance to play everyday?

Behind the Curtain . . .

2006-06-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am leaving my office in thirty minutes to catch a plane to Miami, and since we all know that nothing gets done in the last thirty minutes of any day, I will bless the Magic with my first post.

I first became a Mariners fan right around the time that Ken Griffey, Jr. made his major league debut. Prior to that, when people asked me where I was from, I told them that I had just moved from New York. That was, of course, not true. But, with the rise of Junior, Seattle became a major league city, and I was happy to admit residence.

I now live in the Nation's Capital, a city that has gone from no baseball, to attempting to create an Office of Baseball as an actual city agency.

I will not promise the detailed analysis of individual games that Travis and Mike provide. I can, however, promise lots of hyperlinks. Because hyperlinks are cool.

Welcome new Mariner Magic contributor Chris

2006-06-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

We've hit a rut here. PWhit is nowhere to be found, and Travis and I are extremely jaded. So, it's time to mix things up. No, this isn't a Hargrove-esque desperation lineup change. This is like a deadline deal to add that final piece that makes you a championship contender.

Without further ado, Magic faithful Chris has joined us. Chris is my older brother and is here to give us the shot in the arm we need. When he brought up Tommy Herr, there was no question he had to be a part of this.

I'll let Chris make a post introducing himself.

I hate the Mariners

2006-05-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

With a passion.

Salt in the wound

2006-05-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

As if things weren't bad enough already....

Scott Spiezio: .303/.406/.506, 3 HR, 16 RBI in 38 games.
Best year as a Mariner: .215/.288/.346, 10 HR, 41 RBI in 112 games.
Last year as a Mariner: .064/.137/.149, 1 HR, 1 RBI in 29 games.

Jeff Cirillo: .382/.424/.509, 1 HR, 5 RBI in 30 games.
Best year as a Mariner: .249/.301./.328, 6 HR, 54 RBI in 146 games.
Last year as a Mariner: .205/.284/.271, 2 HR, 23 RBI in 87 games.

Miguel Olivo: .258/.297/.475, 5 HR, 13 RBI in 36 games.
Career numbers as a Mariner: .166/.359/.333, 11 HR, 32 RBI in 104 games.

Yep. Enjoy the holiday. You can do that by not watching the Mariners play baseball.

(In case you didn't know, that's AVG/OBP/SLG)

Obligations

2006-05-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

M's lose. Two G** D*** hits? Really, what am I supposed to say about that? I'm not saying anything about my boy Gilbert. There's no chance I'm going to jinx him.

But, I'm at the point where anything I would be writing about the Mariners would be forced. Sure, they're 3 games back. But, they're freaking 22 and 27. You can't ignore that. Look at the starting pitching. All of these guys (except for Felix) are veteran, mediocre guys who you're going to have to score at least 5 runs for in order to win. The bats have potential, but seem to be very streaky. Harldy a team that scares anyone. But, maybe a team that can win 80 games. Coming into the season, that's what I was hoping for, and that with a couple of offseason moves, they could be playoff contenders in 2007. The problem is, I'm not sure what to get excited about in the here and now. Sure it's fun to win a few series here and there, but every good team the Mariners have played has beat them down. So why get overly excited? If in September this team is showing signs of being good in 2007, then it might be fun again.

We've been slacking here, and the posters have too. But, can you really blame us? This brings me to the subject of obligation. I'm finding myself only posting this right now because I feel obligated. To what thought? I don't know the answer to that question. I guess I feel like if you're going to make the committment to start a blog, then you should be adding to it regularly.

We started this blog because we love the Mariners. That hasn't changed, but I'm having the hardest time finding the motivation to say interesting things about the team. So, the question is-do we keep making new posts out of pure obligation/committment, or do we only make posts when we truly have something interesting to say? I guess it's just a hard time to be a Mariners fan, and we'll have to be patient. I don't feel like less of a fan because I don't run to my computer as soon as the M's lose 2-0 to a craptastic pitcher and a craptastic team. So, you should expect to see less posts here (from me at least), but when I do post I will be sure to make it meaningful.

Foh!

2006-05-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

That's four in a row. You can't get too excited about a 21-25 team, but the Mariners are showing some signs of life. Lots of home runs lately. That = good. The bullpen is nasty. The starting pitching is decent enough. Ichiro is nearly back to form, Lopez is the best second baseman in the American League, and Raul, Everett, and Johjima are going to complement Big Richie well once he gets going. By the way, grand slams are the best kind of hits.

How much does Comcast suck? The only M's-O's game being televised is this Thursday's. Sure, the games start at 10:05 here in Bmore, but what else are people going to be watching on Comcast? I checked the channel that broadcasts the Orioles games last night when the game was going on, and they were showing stand up comedy. And bad stand up comedy at that. Weak.

The Orioles are throwing John Halama tonight. Wow. There are teams that are less fun to be a fan of than the Mariners. Make it 5 M's!

There are two things about Hargrove that are really irritating me right now:

1) Jose Lopez is the M's best hitter right now. Yet, he leads the team in sacrifice bunts.

2) This Reed/Bloomquist platoon thing in center is ridiculous. He doesn't play Reed against lefties. There are few things about this I don't like, and none of them have to do with Willie. I'm not a Willie hater. I think he serves a purpose and I like having him on the team. But starting in CF is not one of them. Reed has been heating up lately, and as far as I'm concerned, he is part of the M's future. How is he going to develop into a good hitter if he never hits against lefties? How is he going to learn how to hit lefties is he never plays against them?

The only good thing about the M's going in the tank would be to see Hargrove gone.

A Sweep never felt so....................bluh

2006-05-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the thing I should be fired up. I should be pumped that perhaps the mariners are turning things around. Meche apparently looked good. The bullpen appeared to be solid for the most part and the offense put some much-needed runs on the board. I should be waving the mariner banner and starting the wagon train.

But I'm not. I have been fooled to many times in the past few years. Yes the swept the Padres and its a good thing. It just still doesn’t feel like they are getting better despite this series win. I really have a hard time coming up with optimistic posts about this team. Apparently Grover had another 45-min team only meeting which was "positive" by all accounts. I don’t know what to think though.

I have heard rumors of Carl Everett being traded and I am all for that I don’t like him, I thought the signing was a horrible idea and anything we can get for him would be a good thing.
Anyway there hasn’t been a post here for the past few days so I thought some new stuff would be nice.

A nice ting is it looks like Snelling is getting close again, I keep hoping that he can just take it easy and get his body to last, the kid has talent and I would hate to see it never blossom in the big leagues.

I really don’t have much to add other than yesterday I saw the 4th inning I think it was where the M’s put up 7 with yet another series of Flurry of singles……………

Alan Thicke, Kirk Cameron, and the Oakland A's

2006-05-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

I hate Joe Blanton. Actually, it seems like Mariner bats hate baseballs thrown by Joe Blanton. When have the Mariners ever been able to win in Oakland? As long as I can remember, back to the days of Lansford, Weiss, and Steinbach, the M's have had trouble in the land of immense foul territory that is the Oakland A's home stadium. I did some quick research, and could only find on baseball-almanac.com that the A's are 203-136 all-time against the M's, but if anyone wants to take the time to find out the M's all-time record in Oakland, I'd love to know. I have to think it's terrible.

But, to last night's game. I've already said how important I thought this series was. USSMariner was doing it's best to stay optimistic. But, Felix got pounded. Jeff at Lookout Landing called it a letdown. Deanna was just plain depressed. Personally, I was half asleep when I heard the Melhuse grand slam. The XM went off right then.

Of course, the bigger issue from last night was Felix. Again with the suckage. They'll be plenty of good talk about his issues in the M's blogoverse-a-sphere. I won't try to match the statistical, mechanical, psychological analysis. But, maybe, just maybe, we can chalk it up to....

GROWING PAINS! Ha! I'm such an idiot.

Am I crazy....

2006-05-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

To think that this series with the A's is really important? After beating down the Angels with all sorts of round trippers, the M's trail the Athleticos by two games for second place in the division. Two out of three and they're one back. Sweep and they're in second place. Maybe even first depending on what the Rangers do. Clearly, it's early. But, I'm looking at the schedule and I see a lot of winnable series coming up. The Padres, Orioles, Twins, are sandwiched by the A's and Rangers. Now that I say that, I think the rest of May could prove to be crucial to the M's season. If the M's took every series (without sweeping), they would be 28-27. That's going into a June schedule that includes the Royals, Twins, the NL West, and the A's and Angels (who they own by the way.)

I don't know, I'm probably reaching, and I'm definitely getting waaay ahead of myself. I said it before, and I still believe that the A's are the team to beat in the AL West. They made the M's look silly the first time around, and it's payback time. A baseball season is a marathon, but every game, every series counts. And I think this is the biggest one of the year. Go Felix go Felix go!

8-1 the King has his best outting of the year

2006-05-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Going into the game I was worried. Worried that we would see Felix struggle as he has in the early part of the year to escape the first few innings unscathed. Worried that if he did struggle and give up a few the offense wouldn’t support him. This is pressure that many mariner starters have had over the past few years. Ask Ryan Franklin, ask Jarrod Washburn. My worry almost came to realities as Felix took the mound only to walk the first batter. Luckily he settled down and was able to get out of that first inning.

Moving into the game the mariners put up a nice 3 spot to give Felix some breathing room. Highlighted by a flurry and I mean flurry of singles. Felix seemed relaxed at this point. He was starting to put it on cruise control. Grounders, strike outs and fly outs. And from the looks of it nothing was hit hard. He was dazzling hitters with 97 MPH heat and filthy 84 mph of speed pitches. Towards the 7th and 8th he just made hitters look ridiculous.

Middle of the Game Jurrasic carl had another towering Jurrasic Blast to give felix a 3 run lead. The offense then erupted in the 8th with another Flurry of singles. Tampa didn’t know what hit them with so many single bagers dropping in and guys moving up 90 feet. All in all a 4 spot was put up in the 8th to essentially seal the deal as soriano shut the door. The 9th went smooth which was highlighted by an absolute tori hunter esc play from Jeremy reed diving to take a sure fire hit away.

The Game was Fun, Neddy Ball game and I sat and discussed many of the finer points of the game, along with our dislike of Dave "You know I played in the MLB" Henderson. One thing came clear from our conversations. Beltre was starting to hit the ball hard in every At bat over the past few games. We both felt he was getting a bit unlucky but it was a good sign to see him hit the ball so well. Everything off his bat was a rocket. Secondly we both agreed that if there was going to be a manager swap it was going to be more dependent on what the AL West did rather than how the mariners are doing. If we keep this pace and are still 4 games out......I doubt there will be a change but if/when someone gets hot Grover could see the door and Mr. Rohn will roll in from his fake position.

And Lastly, and I feel really strongly about this one. They handed out all-star ballots at the game. Early yes but this is a good thing. I started to review my options. Standard guys were coming to mind for each position. However My eyes were drawn to the options at second base. I looked and noticed something...........Was Jose Lopez the most productive second basemen in the AL??? No way that cant be true can it? So I dug deeper. Who are the top Second basemen in the league? Well offensively Soriano is probably the most potent but he is in Washington and technically is not a 2nd basemen. Chase utley then? Probably. You have to go down the list of productive players at second to find an AL guy. The top two in the AL are Ty Wigginton, is not as good as he ahs been in my opinion, and your own Jose Lopez. Lopez is not only right there offensively he is superior Defensively. And as far as important to his team.....Come on Lopez leads the team in Homers and Rbi's.

Its official I Travis "Big Daddy" Goodfellow am starting the Jose Lopez for starting second basemen at the 2006 ALL-STAR GAME. Whose with Me!!!

Not such a good 20

2006-05-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

During the Mariners historical run in 2001, there were a few times during the season when I looked at their record and said "Wow." I don't remember most of those records, but one that sticks out for me is 20-4. I don't know what it was about that record, but that was just incredible to me. Maybe it was the first time I started to think about the pace they were on. But, I think it was that number 20. Something about the number 20 has always intrigued me. Barry Sanders was my favorite football player for a long time, and I think a big part of it was because he wore the number 20. It's like, you know, double the first double digit number. And with that record, 4 just looked so small next to it.

Something tells me I'm not going to be remembering the most recent 20 in Mariners history. That 20 would be today's loss. Number 20 on the season. To go with 13 wins. Oy. Another good start from Washburn is negated by the ineptitude of the nine men who swing bats. I guess I'll take solace in the fact that, somehow, despite all the crappy baseball they've played, the Mariners are still only 4.5 games out of first place. That's with Tampa Bay coming up next, and then two intra-divisional series in a row. So, anything's still possible. (Although, this isn't your father's Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Or, I guess, more like your older sibling's. More than likely your father's Tampa Bay Devil Rays are yours too. Unless of course you're under the age of 8. Which you probably aren't because if you're 8 you don't bother yourself with stupid things like this blog that is dedicated to a hapless baseball team. If you are 8 or younger, let me give you some advice-do not decidate yourself to any one team. Be the biggest frontrunner of all time. Root for whatever team is winning, always. It will save you all sorts of pain and suffering.)

In other news, Guardado is trying to make himself useful by mentoring Putz. Maybe since the M's are going with a closer by committee approach, they should do a mentor by committee thing too. You know, have a different mentor for each young arm in the bullpen. Play the matchups too. Maybe have the fiery (how the hell do you spell firey by the way?!?!!) Guardado work with a low-key guy. Or the grumpy Moyer work with a real eager, young puppy like guy. Wow, am I reaching for material or what? Go Mariners!

WARNING: This next item will put you in an excellent mood for 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Then you'll take a 13-second emotional trip from the highest of high to the lowest of low as you realize how far removed the Mariners are from these types of moments. But, if you think it's worth it, check out this youtube clip that highlights the M's-Yankees series from '95.

That is all. Keep hope alive! Or, invite a time machine that will make it football season.

@##$%$%^

2006-05-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

If Eddie Guardado closes another game for the Seattle Mariners and Mike Hargrove isn't sent packing immediately after he blows another game for the team....I'm not sure what I'll do but it will definitely involve throwing something and cursing. Mike-get it through your head, the guy can't close anymore. He doesn't have the same stuff he used to and his arm is about to fall off. I got myself all fired up with the comeback in the 8th, only to have Eddie do it again. Add last night's performance to this one against Texas, this one against Boston, and this one last week against the White Sox, and you've got a trend. Turn those three losses into wins and the M's are a game above .500

Forget his grit, toughness, clubhouse presence, blah blah blah. Eddie Guardado isn't very good anymore. Putz has been lights out this year. Give him the closer's role. This isn't like those teams in the 90s in which the entire bullpen was a ticking bomb. There are other options. It's time for the Mariners to take the Boston route. They realized that Foulke couldn't get it done anymore and gave the closer role to the young stud.

4.5 games back. The Rangers have been hot but no one's running away with the AL West yet. The problem is fixable. Take action Mariners.

I LOVE JOSE LOPEZ!!!

2006-05-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

Just singled in the 8th to tie it!!!

Sometimes I just don't know what they are thinking

2006-05-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ok so a while back we were all excited about the Matt Thorton trade. found here

Well today the marlins Claimed Joe Borchard off waivers from the mariners. Borchard was who we traded thorton for. SO essentially we gave thorton away now without even really giving Borchard a look. Well he is gonna get a look in Florida. I’m not so much pissed that thorton was given away I didn’t want him but the fact that they just give up on the guy they got for him so soon is absolutely insane. With the struggles in Center Field that they have had this year don’t you think trying out Borchard made just a tiny bit of sense? Even if it was just for a week?

The santana wall

2006-05-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

I for one didnt expect a victory going against the likes of Santana who is I must admit a personal favorite of mine. The game started off looking solid in the Mariners Favor. They started off with 3 hits, a triple and 2 singles, all were hit hard. Then however Santana settled down and pitched like the ace that he is. It was pretty much over after the 1st inning. It's all good though lets focus on the next two game set in Chicago. I think this is shaping up to be a pretty nice road trip. I really love Yuni by the way he is simply a wizard out there.

Good weekend

2006-05-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well I'd love to do an extended recap of the weekend in Baltimore, but the parents have been in town, and we've been busy saving Darfur, so it's been tough for me to find a chance to get to it.

But, I was at Friday and Saturday's games in Bmore with the fam and some friends. Friday was no good. It was just one of those games that had nothing special about it. The M's were never really in it, and never really out of it. The Meche jersey obviously didn't work. Plus we were surrounded by Red Sox fans, who are have gladly taken the baton from Yankee fans as the most obnoxious in baseball. They were actually doing a "Yankees suck!" cheer at the game. Are you kidding me? Maybe those two teams should just join their own league so they can play each other every day and be really childish and obnoxious with each other.

Saturday was much better, although it didn't seem like it at first. Felix was struggling pretty badly, but still showed flashes of the brilliance that is going to make him a dominant starter for years to come. His ability to induce the ground ball is uncanny I say! I even found myself hoping Ramon Hernandez would hit a grand slam at one point because it would help my fantasy team and I figured there was no way the M's were going to win anyway. But, the bats exploded. And Beltre homered!!!!

I didn't see any of the game yesterday as we were in DC rallying to stop genocide, but....nice! Two series in a row is swell.

I've decided I can't let myself get too high about wins or too low about losses at this point in the year. On the one hand, the M's have looked terrible at times. On the other, they're 2 games out of first place. It's too early to be super negative, and too early to be overly positive. I just can't get a read on this team. I can't figure out how good or bad they can be. Let's see what May brings.

Ready to go.....

2006-04-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

We're here. We're ready to go. I've got the Meche jersey on. Heading to Camden in a few minutes. Let's go M's!!!!!

What a difference a day Makes

2006-04-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

I was at the end of the proverbial rope with this team yesterday. I felt there was no way they could pull a series win out of the white soxs. It was actually funny, my roommate and I head to a local watering hole close to home on Wednesday’s for Happy hour, which by the way offers 1/2 off wine. Roomy called me saying he was leaving from Kirkland at 5:30 mid rush hour and there was a mariner’s home game so he was going to be a while. I jokingly said not to worry no one goes to the Safe anymore anyway traffic will be fine. Which in many ways is true. Anyway taht was just compounding my disappointment in this squad.

That being said Washburn is this years Ryan Franklin. Not in skill level, washburn appears to be vastly superior but in lack of run support. Last night he got 5 which was nice but Mr. Washburn has pitched well enough for more wins than he currently has. He is showing that he indeed was a nice addition although I am still not sold on the price.

The main thing of this post is a topic I wanted to get others to chime in on. Raul Ibanez. Over the past 2 seasons or so has there been a more consistent guy? Sure he’s numbers are not to die for but they aren’t bad ether. He doesn’t really ever seem to slump, just is always around 300 with moderate HR and moderate Rbi's. He is a guy who I think could take the ropes and lead this team since it seems to me that Sexson doesn’t want to, beltre is to bad too, ichiro doesn’t want to unless he is playing for Japan in the WBC. I think Raul might be a good source. I think I brought this up last year only to be shot down but after taking some time to reflect has anyone’s opinion changed?

Oh and its time to put Soriano as closer and move Eddie to set up, its not that I don’t have faith in Eddie, it is wavering a bit but soriano is so nasty its almost hard to see any other spot for him.

And lastly I dont want to jinx anythign but could alst nights series win put a spark in tehse guys for the road trip? Get ready mike they are coming your way like a runaway train.

Pounded

2006-04-26T06:39:00.000-07:00

Seattle
Pineiro 4.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR
Livingston, B 1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Woods 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HR

Ouch.

A win. Yay.

2006-04-25T05:04:00.000-07:00

Living on the East Coast can be difficult if you're a fan of a West Coast team. Games start at 10pm and don't end until well after midnight. It's not for lack of dedication to a team, but staying up that late every night wears on you. So, I don't do it. Usually what I do is I put on my XM headphones and fall asleep to the soothing sounds of Rick Rizzs. Most nights I'll wake up at some point, quickly check on the score, put the radio away, and check the final in the morning. Last night was no different. This time when I woke up, it was 2-2 in the 8th inning. Moments later, Raul Ibanez hit the HR to give the M's the lead. I decided I'd listen to the top of the 9th. Then Eddie came. His suckage continues. After he gave up the HR to Brian Anderson....BRIAN ANDERSON....I went to sleep. Grumpy.

But, hey the M's won! Yuni! Of course, it would have been nice to have taken it in the 9th so Putz and Mateo wouldn't have had to get work. But, whatever.

A couple of things....

USS Mariner points out that the M's struggles can be summed up in one word: IchiBeltrxson. There've been some trade rumors too. I'd love to say trade Eddie now, but what value are you going to get for him at this point? He was throwing the hardest he has all year last night, so maybe that's a good thing. If he can get in a few good outings, his trade value will increase. But, it could also get worse and he might become untradable.

OK Mariners. Please win more than one in a row. I'd like to see a team that's playing well come to Baltimore this weekend.

whats up with eddie

2006-04-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

When have you ever seen Eddie walk 4 hitters in one inning? When have you seen him walk in the go ahead run? Something is up with him. After the game Eddie said he didn’t know what was going on. He feels good and his pitches are not terrible. He just isn’t the Eddie from before so far this year. This was a big one two, thats two blown opportunities, I realize last night was not a save situation, in less than a week.
Is it time to start the conversation of moving Eddie to set up and soriano or putz to closer? I keep telling myself its only week 3, but from the looks of things 85-90 wins is going to win the west and dammit I think this team can win 80 plus so every game counts!! Discuss............

Comeback Win....Special Guest Writers Neddy Ballgame and Maaaah

2006-04-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, boys and girls, there is life in these Mariners...maaaah! and I were there last night---with a few (very few) thousand of our closest friends---many of those few bailed out well before the fireworks in the bottom of the ninth...and what a ninth it was...but before we got there it was looking like another painful evening at our favorite outdoor restaurant(guy behind us was screaning at Grover for letting Blalock hit with first base open and of course old Hank gets a base knock and then Julio strikes out the next batter!))....

Millwood was on (44 pitches through 4 innings) and Jamie was getting out of jam after jam but a couple of things saved our heart--Ichiro broke through the Mendoza line with a 4 for 4 night (Everett broke through the night before) and Adrian got his first extra base hit and RBI (that caused a sensation in our area ..high fives all around)...our boys kept chipping away and JJ Putz did not give up the extra run looming on third base ( his breaking stuff looked quite good and he wasn't afraid to go to it )..

Then to the 9th(maaaah! made me turn my hat into a Rally CAp --and it worked !!)--I went ballistic when Frankie Cordero hit Ichiro then our man Jose ( he is exceeding all expectation so far in the 2 slot)..thought Raul's high sac fly could have made it out (wishful thinking since it was about 5 feet short of wall) then Ritchie came through to tie it (got to see Matt Lawton as pinch runner) and Jo Mama kept it going --we now have only one out and Buckie boy in the Rangers dugout is gettting nervous so he finally pulls his ace freakin' closer for a leftie who has pitched a total of 1/3 inning to turn my boy ( yes ,I know I was the biggest detractor of this Bavasi signing !) Carl Everett around ( high percentage play since he was hitting even lower righty than lefty ) aad then "Good Bye Baseball" as he walks off and hits the KOMO 1000 sign with a rocket that you knew was gone the second it left the bat -

The Safe goes nuts --almost like a plyoff win--strangers high-fivin', I've lost my voice..what a difference 2 days makes--losing by a walk off on Monday then turning it around last night ...what a great win ..everyone smiling and laughing even the security guy broke out into a smile.

And here is maaah's take:

Is there anything greater than baseball? Until the last 5 seconds of last night's game I thought the most entertaining/memorable thing was going to be the 4 yokels in front of us or maybe mr. baseball encyclopedia behind us catching the fly ball. But in the bottom of the ninth I was reminded of the moments leading to Griffey's rounding the bases in '95. For the 2 thousand of us left watching...cheering our hearts out, Carl the dino didn't disappoint. You would have thought we'd won the world series. That's just how starved we poor Mariners fans are for a winning season...heck...just a win! There is for sure something different in this team from the last 2 years. The one thing that makes a game or a season worth participating in...players with heart. Is there anything greater than baseball?

King less Kingly again

2006-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Felix, lets go bud!! You’re better than this. You look at his line and its not terrible but he is leaving pitches out over the plate and they are getting CRUSHED!! Chalk it up to being young and what not but the king has struggled. I think he will get it together and hopefully soon.

There isn’t much to say about last night to be honest it was a game lacking intrigue which is interesting to say since Felix was on the mound and I always was interested to see those games.

Something I want to address is Sexson strike out totals. He seems to be doing it more and more of late. Now I know we were aware of this prior to the signing but over the past few games it just seems like he is doing it alot. A couple games in Boston come to mind where he struck out with less than 2 outs and a runner on third. I am not sure what can even be done to remedy this I just would like to see him put the ball in play more often and get out that way rather than Strike out. Maybe its lofty thinking.

Grover Grover Grover. I know people will tell me its early, and mike would suggest that Managers have little to do with the team in actuality. I personally think its time for him to go. I realize they are not going to cut him loose mid year but at the end I think this is Grover’s last ride or at least I hope it is.

This is a pointless post due to just the lameness of the game last night! Hopefully today will bring something more to the table.

6-8, that's fine

2006-04-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Because of the wonders of XM Radio, I was able to listen to the game this morning as we drove back to Baltimore from Ohio. I screamed at the top of my lungs when Mark Loretta hit the walk-off HR off Eddie G. I was so mad. How great would it have been to split the series in Boston? We'd be 7-7 after a brutal schedule over the first two weeks. But, I didn't stay mad for long. Why? Because I think there's a lot to still be excited about.

For starters, 6-8 against LA, Oakland, Cleveland, and Boston isn't all that bad. The M's took two of those series. Even if the Angels beat the Oreos tonight, they'll only have a 1.5 game lead for first place. No one is running away with the divison. And take a look at who each of of AL West bretheren have played:

Angels (6-6): @ Mariners, Yankees, Rangers, @ Orioles
A's (6-7):Yankees, @ Mariners, @ Twins, Rangers
Rangers (5-8): Red Sox, Tigers, @ Angels, @ A's

The M's? Angels, A's, @ Indians, @ Red Sox. I think it's fair to say we've had the toughest schedule.

The Red Sox series could be a great experience for down the road. Even though they lost 3 of 4, they played TOUGH against one of the best teams in baseball, in one of the most hostile environments, with their top two pitchers throwing. Manny and Ortiz were shut down until today. There is no way the teams of the last two years could have done that.

OK I know this post is sort of turning into a rant, but whatever.

My biggest concern at this point is the rotation. The only one of the starters that can truly dominate is Felix, and even he is going to be shut down after a certain number of pitches and innings. So that means we should only expect to get 5-7 IP a night from whoever takes the hill. This means the bullpen is going to get a lot of work. The bright side is that the bullpen is looking like an absolute strength. Sherrill, Putz (Michigan grad-gotta give credit when he's doing well), and Soriano are just plain filthy. Woods and Mateo are decent enough. I'm not ready to give up on Eddie, but so far he's been the shakiest. My concern is they're going to wear down. We'll have to keep an eye on that. I wonder if we'll see Foppert, Harris, or even Blackley or Nageotte getting some apperances down the road.

Switching gears. Again. Now, I'm of the mind that managers don't really make that much of a difference in baseball. I think for the most part, it's all about who's on the field. But, Hargrove made a decision that really confused me today. It was a 5-5 game in the top of the 9th and Keith Foulke was pitching. Beltre was on first with on out. I thought for sure we'd see Reed, Petagine, or Lawton pinch hit. But no. Willie Bloomquist stayed in to bat. I couldn't believe it. I really can't understand the logic there. Betancourt was coming up next, and he was ultimately pinch hit for. But, why did Hargrove do it that way? Clearly you have to leave at least one of Bloomquist or Betancourt in to play short in the bottom of the ninth. Betancourt's better defensively, and pretty comparable offensively. Why not bring in a better hitter with less outs so he can get the big hit? Beltre was on first and isn't scoring unless someone hits a HR or a deep double. Reed, Petagine, and Lawton are all much more capable of doing that than Bloomquist. You risk him hitting into a double play, or not advancing Beltre. Plus, all those pinch hitters are lefties. I really am having a hard time writing coherently about it, so I'll just hope you all get what I'm saying. Lucky for Hargrove, Wee Willie got a hit. Then Petagine knocked in Beltre so it all worked out. But, still. Am I crazy to question that decision from Hargrove? When it happened, I was thinking that when I made the post there would be swearing involved. So I'm proud of myself for that. I guess this is why Petagine or Lawton might be traded. The M's need another infielder on the bench. If they had that, then both Bloomquist and Betancourt could have been pinch hit for. I know a lot of people don't like Hargrove (and I'm not a fan), and there's been some fire Hargrove talk in the blogosphere, but I don't really see the point of doing that right now. They're playing pretty well (maybe despite the manager but whatever), and I don't know if it would really do a lot of good for the team. I'd like to hear people's thoughts on that.

Felix tomorrow! Two very winnable series against the Rangers and Tigers this week.

Back to .500 and my first Sportscenter appearance

2006-04-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

When I found out that the M's would be in Cleveland while I was on my Easter break visiting Ohio with my wife, I was excited. When I found out that Felix would be pitching at the game I was going to, I was even more excited. When Felix looked like crap, the M's were down 4-0, Indians fans were going nuts for Travis "Pronk" Hafner, and drums were being beaten, I wanted to stop being a baseball fan.

But then my wife and I said it: "You know where he keeps that power right? Mmmmm hmmm. In his back pocket." Ichiro goes yard. 4-3. The Tribe adds another run to make it 5-3. But it was in the top of the 6th that my life changed for....a day or two.

When Jose Lopez ripped that home run, it was coming straight at me. And fast. In my mind I'm thinking, "Yes. Good. But....oh....oh my God it's coming right at me. I really wish I had my glove." I made a lame jump for it, but luckily it was too far over my head and the kid behind me (who did bring his glove) caught it. I've never been so glad to not catch a home run ball. There's no way I would have caught that ball, and I would have looked like an ass in front of all those Cleveland fans. Which would have been especially bad since it was college night at Jacobs Field and there had already been fights and other nonsense between Mariners and Indians fans.

A few minutes ago I turned on ESPN, and when the game highlights came on, I saw my lanky self on TV! Tee Vee!!! Couple this with the fact that Moira linked us this week on her P-I blog and I feel like a Z-list celebrity.

But, back to the game. What a great win. Really. How great was George Sherrill when he mowed down Hafner and Broussard in the 7th? And Putz too!

So, I had this great idea for the blog that was shot down by both my wife and Travis, but I'm going to tell the Magic faithful about it anyway. I thought it would be fun to give a game ball out to the player or players who we felt like were the most important to the M's that night. I thought we could take it a step further and, staying with the magic motif, give out a game wand! It was called "chincy", "over-commercialized", "corny", "hokey", and a littany of other unpleasant adjectives. Fine then. So, without further ado, tonight's game ball/wand goes to George Sherrill. I think you'd have to actually be at an Indians game to understand how just annoying their love of Travis Hafner really is, so you may not have gotten quite the devilish pleasure that I did at seeing "Pronk" get mowed down. Regardless, it was freakin sweet.

Boston's next. This first 2 weeks for the M's is absolutely brutal. Two series wins so far which I'm very happy with.

The question is-how good can this team be?

The streak ends and The M's look to win their Second Series

2006-04-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

After all the bad from that A's Series our boys are poised to win their second series! 2 of the first 3 series would be an excellent start to the young season. A few things to note from last nights game. I missed the early portion due to a doctor’s appointment, and basically tuned in to find our boy Gilbert struggling as usual. 49 pitches were thrown in the 1st two innings. That my friends are more than Florida marlin Serigo Mitre threw in 5. Who is Mitre? Unless you’re me you probably don't care lol.

The point being Gil is no better in the early part of the season than he was all of the past two. I don't want to jump off his wagon to early but how long are we going to go with this guy in a starting roll. Rolls like what Ryan Franklin had when he was good think 2001.
The offense woke up which was great to see, well all but Beltre who did single and steal a bag but 1 for whatever is not something I want from one of my franchise players.

My favorite thing of last night was when the Indians walked Raul to get to Sexson with the bases loaded. Richie wasted no time in reacting. The first pitch to him was absolutely crushed to deep left field. Raul has been walked to face Richie twice now and in both cases Richie has homered. Are teams gonna learn that walking Raul to get to Richie pisses richie off??
I am a bit concerned with Eddie, he looked rusty again. Let’s hope that it is just early season rust and that he can get into form here.

One last thing to bring up is how big a stud Kenji is. Not only is he hitting and playing defense well, he is so Clutch!! That double had me jumping out of my chair, I thought it was gone. A scaring moment in the 8th I think it was where Kenji on his throw back to the mound hit is hand on the bat of an Indians batter, I forget who was at the plate. Luckily it didn’t look serious and he remained in the game. The last thing he needs is a injury to spoil his fire!!
Tonight is the King as they go for the series win!

Oh and props to Ichiro for breaking outta his "Slump". And of course Raul needs some love for his 4-4 4rbi night. He is Mr. consistency!

Travis Hafner = Seattle Mariners

2006-04-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

Lovely quote from The Seattle Times this morning:

Two strikes later, Travis Hafner hit his fifth homer of the season, which tied the Mariners' team total until Jose Lopez smacked a two-run shot an inning later.

This whole sucking thing is getting old.

Start hoping for the Wild Card

2006-04-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Prisoners at Guantanimo Bay can consider themselves lucky. At least they weren't Mariners fans this weekend. 27 innings without a run. 27. As a team. And the first one came how? On a bases loaded hit by pitch. That was brutal.

It's pretty clear that the A's are the class of the AL West. They made the Mariners look silly in every possible way. And let's be honest, the A's were just toying with us when they allowed the M's to get back in the game yesterday. The M's played the Angels tough, but the A's were just on another level. Remember in 1995 when the M's started to get hot but were still 12 back of the Angels? Remember how Jay Buhner said "forget the Wild Card, we want the division" (and then punched someone in the arm)? Mmmmm, not so much in 2006. I say our best hope is the Wild Card. It's fitting that the Indians and Red Sox, two playoff/Wild Card contenders are next on the schedule. Could be an interesting week. Next Monday it may be time to start hoping for .500, or start hoping for a good trade, or start hoping that it's August and there are good football teams to follow.

By the way, I'll be at the game in Cleveland on Thursday. Everybody sing along (to the tune that Wayne and Garth sang "We got five thousand dollars!" in Wayne's World)....I get to go see Felix! I get to go see Felix!

The other day, Travis and I talked about whether or not it was premature to call Beltre a bust. We sort of came to the conclusion that it probably was. But, the grumblings have started. Ted Miller at the P-I says he's "on the brink" of being called a complete bust. There was some discussion at Lookout Landing as well. I've only been listening to the games, but he's striking out, grounding out, popping out, not hitting good pitches, all of the same crap he did last year. But, it's early. Let's give it some time and we'll leave it at that.

Bad Game

2006-04-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last night's game was a punch to the collective guts of the Mariner Nation. Everything was going so well. Our best pitcher was going and it looked like we were going to make it 4 in a row. But, no. Felix was rusty, the bats were non-existent, and the pitchers walked 11 A's. I would have much rather had this game happen for Meche's start. At least then we would have been expecting to lose anyway.

2 hits? 2. Off Joe Blanton and Justin Dooocheererer. I was thinking that Blanton had done this before, and he did dominate the Mariners last June 29th. But not nearly at the same level as last night.

You know what? There's no point in writing anything else about that game.

This is the beauty of baseball. We've got another one tonight. Moyer vs. Zito. Go M's!

Fairly vs. Rizzs....Round 1 to Rick

2006-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else hear this exchange on the radio broadcast last night? This isn't verbatim, but I thought it was hilarious.

Scene: SafeCo Field press booth. 2nd inning, 1 out. Jeremy Reed on 3rd. Betancourt at the plate

Fairly: Jeff Pentland has been work with Betancourt on going the other way.This would be a good spot for Yuniesky to do that. He's got a better chance of lifting a ball to center or right than if he tried to pull it. He's more likely to roll one over if he tries to do that.
Rizzs: (cornily-but do I even need to say that with Rizzs?) What about a good old squeeze play? (uncomfortable laugh like he's kidding when he'd actually crap his pants if it really happened).
Fairly: (irritated) It's too early for that. Too early. He should try to lift a ball and get Reed in.
Rizzs: (again with the strange laugh) Well Red the only reason I say it is because third base coach Carlos Garcia just whispered into Jeremy Reed's ear.
Fairly: (sharply) Well, that's a decoy. That's so in case this situation comes up again in the ninth they can do the same thing and the A's won't be expecting it.
Rizzs: (still laughing-you can tell he's dying for the squeeze) Well.... (with unbridled fervor and emotion) ASJSFJ AND THE SQUEEZE IS ON OH MY GOODNESS BUT HE FOULS IT OFF!!!
Fairly: ......

You know Rizzs wanted to rub Fairly's face in that.

Gilbert and Jurassic Carl

2006-04-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Don’t look now but the Mariners are 3-1 and in sole position of 1st place in the AL West. That’s right folks so far the hot start that we all had been clamoring for is currently underway. Last night it was more of the same from the prior two wins. Our Offense scores early and give our pitching staff room to work and actually kind of takes some pressure off.

I was unable to catch anything other than the 9th inning yesterday (due to some Russian Vampire movie (Nightwatch) I went to see, very unique I must say) so most of my account comes from papers and a bit of sports center.

From what I read Meche gave up a solo run in the first on a substantial amount of pitches something like 30. Not a great start but he came back to a better balance later. The mariners came back in the second and put up a 3 spot highlighted by a Jurassic Blast to right. I am going to call every vital Carl Everett HR a Jurassic Blast. I think that is awesome!! But ya he turned on that pitch.

Reed followed up with a gap triple. You know that is the type of hitter I want reed to be. A guy with moderate gap power who can leg out double s and in this case triples. He later would score as well. Something to note, as the Seattle times did, Grover put the Squeeze on only to have Betencourt foul it back.

But the point is they are truly more aggressive this year on the base path and I for one am very happy with that. You don’t just see that in this play but the other night richie tried to stretch a double outta a single, and ibanez advancing to second on his rbi Single when the throw went home. Things of this nature are good to see in this club.

Meche continue into the 6th inning making the Mariners starting rotation 4 for 4 in 60 inning starts. I called into KJR yesterday as Softy had an open segment and I wanted to talk M's. I brought two things tot the table. A.) Kenji is a complete stud so far AND B.) if the rotation is going to give us 6-7 innings a start and 2-3 runs. Man this team is going to be good!!

Wow what a great time it is in mariner land. Let’s keep it going. The king goes tonight!! Could we be looking at a 4-1 start????

New links

2006-04-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of changes/additions to the "Baseball Sites" on the right. First, Mariner Housewife has gone big time and is on the P-I's site now. Congrats to Moira. Also, I finally got around to putting up a link to Marinerds. I really like Deanna's perspective and she brings some great knowledge about Japanese baseball to the table. Keep up the good work ladies!

2-1!

Game 3: Washburn Goes 7

2006-04-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen the mariners win the series!! Well the opening series that is but this was no joke. They took 2 of 3 from the vaunted LA Angels of Anaheim. This was the team that won the west last year. How did a 90-loss team pull this off? Pitching defense and a vastly improved offensive unit. In the series each Start pitched into the 7th inning, most recently Washburn who completed the 7th. Washburn Struck out the last man he faced with a battle cry as he left the mound. It was good to see some fire out there!

Again Mr. Lopez was a hitting start, he may really be coming into his own here folks. If he could put up Ronnie Belliard numbers I would consider him heaven sent! Last night Mr. Lopez went 3 for 5 with a RBI and a run scored. In his AB in the 7th, while he didn’t get a hit, he did hit a slow grounder to second that advanced Ichiro to second and scoring position. What happened next was a Raul single scoring Ichiro in what was a vital run. So far this year Lopez is hitting a cool .462. While this of course has to balance out I'm fired up for this kid.

Big richie doubled in 2 more runs and seems like he hasn't lost a step from last year. What a tremendous signing he has turned out to be. Sexson along with Kenji, I am just in love with Kenji, he is a general out there. I have to wonder how many games a week he is going to be behind the plate is all. Hopefully he will get a few days off from that, but keep the bat in the lineup.

Congratulations go out to Mr. George Sherrill in obtaining his first career Major League Save. It wasn't picture perfect but it was a save none the less.

Overall though yesterday's game was a solid performance. They have another tough test coming today in the form of Oakland. Many have picked the A's to win the West this year, and that just turns my stomach, I hate the A's. Last year I would have gone into this series thinking if we can get one................But as Hendu said on the broadcast yesterday "Come out and support these guys are on fire" Its 3 games hendu but I love the enthusiasm!!!

Win #1. Hopefully the first of many

2006-04-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

I'm glad I went to bed when I did last night. I listened to the first few innings of last night's 10-8 win and checked out when it was 6-0. I figured if they were going to lose I didn't want to hear it anyway. But...holy Johjima!! And that bottom of the order produced a 5-run second. Looking good 7-9! (I'll refrain from mentioning our third baseman's performance at the plate.) Like Moyer the night before, Joel pitched decent enough I suppose. 97 pitches through 6 1/3 isn't too bad. I'm sure Lookout Landing or USSMariner will have a post about how he was really a lot worse than it seemed. Putz and Guardado sucked but right now let's take the win. And for the Mariners, they better hope it's the first of many. Here's why....

Thanks to USSMariner, we know that only 20,051 showed up for the game last night. The worst second-game attendance since Safeco opened. And that was following the worst opening night since 1995. I admit I've been impressed that the Mariners have been able to keep high attendance over the last two years. Seattle fans don't get much more fairweather (notice all the Seahawk fans coming out of the woodwork), and two 90-loss seasons are hard to deal with. But it looks like they've had enough. The dancing groundskeepers and Zombie Nation aren't going to keep those turnstiles....uh...turning (can't think of a better verb). The only way to get the Safe hoppin' again is to win some ballgames. I think this team can do that. I like Washburn against his old mates today.

.500! Woo!

Opening Day Blues

2006-04-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

0-1. Boo. I listened on my XM (best invention ever) today. That was tough loss (let's make it clear JJ Putz went to Michigan), but I'll take a few positives:

-Johjima's HR. Freaking sweet.
-The bottom part of the order. This is a much better lineup top to bottom than the last two years.
-Soriano throwing 96. (Organ music, angels singing, etc.)
-Petagine! There's your left-handed sock Bavasi. Huge addition to have that pop off the bench.
-Moyer pitched decent enough.
-Fairly said something truly hilarious. After Petagine's HR, Niehaus said the last pinch-hit homer for the M's was by Scott Spiezio against Toronto last year. Fairly says, "I think that was his only hit of the year right?". I LOLed.

Remember 2004? When the Angels came to Safeco and whipped the M's around? Not quite this time. This is a solid ballclub folks. Good lineup, solid bullpen (despite JJ Putz-Michigan grad) Of course, Piniero, Washburn, and Meche are throwing for the next three days so I may be singing a different tune come Thursday.

Here's the recap.

Pinero for Wilson --> Rumors and Speculation

2006-03-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days there has been some reports that a trade was looming in the form of Joel Pinero for Craig A Wilson of the pirates. I have read some reports on this and it is my personal belief that this is just in fact a rumor and is not something the mariners are interested in. Or so I hope and pray. Seriously what sense does this make for the Mariners. I can understand the pirate’s interest in Joel the pirates need pitching, but what role does Wilson play on the mariners? OF? Nah the only place to put him would be in place of Raul, and is he any better than Raul? No way. Well he can also play 1st............... but we have 55 million tied up there. Well a few years back Wilson was a catcher........Well we just invested some nice money into a catch and our future catcher is only a few years out. So are the Mariners thinking of trading there #2 starter for a bench guy? The trade just doesn’t make any sense to me so I am glad this is just a rumor lets hope and pray it stays that way.

This is why it's fun

2006-03-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

As much respect as I have for the analysis and conversation in the M's blogosphere, at time it's hard to ignore a level of cynicism that overshadows the pure fun of following a baseball team. The "fluff" articles of the spring are ribbed (and often deservedly so), and eyes are rolled at grit, hustle, and other "intangibles" that baseball people are enamored with. See: Willie Bloomquist. Loved by managers, ripped by statheads. Does that make statheads wrong for pointing out the obvious that Willie Bloomquist has no business being an everyday player? Absolutely not. And it's good to have that kind of conversation. But, there are times to just sit back and enjoy it all. Now is one of those times.

Which is why I've really enjoyed reading The P-I's season preview. Take a look at it. All of it. Get excited about the 19-year phenom that's going to win 20 this year, the double play combo that's this generation's Vizquel-Alomar, the Japanese catcher that's going to solidify a position that has been a black hole for two years, the big-name sluggers that are going to bring back memories of the homer-happy teams of the 90s. This is when we're supposed to hope for a pennant race, not an 80-win season. So do that! Enjoy it. It's baseball. It's back. And the M's are going to win the World Series!!!!!!!!!

5 days to Opening Day

2006-03-29T06:37:00.000-08:00

Or 4 if you don't count today and Monday. Or even 6 if you do count today and Monday. OK, 4 to 6 days until Opening Day. And the stories are....not interesting. The lead story on the M's site? The battle for the backup catcher.

Arizona was a great time. Joe Borchard's 460-foot HR was definitely the highlight of the game we went to. As far as the fantasy draft? I dominated and Travis took Garrett Anderson way too early.

Watch out Peoria

2006-03-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

Felix before he hit the bigs last year.

Big Daddy, Mike L and Magic faithful Chris are coming to town. We'll be at the game against the A's on Saturday. So if anyone is there, look on the lawn for lanky guys in the Griffey (me) and Charles Gipson (Chris) jerseys, Big Daddy rockin' the baby blue Buhner. We're heading down to take in a game and have our fantasy baseball draft. I'm all over Betancourt in Round 1!

Hmmmmm.....

2006-03-23T05:19:00.000-08:00

In the P-I today, Betancourt is being looked at to hit second. Strange. Let's put a free-swinging, low-OBP, light hitting guy right up at the top of the order. But, it gets better:

Willie Bloomquist, who batted second Wednesday night against Kansas City in Surprise, Ariz., might be the man -- if he winds up as the starting second baseman.

The fact that Bloomquist is even being considered for either of those spots (batting second and playing second) is alarming. I think Willie Ballgame is a good guy to have come off the bench with his defensive versatility and good baserunning skills. But, take a look at his numbers while batting 2nd from last year. (You have to scroll down a bit, but in 118 ABs he hit .264/.280/.364 with 20 strikeouts and 3 walks. By the way, who knew Willie went to ASU?) I had forgotten how often Hargrove had put Bloomquist in the 2 hole. That's where he had the bulk of his ABs last year. Now, take a look at Reed's numbers. Hitting second he was .226/.310/.310 with 23 strikeouts and 19 walks in 155 ABs. Not very good, but that OBP and walk rate is more of what you'd like to see out of your #2 hitter. (Interestingly enough, Reed seemed to have the most success hitting 6th last year.) Plus, Reed is a lefty, is younger, and is basically a better hitter. 2005 was his first full year in the bigs, so I think it's fair to say he should improve.

The Betancourt idea is odd, but the Bloomquist idea makes even less sense. Is Lopez really that lazy? Is Hargrove really that obsessed with Willie? I'm not a Bloomquist hater, but come on.

Ugh.

The new Ichiro

2006-03-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

Jeff Passan did a nice piece on Ichiro's rebirth over on Yahoooooo! I like to see Ichiro getting fired up. Even in 2004 when he had all those hits, I never got the sense that he was having a lot of fun. In fact, it seems like ever since Cameron left, he hasn't quite been as happy. I'm not sure what that scream Passan is referring to was, so if anyone saw it fill us in. After Ichiro's comments this off-season about things like playing cards in the clubhouse, it's nice to see him loosen up a little bit. Part of what makes Ichiro great is his work ethic and focus, but for those that are a fan of fire and passion (and I'm not talking about romance novels), this is a side of Ichiro you'll be happy to see in 2006.

So the WBC may give us a confident Beltre and a passionate Ichiro. I'll take that.

Edit: Jim Caple also noticed Ichiro's newfound emotions.

Matt "I can't Find the Plate" Thorton is gone

2006-03-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

After giving up the cycle, in his most recent spring training game, the Mariners have traded Matt Thorton to the Chicago White Soxs for OF Joe Borchard. This by all accounts is a really good move. If memory serves Joe Borchard was a much-talked about part of the Freddie Garcia trade a few years back. At the time the white sox's did not want to part with Borchard, largely in part to where they took him in the draft, the 1st round, and for his 5.5 million dollar signing bonus. He apparently hasn’t panned out they way they would have liked, however many feel there is some potential there. I personally feel anything you could get for Thorton is a positive so I am willing to take a gamble on Mr. Borchard.
This also frees up some room in the bullpen for guys like Foppert and Sherill who in my estimation are vastly superior pitchers. Cheers to the M's for pulling the trigger. The ussmariner has an excellent take on this trade found HERE

My Thoughts on Jesse Foppert

2006-03-16T08:10:00.000-08:00

From the looks of it, and mind you it is still really early, but it seems like Jesse Foppert might be the real deal. Yes he was highly touted and yes he ahs had a little major league experience. That being said he is still young and a lot of times these guys who have Tommy john not only return and still be able to pitch, but they return and are better than before. It’s like what Eddie Johnson, former sonic great, said in a recent interview: "Surgery doesn’t just fix things it makes them better!" I think this could be the case with Foppert. He has looked very good this spring. Posting the following numbers through, mind you, 3 games. He has started all 3 games going a total of 7 innings. In that time he has allowed 2 hits and 1 earned run. He struck out 3 however he has walked 6. Those numbers are solid though.

Now here are the scenario’s I see for Foppert over this season. The mariners basically can go two routes. I think they would like to keep him a starter and as it stands now there is no room for him in the rotation. S if they want to start him then obviously he will go to Tacoma and start there. That does not mean of course that he will be there all year but it is a good spot for him. Plus being so close it is a quick call for him to come up for a spot start at home here and there.

Ok say he remains this good all spring and the mariners decide he is too good to keep off the roster. Well in this case it seems to me that he would fill the Ryan Franklin mold of 2001. He would be our long guy out of the pen. I know how valuable that is for a team But I would rather that go to a older guy who is serviceable and let Foppert continue to get stronger and mature in AAA.

I also see that Third scenario which I like but I am almost 99.9% convinced that the mariners would never do it. That is make Jamie Moyer a at home starter where he, lets face it, is near Cy Young Caliber, and let Foppert take Jamie’s starts on the road. TO keep both guys in shape they can throw simulated sessions on their prospective start days if they are missing one or two. In Fopperts case whose to say when your home for a long home stand you don’t send him down for a couple starts at triple AAA just to keep his arm alive. I really like this scenario as I see it not only taking home pressure away from Foppert, but it benefits the team in letting him get some serious Big league experience while only improving your pitching staff at the same time. Jamie is a pitcher that I love in spacious ballparks. But when the mariners take that first flight down to Texas……that will scare me.

Perhaps if Mike and I see Mr. Bavasi this year at Spring training I’ll present this idea to him or at least maybe try to get some insight as to why this would or wouldn’t work for them.

Lee Seung-Yeop

2006-03-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

If you've pay paying attention to the WBC, you'll notice that Korea is going nuclear (I couldn't resist) on their opponents. Dontrelle Willis sucked again yesterday when the U.S. got beat down yesterday. The star for Korea has been Seung-yeop Lee who has 5 homers in the tournament right now. So would he be a good fit for the M's?

In 2003, Mike Thompson thought so at the old P-I blog. That year, Lee visited the M's, Dodgers, and Angels. He set the Asian single-season home run record with 56 in 2003, and signed with the Chibe Lotte Marines in Japan without an offer from an American club. Right now, he plays for the Yomiuri Giants and could sign with an MLB team as a free agent for 2007.

But, I looked up his numbers. They're not spectacular. He's got some serious pop, that AVG and OBP are pretty weak. Apparantly he was available this year too, but the Giants swooped in. Here's my question, and I know I don't know enough about Lee or the situation, but wouldn't he have made a little more sense than Carl Everett? He would have come much cheaper, he's younger, might like dinosaurs, and it's always cool to bring in foreign stars.

Just thinking out loud here.

Tuesday.....

2006-03-14T12:18:00.000-08:00

Beltre's belt is back. Moohaha. I would love to write headlines for a living. I'm very excited about what Beltre has been doing in the WBC. He's been smacking the crap out of pitchers from Carlos Zambrano, Javier Vazquez, and Jorge Julio. But, Beltre himself made a good point in the article in that a big reason he's getting some good pitches to hit is because of the guys around him. Regardless, he's taking advantage of it and I like to see that. Jeff Pentland was pretty convinced a lot of Beltre's problem last year was mental. This is good stuff. Very good stuff.

Speaking of someone with mental "issues", Meche is throwing his two-seamer and keeping Ron Fairly happy by keeping the ball down. Hmmph. Woopie.

Foppert's on the hill today.

Griff

2006-03-11T04:10:00.000-08:00

I don't care what people say about Ken Griffey, Jr. I understand why some people are bitter about him. I understand why a lot of people think trading him away was the best move Pat Gillick made as GM. I understand why people don't want him back. But, George made the Mariners relevant, and was my first baseball hero. For that, I will always be happy to see him be successful. So, yesterday when he hit 2 home runs in a meaningless game, I got excited. We love you Junior.

That's it yo.

Worst.....columnist.....ever

2006-03-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

How is Steve Kelley still employed? I've been reading this guy's work since I was about 10, and even then I understood that most of what he said had zero substance to it. He really drove that point home today with his column on Jarrod Washburn. So you don't have to suffer throught the whole thing, I'll let you know now that it was about.....it's coming.....no not yet.....it's too exciting.....how Washburn isn't afraid to speak his mind.

The highlights? Kelley sets several records for cliche use with these zingers:

On the field and in the clubhouse, the Angels do things the right way, and every player expects every teammate to play to these high standards.

Jarrod Washburn learned how the game was supposed to be played

This staff is looking for leadership.

Washburn comes from a place that knows how to win. And it's his job to pass it on.

Washburn uses many words to say nothing:

"They knew how to put a fire under you and teach you the way the game's supposed to be played. It's a great benefit to have guys like that on a team."

Oh, and the best part? Kelley uses the word bequeathed.

Blaggity blah blah blah. This isn't the first time Kelley has annoyed Mariner Magic. Remember when Travis ranted about his Ryan Franklin column?

Good and bad

2006-03-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a mixed bag of news for M's fans. So, do you want the good news first or the bad news? Personally, I'm a bad news first guy. Give it to me, I'll deal with it, then let's end on a positive note. So...

The bad news: Felix was flummoxed. Hehe. That made me giggle. Four hits, three runs, and two strikeouts in two innings. Not to worry though. Pitcher are getting pounded (more alliteration for you) all over spring training. Just ask the Nationals and Marlins. Felix will be fine. Help me out English majors, is that alliteration or consonance?

Now, the good news. Beltre went yard...twice! His second one went off the scoreboard in RIGHT-CENTER. Okay, I can't let myself get too excited yet. But that was really good to see.

Oh-and Jeff Clement homered off Derrick Turnbow. Sweet.