I've Moved

This blog, not that anyone was following it, has moved to a different site.
You can now find it at:

seattlemarination.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there!

Tidbits

It's been an interesting few weeks for the M's, and I'm tired and it's late, so this is all you get...

We lost three pitchers:
Julio Mateo was awkwardly optioned to AAA after sending his wife to the emergency room and skipping a game against the Yankees.
Jeff Weaver (0-6) was finally shot, forcing his placement on the 15 day DL.
Arther Rhodes 2007 season is caput.

We gained one:
Felix came back and is slowly gaining his form back after two starts: 8.2 innings, 5 runs, 14 k's.

Well... two:
We shipped up Eric O'Flaherty.

Fine... three:
We acquired Jason "Botox" Davis (I'm sorry, look at his photo) from the Indians for practically nothing.

Ichiro got his swing back: batted .260 on May 6th, .325 by May 22nd.

Richie got benched... finally: although, he's 3 for 7 with 2 RBI in the two games since his "vacation."

We now have three hitters with stable batting averages over .300 (and two weren't expected): Ichiro .325, Kenji .317 and Vidro .314

Ichiro lost his near-major league record-breaking streak of 45 straight stolen bases, but responded by snagging 6 bases in the next three games.

Jarrod, yes Jarrod Washburn is now tied as our "wins" leader with 4 after taking Tampa Bay down a notch with over 6 innings of one-run baseball.
The other 4-win phenom?
Horacio Ramirez is 4-2 with a 6.10 ERA
While Washburn is 4-4 with 3.15
How lame is that?

Oh, and our best tidbit?
Our current 'pen has a 2.98 ERA and is 5-1. And Putz is 11 saves for 11 opportunities.

...which is nice, considering our starters (which doesn't include Jeff "World Series Champion" Weaver) are 4.74 with a 14-14 record.

And lastly, are the Mariners leaders in any AL team categories?
Glad you asked.

Hitting:
We're last in games played - 41. Thanks, Cleveland.
We're last in walks - 94 (Boston has 194).
We're last in strikeouts - 189 (no no, offensive strikeouts! It's a good one!)
We're last in sacrifice flies - 6 (LA has 16).
We're last in sacrifice hits - 1 (O's have 14).

Pitching:
We're tied for the most complete games - 3.
We're first in shutouts - 4.
We're first in least homeruns given up - 29 (Tampa gave up 59).

Yeah, that's about it...

The good news is we're still floating around .500 and Felix hasn't even hit his stride yet.
Watch out, Halos! Here we come!

Weaver Leads Latest Mariner Offensive

Despite the recent offensive surge on behalf of some of the other Mariners the last couple weeks, I think it's important to understand that Mr. Jeff Weaver is putting them all to shame.

In only 65 at bats, Weaver is hitting .477 with 2 homers, 23 RBIs and has an OBP over .500
...
for the other team.

Yes, it took me a couple minutes to figure that out, but it was well worth it for my own entertainment.

Look for Weaver to improve on those stats tonight as he takes on the Bronx Bombers in NY.

That is all.

New Mariners Snowed Over

It wasn't just a four day blizzard that kept the M's from playing the last week. The team was also held back by almost every one of its new offseason acquisitions. Now before I start individually picking on each fresh Mariner (oh, and I intend to), I should point out that few, if any, Mariners are off to a great start in '07, and also that it's difficult to judge a whole season by only one cycle through our starting rotation... but isn't that what blogs do best?

2-2 in four games isn't awful, but it's not phenomenal either and only a blizzard kept us from finishing five innings of no-hit baseball last Friday in Cleveland.

I realize nobody but Ichiro's producing so far, but let's have a look at the stat lines of our new Mariners, shall we?

Jose Vidro - 1 hit in 15, 1 walk, no rbi's, no runs, nada...
Jose Guillen - 2 hits in 12, 2 runs, no rbi's, 1 walk, 6 k's

I realize that we've only got Ichiro, Ibanez and Sexon (yes even Sexon) above the Mendoza line so far this year, but a combined average of .100 for our new golden boys?

Pitching, though, right? That's where we invested our payroll! Okay, so how about our new boys in the 'pen?

Sean White - 2.70 in 3+ innings with a k, okay...
Brandon Morrow - 9.00 in 2 with 3 walks
Chris Reitsma - 4.5 in 2 with a k...
Okay what abour Rhodes? Oh, right, sent down on the DL. His replacement?
Jake Woods - 13.5 in 2 with 3 walks... um...

Okay, so forget the 'pen. They'll come around. How about those three new starters we put money in, huh?

Miguel Batista - 15.43 ERA in 4.2 innings with 5 k's, 2 walks and a bean, okay...
Horacio Ramirez - 9.00 ERA in 4 innings... wait... wipe that, snowed out...
Jeff Weaver - 31.50 ERA in 2 innings with 2 walks and a k

So, what's the good news, then, huh?

Well, Jamie Burke hasn't commited an error in 2 innings of work behind the plate and last minute acquisition Jason Ellison is batting 1.000! So that should bring our team average up to...

.167

So, here's hoping tonight's headline begins: "Ichiro and Dice-K Square Off" and ends with "King Felix Dominates, Ichiro Homers Twice"

Let's shake it up, Mariners! We've got some baseball to play!

Line of the Week:
It just has to go to Felix's last start...
8.0 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 12 k's

Bust of the Week:
So many choices, but I'd have to pick yesterday with World Series Champ Jeff Weaver...

2.0 innings, 7 hits, 7 runs, 2 walks, 1 k

He managed 38 strikes in 70 pitches and remember, hits count as strikes.

Rhodes To The Rescue!

Omar Vizquel is long gone from the American League, but those shiny lobe-trotters that caused a lifelong rivalry are back as Arthur Rhodes agreed to a minor-league contract with the Mariners yesterday. Don't recall it? It's the moment that made Rhodes famous back in 2001. No, not his 1.72 ERA that year, but his ability to get ejected over a refusal to take off a pair of earrings at a baseball game.
I'd counter that Bavasi has reached a new low, but in this case, I think he's making a good move. Yes, I used the word "Bavasi" and the phrase "a good move" in the same sentence. Don't worry, it's not all good news, because I think Rhodes is perfect because our recent signing of Reitsma is a flop just waiting to happen. We need another lefty in the 'pen and George Sherril, the one man wonder, just isn't going to cut it.
Is he 36? Yeah. Is he past his prime? Probably. But Bavasi understands one thing that most Mariner fans can't grasp: the more, the merrier.
Let's say Ichiro is a 10 out of 10, and Horacio Ramirez is a 2 of 10. Which is better? Ichiro, of course.
However, if we have 6 Horacio Ramirezes, then that's 12 out of 10. It's simple math, folks.
We may not have 5 good players to string together, but we have about 50 lousy ones. And as any good baseball fan knows, it's not about losing as a single player, it's about losing as a team. And for the M's this year, suck is something they may all be able to do together.

Sims, Blowers Additions Not Enough to Save Season

Most Mariner fans woke up this morning, checked the official website, and hoped that we had traded for some big ace. We had all hoped for some new reason to look forward to what could be a dismally long season in 2007. So what did the club do today instead?

We signed a rookie with more experience in football and basketball than baseball, and gave a dodderingly ancient third baseman a contract extension. Let's have a closer look at these two moves:

Dave Sims has gotta be around 6', 220 lbs, and while he might be able to call it all day on the gridiron, he's simply too big for baseball, and from what I've heard, he simply doesn't have enough pitches to make it even in Seattle's desperate rotation. His previous experience is nill, although he does have a radio show with Duke's Coach K, who, as everyone knows, knows everything about everything.

As for Mike Blowers, he's 41, which in today's baseball isn't too old, but his career .257 average just isn't going to cut it on this squad. And besides, our offense isn't horrible, what we really need is a good starter and a setup man to replace Soriano whose name doesn't rhyme with "Eats Muh." Unless Mikey's holdin' back a low 90's fastball and a killer splitter, I just don't see what the M's are doing signing him back on for another season. I mean, c'mon, the Beltre trade rumors are flying now that we've got two thirdbasemen!

I give up, folks. I just don't know what's going on anymore.

Why Does Next Season Matter?

There's a lot on the line for the 2007 season:

Bavasi and Hargrove are on their last legs.

Four new players have been signed/acquired.

The "kids" of last year are all looking into their true sophomore seasons.

But one agenda trumps them all next season...

Ichiro.

And so as we laugh at the hurried misdealings of Bavasi and look forward to a franchise without him, we neglect the most important problem in coming up short this winter : an unsigned contract extension with Ichiro.

Will he sign? Will we trade him? Can any true Mariners' fan picture Ichiro outside of the northwest? Will he play for a team that can't win?

Sure, we all assume with Nintendo at the helm and a vast number of Japanese sponsorships on his shoulders that Ichiro will sign, that we'll give him as much money as he wants, that he wouldn't ever leave the team that brought him to America.

But he could.

He might.

He wouldn't.... would he?

Don't worry, though, Ichiro fans, with Bavasi at the helm, what could possibly go wrong?