Vargas Good. Offense/Bullpen Bad.

 

That’s a picture of Jason Vargas taking a deep breath because he’s tired of carrying the weight! Just kidding, but seriously.

Today’s game, which put the Mariners back below .500 at 11-12, was a classic Mariners heartbreaker.

Besides being behind in the count all day, Vargas got out of his jams and got a few solid strikeouts. He continues to be really good for Seattle. Sure, he picks up the loss in the game because of Edwin Encarnacion’s homer in the middle of the game. Encarnacion is SCORCHING right now and that ball was not going to stay in the park at any cost.

Here’s the major heartbreak: our bullpen a.k.a our most consistent asset caved pretty badly and gave up 5 earned runs after Vargas left. Balls were left in the middle of the plate and it came back to haunt them.

 

Hopefully some moves will be made to power the offense up and to tack on at least one or two wins against Tampa Bay. We face everyone in the rotation not named David Price, which is a scary thought. Hellickson, Moore, Shields, and Niemann. I see one possible win in that series, maybe two is Moore continues to struggle. Let’s hope the M’s can put the last two games behind them and get Felix a W tomorrow.

11 Wins, 11 Losses.

We’re baaaaaaaaaaaack! I have a little left in the school year, so now that it’s almost done… I’m reviving Three Ball Walk.

I thought I’d do a 22 game recap of the season to sum up each game.

 

1. 3-1 win over Oakland (1-0) is the gem of Felix in Japan and Ackley hitting his first (and only) homer of the year.

2. 4-1 loss to Oakland (1-1) is Shawn Kelley’s last game before being sent down and Bartolo Colon’s coming out party.

3. 7-3 win over Oakland (2-1) is the first of two consecutive three-hit games for Figgy and Vargas looked magnificent.

4. 8-7 win over Oakland (3-1) gives the M’s a series win over Oakland and a second straight 13-hit game for the team.

5. 11-5 loss to Texas (3-2) takes the wind out of the Mariners and Hector Noesi couldn’t find the strike zone.

6. 1-0 loss to Texas (3-3) showed that Blake Beavan could keep a great offense under control and Neftali Feliz was ready to be a starter for Texas (scary thought).

7. 4-3 win over Texas (4-3) meant the M’s would leave Arlington at least .500 on the season and John Jaso officially becomes a Mariner.

8. 5-3 loss in Texas (4-4) gives the debut of Erasmo Ramirez and the glory of his hard two-seamer.

9. 4-0 loss to Oakland (4-5) puts the M’s under .500 on the year and Colon shuts the team down for seven innings.

10. 4-0 win against Oakland (5-5) is redemption game from the night before and Noesi couldn’t stop throwing strikes, while Jesus Montero hits his first Seattle homer.

11. 5-3 win against Oakland (6-5) is a relatively unimpressive game besides the Justin Smoak home run.

12. 9-8 loss to Cleveland (6-6) is eerie and reminiscent of an earlier Cleveland game about 10 years ago. M’s were up 8-1, only to lose the lead in a heartbreaker.

13. 4-1 win against Cleveland (7-6) shows that Vargas can win despise no offense, but Ichiro and Figgy both homer. Also, a record-low attendance in Safeco.

14. 2-1 loss against Cleveland (7-7) has the Mariners losing the series and showed that League cannot pitch against Cleveland. (remember those blown saves last year?! Ugh.)

15. 7-3 loss to White Sox (7-8) is the second of four straight losses. Noesi couldn’t find the zone (see the trend?) and Chris Sale looks dominant for Chicago.

16. 4-0 loss to Chicago (7-9) is the 21st perfect game in major league history. Philip Humber was unstoppable… but Ryan didn’t swing.

17. 7-4 loss to Chicago (7-10) is the Mariners’ first losing sweep of the year, but Olivo collected two hits to start a six game hitting streak.

18. 7-4 win against Detroit (8-10) gives the Mariners a boost of confidence and begins the Alex Liddi era (3 for 5 with a HR).

19. 9-1 win against Detroit (9-10) has Felix dominating for seven innings despite a 3:2 BB:K ratio on the night. Liddi hits his second homer in as many nights.

20. 5-4 win against Detroit (10-10) brings the M’s to .500 and the bullpen shuts down the Tigers to the tune of 3 hits in 4 innings with no runs.

21. 9-5 win against Toronto (11-10) gives the Mariners hope that Michael Saunders is worth their time. A 9th inning solo shot brings them within one and a 10th inning grand slam puts the Mariners up four for the win.

22. 7-0 loss to Toronto (11-11) sees the Mariners succumb to their past and Brandon Morrow. Millwood was great for all but one inning and Iwakuma gives up a grand slam.

 

Tomorrow’s matchup is Vargas vs. Henderson Alvarez. The Mariners are streaky this year, but they are also young. We’ll see how long it takes for Olivo and Smoak to hit the pine with Jaso, Montero, and Liddi hitting well. Look for a day off for Ackley soon and continue to ride the roller coaster that is Mariners’ baseball!

 

Less Than 12 Hours.

Until Mariners Baseball.

The sky’s the limit, guys.

We’ve all but established the opening day lineup and I can say that I continue to be proud of the Mariners.

I’d say that the losses to the Japanese teams are surprising, but they aren’t. Japan takes its baseball seriously.

I, along with Kevin, will do our best throughout the season to recap games. They could be daily or weekly, but never longer than that.

And now that the season will get off to an official start, we might even throw some stuff in beyond the Mariners. (I don’t have MLB.TV for nothing!)

 

So let’s all wish the Mariners good luck and have faith that Jack Z knows what he’s doing.

Storylines of the 2012 Season

Pitchers and catchers report SO soon that I had to write a little diddy about the storylines and things I’m looking forward to as a Mariners fan. I figured a Top 5 list could do it justice, right? Here’s a shot at a list of hopefuls and the year ahead. Of course, everything in this article is to my opinion. That’s what having a blog is for!

1. How will Felix rebound from last year?

In my eyes, last year was a bust for Felix. He had his ups and downs and a lot of great pitcher’s duels, but I expected a little bit more from the reigning Cy Young. Obviously, no one was going to catch Justin Verlander, but Felix just didn’t look like himself at times. Almost bored with the fact that the offense was so abysmal throughout the year, he just didn’t look pumped up throughout the season unless he was playing New York or Boston. Hopefully with Anaheim and Texas kicking it into high gear, Felix will respond and be 2010 Felix and not 2011 Felix.

2. The Development of the Young Studs

The young studs are everywhere, but to me, the development of Ackley, Carp, and Smoak is the most important to this team. Montero will have pressure to hit for his new squad, but Ackley and Carp need to continue what they left off with last year. If Ackley and Carp keep up their production and Smoak can hit a baseball without excuse (injury), then the Mariners could be a middle to top tier team instead of the team that pitchers love to face to lower their ERA.

3. Do the veterans band together for one more season worth watching?

Ichiro is old. We get that. Fox Sports, MSNBC, and ESPN should just shut up about it already. His batting average dropped below .300 and we lost 90 games again. He isn’t the reason. Guti missing a ton of games isn’t the reason either. We were a bad team that started the year with Milton Bradley and Figgy in the lineup. I think that if Ichiro gets moved out of the leadoff spot and can hit in a way to bolster the offense, then he should be above .300 again and probably steal 35 bags, at least. It also sounds like Franklin will be more than ready to man center field again and stop anything hit in his direction and possibly hit the baseball again. Imagine that. Veterans playing as they should when they get older.

4. Does anybody after Vargas hold up in the rotation?

Iwakuma has never thrown a major league pitch. Beavan requires great defense and a lack of gap hitting. The fifth spot could be taken up by Kevin Millwood or a rookie. I think that sums it up.

5.Can the Mariners at least stay the path?

Jack Z. Mariners fans need to see the development. As a fan of the game, I understand that you are going the right way about it. However, the average Starbucks-sipping, American Apparel wearing Seattleite  and the average blue-collar, arm-chair quarterbacking Spokanite doesn’t understand that that’s how you work. They think you need to spend, spend, and spend much like the Yankees and Red Sox do to win championships. Fans need a .500 season soon or else it could cost you your job. The patience of the owners is different than the fans… but the fans give the profit to the owners. It’s a double edged sword and it hurts to watch.

 

I honestly think the Mariners, with the right surprises, can win 80 games this year. I’ll take it. I’ll even take less than 90 losses. It’d be a success to me and a lot of others who love the Mariners.

 

Anyone looking forward to anything else?!

Minor League Deals

As you may have noticed in the past couple of weeks the Mariners have made a few moves to start to round off the roster for this year. Most moves have been minor and frankly that should be expected, since the free agent crop wasn’t the best of the best (meaning we were not going to get Pujols, so without him in consideration is was bland). We pulled off what people are calling a true baseball trade and now look to be a little bit more well rounded heading into the 2012 season.

Derek looked at the Montero-Pineda trade a few weeks ago so I won’t beat a dead horse, but I get more and more excited about him as the days till pitchers and catchers report. For those of you who don’t have a countdown for it, its now 10 days until they report to Peoria!

A few of the smaller moves that have come to fruition look to shape out our rotation as well as bullpen.

The first guy that we brought in is Kevin Millwood. My belief is that he will be slotted as the 5th starter to start the season. The guy is a workhorse who averages just over 200 innings logged as season and in his career has a 4.10 era, which will be a great back of the rotation addition. This will be a welcome addition, since the alternative is Anthony Vasquez. I don’t mean any offense to the man but he is a minor leaguer for life. Millwood will also be a great bridge for the younger guys coming up. He already has a great friendship with Blake Beaven, who was his workout partner when they were both with the Texas organization.

Another guy who I project for a long relief role is left-hander Oliver Perez. This is a guy that when they signed him to a minor league contract, I didn’t really have a problem with it. The guy has stunk for the last four years, while pitching with the Mets. My hope is here that he resurrects his career as a bullpen arm and the change of scenery brings him back to what he did in 2004 and 2007 with the Pirates and Mets respectively. If you don’t have to high of expectations for him, then anything positive that he does will be a plus this season. Frankly spring training will be huge for Perez, in order to make a very deep bullpen.

Today the Mariners announced another minor league contract agreement with former Detroit Tiger Carlos Guillen. For those of you wondering, this is the same Guillen that we lost back in 2004. Of the three I have mentioned in this post, Carlos is probably the largest long shot. I say this for multiple reasons. 1) Frankly the guy cannot stay healthy. Since he left Seattle in 2004 he has only played 130 games or more 3 times. In the other 5 seasons he has only averaged 75 games a year. 2) When healthy he is really limited to only third base and DH. If he stays healthy then heck I will take the production from him at either spot. However, if he is anything less than 100% I would rather stick with Kyle Seager at third base. There has been talk that Figgins is going to be a super utility player, and I would assume that Kawasaki, the Japanese shortstop that was signed to a minor league deal earlier this off-season, will be the back up middle infielder. This would leave Carlos as the odd man out of the group. My guess is that he like Perez would need to have a stellar Spring Camp in order to make the squad going to Japan.

So to sum it up: Montero= YAY!!!; Millwood= smart signing; Perez= Blah; Guillen=Nostalgic

Pineda for Montero: My Take

 

Neither Kevin nor I have focused on the two-for-two swap the Mariners made with the Yankees last week, so I thought I’d air out my opinion on it while the topic is getting out of the news a little bit.

The biggest part of the trade is clearly Michael Pineda going to the Bronx and Jesus Montero coming to the Pacific Northwest. First, let me say that I hope he is still home and not in Seattle where it has dumped snow in the last 24 hours. Bad first impression. Anyways… I think the trade is spectacular. Not necessarily the trade I thought would happen though. I posted a few weeks back on how the Mariners should deal Felix for three or four almost-major-league ready players, but this trade works too.

To get young talent, you have to have a veteran who is ready to deal or have the missing piece of the puzzle for the other team. Pitching was the Yankees’ achilles heel last year and it showed come playoff time. No one was dependable past CC and Ivan Nova and somehow, AJ Burnett puts it together only at playoff time. Seattle is flush with pitching, whether major league ready or prospects, therefore, good trade, Seattle. The hardest part is knowing how much the city and Mariners fans, much like myself, loved Pineda. Watching him becoming little Felix for a year was pretty spectacular and he just had the look of a superstar pitcher in Seattle. However, the comparisons to Felix end there.

The Mariners may have gotten away with murder with this trade. Pineda struggled in the last half of the season as his innings total increased and hitters sat on his fastball/slider combo that is more fit for a reliever, not a guy who is going to go six or seven innings every five days. However, if Pineda fixes his changeup and makes it drop like a split-finger, then the Yankees will be set with a number one or two starter for several more years. Right now, Pineda registers as their number four and that’ll help him keep the innings down to adjust on the way he pitches. Jose Campos could also make an impression with the Yankees or be trade-bait as he fills out a pitcher’s body well and throws hard. He’s 3-5 years away from the majors and could possibly develop well.

Now onto the Mariners’ side of the ball where Jesus Montero comes into play. The kid can flat out rake. He hits the ball to both fields and for power. He was projected to hit 30-40 homers a year in Yankee Stadium, so expect that to drop a bit at Safeco. However, if he fits the DH role and can play C/1B a bit, then he’s exactly what the Mariners need to step forward. With only Felix having a large contract past this season, the youth movement is in full stride with this trade (as if it wasn’t already). Filling Ackley, Carp, Montero, and Smoak in the 2-5 holes of the lineup give the M’s the possibility of scoring more than 600 runs this season! All kidding aside, I think Montero will be able to hit in the .280-.310 range with 25-30 homers and 100+ RBI every year as long as those around him produce as well. The addition on offense is more than welcome to the city of Seattle and while we lost Pineda, we may have picked up a stop-gap in the rotation too.

Hector Noesi wasn’t anything special in the majors last year, but he primarily pitched in relief throughout the year. From the scouting reports that I’ve seen, Noesi features four pitches on any given day and can dial up the fastball enough to get hitters out. He relies on pitching in the zone and being in Seattle, where defense is key, Noesi could succeed. In fact, this gives Danny Hultzen and James Paxton a little room to grow as Noesi could get a few months, if not the whole season in the five hole behind Felix, Vargas, Iwakuma, and Beavan.

In my view, since we got two major-league ready players in exchange for one major leaguer and an unproven prospect, we won the trade in the short-term. We may have also won the deal in the long-term as well. If Noesi performs and Hultzen/Paxton are ready to go, who is to say we don’t deal Vargas or Beavan for another young bat or bullpen help. The deal can turn in so many ways that we won’t know for awhile who actually “won” the trade. My money is on Seattle though.

 

Oakland Gets Smith For Two Starters

Even with the acquisition of Seth Smith, I believe that the Oakland Athletics may have just been weakened a bit. Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso were stop-gaps in the rotation and now they have been sent off to Colorado. Oakland did win the deal in the long run if the kids they have in AAA and AA can hold up in the rotation along with Bartolo Colon. I was hoping that he could be Seattle’s fourth outfielder and I think a lot of others did as well. The developments have been drastic in the AL West and we’ll see how much more moves get made throughout the next few weeks before catchers and pitchers report.

AL West Position Power Rankings

As with Kevin, I am going to do my best to contribute to Three Ball Walk as much as possible again, especially with a month or so until pitchers and catchers report. Can I just say how EXCITED I am that baseball season is coming up?! I love my Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it’s not baseball… simple as that.

While roaming ESPN.com the other day, I noticed that SweetSpot did a feature comparing all the teams of the NL East position by position, so I decided to do that with the AL West before they could do it. Then I can compare and see what sort of sports blogger/fan I am. Seems dumb, but it could be educational for all you readers out there! (The point system is four points for first, three points for second, etc.)

First Base:

  1. Albert Pujols
  2. Mitch Moreland
  3. Justin Smoak
  4. Daric Barton

Far and away, Pujols wins this battle. Moreland and Smoak are close and come from the same system. They have the potential to walk a lot, hit some homers, and hit for average but haven’t pulled it through yet. Daric Barton is a solid first baseman and ranks close to the middle two, but he doesn’t hit the homeruns that a first baseman is expected to, but his plus-side is the amount of walks he draws.

Second Base:

  1. Ian Kinsler
  2. Howie Kendrick
  3. Dustin Ackley
  4. Jemile Weeks

This one was a little closer than the first base debate, but I feel that Kinsler is a game-changer at second base. Kendrick is a solid second baseman and is worth his newly minted extension, but isn’t Kinsler, who hits homers, steals bases, hits for average, walks, and plays great defense. He is a five-tool player compared to the others. Ackley hit well enough to garnish a few Rookie of the Year votes and Weeks probably should have for his stolen bases and range at second base, but are still too young to make any noise.

Third Base:

  1. Adrian Beltre
  2. Kyle Seager
  3. Alberto Callaspo
  4. Scott Sizemore

Much like first base, Beltre ran away with the third base spot. The last three could, in all honesty, move around in any order. I decided between them through the last two months of the season when they all got playing time. Seager hit .275 compared to .261 and .248 for the others. Sizemore had more power and Callaspo played better defense through. It’s really a toss-up and I think Seager has the better year this upcoming year than the others.

Shortstop

  1. Elvis Andrus
  2. Erick Aybar
  3. Brendan Ryan
  4. Cliff Pennington

I felt as if this was a pretty straight forward battle for shortstop. Andrus has had a few good years and is on the verge of some great years as the lead-off or number two hitter in Texas. Aybar is a base-stealing machine and plays defense at a 98% errorless clip. Brendan Ryan is a defensive stalwart who can get going as shown by his May 2011 where he hit .384 over the month. Pennington has never lived up to anything he showed in the Oakland farm system and is a fill-in until someone pops out of their minor league clubs.

Left Field

  1. Mike Carp/Casper Wells
  2. Josh Reddick
  3. David Murphy
  4. Vernon Wells

With DH filled in Seattle (I’ll discuss later), Carp is now forced to split time with Wells in left field. However, looking at the other starting left fielders, I think the combo of the two becomes the best left field in the AL West. Reddick was a stud in Boston last year and won’t hit for as much power in Oakland. David Murphy is about the same as Reddick, but is more of the fourth outfielder type. Vernon Wells, is well… Vernon Wells. He’s declining in age and sooner or later, he’ll be shipped out of the left field position and become a fourth/fifth outfielder.

Center Field

  1. Josh Hamilton
  2. Peter Bourjos/Mike Trout
  3. Franklin Gutierrez
  4. Coco Crisp

Josh Hamilton was the MVP. Clear as day. However, once Mike Trout emerges as the minor league powerhouse he was, he could jump Josh Hamilton. Bourjos will either stay in CF or move to LF for Trout and the combination could combine for 60-75 stolen bases every year. Gutierrez and Crisp need to show that they can keep up with major league pitching again. Guti is the better fielder, therefore, he gets the three spot over Crisp. Crisp does have the stolen base advantage and could snag 50+ every year if he can still continue to get on base.

Right Field

  1. Nelson Cruz
  2. Torii Hunter
  3. Ichiro
  4. Collin Cowgill

Did you watch the playoffs last year?! Nelson Cruz is a well-oiled machine. While his defense is costly (St. Louis should have had a parade for him), he can hammer the ball and hit it all over the field. Oh yeah… and he walks a ton. Torii Hunter is never going to stop playing baseball. He had plenty of Web Gems over the year in RF, while also hitting 23 homers. Ichiro could be in the two spot had he not declined this year. His age and speed are becoming a factor as is his defense in right field. Collin Cowgill was a rookie last year and didn’t do too hot. Hitting barely over the Mendoza Line puts him at fourth on my list.

Catcher

  1. Mike Napoli/Yorvit Torrealba
  2. Miguel Olivo/John Jaso
  3. Kurt Suzuki
  4. Chris Iannetta/Hank Conger

I repeat. Did you watch the playoffs last year?! Napoli was as hot a hitter as anyone could have imagined last year. While it didn’t earn him an extension, he still showed he could play catcher and hit the ball better than anyone in the AL West. Torrealba is a solid backup for Texas and has a way with a pitching staff. Olivo and Jaso make for an interesting combination in Seattle. Olivo crushes the ball and strikes out a ton. Jaso is patient and could be a two-hole hitter as a catcher. Jaso is much better behind the plate and could be a solid bottom of the order hitter for Seattle. Kurt Suzuki is not one to get hurt often and he is a doubles monster. He’s learned how to hit in that “ballpark” in Oakland and is brilliant with every young pitcher that comes through their system. The Iannetta/Conger connection is very odd to me. Conger was a highly touted prospect and Iannetta played in the stat boosting mecca of Denver. Not much to judge on outside of the fact that he made Ubaldo Jimenez look amazing for three months, two years ago.

Designated Hitter

  1. Michael Young
  2. Jesus Montero
  3. Mark Trumbo/Kendry Morales
  4. Hideki Matsui

Outside of Pujols and Ichiro, Michael Young is the most consistent hitter of our generation. Nearly guaranteed 200 hits a year, Young has become a leader in Texas. Next in line is based on potential. Jesus Montero was traded to the Mariners about two hours ago as I write this post. Immediately, he becomes a leader in the Mariners offense (if you can call it an offense) and could hit amazingly in the AL West. Of course, that is just hype and speculation at its best. Trumbo had a Rookie of the Year season last year but was held back by Jeremy Hellickson in Tampa. If he gets consistent playing time, he could/can be better than Montero, but the problem is Kendry Morales eventually returning from a broken leg he suffered two seasons ago. Hideki Matsui continues to semi-produce for Oakland, but is getting very old and isn’t Edgar Martinez. I expect him to continually slide out of the DH spot in Oakland for someone like Cris Carter who strikes out a ton but hits bombs all over the field.

Rotations (Number after name reflects their ranking in their position in the rotation)

  1. Anaheim (Jared Weaver (2), CJ Wilson (1), Dan Haren (1), Ervin Santana (1), Joel Piniero (2))
  2. Texas (Derek Holland (3), Yu Darvish (2), Colby Lewis (2), Matt Harrison (2), Neftali Feliz (1))
  3. Seattle (Felix Hernandez (1), Jason Vargas (3), Hisashi Iwakuma (4), Blake Beavan (3), James Paxton/Charlie Furbush/Danny Hultzen (4))
  4. Oakland (Brett Anderson (4), Dallas Braden (4), Brandon McCarthy (3), Josh Outman (4), Jarrod Parker (3))

To start, I’m basing the rotations off of how the rotation is as a whole, not individually like SweetSpot did on ESPN and also, nothing changes is Texas does not sign Yu Darvish.

One through five, Anaheim has a solid rotation. Their first three starters are all number ones on other teams and Santana is a clear number 2/3 starter on several teams. Texas comes in at number two with several good starters, but no one who has shown anything great like the Anaheim starters. Darvish could come in and change that along with the move of Neftali Feliz to the rotation, however, Holland, Lewis, and Harrison have tendencies to be inconsistent without big leads. Seattle is a strange case. They had a higher score with Michael Pineda, but again, offense is needed. Felix is still the best pitcher in the division with or without run support. The 3-5 spots in the rotation need to be tightened up, but overall, they could still succeed at Safeco. Oakland is still young and injury-prone. Anderson and McCarthy love to get hurt in the middle of the season and come back too early. The addition of Jarrod Parker is a normal Billy Beane move and could impact the division two or three years from now.

Bullpen

  1. Texas (Alexi Ogando, Yoshinori Tateyama, Mike Adams)
  2. Anaheim (Hisanori Takahashi, Kevin Jepsen, Scott Downs)
  3. Seattle (Tom Wilhelmsen, Jamey Wright, George Sherrill)
  4. Oakland (Brian Fuentes, Grant Balfour, Fautino De Los Santos)

The top three bullpens are very tight in ranking. Texas and Anaheim don’t have much to prove in the way of the bullpen. The addition of Mike Adams put Texas over the top as the power in the AL West, but Anaheim kept a solid bullpen throughout the year and losing Fernando Rodney can only help. Seattle’s pen is interesting because of the unknowns. Wilhelmsen was spectacular at the end of the year and Jamey Wright was great all year. George Sherrill comes back to Seattle as a LOOGY and a much needed one at that. Oakland has Grant Balfour in the pen and that’s about it. Fuentes walks too many people and De Los Santos is unproven. With Breslow and Ziegler, they may rank above Anaheim, but now… not so much.

Closer

  1. Jordan Walden
  2. Brandon League
  3. Joe Nathan
  4. Michael Wuertz

Walden proved himself last year as a great closer. He has the power and accuracy that is needed in the role. League was great throughout the year with the exception of a short span in May that without it, may have given him the reliever of the year award (Except that Valverde was perfect all year). Joe Nathan moves into a division he hasn’t seen enough of and Michael Wuertz has never been much of a closer type. They are the bottom of the barrel in the AL West. Ogando could move into Nathan’s role if Feliz doesn’t struggle in the rotation this year.

All in all, the points were close, yet far off.

4th Place= Oakland (22 points)

3rd Place= Seattle (37 points)

2nd Place= Anaheim (47 points)

1st Place= Texas (54 points)

I see this as the actual finish in the AL West this year. Anaheim might get close enough with their pitching and defense, but to me, Pujols isn’t enough to push them back into first in the division. As I compare Seattle and Oakland, I think Oakland is back to being a 100 loss team and Seattle is moving forward. Seattle could be a .500 team this year, but no more than that. Texas is just overwhelming with power and decent enough pitching to get by. They have 9 of a possible 16 first place votes and had no one rank last, while Oakland had no first place votes and had 11 out of 16 fourth place votes. The competition is getting closer for Seattle especially with Montero. He gave us two points as we replaced Pineda and moved Carp to left field. This season will be interesting and we will see if Hector Noesi can make some noise out of the crowded bullpen/rotation.

Hall of Fame Candidate

It has been a little over a month since I have last left a post here at the blog. I do apologize to those of you who have enjoyed the posts that have been produced for your reading enjoyment. It is my goal to start being more religious about posting new blogs posts weekly leading up to the start of the new season.

I write to you today with nothing to say about Prince Fielder or anyone currently on the roster. (BTW I think the signing of Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma was a brilliant signing and should provide yet another strong-arm in the rotation.) There are things that Jack Z needs to focus on and I believe that he is doing the best he can with such a stagnant market that is free agency at this time.

No today I write about something that happens tomorrow. Tomorrow at somewhere around 3ET (12 pm PT) we will find out the Baseball Hall of Fame induction class for the year 2012. This year has many quality players who are looking to gain access into the treasured club. Barry Larkin looks to be a for sure lock to be invited into the HoF tomorrow, since he garnered 62% of votes last year, falling just 75 votes short of the required 75% mark that is required for the HoF. There are other greats, such as: Tim Raines, who spent his career north of the boarder with the formerly known Montreal Expos; Jeff Bagwell, the heart and sole of the Houston Astros for the entirety of his career; Larry Walker, mainly known for his super mashing abilities in the hitter friendly confines of Coors Field in Denver; Fred McGriff, the man who played till he could barely make it around the bases for Atlanta; Rafael Palmeiro, who had a historic career with the Baltimore Orioles only to have his career tarnished by the steroid bug; and of course Mark McGuire who as everyone can remember had this historic homerun race with “Slammin” Sammy Sosa, and of course his career ending among the steroid usage as well.

There is no way around it, this is a stacked class of very good players. I am however on the side of wanting to see only clean players make it into such a prestigious club of gentleman. One of those fellows that I did not mention above is arguably one of the most controversial players to be on the HoF ballot in quite some time. He only played a position for 5 years, before making the jump to full time DH. He went by the nicknames of “Gar” and “Papi”. He was from 1995 until he retired in 2004 synonomous with the city of Seattle and the Mariners ball club. He is a man who has a street named after him and the award for best DH is named after him. However, there are two things that hold him back from being a sure fire thing to make it to the HoF. Firstly and probably the biggest issue, is that he played DH, a position that has never garnered much respect since its induction in 1973. Secondly he played his entire career in Seattle, which does not get the same media attention or respect as other parts of the country. Edgar Martinez, however is a prime candidate to be elected to the Gentleman’s club of Baseball.  Earlier today I read an article by Jayson Stark of the ESPN networks, below is his excerpt of why Edgar should make it to the HoF:

• Edgar Martinez: I’m not sure we’ll ever elect a pure DH to the Hall of Fame. But if we do, we need to start with the greatest DH of all time. Forgive me for again dredging up my most cherished Edgar tidbit: His career OPS-plus was 147. Meanwhile, the second-greatest DH in history, a Hall of Famer named Paul Molitor, only had an OPS-plus that reached 147 in two seasons — and he played for 21 years. And how ’bout this: Edgar had nine different seasons with an OPS-plus of 150 or better. So how come he spent all that time in the shadows of A-Rod and Ken Griffey Jr., considering those two have had only 11 seasons like that combined? – Jayson Stark, ESPN Baseball Analyst.

Clearly the national media is finally realizing that our guy does deserve this honor. Not to mention that he is a guy that hit .312 for his career, with an OPS (Onbase+ slugging) at .933. Both numbers are significant and show that Edgar should be talked about when talking about Hall of Famers. Both numbers are way better than Fred McGriff and well above future HoF inductee Ken Griffey Jr. The guy didn’t hit homeruns like crazy but ended with 309, which is not too shabby. He is also the guy that I feel really kept baseball in Seattle. He was the guy who stayed when Randy Johnson was traded, when Griffey Jr. asked to be traded to be closer to home, and when Alex Rodriguez bolted for more money in Texas.

The thing is all three of those players are going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame arguably first ballot members. So then how is it that writers are able to bring these three players into the club but not Edgar. Edgar made baseball a relevant sport in Seattle when he pretty much single handedly brought the Mariners back to life during the playoff series with the Yankes and kept the Mariners on that Magical ride.

It is my hope that tomorrow the writers have put Edgar Martinez high enough on their ballots to garner that 75% to gain access to the HoF. Frankly though I know that is wishful thinking. Really all that I need to see is a jump in voting. He has never been tied to steroids so that should already boost his electability. The guy is a loveable guy and is so deserving of the spot.

And So The Rumors Continue…

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/19137/may-be-time-to-trade-felix-hernandez

After first and second read, this doesn’t necessarily stir too much of a pot for me. However, it just continues to build some fire up. The last sentence makes me think, especially if we can’t pick up Prince Fielder. Could Banuelos, Montero, Gardner, and another prospect cause the Mariners to move Felix in the next year or so?

We do lose Felix after 2014. That could possibly be the next time the Mariners can responsibly win some baseball games with consistency. Franklin, Liddi, Ackley, Smoak, and several other young guys could be established (hopefully) by then. We will probably lose Felix to free agency and I think that no player on any team is safe. It showed with the Pujols deal to Anaheim. There might not be the loyalty that we think there is making the Mariners’ plight with Felix much more interesting. Seattle needs to get something back for Felix, whether now or later… and if it’s to New York, then fine, it’s to New York. If it’s elsewhere, then cool. As much as I hate it, if it means the Mariners will win, or at least contend, then please do what you can.

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