Recent Stories with tag Brandon Morrow

We had a short holiday week here on The SunBreak, but the news never stops--tragically, in the case of the double homicide on Beacon Hill that left a mother and her daughter dead, and the father, Daniel Thomas Hicks, the lead suspect.

The place to go for unsavory details on WaMu's demise continues to be the Puget Sound Business Journal: "Documents released by JPMorgan in response to the subpoena now show that JPMorgan had a plan to acquire WaMu from regulators more than two months before the government signaled it planned to seize and sell the Seattle thrift." Meanwhile, Nordstrom's is consolidating its Seattle office space in the old WaMu tower, a big win for the Seattle Art Museum, and Seattle in general, says Jon Talton.

Ironically, the Boeing Philip M. Condit Professor of Business Administration at the UW's Foster School of Business, Dick Nolan, argued that Boeing's global outsourcing strategy may have been a huge competitive mistake.

The weather hasn't stopped, but it does seem on a break, with what Cliff Mass calls a "classic mid-winter ridge" creating dry, low wind conditions. Local areas are seeing a good deal of morning fog, and in fact Mass advises you to book your SeaTac flights late in the day this time of year, to avoid fog delays.

In local health karma, an unvaccinated King County woman contracted measles after a trip abroad: "People who might have been exposed to the disease would be expected to develop the characteristic skin rash of measles December 18th and January 10." Most of you have been vaccinated and have nothing to worry about.

Fueling our transit obsession, Mayor-elect Mike McGinn let drop that he's considering putting a light rail extension up to a vote in 2010. The Seattle Transit Blog approves. They also have the rundown on new transit fares and payment options in 2010: As of January 1, "all King County Metro fares (except for the ages 6-18 fare) will go up 25 cents. For most of us that means $2.00 off-peak, $2.25 one-zone peak, $2.75 two-zone peak."...

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Which pitcher would you rather have?

Pitcher A: 74.2 IP, 76 K, 21 BB, 8 HR allowed. Ground ball/Fly ball: 1.23.
Pitcher B: 69.2 IP, 63 K, 44 BB, 10 HR allowed. Ground ball/Fly ball: 0.57.

Word came last night that former M's first round pick Brandon Morrow was traded to Toronto for reliever Brandon League and a prospect. The general media consensus is that this prospect will be a good one, since Morrow was such a high draft pick.

But I'm not so sure. In that little quiz above, League is pitcher A, and Morrow is pitcher B. Looks to me like League's the better pitcher.

Oh, but Morrow has such great stuff, you say? Well, so does League--he throws a mid 90s fastball and a high 90s sinker. And though League was selected in the 2001 draft, five years before Morrow, he's actually only 16 months older.

One thing I love about Jack Zduriencik is that he doesn't make decisions based on reputation. Russell Branyan was considered a part-time player, but Zduriencik made him a starter and got 31 homers from him. Last year, Zduriencik went into spring training with only one established reliever on the roster, Tyler Miller Walker, then cut the guy before opening day when he pitched poorly in Cactus League play. (Commenter Jon caught my mistake, and also notes that established reliever Miguel Batista was on the roster. Point stands, though.)

Contrast this with Bill Bavasi, who consistently overspent for reputation over performance in his acquisitions of Rich Aurilia, Scott Spezio, Carl Everett, Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro, Miguel Batista, Carlos Silva ... need I go on?

The difference I think is in the upbringing of the two men. Bavasi was the son of a baseball executive, with a leg up on the competition. His dad gave him a front office job with the Angels at age 24.

Zduriencik, on the other hand, was the son of a steel mill worker. He didn't get a job in baseball until he was 30, and that was as an area scout, the lowest possible rung of baseball administration.

No wonder Zduriencik looks at Morrow and sees a pitcher living on reputation, not performance.

Now League has his issues too--with control, primarily. But his walk numbers aren't nearly as high as Morrow's.

Morrow gave us some thrilling moments: His near-no-hitter of the Yankees in 2008 was the most exciting game of that dismal season and effectively knocked the Yanks out of the playoffs that year. But more often, Morrow struggled to do the one thing a pitcher must: throw the ball over the plate.

I hope the Mariners do get a top prospect in addition to League. But if they don't, I'm okay with the trade anyway.

Mariner personnel news from the weekend:

--Brandon Morrow will pitch against the Rangers this week; unclear yet who's spot he'll take in the rotation. Could be Luke French (0-2, 12.46 ERA, .436 BAA in his last two starts), could be Doug Fister who has a blister problem.

Morrow in Tacoma: 10 starts, 5-3, 3.60 ERA, 40K, 23BB, .242 BAA.

--Griffey's knee is still bugging him and he's not going to play again until Wednesday.

--Sean White has recurring shoulder soreness and is going back to Seattle to see M's docs about it. He could be shut down for the year--a very successful one for the UW grad, who compiled a 2.50 ERA in 52 games and recorded his first MLB save.