Recent Stories with tag mlb

Yesterday the Mariners finalized a trade that sends three lower-tier prospects to Philadelphia in exchange for 2008 Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee. Reaction is bubbly.

"THANK YOU SANTA Z!!!"--Seattle Times commenter

"This is, quite frankly, a heist. The Mariners are getting a Cy Young caliber pitcher for some decent-but-not-great prospects. They aren’t giving up Morrow. They aren’t giving up Saunders. They aren’t even giving up Triunfel. And yet, they walk away with one of the five or six best pitchers in baseball."--Dave Cameron, USS Mariner

"The virtues of acquiring a starting left-handed pitcher in his prime with the resume of Cliff Lee are apparent to any attentive Mariners fan. To summarize: JEEZUSRUKIDDINMEDRINKSALLAROUND!"--Art Thiel, Seattlepi.com (It's worth reading the rest of Thiel's thought-provoking column about the national perception of the Mariner franchise.)

"This is about as good as a right left punch can get. It gives me a boost of energy knowing that this is what the team is doing and that expectations are we will go further."--M's pitcher Ian Snell, via KIRO's Shannon Dreyer

"We've acquired a very, very nice piece to help this organization move forward. It will be exciting to watch him pitch at the top of out rotation – him and Felix Hernandez.... I don't think we're done yet."--Jack Zduriencik

"Lee succeeds in the same way that Ben Sheets used to succeed--by just throwing strikes over and over with sufficiently good stuff to maintain a solid strikeout rate. He doesn't miss a ton of bats--his contact rate is actually below-average--but he's consistently ahead in the count, which puts him at a significant advantage. In a way, he and Felix take remarkably different paths towards a similar end result, and it'll be all kinds of fun to watch them BACK TO BACK OH MY GOD."--Jeff Sullivan, Lookout Landing...

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If your sports fan coworker came back beaming yesterday after a long lunch, he or she may have, like me, gotten twin text messages bearing tidings of great joy. 

First, at about 12:24 p.m., friend David: "Locker is coming back!"

Then, at 1:20 p.m., friend Clint: "Holy crap! Cliff Lee to the Mariners?"

True and (apparently) true. Husky star quarterback Jake Locker, on the morning that ESPN projected him as the first overall pick in the NFL draft, walked into the Husky football offices with his chocolate lab Ten and told coach Steve Sarkisian "I'm staying."

Locker's decision to forego the NFL draft and return for his senior season means that the Huskies will have a very potent offense next year. Between Locker, running back Chris Polk, and receiver Jermaine Kearse, the Dawgs could have the best combination of skill players in the league. Locker's decision will also give top QB recruit Nick Montana a year of seasoning before taking over the reigns in 2011.

The supposed acquisition of 2008 Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, is a little murkier. ESPN's Jayson Stark, who reported the trade in the first place, now writes that the deal is "close" but "not done." Didn't stop me from dreaming last night that the Mariners won the World Series.

(I was watching with friend David and Kyle MacLachlan's character from Twin Peaks. The Mariners won in the fifth game after a series of throwing errors got Matt Stairs--who apparently has signed with the M's in my subconscious--around with the series-winning run.)...

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Baseball's winter meetings are over, and the only important local news is this: the Seattle Mariners will pay $36 million over the next four years for the services of longtime Los Angeles Angel infielder Chone (pronounced "Shawn") Figgins.

Figgins brings along a career .363 on-base percentage, speed on the basepaths, and defensive versatility--having played every position except catcher and first base.

The 31-year-old Floridian (full name: Desmond DeChone Figgins) reached base in nearly four out of every ten plate appearances last season. His .395 on base percentage would've led the 2009 Mariners, with only Ichiro even close at .386. Figgins' 42 stolen bases would also have lead the team (Ichiro again, with 26).

But Figgins is not going to score without assistance. He's hit just 9 home runs in the past 3 seasons, and, fast as he is, stealing home is not a reliable source of run production.

With Russell Branyan and Adrian Beltre now free agents, the Mariners' best slugger is second baseman Jose Lopez. However, it is a not too closely guarded secret that current Mariners management wants Lopez to go away, feeling that his substandard defense and proclivity for strikeouts cost the team more than his 25 home runs are worth.

The late-'90s Mariners did not have this problem. With a younger Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner, Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez, they set a major league record for home runs in a season. They also didn't reach a World Series.

The best Mariner team ever, the 116-win 2001 squad, had a much more balanced attack, leading the AL in on-base percentage and stolen bases. However, they also ranked 4th in slugging.

The 2009 Mariners were 2nd-to-last in the AL in slugging, at just .402. Though the Figgins signing improves their last-in-the-league OPB, the potential losses of Beltre, Lopez and Branyan sink their slugging even more....

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Ken Griffey, Jr., 13-time All-Star, slugger of 630 home runs, former guest star on the Harry and the Hendersons TV show, will return for his 13th season as a Mariner, the Seattle Times' Larry Stone is reporting.

Griffey's return to Seattle last season caused much rejoicing: my own reaction was to cancel evening plans and enjoy celebratory drinks with a longtime friend and Mariners rooter. The Mariners sold 23,000 tickets in two days.

The joy will be more muted this time--I'm not canceling any plans, and I doubt the Mariners will see much of a spike in ticket sales.

But I still have a smile on my face. If a different regime had brought Griffey back, I might worry that they planned to use him in a role greater than he could handle at this stage in his career.

But I trust Jack Zduriencik and Don Wakamatsu to utilize Griffey appropriately--giving him the odd start as a sometime DH, rolling the dice with him as a pinch hitter when they need a home run (à la Matt Stairs of the Phillies), and letting him play the role of leader, elder statesman, and Ichiro-tickler he filled so well last season.

The Mariners' 2010 season begins on April 5, 144 days from now, in Oakland.

Griffey's Return Would Spike Program Sales

We'll likely know this week if Ken Griffey, Jr., and the Mariners will strike a deal to bring Junior back for his 22nd MLB season, 12th as a Mariner.

Last year, Griffey demanded a multimillion-dollar salary and attendance-based performance incentives to return to Seattle. This year, as if in tune with the rest of us poor saps in this disaster of an economy, Griffey has readjusted his expectations.

In negotiations that will take place over the next few days, Griffey's agent has telegraphed his "bargaining" strategy.

"Whether Junior comes back or not, he certainly has no demands as far as dollars or playing time," Brian Goldberg told the Times' Larry Stone.

In other words, Griffey will show up at M's HQ bearing a "Will work for food" sign.

Not that he needs the money. Griffey's earned nearly $150 million in his baseball career, and that doesn't count endorsement dollars. He apparently just wants to keep playing for the love of the game.

But do the Mariners want him? For all his clubhouse leadership, and for as much as I personally loved seeing him play, Griffey was one of the worst DHs in the American League.

Far better options exist on the free agent market: Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guererro, and Hideki Matsui, all of whom far outperformed Griffey at bat last season.

Or the Mariners may choose to bring back Russell Branyan as their designated hitter and hand first base to young Mike Carp.

Griffey could serve as a pinch-hitter, but most managers like versatility and speed off their bench; Griffey doesn't have either.

Mariner watchers are weighing in on the issue:

MLB.com's Jim Street: "(Griffey) was an absolute joy to be around the entire '09 season and it rubbed off on everyone. That reason alone seems to make it worthwhile bringing him back for at least one more season."

The Times' Larry Stone: "I believe Griffey still has something to offer. He can tickle Ichiro, bring laughter to the clubhouse, hit an occasional bomb and take one more crack at October. Sounds great to me."

USS Mariner's Derek Zumsteg: "The 2010 Mariners need to improve their offense, and they need better hitting from their designated hitters. Griffey doesn’t offer that. And as much as Seattle loves him, well, we love Edgar too, but we wouldn’t bring him back to DH next year."

My take is this: Do it for Ichiro. Griffey's presence took the pressure of being the team's superstar off Ichiro's shoulders, and gave Ichiro a friend in a clubhouse that had turned against him. The hit king responded with his best season since '04.

If Griffey doesn't mind coming back as the 25th man on the roster, and getting only a few at bats a week on the rare occasions that American League teams need a pinch-hitter, the M's won't really lose anything from a strictly statistical perspective. And they certainly gain if Ichiro hits .350 again.

Rodriguez was the Seattle Mariners #1 overall pick in the 1993 draft; he was at the apex of baseball prospects.

In 1994, Rodriguez made his major league debut.

In 1995, he played in his first postseason game.

In 1996, he made his first All-Star team.

But not until 2009, after a dominating post-season performance, will Alex Rodriguez get his at-bats at the pinnacle of baseball competition: the World Series.

Partially, this is A-Rod's own fault for being hilariously incompetent in postseason baseball as a Yankee.

My childhood friend David and I, confirmed A-Rod haters after he left the Mariners claiming he had a better chance to win in Texas (har!), enjoyed Rodriguez's well-documented postseason struggles. We were remembering them last night, while the Angels pitched around a suddenly clutch Rodriguez for the umpteenth time in the ALCS.

There was 2004, when A-Rod slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's mitt on his way to first base, inspiring the brilliant "A-Rod purse" Photoshop.

There was the time in 2005 when...

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The Mariners' accountants are staggering into work late yesterday morning after a night of wild celebration--the team announced Monday that veteran catcher Kenji Johjima, who lost his starting job this season, has decided to opt out of the next two years of his contract, which would've paid him a total of $16 million.

"He walks completely on his contract here, and we start fresh," Johjima's agent told the Times. The Mariners now owe Johjima nothing, not even COBRA coverage.

Why would Johjima do it? This was my question to childhood friend David as we watched the two amazing baseball playoff games Monday night at the Roanoke.

"Well, he's already made a ton of money," David said.

True. Johjima played 11 years in the Japanese league, and made more than $25 million in his four seasons as a Mariner. But. Still. $16 million! How can you walk away from that?

Mariner GM Jack Zduriencik repeatedly characterized Johjima's choice as a "personal decision"--as if there is any other kind. The real question is, why make it?...

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We've reached the League Championship Series stage of the baseball playoffs, which will hopefully be more entertaining than the yawner that was the Divisional Series. Three of the four DSs were sweeps, the other only went four games.

The Phillies and Dodgers start their series tonight (5:07 pm, TBS) and ex-Mariner George Sherrill may end up as the key in the series.

The Phillies' three best hitters--Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and another ex-M, Raul Ibanez--all bat left-handed.

You're almost sure to see a late-inning confrontation between one of these three and the lefty Sherrill, who's holding lefty hitters to a .128 average this season.

You also might see Sherrill against the Phils' top pinch-hitter, Matt Stairs.

Other ex-Mariners still playing this postseason: Yankees SS Alex Rodriguez, Angels closer Brian Fuentes, Phillies' utility men Miguel Cairo and Greg Dobbs, and Dodgers reliever Jeff Weaver.

Little O helped lead the stellar '90 M's defense

The M's scored only 640 runs this season, their lowest non-strike-year total since 1990, but were a joy to watch for a baseball purist like me. I loved to watch that 1990 team too, for the same reason I loved these M's: Great defense.

The 1990 M's fielded a dazzling up-the-middle trio of Harold Reynolds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Omar Vizquel, who'd end up with 24 Gold Gloves between them. Reynolds and Griffey both won gilded mitts that year. Pete O'Brien, an above-average defender, held down first base, and a still-spry Edgar Martinez played third. 

The '90 M's finished 77-85, with ten fewer wins than this year's M's. But by one metric, they were actually a better team.

1990 Mariners--Fewer Wins, Better Team?

Both the 1990 and 2009 Mariners scored 640 runs. But while the 1990 M's allowed just 680 runs, the '09 M's gave up 692.

The critical difference came in one-run games. The '90 M's went 20-28 in such games, the '09 M's 35-20.

So I ask you: What made the '09 Mariners so much better in one-run games? Your answer--well, Jack Zduriencik's answer--will shape the future of the franchise.

Was it the bullpens? This year's M's had a stellar one, with David Aardsma recording 38 saves. The '90 M's also had a good bullpen, with Bill Swift, Mike Jackson, and screwballer Keith Comstock setting up for the M's first 30-save closer, Mike Schooler. But while the '90 M's bullpen ERA was about league-average (3.87 ERA; lg. avg., 3.92), the '09 M's 'pen was considerably better--compiling a 3.83 ERA when the league average was 4.46....

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When I tell you that the highlight of the Seattle sports weekend was giving a standing ovation to a third-place team, you may think it wasn't much of a weekend. But it was epic, notably for our sports teams getting the worst Indiana lambasting since the Kerry campaign.

Notre Dame 37, Washington 30 (OT)

As I headed to Teddy's to watch Washington vs. Notre Dame (live from South Bend, Indiana), I wondered exactly how empty the bandwagon would be. Coming off the USC win, the bar was packed for Stanford. But after losing that game, how would it look? Let's let pictures tell the story:

Crowd at Teddy's for UW/Stanford

Crowd at Teddy's for UW/Notre Dame

So--yeah, Seattle sports fans, you are some fairweather sons of bitches. And you missed an amazing game, one that will always be remembered for the stunning inability of the Huskies to score one touchdown from twelve tries inside the one-yard-line. If you have a Husky fan at your office, I recommend putting his morning coffee three feet behind a white line and see...

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The Mariners have secured the 12th winning season in franchise history thanks to three-run homers on consecutive nights by Ken Griffey Jr. Both homers were no-doubters that had Griffey adopting his familiar slow walk toward first base. Here's video of Tuesday's and video of Wednesday's.

Griffey now has 18 homers for the year--and if he's wanting to leave a positive impression in his bosses' minds when they draw up 2010 contracts, he's picked the right time to get hot.

Statswise, Griffey hasn't made the case. His .408 slugging percentage places him 11th among AL DHs (didja ever think you'd see the day that Carlos Guillen outslugged Griffey?).

Personality-wise, he has. Last year's Mariners' clubhouse was full of backbiting whiners, this year Griffey has helped turn the "office" into a joyous ticklefest.

And 100-loss Mariners of last season now have an outside chance of capturing second place in the AL West. They are three games behind Texas with four to play--three of them against the Rangers.

Our brain says...

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Twenty-six years ago yesterday, we Mariner fans made our poorest showing of all time: only 3,360 of us came out to a late-season game against the Royals. (I have an excuse, I was only six years old and had spent my entire allowance on Colorforms.)

Take a seat, any seat

We'll never see a baseball crowd that small again (unless the M's bring back Bill Bavasi as GM), but we could see the smallest crowd in Safeco Field history this week.

The low turnout in Safeco Field history is 15,818, last May 6 in a game against Texas. But the stars are aligning for an even lower number tonight or tomorrow as the M's face the Oakland A's.

Three crowds from the M's recent mid-week series against Chicago took their place among the ten lowest in Safeco history; the 16,336 who showed up Thursday now represent the 4th-smallest crowd the stadium has ever seen.

Now the M's play a team with an even smaller fan base than the White Sox, and the temperature has dropped to the mid-50s.

I'm going, I've got season tickets and this one...

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Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is running out of time to capture voters for a Cy Young Award campaign he's probably not going to win.

Hernandez, a.k.a. King Felix, has just two starts left. The first of them is tonight at Toronto.

His Highness is in a bad spot. The award--given to each league's best pitcher as voted on by baseball writers--almost always goes to the league leader in Earned Run Average or Wins. Hernandez--2nd in ERA and 3rd in wins--doesn't top either list.

Eight of the past ten AL Cy Young winners have been first in either ERA or Wins. The two who weren't are special cases. C.C. Sabathia won the award in '07 based on an incredible pennant race run, when he won five of his last six starts. Roger Clemens won in '01 by compiling a gawdy 20-3 record.

Felix Hernandez can't do either of those things. He's got three chances:

1) A miracle outing, like a perfect game, no-hitter, or 20-strikeout performance.

2) For ERA leader Zack Greinke to get bombed in his final two starts, dropping behind Hernandez...

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With some baseball trades, you need to wait years to decide which team got the better of the bargain. No need with Jack Zduriencik's deadline day trade of Jarrod Washburn. If the trade were a baseball game, it would be Mariners 936, Tigers 1.

Washburn has been dismal for Detroit, and after not making it past the first inning on Tuesday, may not pitch again this season.

"I don't know why they'd want me to pitch, pitching the way I have," Washburn told FOX Sports.

Neither do we, Jarrod: In eight starts as a Tiger you've won just one game and compiled a 7.33 ERA.

Inflammation in Washburn's knee is causing him discomfort--but it's an injury the Tigers knew about when they made the trade. Evidently the pain has gotten worse, and there's nothing anyone can do.

Based on Washburn's performance, this would've been a good trade if the M's had gotten nothing in return but a Jim Leyland cigarette butt--but they received pitcher Luke French, a candidate for the '10 rotation. French made six starts with the M's, compiling...

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One of the most enjoyable baseball spectating experiences of my life occurred at a rained-out minor league game in Burlington, Vermont. A summer squall had rendered the field unplayable. But as we 2,000 or so fans were covered under the grandstand, we simply stayed and enjoyed the warm, misty summer air. (It's not like there was anything else to do, this being Burlington, Vermont.)

As we waited optimistically for play to resume, the P.A. blasted that generic playlist of classic oldies and rock that pretty much any American knows by heart: "Jailhouse Rock," "Celebration," "Surfin' Safari"--you know the ilk. People started dancing and singing along. Someone busted out a beach ball, people started batting it around. All of a sudden, a giant community party had broken out--miraculously for Vermont, without a jam band in sight.

It has fixed in my mind the reason why we bother to attend spectator sports, given what a pain it is to park: It's to be with people.

The Mariners will play rain or shine since they have...

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Major League Baseball released the 2010 master schedule today. Time to plan next summer (and lobby your engaged friends about when NOT to take the plunge.) Here are a few dates worth noting on the Mariners 2010 schedule.

April 5: First regular season game @ Oakland.

April 12: Opening day at Safeco vs. Oakland.

May 7-9: First series vs. (presumed) defending AL West champ Angels. It's at Safeco.

May 21-23: First interleague series vs. (YAWN) San Diego. It's at Safeco.

June 15-17: Mariners @ St. Louis (Haven't played St. Louis since '04).

June 22-24: M's host Cubs at Safeco. (Cubs haven't visited since '02).

July 8-11: Four-game series vs. Yankees at Safeco. (The Yanks only trip to Seattle).

July 13: 81st All-Star Game, in Anaheim.

July 22-25: Four-game series vs. Red Sox at Safeco.

July 31: M's first game at new Minnesota Twins stadium.

August 13-25: Monstrous East Coast road trip, 12 games in 13 days vs. CLE, BAL, NYY and BOS.

Sept. 13-15: Red Sox visit again. (Possible pennant race implications?)...

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Ichiro got his 200th hit of the season last night in water-logged Texas. This is the ninth consecutive season Ichiro's reached that mark, breaking a 107-year-old major league record for hit-gathering consistency. Video of the record-setting hit, and the ovation Ichiro received from a sparse Texas crowd (as well as a few fans from his home country) can be seen here.

I'll have more on Ichiro and on the record later this week. Congrats Ichiro!

The M's have replaced their bats with those little wooden replicas, I guess, because they go down so quickly I'm never home in time to see the game. Tonight: Five hits. No baserunners past second. Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched well, but even 1986 Doc Gooden would lose with this offense. Ichiro was 0-4, he's still four hits shy of 200 on the year, and the Japanese media horde will continue to follow him. Box score.

The M's are en route to Texas, tomorrow it'll be Luke French vs. Kevin Millwood.

Ichiro had a third-inning single to get within four hits of 200, but his groundout to third with the tying run on deck ended the game. Ian Snell just barely made it into the sixth inning after a four-run Angels first inning. Jack Wilson didn't play; he had the flu. In other news, Brandon Morrow will start for the M's--not Tacoma--on Friday.

In conclusion, here are funny pictures of Mike Sweeney posing as Ichiro.

Felix Hernandez should have 15 wins--hell, he should have 20 wins--but he pitched well enough to get #15 last night. His teammates didn't hold up their end of the bargain. The bats managed just two solo home runs (though Mike Sweeney's in the ninth did push the game to extras), and Jack Wilson made a critical error at shortstop that cost an unearned run.

Mike Sweeney, who announced yesterday that he wants to play in 2010, had a cute quote after the game: “We’re in September, and we can’t be losing many more games if we want to be playing ball in October.” Play in October...oh, Mike, you are adorable.

M's ... um ... continue their pennant chase tonight against the Angels t at 7:05 pm, it's Ian Snell against Jered Weaver. Ken Griffey Jr., who pinch hit in last night's game, is supposed to start. Wooo Griffey!

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.

Someday Scott Hairston will tell his grandchildren that he once batted clean up in the major leagues. His grandchildren will say "Wow, Pee-Paw, that must've been one shitty team!"

The A's are atrocious, with Billy Beane's dice-rolling on Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi as his power sources not having paid off. They are an easy mark, and Ryan Rowland-Smith dominated them last night, save one Nomar Garciaparra homer.

Ichiro got two hits, he's now at 1,996 for his career and 191 for the season.

Today it's Luke French vs. Brett Anderson.

Ken Griffey was supposed to start Friday but didn't because of recurring knee soreness. Supposedly this latest knee tweak came from Thursday's game, when Griffey ran out a groundball and landed on the base funny.