Tag Archives: baseball

News, Sports

Wedge’s Last Stand? Mariners Manager Will Bat His Worst Hitter First

A franchise with 24 losing seasons in 35 years is bound to have its share of questionable managing decisions. But Eric Wedge’s pronouncement yesterday that he is installing Chone Figgins as the team’s leadoff hitter sets a new precedent.

Figgins

Chone Figgins was not just the worst hitter on the Mariners last year. He was not just the worst hitter in baseball. Last year, Chone Figgins was the worst hitter in baseball in the past twenty seasons. Not since 1992 had a hitter accumulated 300 plate appearances and posted an on base plus slugging percentage below .500, as Figgins did in 2012.

Yet, according to Wedge, Figgins will bat first in the order, where he will accumulate more plate appearances per game than any other hitter on the team. The Mariners’ leadoff hitter since 2001, future Hall-of-Famer Ichiro, has been dropped to the #3 spot in the order; another odd move, since #3 is typically reserved for a power hitter, not a singles machine like Ichiro.

Probably you are already wondering: “Does Chone Figgins own pictures of Eric Wedge walking Aurora Ave. in high heels and a crop-top?” One struggles to find a less outlandish explanation. Wedge contends that Figgins will perform better in the leadoff role, where he batted while having more successful seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. But if Wedge really believes that Figgins’ decline is due to his moving out of the leadoff spot, wouldn’t moving Ichiro be risking a similar collapse?

The root of all this evil is money. Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik signed Figgins to a four-year, $35-million contract before the 2010 season, the first and so far only major free agent signing of Zduriencik’s tenure. The Figgins signing has been only slightly less disastrous than the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. After posting a .789 OPS in his final season in L.A., Figgins dropped to .646 in his first season with the Mariners, then collapsed to .484 last year. The Mariners, a 85-win team the year before Figgins’ arrival, have won no more than 67 games in a season with Figgins. Yet to declare the Figgins’ signing a failure now would imperil Zdurienck’s job and–since a new general manager often hires a different manager–Wedge’s as well.

There has been a great deal of discussion on the M’s blogosphere about the sunk cost fallacy–that the Mariners are throwing good money after bad in starting Figgins. Sort of. What’s really going on is a cousin of the sunk cost fallacy, the endowment effect: “People place a higher value on objects they own than objects that they do not.” Everyone else in baseball sees one of the worst hitters in the league, but the Mariners hold onto hope that, after two years of disastrous performance, Figgins might bounce back. Leaving aside the question of Figgins’ $9M salary, which the Mariners will pay no matter where he starts, Eric Wedge should be asking himself–if Chone Figgins was not on my team, and was available for free, would I acquire him and have him bat in the leadoff position? Obviously, Wedge is not asking that question.

Figgins, for his part, argues that he is ideal in the leadoff spot because he is a “battler”: “I may not get two hits in a game, but I may have two walks and two runs scored.” The truth is, in 242 games as a Mariner, Figgins has had two walks and two runs scored only four times.

The previous leader for Mariner managerial malpractice, Maury Wills, made headlines in 1981 when he ordered Kingdome groundskeepers to illegally expand the batters box. However, Wills can be excused due to his later admission that he was addicted to cocaine at the time. It’s a pretty low bar to drop below, but Wedge appears to have done it.

News, Sports

Will Runless Mariners Be Fishing for a 285-Pounder?

Safeco Field, behind the CLink (Photo: MvB)

Today is the first day that major league baseball teams can sign free agents who played for other teams last year. There are few teams that need other teams’ players more than your Seattle Mariners.

In 2011, for the second consecutive season, the Mariners scored fewer runs than every other team in major league baseball, averaging just 3.43 per game. Runs, in baseball, being what business consultants call a “key success factor,” this is something the team needs to fix.

So the Mariner fan’s lustful eye immediately turns to the jewel of the 2012 free agent class, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. The youngest player ever to hit 50 home runs, Fielder already has 230 in his career–and, at 27, is just entering what are generally considered the prime seasons of a hitter’s career. Despite his 285-lb frame, Fielder is not prone to injury, having played at least 157 games in the past six seasons. And he is the full hitting package, combining power with the ability to get on-base. The Mariners haven’t had a hitter like Fielder since Edgar Martinez’ prime years. Not coincidentally, the Mariners haven’t made the playoffs since Edgar Martinez’ prime years.

Fielder will be insanely expensive. The Phillies’ Ryan Howard signed a 5-year, $125-million contract last season, and Fielder is a better and younger player. A $30-million-per-year deal is probable. (Perhaps certain new Central District restaurants will lure Fielder, a vegetarian, to Seattle).

Fielder isn’t worth it–not for the Mariners, says USS Mariner’s Dave Cameron. Cameron argues that the Mariners’ are so talent-deficient, adding one player doesn’t make them a contending team. Cameron advocates a blockbuster trade for the Reds’ Joey Votto–who will make just $9.5 million next season.

The big question is, how much money do the Mariners have to spend? The payroll has hovered around $95 million for the past three seasons, and with attendance declining, the recession continuing, and 1/3-minority owner Chris Larson’s financial struggles, it’s difficult to imagine that you’ll see payroll increase. The Mariners already have $59.5 million committed to current players–to seven current players. As a major league roster consists of 40 players, that gives the M’s around $35 million to sign 33 more players–spend $30 million on Fielder and he’ll have to play alongside volunteers.

Of course, Mariner ownership may be willing to bump up payroll as an investment to staunch the team’s declining attendance (the 2011 team drew less than two million fans, the lowest number in 16 years). We can’t know, the organization is notoriously tight-lipped.

More likely than not, the Mariners will follow the strategy of the past few seasons–acquiring less-coveted players and hoping for a rebound season. It’s a strategy that has worked in the past (Bret Boone, Jose Guillen), but has flopped the past two years (Casey Kotchman, Jack Cust, Eric Brynes). One intriguing candidate along these lines is Carlos Beltran, who slugged .525 in his first full season since 2008. At 34, he’s on the downside of his career, but he would represent an immediate upgrade to the offense. One thinks of Lance Berkman, another stellar hitter on the decline, who signed a one-year contract before the 2011 season and helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title.

Ichiro Suzuki (Photo: MvB)

What does the Mariners’ map to a 2012 World Series title look like? There are a lot of seemingly unfordable rivers and impenetrable forests. The M’s will need a rebound season from Ichiro, who is due to make $18 million. They will need a breakout season from their melange of young hitters–Mike Carp, Justin Smoak, Casper Wells. And they will need an unexpected bounce-back season from whatever veterans they sign in free agency. Plus the pitching to continue being stellar.

Still, when I found out I was getting an upgrade on my season tickets (two sections closer to home plate, two rows down) on Thursday, I pronounced myself “excited.” Excited for what, I’m not sure. Despite the dismal decade I and other Mariner fans have endured, hope seems to be a renewable resource.

News, Sports

Mariner Fans Feeling Spurned by Their Exes

Yuniesky Betancourt - Still Not Good

Much gnashing of teeth has occurred in the Mariner fan community over the number of former M’s on teams in baseball’s playoffs–16 of them, more exes than any other major league team.

“Hey,” the thinking goes, “if we’d just held on to all those guys, we’d be in the playoffs, too!” This thinking is wrong.

Most of the ex-Mariners in the playoffs are below-average players. Sure, Yuniesky Betancourt is a playoff-caliber shortstop–if he’s got Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks to his left. With Jose Lopez and Richie Sexson? Not so much.

In fact, a good chunk of these post-seasoning ex-Mariners were on the same team–six of them* were on the 2008 Mariners, who lost 101 games and finished 39 games out of first place.

Some of the best Mariner teams had their share of below-average players. The ’95 Mariners gave former Brewer Alex Diaz and former Ranger Doug Strange their only tastes of post-season play. Perhaps the same Milwaukee and Texas fans who are enjoying their team’s post-season runs were gnashing similarly back then.

Fact is, you can pile up all the role players you want–there’s no substitute for talent, something the Mariners sorely lack, especially among position players. Stat time! The statistic “Adjusted OPS,” written as “OPS+,” standardizes a player’s hitting stats according to the park and league he played in. The average hitter is 100.

Among 2011 Mariner regulars, only 2B Dustin Ackley and 1B Justin Smoak were above average (remember, this is adjusted for park factors, so no using Safeco Field’s expansive outfield as an excuse). And Smoak’s 104 OPS+ is really an underwhelming figure when you consider that, as a first baseman, he is expected to be a better-than-average hitter.

Yuniesky Betancourt’s 2011 OPS+? A dismal 75. Even the 2012 Mariners’ shortstop, Brendan Ryan, posted a better number. So, on the bright side, the Mariners do have players worthy of post-season play–if (big if) they can scare up some decent teammates for them.

Once the post-season ends, the free agent and trading season begins–and we’ll all see what Mariner brass does to bring good baseball back to Seattle.

*Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, Arthur Rhodes, J.J. Putz, Willie Bloomquist, Yuniesky Betancourt

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

Men in Film: Moneyball, Drive, and The Ides of March

Oh, to ride George Clooney's campaign bus with Ryan Gosling. Pinch me!

Moneyball stars Brad Pitt, who is still a totally lovable hunk, as the general manager of the 2002 Oakland As, who learned to use math to win baseball games. Jonah Hill (pre-21 Jump Street, so much plumper at the time) shows up as Brad’s stats wunderkind/new BFF. The film does a great job of tying together baseball footage with re-enactments, and most of the actors in the film (Chris Pratt SQUEEEE) really resemble the actual players. Phillip Seymour Hoffman doesn’t look like the coach he’s meant to represent (Art Howe), but he does look like a generic baseball coach, all rotund egg body with his defiantly crossed arms resting atop a firm dyspeptic gut.

But at its heart, Moneyball is about men sizing up other men. The team’s old-school scouts don’t care about on-base-percentage and instead often speak of young men looking “like a baseball player” or having “a good face.” Nothing homoerotic about that. When Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill want to assess players on anything other than gut feelings, they upend the entire system. Blame sabermetrics.

The best thing about Drive is Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn‘s ’80s Eurotrash version of L.A. The beginning of the film is actually very old-fashioned, with a slow-moving courtship between a damsel in distress (Carey Mulligan) and the strong silent and nameless type (Ryan Gosling). That makes the explicit violence in the last act all the more jarring.

Of course, I loves me some Ryan Gosling. In Drive, he gets to be all cool, with the scorpion silk jacket, little leather driving gloves, and well-fitting jeans. Gosling is an actor who keeps getting better and better, and here, as an understated character, he has to act with his eyes alone, which can look steely, focused, hurt, or dead inside by just a subtle shift in intensity and focus. If he doesn’t get an Oscar nomination of some sort this year, he wuz robbed. Dude put out three decent pictures in 2011, so let’s give him an award already.

For such a pretentiously titled film, The Ides of March is okay–assuredly better than 80 percent of most movies at your local cinemaplex, and guaranteed 99 percent handsomer–but you know that if it was really impeccable and had a chance at some Oscars, it would be coming out in December rather than right now.

The plot is fairly rote, nothing that you haven’t already seen in other terse political dramas and/or American politics IRL. Wait a minute, politics is corrupt and backstabby and full of self-serving assholes, especially in this media age? YOU DON’T SAY.

All the actors–starring George Clooney as Barack Obama the candidate, Ryan Gosling as the press secretary, Phillip Seymour Hoffman as his boss the campaign manager, Paul Giamatti as their Democratic rival’s PR guy, Geoffrey Wright as a cynical politician waiting for the best deal before giving his endorsement–are as good as you’d expect with that caliber of a cast, and they all get to do a lot of dick-swinging. Unfortunately, it’s all for naught, and the third act goes over like a lead balloon. Plus, there’s no hot Clooney-Gosling makeout, nor even a single shirtless scene.

News, Sports

Mariners’ Brendan Ryan Clowns Oakland A’s with “Infield Triple”

You just don’t realize how important some things are until you forget to do them. Change the oil. Back up the hard drive. Raise the debt ceiling. Or, in baseball, guard the bases. The Oakland A’s got a harsh lesson in this unspoken fundamental yesterday when Brendan Ryan executed the “just don’t stop running” strategy that is usually only effective in T-ball.

In the first inning, Ryan reached first base safely on an infield single deep in the hole behind third base. Then, noticing that A’s 2B Jemile Weeks had ranged far over toward first base in anticipation of an errant throw, and that SS Eric Sogard was ambling slowly back to his position from the leftfield grass with his head down, Ryan took off for second base. A’s 3B Scott Sizemore ran to cover the base, but arrived too late to even get a throw. Sizemore then dropped his head, failing to notice that he’d left third base uncovered. Ryan took off again, and slid into third without a throw. (Watch the play for yourself here.)

Those Safeco Field fans who’d been paying attention went wild with delight, and even stoic M’s manager Eric Wedge cracked a smile from the dugout.

Ryan then scored the first run of the game on Mike Carp’s double. The Mariners won 4-2, and now, just one week after losing their 17th consecutive game, are one win away from sweeping a three-game series against Oakland.

News, Sports

M’s like “like high-priced Confederate battlefield actors slowly marching towards futility”

"mariners vs. phillies" courtesy of ozmafan in our Flickr pool

Guest contribute John Hieger joins us to wax eloquent about the Mariners, as they set a franchise-worst record of 15 losses in a row.

David Letterman uses an old joke every May about knowing it’s spring in New York because the Mets are already eliminated from playoff contention. For Seattle Mariners fans it’s closer to the solstice, lucky us. If you get three months of competitive baseball or sunny weather here you’ve had a great summer–elsewhere expectations for both are doubled, but we aren’t elsewhere.

Most seasons, games cease to carry meaning past the halfway point: 24 of the M’s 35 seasons have ended with losing records. The box office stays open and the team keeps suiting up like high-priced Confederate battlefield actors slowly marching towards futility in yet another lost campaign laden with the same predestined letdown of previous summers.

The only fan “value” summer ball here offers is developing young talent–which sucks when you’re paying the same price as games that should matter–worthless moral victories like Ichiro stats, and seeing which player gets demoralized fastest. People who enjoy bullying visibly beleaguered third baseman Chone Figgins can continue getting their bitter rocks off but at some point harassing a depressed millionaire gets old.

The parole board of fandom sees the M’s as repeat offenders and I don’t think I want to know somebody who would literally define themselves as a non-bandwagon Mariners fan at this point. The “true believer” M’s fan is mentally akin to somebody who watches Old Yeller every day and still expects the dog to make it. How many tears is enough?

In almost every other scenario I deplore bandwagon fans, but when a person stays in an abusive relationship, society tells us it’s sad. When a fan stays in an emotionally consuming, expensive relationship only to be let down year-in-and-year-out, we say they are loyal. If there’s such a thing as battered fan syndrome the patsy in right field with the “In Z We Trust” banner has it in spades.

No reasonable person can spend three-plus hours a night five times a week for the next several months watching the Mariners slowly die when they could apply the same amount of time to earning an MBA or mastering Cantonese.

Sounders fans say they wouldn’t pay to watch Sigi Schmid field benchwarmers against premier league competition again, why would anyone pay to see the M’s in person this year, when once again the season was lost at the halfway point? If the answer is anything other than being an involved parent you have too much time and money.

Nostalgia marketing gimmicks got old after the Griffey Reunion Tour. Bobbleheads are just plastic Chinese crap, they aren’t victory trophies. I knew when the GM signed his stunt double Jack Cust to fix our power gap this off-season that management had already quit, but like a seasoned tease the M’s reeled me in as they do every year for a brief spring fling before predictably breaking my heart with their annual bedwetting.

I can think of few prospects more depressing than having to live with something three months after it dies, which is what a full season of M’s dedication requires. The garbage doesn’t smell any better if you wait to take it out, so put the Root Sports broadcasts on the curb where it belongs.