Game 59, Mariners at Nationals
JMB · June 10, 2005 at 3:53 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
Joel Pineiro vs. Sun-Woo “Sunny” Kim, 4:05pm, FSN and KOMO.
Kim’s making his first start of the year, taking the place of Tomo Ohka who was just traded to the Brewers for 2B Junior Spivey. The surprising Nationals (34-26, 1st in the NL East) needed Spivey to fill in for longtime 2B Jose Vidro, who’s expected out with an ankle injury until at least the All Star break.
Washington’s smoking hot, having won seven straight and nine of ten to take a 1.5 game lead in the division. The M’s, meanwhile, have won eight of eleven. But I don’t need to tell you that when these two clubs get together, you can throw out the record books. They flat DO NOT like each other.
Comments
221 Responses to “Game 59, Mariners at Nationals”
Just throwing it out there…will Ichiro’s average drop below .300 at some point this year?
i sure hope not. I’m trying not to hit the panic button in my roto league!
Oh yeah, these bitter rivarlries are so enthralling.
A new tip for the pitchers!!! Keep the ball down, avoid the big inning and DRINK A LOT OF WATER.
That’s the best one so far.
Well everyone should drink more water
I heard on the Dan Patrick show that Chad Cordero vowed to “plunk that punk Wilson Valdez so hard that he’ll feel it last week.” He recanted when told Valdez wasn’t with the club at this time and had in fact been traded for a ham sandwich and four dozen baseballs.
Look guys! It’s Bret Boone! Remember him?
And apparently Joel is drinking from the same cup that Sele was last night. Gotta love DPs
Oh yeah, these bitter rivarlries are so enthralling.
Yeah… any more bitter, and they’ll start swapping DFA’s for minoor-league journeymen.
#6- someone seriously overpaid for Valdez
I can’t bring myself to hate the Nats.
However, I do hate the Redskins. They used to play in RFK Stadium. Hail To The Redskins, my arse.
Yes Mariners, with the vast wealth of information available to me now, I will spend $4/month to be informed on my cell phone at the end of every loss.
No, Dave, I hear the sandwich was actually quite tasty and came with apple-flavored bumstead sauce, which is considered a delicacy in many parts of Loma Linda, CA.
If Aaron Sele had to change his shirt 4 times yesterday, I don’t even want to think about how many times Clint Nageotte would have had to.
Perhaps they are overhydrating thus diluting their electrolyte balance?
Boone has become far too consistent. From here on out I advocating for some randomness in his playing.
Hey, its Kim’s first start of the year. Doesn’t that mean that he will look like the reincarnation of Cy Young out there?
Nick Johnson is not stealing a base, ever. Why is Pineiro tossing over there?
Because he doesn’t want to go the plate.
Lots of gatorade, even for the fans, according to weather.com. it is 83 degrees (feels like 89) at tip-off, a mere 73% humidity. Some wise person once noted that the growth of the Federal government was tied directly to the introduction of air conditioning, prior to that DC was simply too miserable in the summer to stick around. It was just a giant swamp 200 years ago…..
I seem to remember reading that foreign embassies considered a posting to D.C. as a hardship posting. But that was, as you said, before AC
So who got hurt?
so what does that make greg dobbs worth, a basket of chicken wings? perhaps a 12 pack of Busch Light?
I think the Ump took a foul ball off his body
I actually read a paper once attributing the rise of the conservative movement to AC. The south was simply too hot to hold alot of people before AC, but once it became prevelant place like Florida and Texas had their populations expand greatly.
Man we’re weather wimps up here. I used to live in Baltimore. 83 degrees, even with humidity, is not hot. 102? Sure.
It was 111 a couple of weeks ago, and its not a dry heat, its just freaking hot.
Oh were oh were has joels velo gone??????And someone please tell him his hair looks like _ – - -!
I used to live in texas, and while dallas is miserable… houston is absolute hell.
So … just how deep were those two flies?
85….. i wonder what that’d be like…
once again, brett the V comes before the R in Favre
Does RFK play like a pitching park? Are there enough data to tell?
#30 (Dave in Minnie) Its called an alias … need a dictionary?
He spells it that way on purpose – otherwise he’d be impersonating Brett Favre. He’s not – he’s Brett Farve.
Morse really knows how to place the ball. It’s because he’s a professional hitter.
RFK is a severe pitchers’ park so far this season.
Maybe I ought to change it … I get that comment too often and I do not want to distract the readers of this forum from the Mariners.
… er … maybe I’m on to something?
There we go – Morse and Rivera setting the table for our double secret weapon – Joel Pineiro. He’s got stick. I mean, c’mon – he’s even named after wood.
Oh, wait. DP.
See Rivera needs to learn that ball placement skill.
Re: 27. Ah, Houston, the 90/90 place. Strictly a nuclear test zone as far as I was concerned. If Morse continues to hit, what exactly is going to happen when/if Pokey is healthy?
Does Sunny Kim’s head look too small for his hat?
#39. If Morse hits, trade him.
#41 continued … trade Morse that is.
Great, now the outfielders are fighting over the ball…
Always let the guy who isn’t Winn have the ball. He can throw.
Dave in Minnie
Please dont’ pick on Brett Farve’s name. I did once and got put on double secret probation.
Well, not really but when I reminded him of the whole impersonating thing…I had to take a spelling class to figure out the humor. Boy did I have egg on my face.
OK, baseball fans who have been to lots of ML parks, looking at the ESPN gamecast shows RFK stadium field as perfectly symmetrical, including the foul areas. Is it the only perfectly symmetrical field in the ML in this day and age?
Speaking of names, this Sunny Kim guys name sounds familiar. Ahhh … thats it, the underwear thief who wants to escape from jail! Hmmmm…
Rogers Centre is symmetrical.
The Al Davis Reconfigurable Hole and Dodgers Stadium might be.
Random note, go look at Aaron Harang’s gameday picture… its frightening.
13 – “bumstead sauce”, that’s funny. If Bumstead ever makes the big club, I really, really hope his nickname is “Dagwood”.
22 – Dobbs’s trade value is currently pegged at the last two-thirds of an open but still fairly cool Mikes’ Hard Lemonade.
Hey, Ichiro!
Farve gets an F in HTML 101 …
And Beltre’s wonderful 2005 continues…
joe roa (no team, you have to search) has the scariest looking picture
Well that was an odd play.
#19- Cliff said:”Lots of gatorade, even for the fans, according to weather.com. it is 83 degrees (feels like 89) at tip-off, a mere 73% humidity.”
the first time I went back to DC as a adult, I couldn’t imagine how I never noticed the summer humidity as a kid….
Thank you, Richie.
Why did Ichiro run? I only have gamecast
And there’s another weird play, but it gets us another run. Sexson almost picked up the ball.
Walking Boone? May as well walk Bloomquist…
Apparently Sunny Kim doesn’t believe Morse’s batting average, either.
Robinson thinks he’s walking young Boone; he’s not aware that old Boone has taken his place in the lineup.
I wish Hargrove and a better sense of fairness. After sitting Reed 3 games, I think it wouldn’t hurt to sit Winn or Ibanez at least once.
Fairly + Valle? What circle of hell have I descended into?
The Fifth.
Whos arm is better ichiro are guillens?I say guillens
And Beltre comes through again…. sigh
I’m glad Beltre can hit, now that he’s facing NL pitchers.
The fifth circle is surrounded by a vastswamp, and what is DC located in?
Well, lets’ see, Beltre was in the NL West for many years and he got to know the pitchers so well, he had a break out season last year. This year, it’s all new, so you figured it will take a few years. So, Beltre should have another season like last year in 2008 for the M’s. I can’t wait
Wow, the Nats very own version of Bucky.
Must be a “keep the confidence thing” pulling out your starter so early.
sigh… More fun defense!
Ibanez needs to drink more liquids.
That was THE worst pitching sequence I have seen since Olivio…
0-2 count, so they throw a low and in fastball??? to a career AAA player??? damnit
How’s Winn doing in the center?
he blew a play in center earlier in the game, but besides that, just OK…
P.S. go big SEXXY
Man where would we be without Sexson?
I think Dave just had a coronary.
HOW SWEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!! BIG SEXY!
SEXY!!!!!!!!!
Wow…
Too bad Dave was on the radio side for that shot…
Richie Sexson is earning his money.
For those of you NOT listening, guess who said this:
“If you’re going to give up a homerun, you might as well give up one like that.”
Richie Sexson has been drinking his liquids.
If you’re going to lose one game, you may as well lose a dozen.
There is a difference between qualitative and quantitative differences. Once something is a home run, no matter how long it is, it is still a home run. One loss vs. 12 losses are no longer comparable. Your analogy falls flat.
ESPN.com thinks this M. Morse is a different guy than Mike Morse. They’ve got a profile page for Mike but not for M. Whoever the heck he is, at the rate he’s going I don’t care if he can play defense or not.
take one in the leg, Pineiro…
Stat of the day: 5 current M players are hitting over .300
86 — I think someone was poking fun at Ron Fairly.
Boone pisses me off to no end…
I need a ruling. Are we “allowed” to win this game? We only have 3 runs.
And Ichiro continues to struggle. It seems like one for any game is his limit.
I think about 2 or three more games like this and Ichiro will fall under .300
Anyone notice that this rotation is becoming more and more like a 5-man rotation of Franklins? The low walks (now and then), no to low Ks, and relies heavily on defense. What is the future for the M’s is our 5 pitchers all all pitching like him?
Hey just saw the Ichiro! tribute forthe hits record recently on MLV-TV. That hit montage to the techno remix of Classical Gas was pretty dope!
Nice Morse. Real nice.
Why do I keep watching this team again?
how bad was it?
Villone is so reliable. Another great Bavasi idea — giving this guy a two year contract. So no matter how bad he abcdefs up, he will be around next year.
#99/chris – it was a ball in the hole, makeable play, he couldn’t get a grip on it. Bad enougn. Valdez would have made it.
Forget ‘pitch count’, the M’s are going to have to put Villon on a ‘pickoff attempt count’.
But Villone can fill in as a crappy starter if needed.
OMG We’re imploding!
Right, the M’s really need crappy starters.
That’s a passed ball? No way Rene could have handled the HEAT from RV.
Get the Villoneous one out of there before he does any more damage…
Let’s not talk about Valdez — remember? He had no bat. This Morse has less defense. But never fear, Tacoma may have the answer. Betancourt’s defense is supposed as good or better than Valdez’s and he has a good bat, meaning not so much pop but hits for high average with a good amount of xbh.
Villone is to pitching as Gallagher is to comedy: messy and not very funny. This is excruciating watching this slow-motion implosion. Get him out of there!
Thank God, it’s over.
Say what you will about Rivera and Morse mistakes, but the M’s wouldn’t be in this mess if Villone did not walk the guys. And is Hargrove even going to pull Villone?
#108/ray – I’m not saying I rather have Valdez in the lineup. I was just saying that Valdez, an above average defender, would have made the play. It was a comparison, not a wish for him to be here. I agree that getting rid of him was a good move and that Morse/Betancourt/a couple other AAA guys are the answer.
#91 Drew,
Ron Villone pisses me off to no end.
Another decent effort by a starter, spoiled by the ‘pen. Isn’t that the second time it’s happened to Joel recently?
On an unrelated note:
Angie Mentink sure has turned into a chunky monkey almost overnight.
Ah here comes Ayala! We wi…
damn wrong Ayala.
#115 Jake,
Angie is pregnant.
I’m sure you didn’t know that, so I won’t get on your case about it.
#117 Wow, that was nice of me to say.
On a related note, we’re losing thanks to Rizz mentioning Bobby Ayala’s name on the broadcast.
Adding to that Phil, I think the M’s should have Bentancourt as everyday SS and Morse on bench as SS, pinch-hitter. I wonder if Morse can play any other positions?
Betancourt? Really?
jason
#114, yea, Villone allowed all his inherited runners to score after he replaced Joel in the last game. I think Villone dislike Joel because something about his wife’s butt being higher than his wife’s butt, and his wife’s cooking is better than his wife’s cooking….
3 hits for Morse. Very nice.
Yes, #120 because
1) They say his defense will probably the best in the AL at least
2) He is a high contact, low strike out hitter, and gets a good to high average. The one knock is he doesn’t take walks a la Ichiro. But he is only 23! Yes 23! So there is tremendous upside.
Jason – I would prefer Lopez but for some reason I thought the club did not think that highly of him, or did I hear wrong?
How about switching Morse and Boone in the batting order?
Now borders are in the game as a defensive replacement? What kind of bizzaro world is this?
#123-
With Morse hitting the way he is hitting, why change anything?
Give Betancourte some more time to develop…
Don’t need to change anything now. I was talking more future.
In bizarro world, Beltre and Olivo are hitting the ball.
Oh no #124, you heard right but Lopez is headed for 2nd. The PI commented how well Lopez and Bentancourt mesh on the field. They could be the exciting DP combo the M’s were looking for.
These relievers are paining me.
#126 – Although it ends in an “s”, Borders is not plural.
damnit mariners…
#127, I think if Bentancourt show a good bat in Tacoma they will have no problem putting him ahead of Morse because Bentancourt has already proven his defense and the only thing left is the bat. I think the FO still wants a good defensive guy ay SS and with a bat that’s a plus. Morse is way behind Bentancourt on Defense but only a little with the bat so far.
ray/134 – I’m not saying Morse is staying, but his bat is doing very well right now. I wouldn’t call it a “little bit.” .318/.400/.409 before 3 hits tonight.
Thornton? Noooo.
I think the M’s pitchers have given more walks than the M’s batters have taken.
Oh maybe not. Nice.
How in God’s name does our bullpen have a low ERA? There is only one pitcher in there who gives me any confidence, and Hargrove won’t let him pitch before the ninth. Now would be a damn good time for him.
Hey Mike! Go get Eddie. Now!
Looks like Shiggy is preparing to walk the losing run in. Must be a new M’s policy.
et tu Ichiro!?
#137, your sample size is way too small — Valdez did well in the beginning too. I’m talking about scouting reports and what they did in their respective leagues.
That was pretty shabby from Shiggy.
5-3. 5 to f’in 3.
Someone, go buy me a .44
#144 – I’m not saying the sample size isn’t small. But no reason to stop a good thing. When he stops hitting then the team can see.
1 out and an intentional walk to a .236 hitter to load the bases. I love baseball.
Man, the metrics might say they’re “pretty good” or “average” or whatever, but our bullpen is trash. Besides Eddie, is there anybody who can get a key out anytime?
grrrr,….(mumble, expletive)….
How did the Royals take the lead? Or should we give Dave an error in our scorecards?
This game was doomed the moment Villone stepped out of the bullpen.
#139 — heading into today’s game, it was:
M’s pitchers 188
M’s hitters 167
jason
That was a nice squeeze.
Well this is falling apart quickly.
jason
So why in the hell is Shiggy pitching up in the zone after intentional walk when M’s want double play?
This is why rebuilding the ‘pen ought to be a priority for the M’s… giving up the lead so meekly is like a kick in the nuts for the rest of the team, not to mention the fans.
#147, of course the FO isn’t going to move either now both were were just promoted but if Bentancourt shows a better bat in the same amount of time that Morse was in Tacoma, I think they M’s will move him ahead of Morse unless Morse hit .350 with power — and that won’t happen. Morse will get his chance but he his showing his defense (average) and his bat (too early too tell if you ignore minor league stats.
On another note, Ichiro’s slump is now starting to affect his defense. After no errors for 3 months, he makes two in two weeks.
Nats announcer: “Hargrove has seen enough.”
Whyyyyy????? was Grover so late with the hook????
TOWEL!
man screw this. i’ve got an hour left to finish Dances with Wolves, and it’s time to see how it ends.\
Screw you bullpen!
Gawd. Bases loaded again. As #149 said, we really have only one reliever who can get key outs… which is supposed to be the entire reason for having short relievers in the ‘pen in the first place.
Thank you Jason. Even without the numbers I think everyone had that feeling. I wonder what that projects to for the season? And why hasn’t BP called to task about this?
Okay so up 8-0 and we don’t bring in Thornton to pitch. Down 6-3 with the bases loaded and we bring him in. What the heck?
Thank you Jeremy, I was just going to ask you for it.
That towel’s getting mighty dirty, having been thrown around so much.
jason
Boy, I’m so glad we changed relievers… SO glad.
That was just pathetic by Thornton.
Note to Hargrove: there’s a reason why Eddie is referred to as a “stopper”. He’s there to stop the kind of disaster which we now see unfolding in the 8th.
Dear Jesus,
Please put Heathcliffe Thornton out of his misery.
Thanks.
Love,
Junior
Niehaus: “It has literally been a walk in the park for the Nationals in the eighth inning.”
NO, DAVE! Not you, too!
Why is it that if I murder Matt Thornton, I’d be the one to go to jail?
Hey guys don’t give up hope. We have in the next inning the best hitter in baseball coming up (who’s in a slump), and hot #2 hitter (who has no power), and the last year’s almost MVP hitting 3rd (who’s this year LVP). No worries!
Why, it’s a Thornton showcase! Let the bidding begin!
Back to back bases loaded walks.
back to back bases loaded walks…
Hey remember 95? That was fun!
Just shoot me. I can’t take it any more.
If this shambles doesn’t shame the FO into doing something drastic with the roster, I don’t know what will.
What a show!
Nobody in the bullpen? Come on. That’s a joke right?
Contrary to what the Nationals’ announcer would have you believe, Jose Guillen cannot take full credit for “getting this thing going…”
Look ma! An out!
Maybe the mound is too high.
How do we go 8-0 to the Marlins then look like butt pirates the very next game? Damn it!
Apparently Nellie is up in the ‘pen. My misery is complete.
But at least none of those runs are charged to Thornton…
This is just Hargrover’s strategy: some sacrifies must be made to win the war. So giving this game to the National Expos makes them think the M’s are weak and BAM! the next two games go to the M’s. Grover, the greatest mind of our time.
re: #182
Because we didn’t let a reliever pitch a meaningful at-bat.
Wow that was a 43 minute half an inning. Intentional walk to a guy that just suited up an hour and half ago?
“as a change-up… as a change-up…”
Is Tommy Two-Times in the booth?
This has to be one of the most disgusting losses of the year. To navigate through 6 innings with Joel, turn a lead over to the pen and then watch it go poof in a Little League exhibition of walks is a face-slapping loss. Oh,well, good teams win these kinds of games; bad teams lose ‘em.
Shiggy’s ERA has rocketed from 3.04 to 5.00.
Having Borders batting 9th is just like having a 2nd leadoff guy.
And of course, having cleverly replaced Rivera with Borders, Grover now has nobody to catch… so he can’t pinch-hit for Borders. Well done.
Welcome back Hasegawa. After his fluke 2003-like start he is back to his usual self: 5.00 ERA.
#189 – coming a day after the most impressive win
Randy will now hit a 7-run homer all by himself. Nothing to worry about, folks, it’s all under control.
Tomorrow will be interesting for one fact: Ichiro will go below .300 if he has another 1-5 day.
Winn is now the batting leader of the team? Has the world gone Topsy Turvy?
Carrasco’s really trying that low-and-away pitch against Beltre. I guess he read the scouting report.
That’s Hector Carrasco? He’s still around? I figured for sure it was DJ…
jason
Mercifully, it’s over.
Amen to that #200
And why didn’t Bloomie pinch-hit for Borders. What was there to lose? Bloomie is the emergency catcher anyway.
Any one else low on the liquor this evening.
Reminds me of Slocumb and Ayala. No lead was safe.
202: Borders is actually hitting slightly “better” (less badly) than Bloomquist… it might actually have been counterproductive.
At least the Yankees are getting thrashed by the Cards. That’s a small consolation.
man….just when you think things are getting better, and even if they don’t improve much, it couldn’t possibly get any worse…it somehow manages to do just that.
i don’t even want to watch this team until Boone, Thornton, Nelson, et all, go their separate ways. the way they’re losing is completely miserable..its bad to play well and lose, but as a team (despite some pretty ok individual performances, like Sexson) they just look incompetent. nobody can figure out what its going to take to get Beltre right, the hitters are all performing badly at the worst possible time, and our pitchers are either declining due to age, control problems, or are injured or coming off a serious injury. for as bad as last year was, this is even more depressing.
Sadly, are players in Tacoma who are more talented than those in Seattle, including:
1. Felix Hernandez vs. Jamie Moyer
2. Jorge Campillo vs. Ryan Franklin
3. Damian Moss [Not On 40-Man Roster] vs. Aaron Sele
4. George Sherrill [DL] vs. Matt Thornton
5. Jared Thomas [Not On 40-Man Roster] vs. Ron Villone
6. Cha-Seung Baek vs. Shigetoshi Hasegawa
7. Jeff Nelson vs. Yuniesky Betancourt (Why 7 Relief Pitchers?)
8. Jose Lopez vs. Bret Boone
9. Scott Spiezio [DL-Rehabiliatation Assignment] vs. Greg Dobbs
10. Justin Leone vs. Scott Speizio (Once The Spaz Returns)
11. Shin-Soo Choo vs. Willie Bloomquist (4th Outfielder/Pinch Hitter Role)
12. Chris Snelling vs. Randy Winn (Cost Efficient)
As it concerns statistical analysis, I am totally inept; however, I would presume that the following moves would vastly improve the M’s; they might even be good ‘nough to take the AL West–which would be more amazin’ than the Sonics surprising success earlier this year!
Umm, what? People really want Betancourt in the majors? He hit .273/.301/.410 in the Texas League and is a whopping 8 for 25 with 1 double and no walks in Tacoma. He’s not even close to being major league ready.
The ridiculous calls for half of Tacoma’s roster are just lame. And wrong. Damian Moss is freaking terrible.
Yeah, but he’s a better backup middle infielder than Willie Bloomquist defensively, and is not necessarially needed as either a spot starter up the middle or as a pinch hitter, so his problems offensively are not that big of a deal. Besides, he’d be sent back down as soon as Pokey Reese returned.
Yeah, Damain Moss isn’t that good — though, he’s better than fellow countryman Travis Blackley (who’s injured) or Craig Anderson (who’s gone) — yet, he’s still a better option than Aaron Sele, who is most likely going to cash in his “so-so” card and return to being just plan bad during his next outing—a la Shigetoshi Hasegawa tonight.
If those above moves were made, then the team would (most likely) be immediately improved.
An organization who calls up every prospect they have the moment they’re better than the last man on the bench is… a terrible organization.
It makes no sense to try to marginally improve a mediocre team to win 80 games instead of 78 at the cost of the development of players who can eventually help you win 90.
And Damian Moss is far, far worse than Aaron Sele. He’s nothing close to a major league pitcher.
#207 why did you compare a relief pitcher to a SS?
Anyway, #208, Morse hit .250 in AAA, so there is not much else to say there. So which bat is more ready? And Bentancourt was hitting over .300 for the moth of May. His line looks bad because after not playing baseball for so long he was starting up again — so April numbers looked really bad. So we can agree, neither bat is going to light the world on fire. Now, let’s look at defense. In this case Bentancourt is superior (by a lot) to Morse. The scouts have said, blogers who have and haven’t seen him have said — so his defense is MLB ready and possibly MLB elite. I ask you who is really more ready: Morse or Bentancourt? There are no other options and it would be a waste to go get a guy when the M’s need pitching more. Pokey is really not needed — gone next year anyway. And Lopez is replacing Bonne. In this case, I think calling for Bentancourt is not ridiculous.
On the hand, FO being slow and not making the right calls is ridiculous. The FO has to realize the M’s can’t contend so they need to look at needs: pitching. Who has value vs who can be replaced. I think the list only includes Ibanez and Winn. Who can replace either one of them: Choo or Snelling (#1 choice). In addition, if Sele has 3 more starts like this, his value will go way up.
I know the irony of trading a hot pitcher in Sele for another pitcher but Sele is 35 and pitches like Franklin but more effective so far. If we can pull a Beane (hopefully with more success) maybe we can find team willing to give up a much younger unproven prospect for Sele. I know it sounds impossible but GMs have done worst things.
re 212
It’s not just a matter of comparing bats and fielding…aren’t you listening to what Dave’s saying? It’s whether calling a player up NOW is the right call. If a player can learn more at the minors than at the majors, then calling them up now is just not the right call.
And I’m not convinced that Betancourt, Lopez and Hernandez have learned all they can at Tacoma.
Yeah, Dave, you are mostly right, seeing as how I do agree with you on how making rash moves and calling up half of the team down south is way too extreme, as well as that bringing up a player to early (e.g., Felix Hernandez) can stunt his development.
On a realistic note, when is Scott Spiezio going to return? While most nobody can stand “The Spaz,” it seems as if he can’t do any worse than Greg Dobbs. Also, once Dobbs gets shipped down to Tacoma, who is going to get the ax there . . . will Ramon Santiago become the next member of the Portland Beavers?
#214,
It’s only good to keep a player down if there is someone in his place. Morse and Bentancourt are both AAA. Pokey will probably return but will be gone next year. One of these guys has to be the SS next year. When these guys come up they still have to learn. There is nothing more for Bentancourt to learn on defense. On the other hand, Morse needs work. The bats are probably about the same. So, considering one should start LEARNING MLB pitchers this year, instead of staring from the beginning next year, which do you prefer? And I don’t think Dave is against calling up zero players because that wouldn’t make much sense either.
Over at Metsgeek.com, they are talking about trading Kazuo Matsui (and cash) for Bret Boone. Who get’s the better of this deal?
What do you think of pitchers like Jae Seo or Heilman?
http://tinyurl.com/9hbbk
There is nothing more for Bentancourt to learn on defense.
Give me a break.
So, considering one should start LEARNING MLB pitchers this year, instead of staring from the beginning next year, which do you prefer?
Do you just not understand the concept of a player being ready for the major leagues?
Putting an overmatched player in the major leagues and letting him get torn to pieces by pitchers is an awful, awful development idea. If you have any hope at all for Betancourt as a hitter (and I don’t have a whole lot, honestly), then you darn well better support letting him learn how to hit minor league pitching before you ask him to hit major league pitching.
So … do the M’s trade Morse while he is hot?
why trade Morse? every “valuble” trade commodity is usually valuble because they’re worth something to every team, including yours. he’s playing fairly well against ML competition, and though the jury is out on whether he’s the answer long term, its worth keeping him just to see what kind of player he will be. at the very least he’d make a good bench player (somthing this organization sorely lacks at the moment) so whether he sticks at short or not he fills a need. get rid of guys who arn’t helping us, like Nelson and Thornton..you could probably pick up something for him; not many lefties can bring it at 95.
Quoted:
They flat DO NOT like each other.
Oh yeah, these bitter rivarlries are so enthralling.
Don’t forget that the natural rivals for the Nationals are the Blue Jays.