That he got thrown in suggests the Pirates saw some value in him (it would be interesting to know if the Pirates asked about him specifically, or if Zduriencik offered him up as a way to square the deal).

1b maybe?

BTW, with BLOOMQUIST and IBANEZ gone, who is the Mariner emergency (# 3) catcher?

I seem to remember reading earlier in the year about Sweeney taking some catching practice. I believe it was after Kenji got hurt, so I guess he’s the emergency option.

BTW, with BLOOMQUIST and IBANEZ gone, who is the Mariner emergency (# 3) catcher?

Good question. I’m sure someone in the press has asked Wakamatsu and msb will be along to link the actual answer, but until then…well, Bill Hall could catch…. unfortunately, that Bill Hall died over twenty years ago. Which means he still has a better chance of blocking balls in the dirt than Rob Johnson.

You still type young though.

orly? u think so? 2 k00l! lol wtf!!!one1

I know there will be serious disagreement, but I think Clement had just as much a chance of having the ‘Branyan year’ as Branyan did. And I think our lineup could have used another Branyan.

Yeah, I wanted to see Clement get a full year in the bigs because there seemed to be every reason to expect him to replicate his AAA performance given enough PAs (this was similar to Adam Jones, who a lot of people were happy to see go away in the Bedard trade because “he’d had his chance in the majors and couldn’t hit.”) It will be interesting to see if Clement gets a chance in Pittsburgh or gets flipped yet again in some offseason trade: he obviously can’t DH there, and his future as a catcher is dependent on a the murky state of his knees. Anyway, I completely agree with the argument that Griffey’s presence devalued Clement, though obviously Zduriencik didn’t have to sell low on him this year (he could’ve waited until next year, if Griffey’s goodbye gave Clement another opportunity to raise his value). That he got thrown in suggests the Pirates saw some value in him (it would be interesting to know if the Pirates asked about him specifically, or if Zduriencik offered him up as a way to square the deal).

BTW, with BLOOMQUIST and IBANEZ gone, who is the Mariner emergency (# 3) catcher?

Okay, never mind.

I suddenly feel a lot older.

You still type young though.

I suddenly feel a lot older.

Looking at Hall’s hittracker home runs, it looks like his big ‘06 had a lot of opposite field homers. Recently, just pull stuff, especially to left center, which is murder at Safeco. Any ideas why?

Possibly an over-emphasis on pulling the ball has messed up his swing? Does this match up with the new park opening in Milwaukee? Does that park favor hitting to left?

Lots of questions, but can’t research during a conference call…

Recently, just pull stuff, especially to left center, which is murder at Safeco. Any ideas why?

One possibility could be that ‘06 was an anomoly. Beltre had a year like that in ‘04 and came back to earth in the next year. Though in Safeco, so that may explain the drought.