Game 78, Mariners Sort Of At Marlins For The Last Time

June 26, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 159 Comments 

Fister vs Sanchez, 7:10 pm.

Justin Smoak returns to the line-up, so huzzah for that. Unfortunately, Anibal Sanchez is really good. So, yeah.

Ichiro, RF
Ryan, SS
Kennedy, 3B
Smoak, 1B
Ackley, 2B
Olivo, C
Peguero, LF
Gutierrez, CF
Fister, P

Game 77, Mariners Sort Of At Marlins Again

June 25, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 94 Comments 

Vargas vs Volstad, 7:10 pm.

I wonder how often two pitchers with a last name starting with the letter v have faced off? I’d bet Jayson Stark tells us later this week.

Jason Vargas can actually hit, by the way. Don’t be surprised if he gets some good hacks in tonight.

Ichiro, RF
Ryan, SS
Kennedy, 3B
Smoak, 1B
Olivo, C
Ackley, 2B
Peguero, LF
Gutierrez, CF
Vargas, P

Game 76, Mariners Sort Of At Marlins

June 24, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 259 Comments 

Hernandez vs Nolasco, 7:10 pm.

Happy Felix Day.

National League baseball comes to Safeco, so the Mariners will wear their road grays tonight, there will be no DH, and the M’s will bat first. It will be different, but when the game ends 1-0, I’m guessing a lot of fans might hope that they go back to AL rules tomorrow.

Ichiro, RF
Ryan, SS
Kennedy, 3B
Smoak, 1B
Ackley, 2B
Olivo, C
Peguero, LF
Gutierrez, CF
Hernandez, P

Improve, Don’t Buy Or Sell

June 24, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 71 Comments 

With the three game losing streak and a record below .500 again, those who don’t think this team can keep up with the Rangers are renewing their calls to hold a sell-off, move Erik Bedard for prospects, and commit the rest of the season to playing prospects. However, those who think this team’s pitching can keep them in the race are calling for the team to make a move to acquire a left fielder and/or a designated hitter post haste in order to keep the team in the race before the lack of offense sinks the season.

I’d like to suggest that the buy/sell decision is, right now, a false dichotomy. The team doesn’t have to choose today whether they’re buyers or sellers – you can upgrade the roster without marrying yourself to one extreme plan or the other.

The reality is that there isn’t a single player in this organization right now who should be a starting left fielder in the big leagues, and there isn’t a player in this organization who projects as a respectable starting left fielder in 2012. The position is a gaping hole (as it has been for most of the team’s history) with no solution on the horizon. Regardless of whether you think the Mariners are contenders or not, the reality is that they need a new left fielder. If they don’t get one now, they’ll just have to go get one this winter, so they might as well go get one now.

Whether it’s Ryan Ludwick, David DeJesus, Casey Blake, Luke Scott, or someone else we haven’t talked about, they will improve the 2011 team, and that’s helpful even if you don’t think this team is going to win the AL West. I don’t think they’re good enough to hang with Texas either, but that doesn’t mean there’s any point to pushing forward with a bunch of Triple-A players sharing a Major League job.

The organization doesn’t gain anything by running out any of the guys here now. If you want to give Mike Carp playing time, that should come at DH. If you want to give Carlos Peguero playing time, I’m glad you’re not in charge. These guys are not “the future” here. The team’s future left fielder currently plays in another organization, so acquiring a guy who is only under contract through the end of the season doesn’t block anyone who should be playing. That guy might even turn out to be useful enough to stick around for 2012, and then the team would have one thing they could cross off their winter shopping list.

There will come a time when the M’s need to decide whether or not they should trade Erik Bedard. That time is not today, and that decision has nothing to do with the fact that the team needs to improve left field. If Jack Zduriencik can get a real left fielder in here without giving up a major part of the future, he should absolutely do it. Even in rebuilding years, you still want Major League players on the Major League roster.

This team needs a Major League left fielder, and the sooner the better. That has nothing to do with whether or not they should be buyers or sellers. For now, they should just be improvers.

Game 75, Mariners At Nationals

June 23, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 161 Comments 

Pineda vs Marquis, 10:05 am.

The M’s east coast trip comes to an end this morning as they play a getaway game and then head back to Seattle immediately afterwards. They’ll throw Michael Pineda in an attempt to avoid getting swept by the Nationals, and after another lousy offensive performance, Eric Wedge is changing up the line-up again. And this time, it’s in a good way.

Yes, it’s taken all of five games for Dustin Ackley to be placed in the line-up spot that his skillset is perfect for – the #2 spot. He’s hitting behind Ichiro in the first of what is hopefully many more line-ups that begin this way. If you don’t have a lot of great hitters (and the Mariners don’t), at least you can bunch your best hitters together and try to get them to string their hits together. By moving Ackley up to the #2 spot, the M’s might actually have the chance of sparking a rally or two.

Ichiro, RF
Ackley, 2B
Kennedy, 3B
Smoak, 1B
Olivo, C
Carp, LF
Gutierrez, CF
Wilson, SS
Pineda, P

Kyle Seager to AAA Tacoma, Nick Franklin to AA Jackson

June 22, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 8 Comments 

Seager’s gone from being Dustin Ackley’s grade school opponent, to his college roommate, to his AAA replacement. (He may also be blocked at the big league level by his old friend, of course). The other lefty swinging 2B out of North Carolina will join Tacoma, who will no longer have to use Leury Bonilla or Sean Kazmar at 2B. The Rainiers have been struggling since Ackley joined the M’s, and Seager will help a line-up that lacks some consistency with Carp, Peguero, Ackley and Halman all with Seattle. Luis Rodriguez could help, but he’s been sidelined with an injury, hence experiments like Kazmar at 2B and Alex Liddi at SS, or Bonilla at 2B. Conor at Mariners Farm Review had a great interview with Seager this week – check it out.

To fill the gap at AA Jackson, the M’s have sent up last year’s breakout prospect, Nick Franklin. The SS/2B was enjoying a decent but ultimately disappointing season in the California League, with only 5 HRs despite playing in the offensive paradise of High Desert. His power surge in the midwest league hasn’t translated to higher levels thus far, but his struggles against left-handed pitching followed him (he’s slugging .301 vs. southpaws). He’s still a great talent, and he’ll get a lot of attention from Jackson hitting coach Cory Snyder. While Seager’s a gap-hitting, low-K guy, Franklin had a classic power year for Clinton in 2010, hitting 23 HRs in a pitcher’s league – and striking out 123 times. Despite the power outage, Franklin’s cut his K rate under 20% and increased his walk rate. He’ll need improved plate discipline in the Southern League, where he’ll play in a roughly neutral park.

Hat tip: Jason Churchill, confirmed by Kevin Martinez.

Game 74, Mariners At Nationals

June 22, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 279 Comments 

Bedard vs Lannan, 4:05 pm.

Excited to see what Dustin Ackley might do tonight? Tough luck for you, as he’s not in the starting line-up. The Nationals are throwing a lefty, so Eric Wedge is going to take the opportunity to get Jack Wilson some playing time. I understand not wanting to make Wilson strictly a defensive replacement (especially if they’re trying to get other teams to trade for him), but it seems like there are other ways you could get Wilson in the line-up:

1. Give Brendan Ryan a day off at SS
2. Use Wilson at 2B when the team returns home, allowing Ackley to still serve as the DH.

Dustin Ackley is the best hitter on this roster not named Justin Smoak or Ichiro – he should play with a similar amount of regularity as those two. Get Jack Wilson playing time at someone else’s expense, as there are enough guys on this roster that deserve a seat on the bench. Just let Ackley play – he’s the most exciting part of this team right now, and he helps you win baseball games.

At least facing a lefty means we’re not going to be subject to watching Carlos Peguero flail helplessly tonight. Hopefully the organization is close to realizing that he has no business on this roster, and takes him away from Eric Wedge before we waste too many more plate appearances on him.

Ichiro, RF
Ryan, SS
Smoak, 1B
Olivo, C
Gutierrez, CF
Halman, LF
Figgins, 3B
Wilson, 2B
Bedard, P

Game 73, Mariners At Nationals

June 21, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners · 234 Comments 

Fister vs Hernandez, 4:05 pm.

It took all of three games for Dustin Ackley to move up in the line-up. He’s not in the two spot that he was born for just yet, but I’d imagine it won’t take very long at this point. Also, Kennedy plays third again tonight, so it seems like Wedge is probably going to go with something close to a straight platoon at third base, with Kennedy getting most of the starts against right-handers. Chone Figgins is now a very expensive guy who will start twice a week.

Ichiro, RF
Ryan, SS
Kennedy, 3B
Smoak, 1B
Ackley, 2B
Peguero, LF
Gutierrez, CF
Gimenez, C
Fister, P

2011 Pulaski Mariners Preview

June 21, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners, Minor Leagues · 10 Comments 

The Aquasox preview had the caveat of “this roster is probably not finalized yet and we’ll likely see a lot of changes to it before the end of the season.” The Pulaski preview has the same caution with the added issue of limited local press and me getting the roster late, resulting in the kind of slapdash write-up that only I could give 1800+ words to. Considering Pulaski was hit by tornados a couple of months ago, I suppose they have other things to worry about over there.
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Minor League Wrap (6/13-20/11)

June 20, 2011 · Filed Under Mariners, Minor Leagues · 42 Comments 

In lieu of a thematic intro, I’m talking about what each team would need to do to make the playoffs in the second half following their respective write-ups. Still, some important things to note: Peoria M’s start play this evening, Pulaski goes tomorrow, Everett’s first homestand starts on Wednesday (I’ll start covering them in earnest next week), and all the full seasons except Tacoma are on all-star break.

To the jump!
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