Game 121, Mariners at Orioles
Pauley vs Guthrie, 4:05 pm (maybe)
It’s raining in Baltimore, so this game might not get played. I’m sure the 12 people who plan on attending this epic clash would be crushed.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Gutierrez, CF
Kotchman, 1B
Moore, C
Tuiasosopo, LF
Josh Wilson, SS
USSM Event – Now With More Jack Z
Maybe you saw the the announcement about the USSM event at Safeco Field on September 4th and said “that sounds fun, but all they said was the Q&A would include special guests, and I don’t want to pay $20 and find out that that we get to hang out with the Moose”. Well, now, we can be a bit more specific about who is scheduled* to attend, and as you probably guessed from the subject line, Jack Zduriencik will be returning with other members of the front office to hang out with us before the game.
We obviously have quite a bit to talk to him about, so if you want to get some face time with the GM, buy your tickets now.
*Disclaimer: We cannot promise that something won’t arise in the next two weeks that will prevent Jack from attending. He is planning on being there, and he has made it to each of the ones that that we have previously hosted, but it is possible that something may keep him away from the event. It’s unlikely, but we want to make sure you’re aware of the possibility.
Game 120, Mariners at Orioles
French vs Millwood, 4:05 pm.
Odds are pretty good that the Mariners are going to sign a cheap, veteran, innings eater kind of starter this winter. With Felix, Vargas, Fister, and Pineda as the best bet for your first four starters, they’re not going to want to have another unproven young arm a the back end, as they’d be too worried about blowing through the bullpen on back to back days. I’d imagine they’ll set aside a few million bucks for a guy that pounds the strike zone and can be counted on for six decent innings every five days.
Don’t be surprised if Millwood is one of the guys they go after. His high ERA will keep him from cashing in this winter, especially given his age, but he’s basically the same pitcher he’s always been. His 4.59 xFIP is actually lower than it was a year ago, when he posted a 3.67 ERA for the Rangers. He’s the quintessential mediocre innings eater, and he’ll likely be undervalued this winter because of his high BABIP this year. The Indians played this exact same game with Millwood a few years ago, getting him at a discount and then watching him reward them with a high quality season.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Gutierrez, CF
Kotchman, 1B
Moore, C
Langerhans, LF
Josh Wilson, SS
It’s Not All Bad
Dispatches from Tacoma.
Dustin Ackley: 3 for 6, 2 doubles, walk-off HR
Justin Smoak: 2 for 3, 2 walks
Michael Pineda: 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K
Josh Lueke: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Oh, and just because its funny:
Rob Johnson: 0 for 4, walk, passed ball – his third in eight games for the Rainiers.
Game 119, Mariners at Orioles
Fister vs Bergesen, 4:05 pm.
Usually, when the Mariners travel to Baltimore, I take the opportunity to complain about MLB’s archaic blackout rules that prevent me from watching any Orioles game on MLB.TV, despite living seven hours and two states away. This time, though, I have to admit that it doesn’t bother me much – the odds of me choosing to watch these next three games in lieu of spending time with my wife were about the same as the M’s scoring 20 runs tonight.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Gutierrez, CF
Kotchman, 1B
Moore, C
Saunders, LF
Josh Wilson, SS
USSM Goes To Safeco 2010
You didn’t think we were going to let a little thing like a terrible team stop us from having another USSM/LL event at Safeco Field again, did you? Of course not. Jeff Sullivan, Matthew Carruth, and I (and hopefully Derek…) are making our annual trip to the park, and this year, it will be better than ever. Saturday, September 4th, an afternoon and evening of baseball. Details are below. (Hint – click on “full screen”, it will make the doc much easier to read)
If you’ve been to any of the ones we’ve done at Safeco previously, you’ll notice the big difference this time – the Q&A is going to be held in the 300 level, rather than the Ellis Pavillion as before. By hosting that portion of the event in the seats, we get around the capacity problem we’ve run into previously. Where the Ellis Pavillion only holds 275 people, forcing us to turn interested attendees away, we now have the ability to sell a ticket to anyone who wants to come. We can pack the house with USSM readers, which is a pretty exciting opportunity.
Of course, since we’ll be taking up the 300 level for the event, the timing of the Q&A has also been moved up, and will now be held from 3:30 to 5:00 pm. That’s right – you’ll get into the park before the gates open, so you’ll get to talk baseball with members of the Mariners front office while BP is going on, and no one else will be inside. Once the gates open at 5:10, we’ll have to disperse so that those with tickets can, you know, sit in their seats, so we’ve arranged a special area where we can spend the two hours prior to game time just hanging out and talking baseball.
One of the things I’ve always wished we could do better about the prior Safeco events was have more interaction with the attendees outside of the Q&A itself. This time, we’ll have two hours leading up to game time to socialize and talk baseball in a less formal setting. And then, of course, you get to stick around and watch the game.
A 90 minute Q&A, a two hour USSM “mixer”, a good seat to the Mariners game on a Saturday evening, and a USSM t-shirt for $20? Good luck finding a better deal than this. These are always a good time, and I think this should be the best one yet. Don’t delay – buy now, and buy a lot.
Minor League Wrap (8/9-15/10)
I’m not actually here; it just looks like I am because there’s a posting. For the next week I’m going to be away from the computer, which means that the next wrap is going to be delayed to sometime mid-week.
The draft deadline is 9 pm PST tonight, so hopefully we’ll have some more good news beyond just Shipers by that point. I’m sure one of the other guys will have a post discussing what did or didn’t happen late this evening. I’ll be in the dark about it until I get back.
To the jump!
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Mauricio Robles’ AAA Debut
M’s prospect Mauricio Robles made his first AAA start this afternoon at Cheney Stadium. The hard-throwing lefty was acquired from Detroit along with Luke French in the Jarrod Washburn deal last year. He’s a converted catcher outfielder (thanks JY!), so it’s perhaps not surprising that his command and polish aren’t quite at AAA levels just yet. His fastball is MLB-quality, however, and he used it to dominate the Round Rock line-up for 4 innings today. Of course, baseball games are considerably longer than 4 innings, and he was completely out of sorts in a painful 5th inning that saw him give up 5 runs. Still, his first four innings were as dominant as anything I’ve seen from Pineda this year.
After yielding a single to the lead-off man, Robles retired the next ten hitters in order, with 6 strike-outs, a pop-up and 3 weak grounders. This prompted Rainiers’ play-by-play man Mike Curto to comment, “Let’s try this out, just to see…. Happy Mauricio Robles day?” As if shrinking from the implied comparison, Robles almost immediately lost his command. He got through the 4th without allowing a run, but picked up an injury tagging out Brian Bogusevic in a run-down. In the 5th, he looked absolutely lost. He walked 3 in the inning, including a bases-loaded walk to OF Jack Shuck. He grooved a fastball to the next hitter, Collin DeLome, who promptly hit it out to right field for a grand slam. He was having trouble with his release point (he threw a pitch 3 feet over the next hitter’s head; it was so wild it couldn’t be interpreted as a purpose-pitch) and his mechanics, and lost some velocity as well.
His FB started in the 96 MPH range, and sat around 94 through the fourth. In the 5th, it was more often 93 with a number of 92s, all without any semblance of control. Our fearless leader Dave Cameron mentioned that he thinks Robles is destined for the bullpen, and today’s outing would seem to support that view. And yet…for 3+ innings, he was dominant. It’s easy to find excuses or mitigating circumstances ranging from the general (converted catcher! Not used to pacing himself!) to the specific (he was injured immediately before he lost the strike zone), but it’s time for him to show that he doesn’t need them anymore. His stuff is good enough, though his change wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be. Until he makes that leap, though, he’s a confounding prospect – moving from unhittable to unwatchable from game to game or inning to inning. Still, on balance I was impressed with Robles, and terrible 5th inning aside, I’m excited about his promise.
Pictures below the fold.
Ms Ink Jordan Shipers
The Mariners busted slot recommendations this morning, giving 16th-round pick Jordan Shipers an $800,000 bonus to forego his commitment to Missouri State. The Ms have paid low-6 figure bonuses to a few guys in recent years, but this is the first time the Mariners have gone significantly above slot since they signed Matt Tuiasosopo back in 2004.
This is fantastic news. Teams like the Red Sox, who do not care about angering the Commissioner’s office, have had a giant leg up on the competition for years when it comes to mining the draft for talent. We just recently saw a sign of Boston’s aggressive draft strategy paying dividends, as OF Ryan Kalish, a 9th rounder who signed for $600,000 back in 2006, ripped through the high minors to make his major league debut this season.
The Mariners may not do this much next year, with all signs pointing to the team picking in the top half of the top half of the first round. The fact that they are willing to take a shot on signability guys, though, just makes this front office’s combination of smarts and resources that much more formidable. For reasons that outsiders have trouble fully comprehending, there are only a handful of teams willing to thumb their nose at Bud Selig’s seemingly toothless recommendations for draft bonuses. If the Ms become one of those teams, the system should get better in a hurry.
Game 118, Mariners at Indians
Hernandez vs Masterson, 10:05 AM.
Happy Felix Day.
The M’s put their ace on the mound as they go for the sweep. Not a bad position to be in.