Off-day discrimination at Safeco story has legs
Yup. Story of the off-day. Regardless of whether this is part of the M’s general-if-oft-unenforced anti-affection policy or they’ve got a secret no-gay policy or it’s all exaggerated, this is a really, really bad story for the M’s and they’re handling it pretty ineptly so far.
update: Lauren points out how a classier organization handled a similar problem
Off-day pro-con
Pro: Extra day to bask in series win over the Red Sox. The Red Sox!
Con: Would like to see team win 3-4 instead of settling for 2-3.
Pro: Vidro doesn’t pick up PAs towards his option vesting
Pro: Extra day to brace yourself for Silva start (have you considered investing in a quality neck brace?)
Pro: Entire day can be spent voting for you favorite Mariners in the All-Star balloting. Vote for deserving candidates like Ichiro! and Beltre, maybe. And, uh…
Game 54, Red Sox at Mariners
A special dual-author game thread post!
Wakefield vs The Interview, 7:10 pm.
Dave:
Thanks to reader Christian who sent this in. From today’s P-I notebook:
About three weeks ago, the Mariners were sick and tired of seeing a seemingly endless supply of short pop flies and soft liners fall in front of their outfielders.
They were particularly tired of seeing runners go from first to third when the opportunity was presented. So the Mariners did what seemed to be the logical thing — they started positioning their outfielders closer to the infield.
That worked well for a couple of weeks, but during the seven-game losing streak that the club carried into Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox, a number of balls have fallen behind the outfield.
…
“We’ve talked about it, and we’re going to split the difference,” manager John McLaren said. “I really can’t explain what’s happened. I’ve never seen anything like it. First, every ball was being hit in front of us. Then, when we brought the outfielders in, they started getting balls past us.”
Raises Hand: “Mr. McLaren, I can explain it. Raul Ibanez has the range of a poorly watered potted plant. You can move him around all you want, but it won’t matter. You could clone him, stick nine Raul Ibanezes in left field, and they still wouldn’t get to most of these lazy fly balls. You have a designated hitter playing left field. As long as you keep him out there, you’re going to have a serious problem.”
“That’s ridiculous, son. Raul works his tail off, shows up to the ballpark early, and we’re happy with his effort. I just don’t understand how the ball keeps falling in front of him, and then behind him, and occasionally next to him. It’s bewildering.”
Puts hand down, punches self in face “How did you get hired again?”
Derek adds:
More from the PI
Manager John McLaren talked about the energy he felt Miguel Cairo gave the club while playing first base, including making a couple of nice placeon [sic] defense and bunting the eventual winning run into scoring position Tuesday in the bottom of the ninth.
Cairo is an utter embarrassment. He has no place being on the Mariners roster. He does nothing that Bloomquist doesn’t do better, and Bloomquist is a fit as the last guy on the 25-man. Cairo stays on the roster while other players who are more useful to the team have been shuffled off. It makes no sense that he’s on this team in the first place, it doesn’t make sense that he’s stayed on the team..
That the team would start him as a reward for his “spark” is another indictment of McLaren’s incompetent management and lineup construction. We’ve seen this over and over again with this team, where whim and wishful thinking drive decision making, and this is one more in the never-ending series of decisions that make reasonable fans want to punch themselves in the mouth so they’ll feel something other than overwhelming frustration with this team.
Jeff Clement got sent down hitting .167/.286/.250, but Cairo, who can’t even manage that, who we have every reason to think is hitting to his skill level, is starting at first base. Willie Bloomquist, despite having a lower batting average, gets on base more than Cairo and plays better defense — and who we were supposed to see get more playing time because Cairo was on the roster — sits. Sexson, who at least provides power, sits. A defensively inept left-fielder who can hit plays the field while an offensive black hole occupies the “Doesn’t Hit” slot in the lineup. Our manager’s seen that the once-invincible closer, now clearly not right, needs to pitch more often. On and on and on.
In related news, tonight we’ll get under 250 plate appearances before Turbo’s option vests.
And the M’s still have the worst defense in the league.
USSM/LL Event Announcement
You know what this season needs? No, not more frustration, losses, and hilariously bad baseball. No, this season needs a USSMariner/Lookout Landing get together, and so that’s what Jeff Sullivan and I are teaming up to give you guys. Details are below.
When: Saturday, June 14th, 1 pm to 5 pm
Where: Seattle Central Library on 4th St downtown.
What It Is: Four hours of baseball talk with Jeff Sullivan, Derek Zumsteg, Matthew Carruth, myself, and really cool special guests. You’ll love them.
How Much: $20 per person, registration limited to 100 attendees, includes light food.
If you’ve ever been to one of these before, you’ll know they’re a blast. We’ve had a great time at all of the past events, and I expect that this one will be no different. The Library has a great meeting room setup with theatre seating and AV equipment perfect for a Q&A session with the people we’ve invited (past guests include Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, Mariners scouting director Bob Fontaine, Rangers manager of pro scouting Josh Boyd, ESPN writer Jim Caple, Rainiers Broadcaster Mike Curto, and Aquasox Broadcaster Pat Dillon – you’re going to get cool people at the event, trust us). We’ll just spend the afternoon talking baseball and having a good time, and since the Library is conveniently located not far from Safeco Field, it’s an easy jaunt over to the park after the event is over if you want to watch the team play.
Food will be provided, but I’d suggest that you eat lunch before coming, honestly. We’ll have snacks and non-alcoholic drinks available for people to munch on during the event, but don’t skip a few meals in expectation of devouring free food for hours.
To register for the event, send an email to ussmarinerfeed@gmail.com with the number of people you’re reserving space for included in the subject line and their names included in the message of the email. Your reservation will not be confirmed until we’ve received your payment, which we will accept via paypal or by check. Detailed information on payment and where to meet will be sent to you after you sign up via email.
Seriously, it’s going to be a lot of fun, so come.
DePodesta on the Baek trade
If you’re not hitting your head on something while reading the Beane interviews, well…
– Find a nice solid wall. I’ve always found that drywall has a nice give to prevent serious injuries while offering a satisfying crunch
– Put two hands on the wall, shoulder height, elbows out, palms flat on the wall.
– Read this
– Proceed
I’m not saying that the trade’s good, or bad, though I’m obviously not enamored of it — but the Padres are looking to stats like FIP to add information to their scouting evaluation. In the Beane interview, he talks about their use of internal and external defensive stats while talking about Barton.
What do you think the chances are the M’s do anything like this? 0%? Less than zero? Am I allowed to use negative percents? What about curse words?
Okay, yes, but you have so much else to live for
Athletics Nation posted the other two parts of their Billy Beane interview:
Two
Three
Baek to Padres for Jared Wells
Ah, I remember the good old days, when we saw Baek designated for assignment even though they didn’t need the roster spot, the bullpen wasn’t that tired, and even while getting shelled he was a better rotation option than 3/5ths of the guys taking the mound regularly.
Now he’s gone, traded to the Padres for Jared Wells.
Yup. I guess the Tigers didn’t want to let Ramon Santiago go for a second time, or something.
Game 53, Red Sox at Mariners
7:10. Matsuzaka v Batista.
In WPA, Matsuzaka is 3rd in all of baseball at 1.84. Ratios:
K/9 7.95
BB/9 5.7
HR/9 .6
Batista is -.97
K/9 6.47
BB/9 5.7
HR/9 .74
1.5K/game separates the two pitchers right now, and in their starts so far, the results have been a difference of nearly three games in value.
CAIRO AT FIREST! His outstanding work charging a bunt yesterday is rewarded with a start!
!1!!!oneone!!!
CF-L Ichiro!
2B-R Lopez
DH-B Vidro
LF-L Ibanez
3B-R Beltre
C-R Johjima
RF-R Balentien
1B-0 Cairo
SS-R Betancourt
Boston:
CF-B Crisp
2B-R Pedroia
DH-L Ortiz
LF-R Ramirez
3B-R Lowell
RF-L Drew
C-B Varitek
1B-L Casey
SS-R Lugo
VIDRO OPTION WATCH:
Only 250-300 plate appearances to go until his 2009 option vests!
Billy Beane interview, first of two
Athletics Nation has a long two-part interview with Billy Beane. The first part is up.
I’m not going to quote great bits and point out the contrast between him and our front office, or anything like that. If you’ve been around, you know where we stand on the relative merits of the two management teams, and I don’t think it’d be productive.
It’s good reading, though, and worth checking out.
Game 52, Red Sox at Mariners
Colon v Hernandez.
Sold out — or at least, that’s what Ticketmaster told me this afternoon — for the first time since the start of the season.
Funny joke of the day: the M’s are advertising “4-game flex packs” as
Guarantee yourself 4 great games and enjoy a discount this season with a 4-Game Flex Pack! Discounted packs start as low as $72.
I don’t see how they can guarantee that, much less how I, unable to fix the game outcomes, could guarantee it. Unless the M’s implement a “bad game guarantee” where if you see the team get stomped (say, losing by more than six runs or never behind by less than three after the third)(or second) you can trade your stub back in for credit towards another game. They get you back to bilk you for concessions revenue, you don’t have to pay until the team coughs up a decent performance.