A Question
Okay, so, watching the last two games, there’s one glaring question that comes out of this series – why on earth haven’t the A’s signed Barry Bonds yet?
Unlike the Mariners, they don’t have a fan base to offend. No one comes to their games anyway, so a decrease in attendance isn’t really a worry. They have hit six home runs all year (Mark Ellis is the only guy on the roster with more than one), and they’re slugging .339 as a team. If they’re willing to stick Jack Cust’s absurd defensive inabilities in the outfield to squeeze the last drops out of Mike Sweeney’s career, then it’s safe to say they have an opening for the DH position.
As we mentioned prior to the start of the season, the A’s aren’t a horrible team. They have some decent arms, they can play defense, and the bullpen is good. They just need to figure out how to score some runs if they’re going to do more than float through the year as a .500 ball club that wins 2-1 games a few times a week.
We know he’s not coming to Seattle (no, seriously, it has zero chance of happening – give it up), but I can’t really come up with a reason he’s not already hitting cleanup for the A’s yet. It makes too much sense.
Game 17, Mariners at Athletics
Carlos Silva on the road against Lenny DiNardo. DiNardo, unfortunately for the M’s, is a lefty, which means we get the anti-lefty lineup, and Silva’s pitching in front of a one-fielder outfield. (Dave adds: Bloomquist in right is way better than Morse, so it’s not that bad)
Could be ugly. On the other hand, it’s only DiNardo’s second start this year, so maybe he uh… won’t be able to pace himself.
Dave adds again: Also, Carlos Silva, remember when you talked about throwing a split-finger to neutralize LH hitters. Well, yea, you haven’t thrown any so far this year, and lefties are torching you for a .327/.365/.531 line. The A’s run out a lot of LH bats. If you have a splitter, throw it tonight please.
Pimping My Fangraphs Work
I mentioned last week that I had been invited by David Appelman to join his staff and begin writing for the invaluable FanGraphs website. I’m having a lot of fun blogging over there, in an arena where I have a chance to explore some things that interest me that aren’t really Mariner related. Plus, I get to make use of the tremendous data that FanGraphs hosts.
I’m posting twice a day over there, so if you’ve missed any of the first eight posts, here’s your chance to catch up:
Have You Seen Justin Verlander’s Fastball?
A-Rod and Clutchness: Part 894
Several stories in there that I find interesting, as well as a few notes on guys who are performing better or worse than we would have expected out of the gates. Anyway, check them out if you’re so inclined, and add FanGraphs to your daily readings – there’s a lot of good stuff being written over there, and it’s worth checking out.
Woo Felix Woo!
Felix is ours and you can’t have him.
Felix Day woooo Felix Day!
Do I even need to write anything here? Really?
The Return!
Bottom 9, Phillies trail 3-0, their Win Probability stands at 4.4%. And then this happens.
Chris Snelling hits a home run to right field.
Doyle Lives! The Phillies go on to win the game, and we all know why. Long Live Doyle!
Game 14, Royals at Mariners
Ahh, the Royals. This’ll be easy, just like the Orioles. Wait, the Royals are 7-5? How? What?
Greinke v Washburn. The return of Jose Guillen to Safeco Field! A return to normal lineups for the Mariners! Who could ask for more?
Roundup
A few quick notes this morning:
1. Eric O’Flaherty’s going to Double-A West Tennessee to get things straighted out. He’ll be replaced by R.A. Dickey on the roster. I would expect that won’t be the only move in the next couple of days, as McLaren won’t want a single lefty in the pen for too long. Arthur Rhodes isn’t ready yet, so Cesar Jimenez could get the temporary call if Bedard or Morse head for the D.L. Morse goes to the DL and Rhodes gets the call. We’ll see if he can find the juvenation machine.
2. In some fun news for me, I’ve joined FanGraphs as a blogger for their main page, and will be writing about random baseball musings over there on a daily basis. My first post over there is up now, and I should have another one up later tonight. If you haven’t already, you should add fangraphs to your daily reading material – the data is invaluable, and now David Appelman is adding written content to make a great site even better.
3. We’re beginning to put together the next USSM/LL event in Seattle, and the current date is the afternoon of Saturday, June 14th. Jeff Sullivan and I will both be flying into town, and Derek should be around as well. Plus, you know us, we’ll bring some other cool people to the party as well. Details will come later, but for now, hold June 14th on your calendar if you can – it should be a fun time.
4. I’ll be doing the KJR gig with Groz this afternoon at 2:20. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to talk about. Never mind.
Let Me Get This Straight
This is the sequence of events the M’s saw happen today.
1. Erik Bedard’s hip continued hurting, so he got scratched and his next start is up in the air.
2. Adrian Beltre’s hamstring kept him out of the line-up, so he was replaced by Miguel Cairo.
3. Mike Morse embarrassed and then injured himself playing right field.
4. Eric O’Flaherty got pounded again, likely purchasing his bus ticket to Tacoma.
5. The Angels beat them.
That’s a bad day right there.
This team essentially has five good baseball players on it – Bedard, Felix, Ichiro, Beltre, and Putz – and three of them are now hurt. If Bedard is out for an extended length of time, this team is done. The entire concept of the 2008 Mariners is that those five guys would carry a substandard supporting cast to a division title. Well, you take Bedard and Putz out of the equation, and this isn’t even a .500 team.
The Mariners cannot make the playoffs without strong seasons from their entire core quintet. Right now, whether they’ll get that or not is up in the air. The first two weeks couldn’t have gone much worse for the M’s.
Game 13, Angels at Mariners
I sure would like to see three in a row against the Angels. Oh, that would be sweet.
1:10 our time, Bedard Baek v Saunders. (Dave adds: Bedard is scratched again. There are rumblings that his hip problem is a serious issue, and this just adds fuel to that fire. Commence panic… now)
Also, the line-up today is hilarious. And by hilarious, I mean depressing.
CF Ichiro
2B Lopez
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
DH Vidro
RF Morse
3B Cairo
C Burke
SS Betancourt
Cha Seung Baek on the mound, Miguel Cairo at third base, Mike Morse in right field, Jamie Burke behind the plate… and you thought spring training was over.