Mark Lowe up
The M’s have called up Mark Lowe, originially ticketed for Tacoma, to replace Eddie Guardado on the 25-man roster. Unfortunately, the only story I can find is here.
Here are Lowe’s 2006 numbers.
Future Forty Update for July
(Sorry about the earlier glitch – the draft wasn’t done, but somehow got published.)
The Future Forty has undergone its monthly makeover. Asdrubal Cabrera goes away, so the system is a little more thin at the top, but the fact that Steve Uhlmansiek, Anthony Varvaro, and Brandon Morrow are all throwing in short season ball helps the lower level talent base. Overall, I’d say the system is improved from where it was a month ago, as several players have taken steps forward and the short season level talent is above average.
New faces include Travis Chick (6/6 reward/risk), Steve Uhlmansiek (7/9), and Greg Halman (7/9). Joining Asdrubal Cabrera in leaving the Future Forty were Nathanael Mateo (5/9) and TJ Bohn (5/8). I also shifted a few players from one category to another – notably, Ryan Feierabend went from a projected contributor to a projected regular, as he’s been pitching his way to the top of the team’s list of young left-handed pitchers.
Rather than rehashing what I’ve said about veterans of the Future Forty, I wanted to use this post to talk about some of the new guys. I gave a brief overview on Chick yesterday, but a little more in depth profile is probably in order. Plus, Uhlmansiek and Halman are two of the main guys to see (along with Kuo-Hui Lo) up in Everett, so, here’s some info on the newcomers to the list.
Chick’s an interesting guy. He just turned 21, but he’s now on his fourth organization, and he’s been rather up-and-down in his short professional career. Back in 2002/2003 with the Marlins, he was sitting 89-93 with his fastball but had problems with his command and hadn’t developed any secondary pitches of note. He had a breakthrough 2004 season in low-A, tightening his slider and his command and missing bats regularly for the first time. He had problems leaving the ball up in the zone, which resulted in flyball tendancies and home run problems, and the Marlins dealt him to the Padres, where he shined in the Midwest League after the trade. He was named the #4 prospect in the Padres organization in the spring of 2005 by Baseball America.
That was a bad farm system, though (Josh Barfield and Freddy Guzman 1 and 2 respectively? Yech.), and he was the number one arm in that farm system by default, really. He struggled in ’05, losing velocity and sitting 88-90 and only occassionally touching 92 or 93. Hitters at higher levels stopped chasing the slider out of the zone, and his strikeout rate went down while the walk rate went back up. After being traded to the Reds in midseason, he was terrible for Chatanooga, as his velocity waned late in the season and his command was non-existant. A lack of a knockout pitch and endurance had most scouts projecting him as a reliever.
He rebounded fairly well while repeating Double-A this year, improving the command of his fastball, but his velocity is still not where it was in 2004. He’s still sitting 88-91 and the command of his slider is still too poor for it to be a true out pitch. His change hasn’t come along, and with his current arsenal, he still projects better as a relief pitcher than a starter.
His splits tell an interesting story – lefties have hit him for a high average the past 18 months, but his GB/FB rate against LHB’s is basically even and he’s kept them in the yard. RH batters have a significantly lower batting average, but he’s been an extreme FB pitcher against RH batters, and he’s given up 18 homers vs RHB’s vs just 10 homers vs LHB’s in the past year and a half. Lefties hit him for average, righties hit him for power. It’s a little odd, honestly.
When going through the guys the M’s have had in the system in the past few years trying to find a comparison for Chick, one name stuck out the most, even though its not a perfect comp – J.J. Putz. While Putz was a college pitcher and older at age stop along the way, his pro experience matches Chick pretty well, and they’re numbers and arsenals are quite similar. Putz was 89-94 as a starter without a good outpitch and mediocre command. He missed less bats as a starter than Chick does now, in fact. Obviously, the big key for Putz has been the addition of the splitter, which has made him an ace reliever, but even with just his fastball in the pen, he was a decent cheap middle man.
Chick is now where Putz was about two years ago. A move to the pen would likely up his velocity to the 93-95 range (most pitchers gain velo when only throwing for an inning or two), where he could be effective in short stretches, even without the slider being a strikeout pitch. If it improves (he just turned 21, after all), he could be a very nice setup man. And occassionally, these guys learn a new pitch and become J.J. Putz. It’s not common, but it happens, and it’s why you like to have these guys in your system.
So, Travis Chick, nice arm to have around. He’s not the pitching equivalent of Asdrubal Cabrera, as Bavasi claimed in the press release, but he’s better than most of the arms the M’s had in the system before, and he’s got a chance to help the club in a year or two.
Moving on to the Everett guys, Uhlmansiek was a steal by the M’s in the 12th round of the 2004 draft as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. His arm is back in throwing shape, and while he’s not rushing it up there at 94 like he was in college, he’s sitting 89-92 and showing good command. He knows how to pitch, has solid average secondary stuff, and locates his fastball well. He’s not going to have any problem with the Northwest League, and if his fastball returns to his college level, he could climb the ladder in a hurry. He’ll be fun to watch next year.
Greg Halman is an 18-year-old outfielder with plenty of juice in his bat. Like pretty much every other Mariner prospect, he swings at everything, and his plate discipline needs a lot of work. But he’s a high school kid playing in a league of college arms, and driving the ball with authority. The M’s have him playing center, though most scouts project him to a corner. He’s got a better approach at the plate than Wladmir Balentien, and if you’re looking for an impact power corner outfield bat, he’s probably the best bet in the system. He’s young, he’s raw, and he’s far away, but he’s got a chance to thump. It’s nice that the M’s finally have a kid like this.
Charles Gipson-related research request
Hey, this came up in my book research — I was at a game where Gipson, playing right, went into the stands after a foul ball and just missed it. The crowd, thinking amazingly fast, caught the ball and Gipson at the same time and then pushed Gipson out on the field, ball in glove as if he’d snagged it. The ump was right there, unfortunately, so he caught it, but it was a brilliant piece of quick thinking by everyone involved.
The problem is I don’t know when it happened. I believe it was 2002, but I’m not sure. Research has turned up no mention of the play in game stories.
Did anyone else see this, or have a better idea of when this happened?
Guardado for Travis Chick
The Mariners have traded Eddie Guardado and a large amount of cash to the Cincinatti Reds for RHP Travis Chick.
Chick started his career with the Marlins, was traded to the Padres for Ismael Valdes and had the best 42 innings of his life after the deal, all in low-A ball. He’s never come close to matching that form, and the Padres didn’t really mind giving him to Cincinatti this year.
Chick’s a sinker-slider guy without enough stuff to miss bats more than occassionally. He’s an arm with some potential, but less promising than a guy like Yorman Bazardo was last year. More than likely, he’s a guy who will be a Triple-A arm, maybe find a spot in the bullpen for a few years.
Basically, the M’s gave away Eddie Guardado, just like I suggested below. Well done.
What I would do
Is there anything less productive yet more fun than creating wildly unrealistic scenarios where we get to manage the rosters of our favorite teams? The enjoyment-to-usefulness ratio is off the charts. They’re generally a gigantic waste of time, but there’s something oddly interesting about creating trade proposals and reshaping the team in our own image.
So, since everyone is angry today and wants to make wholesale changes anyway, what better day for a useless diversion thread where you can put all your crazy ideas and not have them deleted for being off topic?
So, welcome to the 2006 What I Would Do thread. Bill Bavasi calls you up tomorrow, hands you the reins of the team, and tells you to knock yourself out. What do you do? My ideas after the jump.
Calm down
Six days ago, the Mariners completed a sweep of the Diamondbacks, were over .500, and we were setting our sights on the Oakland A’s for first place in the AL West.
Five games later, everyone is apparently ready to jump overboard. Yes, it’s been an ugly homestand, but the team still leads the division in run differential are are exactly one game further out of first place than they were when everyone was excited. This team isn’t great, and not-great teams are going to have runs like this. It isn’t the end of the world.
Momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher. And we’ve got Jamie Moyer, in Safeco, tonight. That’s not a bad place to start ending this little skid.
Also, the collective “calm down” order apparently applies to Carl Everett too, as he went into Mike Hargrove’s office and started yelling due to his decreased playing time lately.
Seriously, the DH who is “hitting” .232/.307/.373 and has started every game at DH since interleague play ended is complaining about his playing time. He’s on pace for 516 at-bats in 157 games played, despite being completely useless to the team, and he’s complaining about playing time. Ridiculous.
But, you know what Carl, keep on yelling. Throw things. Have a fit. Maybe you’ll go and get yourself released, and then we can have an actual major league player occupy your roster spot.
The M’s continue to make public comments about improving the team for the stretch, and they’ve talked to different clubs about acquiring some more offense. If the team really wants to show they’re serious about winning, they’ll remove Carl Everett from the starting line-up permanently.
They made a serious error in judgment when they signed him, and it’s time they admitted it. Doyle could outhit Everett in his sleep, and the sooner the club just acknowledges that they can’t have a DH who can’t hit in the middle of the line-up, the better off this team will be.
So all the fans jumping off the bandwagon, calm down. Carl Everett, keep on yelling. Yell your way right out of town.
Pineiro’s not demoted
But he should be.
From the MLB.com notebook, earlier today:
Without Green and with Putz taking a day off, the Mariners opted to have starter Joel Pineiro available in the bullpen if needed, as Monday was Pineiro’s normal bullpen session day between starts.
Jeff Weaver, 2006
3-10, 6.29 ERA, 88.7 IP, 21 BB, 62 K, 18 HR. Fancy stats: FIP 5.21, xFIP 4.61. LD 22.9%, GB 39.2%
Joel Pineiro, 2006
6-7, 5.88 ERA, 98 IP, 35 BB, 45 K, 15 HR. Fancy stats: FIP 5.33, xFIP 4.90. LD 26.1%, GB 46.5%
It’s not a huge upgrade, and a Choo-Ibanez OF makes flyballers even less attractive, but if Pineiro’s done — and he’s certainly looked like it — Jeff Weaver’s certainly an option.
Choo Up To Replace Reed
Only link I can find right now is Rotoworld, but it’s true, I swear.
McGrath: Ichiro Crippled Reed, Cost Mariners Share of First Place
Do you know why the Mariners lost last night? Do you know why Jeremy Reed got hurt? No, you freaking don’t. But John McGrath does. It was Ichiro’s fault.
No, really.
The afternoon’s most painful mistake – it resulted in the broken right thumb of center fielder Jeremy Reed – was also its most preventable. There were two outs and one on in the top of the 11th inning when Mariners coach Mike Goff tried to persuade right fielder Ichiro Suzuki to take a few steps toward center. Colorado’s Brad Hawpe, a left-handed hitter, was at the plate, and Goff figured Hawpe would not be inclined pull the ball against the lefty Guardado.
Goff motioned from the dugout, but Ichiro either didn’t see him or didn’t care to respond. Goff motioned some more, and Ichiro finally budged, repositioning himself by maybe a half of a step.
Hawpe fulfilled Goff’s premonition, driving a liner into the right-center gap. There appeared to be a split-second of indecision between the converging outfielders, then Reed made an attempt at a diving catch, at which point three bad things happened: The ball escaped Reed’s glove, Reed fractured his thumb, and the Rockies took a 3-2 lead which they soon extended to 4-2.
Of course, if Ichiro had been positioned where Goff wanted him positioned, it’s a routine catch and the Mariners are out of the jam. But asking Ichiro to move is like ordering a cat to get off the window sill and sit.
So, McGrath not only pins the loss on Ichiro not shifting, he uses this occasion to make a larger point about a surly, inflexible outfielder who apparently maliciously ignored the bench coach.
In other news, Ichiro likes to slip out of right field between innings, getting teenage girls pregnant behind the Hit it Here Cafe and selling orphans crack-laced shiskaberries.
Fortunately for McGrath, this accusation has the ring of terrible truth. After all, the objective strains of journalism echo throughout this piece, as they might not if — say — the author had weirdly advocated trading the star, calling him a “selfish player,” among other things.
Unfortunately, McGrath actually missed the big scoop here. Reed’s thumb was actually fine, but Ichiro told the kid to go put some ice on it in the dugout.
Then, figuring the team would be better off with him in center field anyway, Machiavellian genius Ichiro hit Reed’s thumb with a steel chair, likely ending his season. Nothing personal, kid, just business.
I have it on good authority.
Now, Ichiro needs to work on his goatee. Grow it out really long, like an evil twin. Or perhaps one of those long, Rollie Fingers-esque mustaches that he can twirl the end of. Then he can take on full Republic serial villain status, and record a message revealing his nefarious plot never to move, not even if Mike Goff or John McGrath tell him to. The message will cover his vile schemes to injure Reed, to impregnate various Safeco patrons with a race of evil Super-Ichiros, and to learn every song in the Alanis Morrisette canon.
“The only thing I’ll move for you, McGrath,” he would say, “is my bowels.”
He can schedule the video to play right before the bottom of the ninth, interrupting John Belushi’s rant from Animal House. And then he can race out to right field, refusing to move, just as Paul Orndorff refused to tag Hulk Hogan. The fans, led by John McGrath, will lustily boo, and McGrath can take satisfaction in having played Jonah Jameson to Ichiro’s Spider Man. He’ll get the Pulitzer for peeling back Ichiro’s thin veneer of humanity. The fans will turn on their formerly-beloved star.
Or maybe Ichiro will finish the year at .360, play great defense and contribute to numerous wins, all the while conducting himself with dignity and grace.
Either way, the results should be moving.
Two Monday Links
Friend of USSM Jonah Keri has a story on Page 2 today about the No-Stars Team — ignoble counterpart to the All-Stars. A couple of Mariners make the cut. See if you can guess which two.
Also, in case you missed it, check out Kevin Goldstein’s “Future Shock” piece on Adam Jones from Prospectus on June 30.