28 hours and counting
We’ve got a little more than a day until the trading deadline. The M’s are working on several deals, and it’ll be the upset of the year if they don’t make at least two trades. Meche’s shoulder tightness and Sele’s general terribleness didn’t help, but you could still see some interesting moves made that people may not be expecting.
Anyways, here’s a roundup from the local dailies.
The P-I gives us:
But yesterday afternoon, less than 48 hours before tomorrow’s trade deadline, multiple industry sources indicated that Bavasi has dropped his asking price on closer Eddie Guardado, to the point that a trade is almost certainly expected.
while the Times counters with this:
The two other players who are most likely to be moved are left-hander Jamie Moyer and outfielder Randy Winn. The team appears extremely reluctant to part with Raul Ibanez and Eddie Guardado.
So, depending on if you believe Morosi or Ko, the M’s are either expected to move Guardado or reluctant to part with him. Most of what I hear is closer to Morosi’s story, so I expect Guardado to be dealt, and the M’s to get a pretty solid return for him.
Also, the P-I and the News Tribune are confirming what I said on Wednesday; today is Felix’s last appearance in Tacoma. He’ll join the club at some point between tonight and Tuesday. The original plan was to work him in relief until September and give him a few starts, but with Aaron Sele getting beat like he stole something, that may change. Whether he’s starting or relieving, though, you’ll see him in Seattle next week.
Caple on Ichiro
Caple maintains that Ichiro is a Japanese-American fusion.
Back when I used to write for Baseball Prospectus, I’d get hate mail sometimes would have something in them like “This article was something I’d expect to read from Jim Caple’s ESPN stuff” or “blah blah blah and then you turned in Jim Caple.”
And I would reply “Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Anyway, check it out. I don’t agree with some of his conclusions, but it’s a good read. The bath thing is funny.
Borders out, Wiki in
The M’s have designated Pat Borders for assignment and recalled Wiki Gonzalez from Tacoma.
Expect it to be the first of several moves in the next 30 hours.
Game 101, Cleveland at Mariners
Sorry we’re late.
Lopez down, Betancourt up
Betancourt’s been hitting better than expected in AAA, but this is a rapid ascent for him. Lopez is down, having hit poorly since his recall… but wow, that’s not a long trial. And where would Betancourt play?
I don’t understand the logic here. Betancourt’s defense has earned rave reviews, but say you plug him in at second as an attempt to help the ball-in-play rotation… then what happens to Morse? And then who’s playing second?
M’s broadcast crew rated “awesome”
USA Today has an article with ratings that puts them at 3rd in the AL. Interestingly, they list the four as “Dave Niehaus, Ron Fairly, Rick Rizzs, Kevin Callabro [sic]” though that’s not the season crew. They might as well have had Marzano in there.
Remember, commenters: Rizzs has an ‘s’ on the end. And I humbly suggest that the “(announcer name) is lame/stupid/frustrating” comments are a little worn out. I’m more curious about the relative ranking: the M’s crew gets an 8 for “technical” when M’s fans frequently complain (about Rizzs’s fake calls on the way back in from a commercial, for instance, but also the pitch description and fly ball gauging) and a 9.5 for “fan” — how exciting they are and how well they connect with fans, when it certainly seems like most USSM readers love Niehaus would prefer who do both sides of the broadcast with something silent, like a potted plant, providing color, rather than listen to the rest.
If that’s what they pull in, are the other crews… really that bad?
Good, Better, Bench
It’s no secret that the bench has been a huge weakness for the Mariners over the last two years. Quick query: how would you like to have a left-handed hitter with a .331/.458/.644 line in Tacoma available as a reserve?
Don’t get excited: we don’t have such a player at Triple A. But the Red Sox do, and his name is Roberto Petagine.
This off-season, I did a long post suggesting that the Mariners make a run at adding him to the roster. Long story short, Petagine hit well in the minors, but not in 300 major league at bats — after which he went to Japan, made a lot of money, and absolutely mashed, putting up numbers comparable to Hideki Matsui.
What does a player like this cost? A minor league deal. That’s what Boston signed him for.
To date, the Crimson Hose haven’t found a spot for Petagine yet, unless you count Pawtucket. But he’s treating the International League like Moe treated Curly, putting up the numbers previously cited. This gives them valuable insurance in the event their players continue to get injured at a Stoogelike rate.
Look, Petagine wouldn’t have saved the Mariners’ season by any stretch. That’s not my claim. This just shows that there is freely available talent out there each year that could help improve the bench dramatically. The M’s should remember that this offseason.
Those Philadelphia Rumors
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But don’t be fooled by smoke and mirrors.
These two warring cliches apply directly to recent trade rumors involving the M’s and Phillies. When multiple sources are emitting similar signals, as is the case here, there’s usually something to it. Whether that something is wheat or chaff can be tougher to determine.
The Philadelphia Daily News claims that there is mutual interest in a swap of Pineiro or Moyer. The Times’ Michael Ko bolsters this with a notebook report of the Phillies scouting Pineiro. The Philadelphia Inquirer says there have been discussions on Gil Meche, too.
The Phillies are pretty open about wanting to acquire a starter. From the Daily News:
Pineiro is an intriguing name. The Phillies made inquiries about him at the 2001 winter meetings, partly on the recommendation of new manager Larry Bowa, who had been Seattle’s third-base coach the year before. Pineiro appeared to be on the verge of stardom when he went 14-7 with a 3.24 earned run average in 2002 and followed that up by going 16-11, 3.78 in 2003.
This is exactly the type of line the Mariners should be pushing on Pineiro. He was on the verge of stardom, and golly, we don’t know why he regressed … maybe he just needs a league switch and/or a change of scenery to, say, your team.
That’s the easy part. Everybody’s looking for pitching, especially with the offseason free agent market so thin.
Who are the M’s asking for? We don’t know for sure, but these articles say they’re primarily looking for young pitchers that are close to major-league ready. The Inky reports that when the Phils try to add an arm teams have been asking for Ryan Madson, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Gavin Floyd or Dave’s personal anti-white whale.
The Phillies are loath to give up any of these players, with good reason. To give up any of them (the latter aside, perhaps) for Joel Pineiro would not just be folly, it would be off-the-meds level shenanigans. Don’t get your hopes up, and watch those mirrors.
If only to save salary next year, though Pineiro should be moved. There is a history of teams doing foolish things at the deadline, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they’ll get a useful piece back — but that should be the icing, not the cake.
The team should leverage Pineiro’s reputation from years past to maximize any potential return. With less than 100 hours to go before the non-waiver deadline, it’s time to watch for those smoldering fires to heat up.
Minor Stuff
A few notes from the minor leagues this morning.
Kudos to Corey Brock of the News Tribune for being the only writer to get Jeff Clement’s signing bonus-$3.4 million-in the paper. Clement signed a standard minor league contract, so he won’t need to be added to the 40 man roster until after 2007. He also singled in his professional debut in Everett last night, and will DH again tonight before starting a game behind the dish.
The News Tribune also is the only paper that made it public that Felix Hernandez is going to start for the Rainiers on Saturday, after working out of the bullpen in scheduled relief appearances since his return from his bout with “bursitis”. Saturday is Bobby Livingston’s turn in the rotation, but he was assigned to Everett’s roster to make room for Jorge Campillo, who made his return to Tacoma yesterday.
Now, it may be a bit confusing as to why Livingston got sent to Everett, but its an on-paper move only, a way to clear a roster spot for a few days. A roster spot will reopen for Livingston this weekend when Felix Hernandez is recalled from Tacoma and joins the Mariner bulllpen. Saturday’s start is Felix’s last with Tacoma. He’ll go back to pitching scheduled relief appearances for the M’s during August, and then make several starts in September.
By the way, for everyone who was so upset about Rene Rivera getting sent down to Double-A, his season line for the Missions is now .258/.283/.354 after another 0-3 last night. If he carves out a career for himself in the majors, it will be as a no-hit backup.
Thiel tees off
For all the providence, natural and man-made, attendant to the franchise, the Mariners lineup this week features a 42-year-old catcher hitting .200 (which is 50 points better than the catcher of the future), a trio of starting outfielders whose combined home-run production is exceeded by 59 individual major leaguers entering yesterday’s games; an offense that is last in the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs and homers; and a starting rotation whose two youngest pitchers have been dragging the word “potential” behind them for so long that it shines like the nose of the Pike Place Market brass pig.
(in the next paragraph, he seemingly totally ignores Felix Hernandez, though, which was a jarring transition for me)
Always nice to see a good local columnist really go after the team, talking about their rich position and how little they’ve accomplished compared to their peers.