Minor League Wrap (7/6-12/09)
Yesterday, people were complaining about a lack of baseball over the all-star break (what, 162 regular season games not enough for you? I get to deal with 700-800 in the minors alone). There won’t be much, if any minor league action on the big day, but today you can check out the Southern League All-Star Game and on Wednesday, the PCL plays the International League in the Triple-A All-Star Game. Just saying.
To the jump!
Read more
Road Trip Of Doom Recap
The M’s just completed the hardest stretch of their season schedule. Before they took off for LA, we noted that anything over .500 would be a pretty big accomplishment. They went 9-7.
Now, here’s the amazing part. How well would you have thought the offense was going to do if Russell Branyan was going to hit .200/.315/.467 during the last 16 games? Seriously, we’d have been expecting a long series of shutouts. Instead, Franklin Gutierrez and Rob Johnson (four extra base hits and three walks in his last seven games… amazing) picked up the slack, and the offense was respectable enough, especially considering the competition.
And, when the offense is respectable, this team wins games, because the run prevention is among the best in the league. Even with some bullpen problems, the defense and the rotation carried the day, and the M’s were able to keep enough runs off the board to be in most every game. With the subtraction of Betancourt and the additions of Langerhans and Hannahan, the M’s probably have the best defense in baseball, and this is what you can do when nearly everyone on the field is turning balls in play into outs. Over the last two weeks, the M’s opponents have posted a .234 batting average on balls in play. .234! Yea, a decent chunk of that is good luck, but these guys can really play defense, and they’ve got some quality arms in the rotation to boot.
16 games against quality opponents, with Beltre missing the last 13 of them, and the team went 9-7. Be impressed. The M’s just played a bunch of games against playoff quality teams and held their own. There are still some pretty obvious weaknesses on this roster, and the Angels catching fire means that we’re still 4 games out of first place in the AL West, but if this roster was going to roll over and die, this was when they were going to do it. Instead, they went toe to toe with the best in the league and won.
What a great way to finish the most encouraging first half of baseball we’ve seen since 2001. Over the next three weeks, we’ll find out just what Jack and his crew can do to make the team better. If Beltre can come back, and the team adds a shortstop and shores up the bullpen… watch out. This could be a fun, fun ride.
Actual email
We get a ton of email here at USSM. A lot of spam*, pointers to stories, requests for tickets, whatever. But I thought I’d share this one, which arrived with no subject.
from what i see you have already sold out to the man. the only good thing the mariners have done was to get rid of yuni. the rest of the moves have been really stupid
They’re serious. Somewhere out there is a Mariner fan who thinks, among other things, that Branyan sucks, the Putz trade was bad, and on and on and on. Our work will never be done.
Also, if we sold out to the man, could someone tell me where the check went?
Random other stuff:
– I did a footer fix based on a reader suggestion (remember, patches are welcome here at USSM)
– the AdSense block that made us like $1 was wayyyy too spammy with the Evony ads and all so I nuked it.
– As long as I’m selling out to the man, I have another story in the August Asimov’s, as long as I’m at it. Check it out.
– I was 6m off from doing the STP in under 11 hours this year.
* particularly link exchange requests, paid link offers, and so on
Game 88, Rangers at Mariners
The lineups are the same as they were last night, but Baker also informs us that Chad Cordero is close to getting into a game and Jeff Zimmerman (surprise) has arm soreness. I’m sure one of you was wondering.
I’d suggest checking out the Futures Game too, where RF Tyson Gillies and 3B Alex Liddi are batting two and three for the World Team, but they’re in the midst of a rain delay. Gillies grounded out in his first at-bat, but Liddi drew a walk and the World Team has scored two runs off of former Mariners prospect RHP Chris Tillman.
Alternatively, there is a Jerry Brewer article on pitching coach Rick Adair that could help pass those long forty minutes until the game starts.
Game 87, Rangers at Mariners
Special Safeco Tenth Anniversary Edition:
As if we haven’t had enough to talk about, there’s another game today. How much the team has changed these past few weeks. How much the franchise has changed in the past ten years.
RF Ichiro!
1B Russell Branyan
2B Jose Lopez
DH Ken Griffey Jr.
CF Franklin Gutierrez
LF Ryan Langerhans
C Rob Johnson
3B Jack Hannahan
SS Ronny Cedeno
Have at you, in a civil and thoughtful manner, of course.
Morrow to Tacoma, For Real
You should really read the whole thing, but to summarize, Morrow wasn’t throwing his curve last night, Kenji doesn’t consider it to be much more than an “out pitch” at this moment, and he’ll need the better secondary offerings to keep starting. The Mariners don’t need a fifth starter until the 25th of July. The Rainiers won’t get a day off following their all-star break until August 13th. In the meantime, we have Garrett Olson.
Jack Hannahan, New M’s Third Baseman
Do you remember a front office that would take months to make obvious personnel moves? Because I’m quickly forgetting that. Zduriencik has apparently tired of the defensive antics over at the hot corner and has made a trade with the Athletics for 3B Jack Hannahan. RHP Justin Souza is sent to play for what I think would be his hometown team, unless he was a Giants fan.
You may remember Hannahan as the starting third baseman for the Athletics all of last season, after Eric Chavez’ back exploded for the nth time. He didn’t hit much, posting a .218/.305/.342 line and somehow managed to be even worse this year. The A’s tired of his not-hitting and so he’s been in triple-A for the past ten games, putting up a .333/~.411/.533 line in that limited span. There’s not much to indicate at the age of 29 that he’ll ever be major threat at the plate, as he’s only ever topped ten home runs in a season once. Handedness aside, his only real strong suit is that he can work counts, and saw 4.1 pitches per plate appearance this season, so even though he’s often an out, he’s at least a pesky one.
On the field, it’s a different story. Hannahan ranked between Ryan Zimmerman and Pedro Feliz in UZR this season, and last year it was Mike Lowell and Chone Figgins. That isn’t on the Beltre level of defense, not that many are, but after you get out of that elite tier that seems to hover around the double digits, he’s among the best mortals to play the position.
Souza, a 9th round pick by the Mariners in a really productive ’06 draft, was one of our better arms in the high minors. He’s an undersized right-hander who could light up the gun now and then. His main asset has been his command, as he only had eighteen walks to sixty-two strikeouts in 78.0 innings this year. He’s someone that we may have ended up talking more about later, but his loss is not a big one. Cortes fits into that West Tenn rotation spot rather nicely.
So there Mariners got better defense, more left-handed, and more patient in exchange for something they might not have used in the first place. As temporary fixes go, and that’s exactly what Hannahan is, we can and have in the past done a lot worse. Now, on to solving the real need at shortstop…
Yay
At this point, I’m not sure what I have to add. While I was driving to the middle of nowhere, Jack Zduriencik managed to cure cancer, end world poverty, and bring peace to the middle east. Okay, that’s not true, but trading Yuniesky Betancourt for two interesting pitching prospects, while only paying a portion of what Yuni is owed the next few years, was about as impressive and just as deserving of an award.
Seriously, this is the trade we’ve been on the other end of for the last 5 years. This is Horacio Ramirez for Rafael Soriano, only we’re getting the guy with the live arm and dumping the worthless guy who makes too much money. Yuniesky Betancourt was one of the biggest problems on the Mariners roster, and the team not only managed to make him go away, they actually got value in return for him. No word on the truth of the report that Zduriencik announced the trade while walking on water, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
The Mariners might not make the playoffs this year, but if you needed any more evidence that the team is now being run by people who get it – unequivocally, totally, and completely get it – then you’re just beyond convincing. The Mariners didn’t hit a home run when they hired Zduriencik – they hosted a home run derby that just gives us home run after home run on into perpetuity.
This is what hope feels like. Problems will be recognized and fixed. Bad players will be removed, and whether through magic or getting other GMs intoxicated or however he does it, our GM will swindle other franchises out of talented players in order to build a roster that is going to win now and win later.
The Mariners are now one of the very best run teams in baseball. Everyone involved deserves a parade. This is so much fun.
Game 86, Rangers at Mariners
The beginning of the post-Yuni era. Cedeno is at short, as he has been for some time now, but I remain curious about those Pirates scouts said to be in the stands in last night’s game. A more permanent move for a shortstop could be in order, and Dave has already talked up those possibilities plenty.
I’d also like to highlight Drayer’s final piece on this trade. Her clubhouse insights are, as always, excellent. While we have been frustrated with the performances of the Double Play Twins over the years, both have had their share of things to deal with early in their careers. I’d like to hope that Yuni uses this as an incentive to get back on track with his career, as he’s not a bad guy, just rather unfocused.
Anyway, let’s get to the lineups. I notice that Branyan, as of last night, has moved back to the second spot in the order.
RF Ichiro!
1B Branyan
2B Lopez
DH Griffey
CF Gutierrez
LF Langerhans
C Johjima
3B Woodward
SS Cedeno
More on the Yuni Trade
Most of us would be walking away from this one with smiles on our faces just because we rid ourselves of the enigma that is Yuniesky Betancourt. It’s a little odd that we also happen to be trading him to a team with a history of shortstop enigmas, and in a city with a storied barbecue scene to boot, but while Royals fans will be left to puzzle over the aftermath, we came out pretty good even with the cash sent their way.
Daniel Cortes was a seventh-round pick of the White Sox in 2005 out of a California high school, and has a legitimate arm that regularly sits in the low-90s and can hit the mid-90s. The middle of the plate, however, proves to be problematic for him as his walk rate is consistently between three and four+ for his career. On top of that, he’s had a weak season in which his command has been even worse than usual, with more walks and fewer Ks. He doesn’t have much of a change-up and has some trouble with left-handers stemming from that, but his curveball grades quite nicely and he’s still only twenty-two, and pitching in double-A. If he isn’t a starter, he could be a worthy reliever if they get the kinks ironed out. Commenter Slurve also found an old story that would suggest that his overall makeup is pretty good too.
Derrick Saito will be regarded by some as a throw-in, being a 5’9 lefty with college experience who is merely putting together some good numbers in the Midwest League, but I wouldn’t undersell him. When he was relieving in college, he could hit 97 mph on the gun, and offset this with a curveball that ranked among the best in the conference. He has all the pitches to start, it’s just a question of durability I suppose, but at worst, he could be an interesting left-on-left reliever. Southpaws don’t hit him well, with just a .212 average against and extra-base hits that you could count on one hand. He strikes them out at a rate of 11.30 per nine, but his walk rate is over three and three-quarters, even after some significant improvements over last season.
Both arms have some issues, but they have upside. After all of the Mariners continued efforts over the years with Yuni, no one can say they didn’t try with him. Whatever happens from here, I’m pleased with the haul we got.