Game 62, M’s at Boston
It’s not Felix Day, it’s at 12:55 our time, bleah. Batista v Wakefield. Wakefield throws a knuckleball, Batista’s written books.
Further proof of Bavasi’s power
GM call-out = winning (for short periods of time) though interestingly, this time he was able to incite both the offense while still managing run suppression. Good work, Bill! No towels for anyone!
Game 61, Mariners at Red Sox
Felix, the Guy Who Gets Held Back, against Bartolo Colon and a scrappy team of bare-knuckled brawlers who get beat up by the even scruffier likes of Jonny Gomes. Hey, yeah, a brawl! It’s what winning teams are doing! Brawl! Brawl! Brawl! That’s exactly what this team needs to fire itself up.
Wooo! Yeah! Get ’em! (this was on Awful Announcing)
Because we sure do need something to get this team together, right? Especially since they didn’t get a new manager for this road trip. I want some entertainment for my entertainment dollar! I want some fireworks! Explosions! Giant flames! Escapes in the nick of time!
If you’re like me, skip ahead to ~1:20 here
You’re welcome. But let’s say you don’t have the budget of the world’s largest military. What could you do with, say, 8% of the cost of a stealth bomber?
$117,666,482 sure does smoke nicely, doesn’t it? And it comes with its own kind of fireworks! But I know many of you have had a hard time trying to keep up with the recriminations, tantrums, and public finger-pointing the team’s been favored with over the last week. I’ve created this handy chart to help:
If you can’t pick out the pattern, check out the full-size 2008 Seattle Mariners Blame Allocation Org Chart.
Felix Day! One of the few remaining things we can cling to that are truly great about the team! Yayyyy!
Site upgrade
Quick note — we here at USSM Labs did some work on the back end over last night (well, now that I look at my notes, over the last month) that went out earlier this morning to hopefully improve performance. Quicktags remain broken (for reasons I can’t figure out) but everything else looks good. Drop us a line if you see anything weird. Weirder than normal (which includes the team owner braining Richie Sexson with a folding chair) Read more
Draft Day One Recap
We’ve made our opinion on drafting a college reliever in the first round known, so let’s move on to the rest of the picks the M’s made today. Here’s a quick recap of the players taken and a preliminary opinion on what their futures may hold.
First Round: Josh Fields, RHP, Georgia
Fields has good velocity and a big hook of a curveball despite being undersized, and when talking to people about him tonight, the name Troy Percival came up several times. Of course, the name Blaine Boyer came up just as often as a reminder that a 95 MPH fastball and a 12-6 curve doesn’t make you a guaranteed all-star. In reality, his command problems shouldn’t be that big of a deal, because 9th inning walks aren’t a serious problem if no one is hitting you. His ceiling isn’t that high, but he should be in Seattle in 2009, so that’s something.
Best Case Scenario: Troy Percival
More Likely Outcome: Taylor Buchholz
Second Round: Dennis Raben, OF, Miami
I’ll just quote Scout Friend on this one: “Fifteen years ago, Ben Grieve was the #2 pick in the draft with this exact same package. Grieve had a shorter stroke and more bat speed, but Raben’s pretty much a Grieve clone. That kid got a lot of crap for not living up to the hype, but he had a pretty decent career, and where you guys took him, that’s a good value.”
Best Case Scenario: Pat Burrell
More Likely Outcome: Ben Grieve
Third Round: Aaron Pribanic, RHP, Nebraska
Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way quickly; he’s a tall and fall guy who doesn’t get the most out of his leg strength and doesn’t repeat his delivery very well. That said, he’s got the classic pitchers frame, good arm strength, sits in the 91-94 range with his fastball, has a useful slider and change, and he doesn’t have much wear and tear on his arm. He’s not your typical college pitcher – there’s untapped talent here. He’s got some similarities to Tony Butler, and if the coaching staff can clean him up a bit and improve his secondary stuff, I think he could be a solid major league arm.
Best Case Scenario: Kyle Lohse
More Likely Outcome: Phil Dumatrait
Fourth Round: Steven Hensley, RHP, Elon
Not as big a fan of this one, unfortunately. Hensley is a short-armer whose velocity is more 87-91 and telegraphs his breaking ball with a wildly different arm action. He might as well just yell curveball during the wind-up. He’s going to take a good amount of work to make it.
Best Case Scenario: Francisco Cruceta
More Likely Outcome: Rich Dorman
Fifth Round: Brett Lorin, RHP, Long Beach St
This is a Bob Fontaine special right here. A couple of years ago, he snagged Kam Mickolio in the 18th round as a guy that few teams had seen much of, but the M’s saw sitting at 95 late in the year when most teams had taken him off their follow lists. Lorin fits the Mickolio mold, though obviously, the M’s felt the need to take him off the board earlier. At 6’7 and 245, he’s a huge kid, and his size has always intrigued scouts, but he’d been a career disappointment. He went to Arizona, struggled, transferred to Long Beach St and couldn’t find a home there either, even after working with pitching guru Troy Buckley. Barely used and almost never effective, Lorin was basically an afterthought for most teams. But he pitched the best baseball of his life the last two weeks with M’s scouts in attendance, and they believe that with a few tweaks, they can get his velocity up to 94. If they’re right, this could be a steal.
Best Case Scenario: J.J. Putz
More Likely Outcome: Dennis Sarfate
Sixth Round: Jarrett Burgess, RF, Florida Christian HS
The first non-collegian taken by the M’s, he attended the same high school as Denny Almonte, last year’s second round pick. Burgess doesn’t have Almonte’s raw physical skills, but he’s a better hitter. Of course, considering that Scout Friend asked me last week if Almonte was “the worst draft pick ever”, that’s not saying much. Generally, when you take a high school position player this late, you’re gambling that you can sign him, because you’re not going to be offering him that much money. It’s possible that Burgess ends up in college instead of joining the M’s.
Best Case Scenario: Someone Good
More Likely Outcome: We Never Talk About Him Again
M’s Select Fields
No surprise – the M’s selected the best college reliever on the board, in this case, Georgia RHP Josh Fields. He’s a short power arm who can throw 97 and misses bats, so as far as college relievers go, he’s a very good one. He should be able to get to the major leagues very quickly, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him pitching in the 8th inning in Seattle next summer. For what he is, he’s good.
Our problem, of course, is what he is. As I detailed below, taking a college reliever in the first round is just a waste of a valuable resource. You can build a bullpen without using first round picks on them, and the Mariners have been very good at finding quality relievers on the cheap. This just isn’t a very good way to restock a farm system that’s taken some hits in the M’s efforts to win now.
This organization needs long term help, and Fields is not what this organization needed.
The 2008 Draft
The 2008 draft kicks off in just under two hours, with the M’s having the 20th selection in the first round. Despite the fact that it isn’t as glitzy as its NFL and NBA counterparts, the draft is still an important day for every franchise. Teams that draft well can stock their organization with a pipeline of cheap, young talent that can be the foundation of championship runs.
I know we all are very frustrated with the Mariners front office and the job they’ve done assembling the major league roster. But, do not let that frustration seep into your idea of the quality of this organization’s scouting department. Led by scouting director Bob Fontaine, the Mariners do an excellent job of finding guys that other teams miss on, and Fontaine is legendary for grabbing valuable players in the middle rounds of the draft when most teams aren’t expecting to get any real value. Fontaine knows what he’s doing, and really, our reaction after this draft should probably just be “we trust Bob.”
However, with that said, there are a couple of player types that I think history has shown that it generally doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend a first round selection on; relief pitchers and ultra-raw two sport athletes. As we’ve talked about before, it’s just really easy to build a bullpen with spare parts and minor league castoffs, and using a resource such as a first round selection on a guy whose ultimate upside is pitching in the 8th or 9th inning is a waste. The reward just isn’t justifiable. On the flip side, the risk is simply too high with the kids who haven’t dedicated themselves to baseball and have lost valuable development time becoming stars in other sports.
I think the history of previous drafts bear these generalizations out. Take shots on the raw athletes in the second or third round and grab a couple relievers in the fifth round and on, but let the first round be for guys who can play everyday or be part of your future rotation.
So, with that said, there’s a pretty decent chance that I’m going to groan when the Mariners selection is made in a few hours. Pretty much all the talk the last few days has linked them to a quartet of college relievers. The combination of the desire to move Morrow to the rotation and the perceived lack of a successor to J.J. Putz if they do that is driving the idea that a polished reliever who could get to the majors quickly is the way to go. It looks, right now, like the M’s will be selecting one of Andrew Cashner (Texas Christian), Josh Fields (Georgia), Ryan Perry (Arizona), and Daniel Schlereth (Arizona). Cashner’s the best of the bunch, while Fields is a step below, and Perry and Schlereth are velocity guys who light up the radar and that’s about it.
I hated the fact that the M’s were going after Casey Weathers at #11 last year, but they were saved by the fact that the Rockies took him at #8 and Phillippe Aumont fell into their laps. Let’s hope the same happens this year, but it’s a lot more to ask for four college relievers to all be off the board by #19. Odds are that at least one of them will be available, and the M”s will take the one furthest up their board. And it will be simply be the latest reason to loathe the 2008 season.
In Fontaine I trust, but please, Bob, avoid the college relievers.
Why baseball should be more like pro wrestling
Saturday June 14th
“…and with that grand slam home run, the Washington Nationals are up 8-0 here with no outs in the top of the first, and you can hear the boo birds roosting at Safeco.”
“No question, Dave, those are not seagulls by any means.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the crowd this angry. And who can blame them? It’s a beautiful day for what has turned into an ugly, ugly game.”
“Washburn has not had the command of his breaking pitches tonight, and that’s forced him to come over the plate with his fastball…”
“And we have all seen what happens then. Jarrod kicking at the rubber on the mound, but friends, I don’t think that is going — there’s some kind of disturbance in the M’s dugout, I’m not–”
“Is that Silva?”
“Carlos Silva’s come out from the clubhouse tunnel, holding a, a hot dog in each hand, his mouth, he looks like a chipmunk, and now he’s running across the field–”
“He looks scared, Dave.”
“Indeed he does, he looks flat out terrified. What could scare Silva away from the clubhouse spread?”
“Who’s–”
“Oh my word, fans, this is a historic moment, walking onto the field now is Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi, the man who for all intents and purposes owns the Mariners!”
“That is a great-looking suit, no question about it.”
“One of the richest men in the world, I believe he is or at one time was the richest man in all of Japan. And would you believe that even though he has owned the Mariners in one way or another for sixteen years, he has never been to Safeco Field to see his team play, though he is a huge baseball fan?”
“No doubt about it, you can see that he looks great for an 81-year old man.”
“Indeed he does, Mike, but how did he get here? He doesn’t travel much at all, as I understand it.”
“I’m not sure, but NWA does have a non-stop, it would have arrived here some time this morning, I remember from my time in Japan when I had to connect…”
“I can’t believe that he would fly all this way to see Jarrod Washburn start, if I may be honest.”
“No Dave, that does seem a little puzzling, you’re right.”
“When did he get here? Why didn’t word get out that he was at the park? Who is that with him?”
“I’m not sure either, but right now I’m wondering why he would carrying a folding chair?”
“I’m told that that’s Mr. Yamauchi’s son in law, Minoru Arakawa! The first president of Nintendo of America!”
“He’s on the Mariners board, isn’t he?”
“Johjima is out from behind the plate, mask off, he looks a little pale, he’s waving his arms and saying something as he tries to get out there.”
“Ichiro is sprinting in from the outfield… he’s shouting something, hard to tell what he’s saying from here…”
“Mr. Yamauchi now taking the chair, does he want to sit and talk to– Washburn is down! Washburn has — and again, right over the back, Washburn is down.”
“And you’ll notice the police aren’t moving at all.”
“The crowd is stunned, the M’s dugout emptying on the field, and now Johjima! Johjima has begun stomping Washburn, who is lying on the grass not moving–”
“Well you have to take advantage of your opponent in a situation like this–”
“McLaren appears to be pleading with Mr. Yamauchi here.”
“Mac trying to be the voice of reason–”
“Arakawa from behind! McLaren staggers and — this is insanity! Mr. Yamauchi now — Vidro is down! Sexson now charging from the dugout with a bat–”
“Richie having an off year swinging, they’ve been working with him on his stance–”
“Misses wildly, and gets a chair to the face for his efforts! This is carnage!”
“And you can hear the crowd is really behind his efforts.”
“Umpires signaling the game is forfeit. I wonder though, and I think the crowd here would agree, wasn’t it already lost? The Nationals are running off the field now –”
“Joe’s Tracker showing that chair shot got Sexson right in the forehead, which explains the massive bleeding –”
“And now team president Howard Lincoln comes out of the tunnel, and oh, oh no–”
“Oh, he realizes what’s happened now.”
“Mr. Yamauchi staring at him across this field littered with victims, teammates fighting, and you can see the color draining right out of him.”
“There’s no question, he’s a lot more green than we usually see him.”
“Mr. Yamauchi just staring, staring, and Lincoln now runs back for the tunnel! But the ballboys with the clothesline! Oh my god I have never seen anything like this in all my years.”
“This reminds me of spring training with the Yankees in 1990, when Steinbrenner got into the medical supply cabinet–”
“I’m sorry — what? Now? You can’t — Folks, that’s it from Safeco Field where the Mariners lose a forfeit loss, but there may be hope as it appears that de facto owner Yamauchi has traveled all the way to Seattle to take out his frustrations on the team, and we’ll have more right after this.”
Comment of yesterday for June 4th, 2008
We had a lot of great comments (and some… less great) but this was the clear winner for me:
“I’m sure glad Barry Bonds isn’t around, poisoning the atmosphere in the clubhouse.”
— Steve Nelson
Bavasi Agrees: This Team Sucks
Andriessen covers the blow-up and gets this quote from Bavasi:
“They may not know how to play the game well, they may not know how to hold each other accountable, they may not know how to fight hard,” he said. “But they are playing hard. They are trying hard.”
Talking about the plans for the rest of the season:
Bavasi said he thinks that his current personnel, theoretically, could put this team back in contention, but “I’m not sure we’re going to give them a chance to.”
It only took until June 4th, but it appears that management is finally in agreement that this season is over, that this team is lousy, and this organization needs a good purging.