“Hey now, Get all of it” has been a disaster as a slogan. At this point, the M’s should switch to something like “We are your father’s Mariners”, “Creating new ways to lose on a nightly basis”, or my personal favorite, “Justin Upton, here we come”. Upton is, by most accounts, more advanced than his older brother B.J., who is currently whacking the baseball in Triple-A Durham as a 20-year-old shortstop. The M’s are currently in 4th place in the Justin Upton sweepstakes (sounds much better than 32-51, doesn’t it?), behind KC, Arizona, and Montreal. With as awful as Kansas City looks right now, we should probably count on picking no higher than second next summer. But, hey, Mark Prior went #2, so we’ve got that on our side.
In other news, Randy Winn is on fire. Since June started, he’s hitting .318/.390/.540. 17 of his 43 hits are extra base knocks. He has 16 walks and 19 strikeouts in 135 at-bats. Sell Sell Sell! Seriously, are the Phillies not the perfect fit for Winn? They have a gaping hole in center field and could definitely use Winn’s stick. They have a brand new park and can afford to take on his medium sized contract. I’d gladly take Andy Machado, a slick fielding shortstop with some pop, in exchange.
Rumors in the Times today had the M’s beginning to get more serious about dumping Rich Aurilia. Personally, I don’t see the point of releasing him. There isn’t a player in the organization who can play a quality major league shortstop right now (or, likely, at any time). You’re not opening up playing time for a blocked prospect or giving an opportunity to anyone knocking on the door. You’re giving fans a prolonged look at Ramon Santiago, the daily reminder that Carlos Guillen got traded for one of the worst players in major league baseball. If someone wants to take Aurilia off our hands, great. If we have to pay half his salary, fine, but releasing him and eating the whole contract is pointless. It’s change for changes sake. There are plenty of actual changes that should take place; no reason to waste time on needless ones.
Anyone have any idea why my wireless network cuts off at home when the phone rings? Cell phones don’t affect it, but if the landline rings, I can kiss my connection goodbye.
I loved the moment of helplessness and then relief when Bob File came in and they were late in putting up the stat line Fairly’s so used to reading.
“I’m sure we’ll see the numbers for File here in a second… [long pause as Fairly starts to look around the booth for the day’s game notes] uh, ERA about four point three–[stat box appears on screen] oh, there you go, 4.30 ERA…”
Shallow fly in the outfield, Winn’s there, Phelps is ready to run (and not that swift)… Winn’s throw arrives at the plate after the commercial break, having taken a couple hops before Wilson fields it a couple yards up and off the plate.
That’s embarassing.
It’s games like those that make me glad I had to work Wednesday night; didn’t see a single pitch.
The 2004 version of a Mariners ralley:
-Top of the 4th inning
-B Boone singled to left.
-E Martinez struck out swinging.
-D Hansen singled to right, B Boone to third.
-J Cabrera singled to left, B Boone scored, D Hansen to second.
-R Aurilia reached on infield single to shortstop, D Hansen to third, J Cabrera to second.
-S Spiezio hit sacrifice fly to center, D Hansen scored.
-P Borders singled to right center, J Cabrera scored, R Aurilia to third.
-I Suzuki grounded into fielder’s choice to shortstop, P Borders out at second.
King Felix is the top item in Dayn Perry’s Can of Corn over at BP. Dig it.
Good news on Spiezio’s no trade; it only includes twelve teams, and those almost certainly include teams that he thought wouldn’t contend this year, so they are unlikely to want him anyways. Of course, at this point, I can’t imagine anyone is going to take that contract off our hands.
One of the criticisms of Olerud is that he’s passive, with some asserting that he lacks a winners mentality. Media types love this stuff, and guys like Olerud can get labeled as soft or lacking mental toughness because of their personalities. Of course, the labels hardly ever stand up to scrutiny. Mr. No Desire’s career records, by year, since joining the major leagues:
1989: 89-73
1990: 86-76
1991: 91-71
1992: 96-66 (world champion)
1993: 95-67 (world champion)
1994: 55-60 (strike shortened season, Pat Gillick resigns)
1995: 56-106
1996: 74-88
1997: 88-74 (first season in NY)
1998: 88-74
1999: 97-65
2000: 91-71 (first season in SEA)
2001: 116-46
2002: 93-69
2003: 93-69
That’s a career .548 winning percentage through the first 15 years of Olerud’s career. It includes two world championships and only two full seasons of sub-.500 baseball. 2004 will mark his second miserable season, both coming the year after Pat Gillick resigned post as general manager. Not coincidentally, Gillick has watched the team he helped build fall apart all three times he has left his post (Baltimore went 78-83 in 1999 after he retired). Once, it might be an inadequate replacement. Twice, maybe a coincidence. Three times? Seems to me that Pat Gillick can see the writing on the wall, knowing that his way of constructing a roster has a limited shelf life, and he heads for the hills before things crumble. But that’s another rant entirely.
Questioning John Olerud’s heart and will to win isn’t just speculation, its baseless. I realize he’s the target du jour of Mariner fans right now, but really, aim your frustration elsewhere. The team is full of deserving targets; John Olerud isn’t even near the top of the list.
Good news on the Olerud non-trade: the M’s were actually able to find a team that wanted him. Presumably that means there are other teams who want him too, and perhaps he’d agree to go to one of them.
The horrifying part in all of this is that Scott frickin’ Spiezio has a no-trade clause. What, the length of the contract wasn’t enough?
Freddy Garcia resigned with the White Sox today. 3 years, $27 million. Yet another reason to like the trade. I wouldn’t have given Freddy that much, as he’s just not an ace pitcher.
I’ll bite.
Olerud’s a disappointment because he’s not that good. He doesn’t hit for any power, he’s helpless against lefties and has been for years. Safeco makes his offensive stats look worse, but he’s at best a league-average hitter for his position. He doesn’t look like the hitter of even 2002, when he slugged close to .500. His defense is — blasphemy! — markedly worse now than it was a couple years ago, and team commentators aside, he’s no longer a stellar player with the glove. He has no speed on the basepaths at all.
The things I hear generate frustration sitting in the stands are different and expressed as:
– too passive at the plate (his value comes in large part from his patience)
– slow (doesn’t steal bases like Ichiro! and other exciting players)
– doesn’t look like he cares (not Boone)
– doesn’t hit for power (legitimate complaint)
All of that said, if Olerud refuses a trade because he doesn’t want to move his family, he deserves no blame and no criticism. Everyone makes their own decisions about what’s important to them, and if Olerud puts stability for his kids ahead of playing for a potential contender, that’s his decision to make. Further, Olerud’s priorites were part of the bargain he signed to come here: the no-trade clause isn’t some tack-on to his contract, it was likely just as important as the money, considering he could have stayed with the Mets for a roughly equal salary (the income tax in New York evens it out a little). John Olerud has no moral imperative to help the team rebuild by making room for Jacobsen, for instance, in the way that he has to perform to the best of his ability. This is especially true when you consider that the team, in trading him, is demonstrating they feel no obligation to consider Olerud’s family concerns as more important than the rebuilding project they’ve embarked on.