Art Thiel blasts Selig today. It’s delicious.
Sporting News is reporting Kaz Sasaki will not be returning to the Mariners, instead returning to Japan. From Ken Rosenthal’s story:
“We have been informed by his agent that Kaz has some personal family issues in Japan,” Mariners spokesman Tim Hevly says. “He may wish to remain there next year. We’re going to be as cooperative as we can be going forward with him.”
Thanks to everyone who wrote in about Melvin Bizarro — turns out that name was just too good to be true. His real name is Melvin Pizarro, so chalk this one up to a BA typo. You can find what he did last season right here. He’s, uh, not very good. But hey, he’s left-handed! And as emailer Jay Yencich notes, he “can probably hit the broad side of a barn.” So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
I’ve noted those 16 invited players on the Big Board in a lovely shade of yellow.
Also, the M’s apparently signed some lefty named Melvin Bizarro. I can’t find anything about him anywhere, other than that Baseball America is reporting he signed (Google literally returns only one hit, and it’s BA’s transactions page). In any event, I stuck him on the Inland Empire 66ers for the time being. More information if/when/as we get it.
BA also notes that the M’s released RHP Ruben Castillo. And that’s cool, except that Castillo is a shortstop who appeared in 110 games for the Rainiers last season. I thought they had signed him up for another year, although it makes sense that they don’t need him around, what with Jose Lopez and Luis Ugueto (not to mention Ramon Santiago) potentially needing middle infield jobs at AAA. I will note, however, that there is a RHP Ruben Castillo who pitched eight innings for Milwaukee’s rookie ball team this summer.
All of this points to how difficult it can be to get accurate information with respect to minor league transactions. And forget about timely — Baseball America publishes transactions on their website once a month during the off-season. My former favorite source, MILB.com, appears to have gotten rid of transactions (though this could be just an off-season thing).
Myers is among 16 non-roster players who have been invited to spring training with the big club. They are as follows:
LHP: Craig Anderson, Travis Blackley, Mike Myers, Jose Nunez, George Sherrill, Randy Williams
C: Pat Borders, Luis Oliveros, Rene Rivera
OF: Hiram Bocachica, Shin-soo Choo
INF: Bucky Jacobsen, Adam Jones, Jose Lopez, Mickey Lopez, A.J. Zapp
I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to get excited for spring training.
The M’s inked veteran LHP Mike Myers to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. My guess is that he’s the front-runner to take the Kevin Jarvis memorial spot if he they decide to eat his contract. Myers is an odd pitcher, coming off a bad year, but was reasonably effective from 2000-2002, including posting a 1.99 ERA in Coors Field four years ago. His sidearm delivery makes him extremely vulnerable to right-handers, and his command isn’t very good, which is why he’s not getting a major league contract. The key will be for Melvin to understand how to use him; strictly against tough LHP’s, and never against RHP:
2001-2003:
Vs Left: 246 AB, .236/.326/.366
Vs Right: 183 AB, .279/.406!/.372
Last year, he was even worse, giving up a .430 on base percentage to righties. Thats just a level of suckness that you can’t allow in any kind of semi-important matchup. However, if you’re facing the A’s, and they’re running Kotsay/Chavez/Durazo/Hatteberg out there consecutively, Myers wouldn’t be a bad choice. As soon as a team brings in a right-handed bat off the bench, though, Myers needs to get the hook.
As the quintessential Lefty-One-Out-GuY (LOOGY, as coined by John Sickels) on a minor league contract, its not a bad deal. If he makes the roster instead of Kevin Jarvis, it might even help the team. In any case, we should be encouraged that the M’s didn’t throw a major league roster spot at him. This is a no-risk move.
Ah, the girls of the interweb. I’d go online with them any day.
Today’s Transaction Analysis at Baseball Prospectus covers the West divisions up to about last week. While written without a byline, U.S.S. Mariner readers will recognize the style of one of the teams covered. It’s a subscription article, but you should subscribe anyway, so there.
Ahhh, it’s a great day for PI (“Kicking the Times’ ass for so long our feet are sore”):
Art Thiel “M’s caught looking” is nice and brutal, and (correctly) predicts the M’s won’t be headed to the playoffs this year. He also… man, it’s just a great piece and it’s all the better for running in a local paper where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skiiiiieeeeesssss are all cloudy allll daaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy… Hoooome, home on the page… sorry, sorry.
Plus and Minus: What the Mariners are gaining, losing
AL West: How the rest of the division has faired so far
Seriously, if you’re going to subscribe to a paper for the sports section, buy the PI and then get on the interweb to read Larry Stone at the Times.
Mmmm… international talent.
Remember, the M’s can sign foreign players and not have it count against their budget!
Sometimes, it’s just time to move on.
That said, I suppose you have to respect the hell out of the guy for trying.