Alrighty.
I’ve officially given up on Freddy. If the M’s can move him for someone like J.D. Drew (a popular name these days) or Trot Nixon (a relatively recent Gammons rumor) they should do so as quickly as possible. Normally I’d be against trading a starting pitcher for offense, but in this case: 1. The team really needs that offense; and 2. Right now it’s the equivalent of trading the 5th starter. Personally, I think Soriano — or perhaps Rett Johnson, if you’re into that sort of thing — can hack it in the starting rotation the rest of the year, and at this point it’s hard to imagine either one pitching worse than Garcia has this month.
If the M’s were really ballsy they’d look into the possibility of trading Ryan Franklin while his value is high, but I doubt that’s even a consideration. But as long as we’re just talking, how’s this for wild — Garcia, Franklin and a prospect or two for Manny Ramirez? Stick him in left for the remainder of the year, then let him DH the rest of the way. I know Ramirez is right-handed, but he’s such a good hitter that Safeco shouldn’t be a huge issue.
A couple quick Sunday points:
1. Jason has updated his Big Board (over on the left). It is still your one stop shopping for all transactions, promotions, injuries, and depth charts for every team in the Mariners organization, from rookie ball all the way to the big leagues. Three cheers for Jason.
2. The Future Forty update will be postponed. See below for details.
3. Felix Hernandez is taking the hill in Everett tonight. Go to the game.
4. Mariners 15th round pick Scott Maine and his adviser will be flying to Seattle on Monday to meet with Mariners officials. The Mariners knew that Maine wanted 2nd round money (around $500,000) when they drafted him, and they knew it when they asked them to come to Seattle. We should know by Tuesday whether the M’s will be snagging a late round steal or whether Maine will be attending college this fall.
5. For all those who email us, hooray for you, and don’t stop. However, please be understanding that we may not reply very quickly for the next week or so. My laptop decided to shut down last night, and hasn’t restarted since, so our ability to respond is going to be hampered. For those of you “who know more about computers than we do about baseball”, feel free to email me as I’m likely in the market for a new computer. Suggestions/warnings/advice welcome.
The Good: Joel Pineiro, complete game shutout with 7 strikeouts.
The Bad: Joel Pineiro, already averaging 109 pitches per start, throwing 126 today. He’s now 3rd in the AL in pitches thrown, behind only Barry Zito and Roy Halladay.
The Ugly: John Mabry, Designated Hitter.
Raise your hand if you think Jeff Cirillo is really hurt. Oh, put your hand down. This injury is as legit as (insert patented Jim Caple analogy here).
We may have just witnessed Rob Ellis’ last major league start.
Dan Wilson is making his 4th consecutive start, and he’s now gotten the nod in 6 of the last 7 games. Just so we’re clear:
Wilson: .251/.286/.333
Davis: .294/.339/.481
Oh, but Dan “calls a great game”. The team ERA with Wilson behind the plate is 3.60. With Davis behind the plate, its 3.86. That’s statistically insignificant. Last year, the team ERA was lower with Ben Davis behind the plate. He also throws out runners at a much better rate than Willy, if you care about such things. Every night that Box O’ Rocks pencils Dan Wilson into the line-up is a night that the Mariners handicap themselves. The single biggest improvement this team can make is turning Dan Wilson into a backup catcher who plays sparingly.
That thing you think you’ve been seeing, where Meche seems to cruise along until all of a sudden the wheels fly off — that’s not just you, it’s real.
Opposing batters facing Meche, by inning:
1-3, .231/.300/.375 (210 batters, 24 runs scored)
3-6, .250/.288/.427 (190 batters, 19 runs scored)
7-9, .416/.460/.543 (46 batters, 9 runs scored)
Or, by pitch, using the STATS Inc numbers on ESPN:
46-60, .189/.231/.378
61-75, .284/.321/.405
76-90, .324/.351/.592
91-105, .295/.354/.432 (much smaller sample here)
A batter in the late innings is almost twice as likely to score against Meche than one in the early/mid innings.
Pocket Lint has another column in the Times about trading-not trading, and it includes this gem: “Discussions with several sources confirm what generally is assumed to be Seattle’s basic trading stance: It is highly unlikely the club will add to its payroll, already more than $92 million, nor part with any of the top four or five prospects, pitchers Clint Nageotte, Travis Blackley, Rett Johnson and shortstop Jose Lopez. ”
ESPN has the Mariners payroll at $87m. No one, not even the Times when they wrote that article we made fun of here earlier this year, can manage to get their payroll up to $92m for 2003. It’s one of those lie numbers people come up with and say over and over hoping it catches on, and that a newspaper would eagerly repeat such a stupid, airy lie is lazy journalism and a disservice to its readers.
Go ahead and discuss, I’ll be back in a couple of days.
The past few days, all the trade rumors focused on a certain outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While the Pirates seem amenable to trading Brian Giles, having to absorb Jason Kendall’s contract as well looks like a disaster in the making. Giles is, after all, 32 years old, and has experienced a serious decline in power this year.
However, I still suggest we trade for a left-handed outfielder in Pittsburgh. Just a different, much less expensive one.
Giles: .302/.435/.500, 278 AB, 33 extra base hits
Stairs: .299/.378/.535, 174 AB, 24 extra base hits
Matt Stairs, a left-handed pull hitter, would have few problems adjusting to Safeco Field. His defense is attrocious and you don’t want him playing against lefties, but thats why we have Randy Winn. He’s due just $300,000 the rest of the year, so forget budget constraints. At age 35, with free agency looming, the Pirates won’t ask for a lot in return.
Is Matt Stairs the answer? Probably not. He is, however, a definitely available, reasonably inexpensive left-handed bat who would be a great addition to the club.
You know, if I was an Oakland A’s fan, I’d be really worried right now. Their offense is putrid. It’s going to take some huge changes to get that team jump started. The Big Three are great and all, but you can’t win if you don’t score runs. And that A’s lineup isn’t going to score runs in the playoffs. At this point, I wouldn’t even bet on them getting there.
Like Jason, I’m optimistic the M’s will do something this year. I’m just guessing its going to be along the lines of acquiring a bench player, a Jeff Conine type, more than any real impact. However, considering just how godawful our bench is, I’ll take what I can get.
Oh, and for all the Greg Jacobs fans out there wondering why he’s still in single-A, he’s not anymore. He got the bump to San Antonio, which means that one of the Missions outfielders is likely on their way to Tacoma (or Seattle).
Call me crazy [in unison: “You’re crazy!”], but for some reason I have a decent feeling that the M’s might actually make a move this year. Perhaps it’s just some sort of residual optimism left over from the Brian Giles rumor this week. Now, sure, that rumor has been pretty much shot down, but at the same time, it had to come from somewhere or something, right? Perhaps Gillick isn’t as quiet on the trade front as we might have thought.
All that said, if the move is trading for BJ Surhoff or a player of his ilk, I’m not interested.
[SOLD! In seconds! Man, do we have great readers] I need to get rid of two tickets, blah blah blah, details deleted. I’m flying out of town to attend funeral services in Alaska for my Grandpa (a long-time M’s fan), so I can’t attend (though I can meet for the transaction). Also, it means this weekend I’m not going to be answering email at all. As opposed to occasionally managing to answer some email. And for obvious reasons, job email’s top-of-the-queue when I get back.
Totally OT for our Puget Sound readers: anyone hiring a crackerjack IT analyst/PM should drop me a line. I could use the work.