Yet another newsflash:
Giovanni Carrara blows. Whoever decided that Julio Mateo should be the one to go should be fined, stripped, tarred, feathered, and then have their chest hairs plucked off with tweezers.
Minor League Highlights for Saturday, June 7
Working frantically to catch up!
Tacoma 1, Las Vegas 0. Forget “career” — LHP Craig Anderson pitched the game of his life, shutting out Las Vegas on five hits (9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K). The Rainiers scored their lone run in the 5th on a 2B Jay Pecci sac fly and Anderson did the rest to improve his record to 4-6 on the year. 3B Luis “The Hitting Machine” Figueroa had two hits in two trips, raising his average to .323 on the season.
San Antonio 7, Arkansas 2. Despite my not being there, the Missions managed to win Saturday behind the pitching of LHP Travis Blackley (8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K). Blackley, who was recently listed at #8 on Baseball America’s “Prospect Hot Sheet,” lowered his ERA to 2.08 and has now won four consecutive starts. 1B A.J. Zapp provided the offense with his league-leading 17th homer of the season, driving in four runs on the night with three hits in four trips. SS Jose Lopez, 3B Justin Leone, CF Jaime Bubela and C Jim Horner all had two hits each, including a double and two RBIs for Bubela.
Lancaster 5, Inland Empire 4 (DH Game #1, 12 innings). Just what you want in the first game of a double header — extra innings! After being held scoreless for six innings, the 66ers scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th to tie things up but allowed a run in the top of the 12th to lose it. Despite pitching quite well in relief, RHP Emiliano Fruto (4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K) took the loss. Offensively, 2B Ismael Castro was the only thing worth writing about as he had three of the club’s eight hits, scored once and also drove in a run.
Inland Empire 6, Lancaster 4 (DH Game #2). The 66ers came back in the second game to split the double header, scoring two runs in the 4th and four more in the 5th to make a winner of LHP Glenn Bott (6 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HR). 3B Hunter Brown led the way with a 2-3 night that included a double, two runs batted in and two runs scored. CF Dustin Delucchi, 1B John Castellano and 2B Evel Bastida-Martinez each also added two hits, and RHP Mike Steele (2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) picked up his 15th save.
Wisconsin 12, South Bend 4. Trailing 3-0 after three innings, the Timber Rattlers exploded in the middle innings for three in the 4th, three in the 5th and five in the 6th, then added two more in the 9th for good measure. CF Gary Harris had three hits including a double in five trips, 3B Matt Hagen homered and two others — C Rene Rivera and SS Michael Garciaparra — had two hits each. All that offense was more than enough for LHP Cesar Jimenez (5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) to pick up the win and move to 5-3 on the year.
Apparently, it was National-Write-About-The-Mariners day, and we missed the memo. Our own Derek Zumsteg wrote a very good piece on Edgar Martinez’s candidacy for the hall of fame over at Baseball Prospectus. And yes, Derek’s column is free, so jump on over and give it a look. Rob Neyer wrote a much worse piece about the same subject, where his amazing reliance on MVP voting as a guage of player ability continues. Neyer has spent thousands of words decrying the Baseball Writers Association of America after they’ve given out awards that he doesn’t agree with, but, apparently their opinion matters as long as we let the years pass by first. I don’t have a strong stance on the issue either way, and can see both points of view, but Derek clearly wrote the better piece.
Also, Joe Sheehan tackled the M’s success in his Prospectus Today column, which is for BP Premium subscribers only. However, I don’t think he’ll mind if I mention that he continues to spread the misinformation that Jeff Cirillo needs to be replaced for the Mariners to contend. I’ll attempt to go into further detail at a future date, but the fact is that Cirillo has been a pretty good player for the past two months. Joe also makes a few other points that are simply not true, but I’ll save the debunking for a column you all can actually read. In case you were wondering, though, the Mariners farm system is well stocked and they will have no problems finding tradeable chips to move at the deadline, if Stand Pat decides to make a move this year.
Hey everybody — the Big Board has been updated for the week. There was actually quite a bit of movement recently, with at least one change at every level. And before you send me an email, yes, I realize that there are currently 26 players listed on the M’s active roster. They have yet to make the move needed to make room for lefty Matt White, but seeing as White is scheduled to join the team before tonight’s game they’ll have to make a move in the next five hours or so. Here’s a quick look at the moves:
Seattle: Acquired LHP Matt White
Tacoma: Activated RHP Ken Cloude from the DL, shipped Troy Cate back to Inland Empire, signed 1B J.R. Phillips, released OF Jacques Landry
San Antonio: Placed OF Chris Snelling on the DL (he’ll miss about a month)
Inland Empire: Traded OF Sheldon Fulse, designated OF Cristian Guerrero for assignment, received Cate from Tacoma, received OF Dustin Delucchi from Wisconsin
Wisconsin: Promoted Delucchi to Inland Empire, received OF Carlos Arroyo from Everett
As always, drop us a line if something doesn’t look quite right to you.
An 11-1 roadtrip and the best record in baseball justifies a more lengthy posting, but this team is absolutely rolling right now. We can complain about the contracts given to Wilson, Cirillo, and Sasaki, pointless acquisitions like Carrara and White, the uselessness of Bloomquist and Mabry, and still not avoid the fact that this team really doesn’t have any holes.
There are 3 legitimate MVP candidates who take the field every day (okay, Edgar doesn’t field, but you get my point). Jeff Cirillo and John Olerud are the only two players in the line-up who aren’t league average hitters for their position, and both are such outstanding fielders that you can live with it. Ichiro’s jumped his average nearly 100 points in a month, which is ridiculous this far into the season.
Jamie Moyer’s having one of the best seasons ever by a 40-year-old pitcher. Gil Meche’s arm has stayed in tact long enough for him to become one of the better young pitchers in the AL. Ryan Franklin has embodied steadiness. The fact that Pineiro and Garcia have been the weak links in the rotation tells you how strong the rotation has a chance to be. The bullpen is among the best in the league, and they have four relievers who could be the best pitcher coming out of most bullpens.
There are chinks in the armor (bench, mopup relievers, ability to improve the team), but they haven’t manifested any real harm yet. I’m still worried about the effects of a serious injury to any of the regulars, and there isn’t a playoff contender with as little organizational depth as we have, but if they keep this line-up healthy, that won’t matter. Barring a collapse from Boone or an injury to Martinez, its hard to see the M’s not winning 95 games this year.
Minor League Highlights for Friday, June 6
Las Vegas 4, Tacoma 1. RHP Rafael Soriano (6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) continued his run of dominant pitching performances, but wound up with a no decision as RHP Allan Simpson (2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 E R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) gave up three runs in the 7th. 2B Mickey Lopez and C Julio Mosquera each had a pair of Tacoma’s six hits, including a double for Lopez.
San Antonio 6, Arkansas 4. RHP Clint Nageotte (5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) ran his record to 7-1 on the season, as the Missions clinched the first half title in the Texas League’s Western Division. The offensive star was 1B A.J. Zapp, who hit a pair of homers including a 1st inning blast which left the stadium entirely and was estimated to have gone over 450 feet. Zapp drove in four of the team’s six runs, and C Scott Maynard drove in the other two with a bloop single in the 7th. RHP Jared Hoerman (1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) picked up his 17th save.
Lancaster 5, Inland Empire 2. The 66ers were done in by a five-run 4th inning, in which only one of Lancaster’s runs was earned thanks to a costly error. RHP Juan Done, still trying to work his way back since coming off the DL, took the loss (3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). CF Shin-soo Choo, playing the position since Sheldon Fulse was traded, had a double, a triple and a walk in three at-bats, and 3B Hunter Brown added a pair of hits. RHP Brian Strelitz (4 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) turend in an admirable performance in relief of Done.
Wisconsin 1, Fort Wayne 1. Heavy rains ended this game after six innings, and though it won’t count in the standings, individual players statistics will. RHP T.A. Fulmer (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) had yet another good start, lowering his ERA to 2.91 on the year. 3B Matt Hagen provided all of Wisconsin’s offense with a homer in the bottom of the 6th, tying the game just before the rains came.
Ty Wigginton takes over the Bret Boone Memorial Golden Expletive for his f-bomb in the bottom of the 8th. Carl Everett will present the award to Wigginton between games today.
Before anyone declares Freddy right in the head and back to dominating form, we should consider that today Garcia faced a lineup that was not particularly good (holy mackeral, I just noticed they’re right next to Oakland in park-adjusted hitting… boy, that OBP+power thing’s not working out so well, huh) and that didn’t play their best hitter, Mike Piazza, and pulled their second-best hitter, Cliff Floyd, halfway through. In addition, players don’t like double-headers, and the Mets, starting in the 5th, might as well have sent random fans up to take thier hacks in an attempt to get the game over with.
5th: one pitch gets to the catcher.
6th: no pitches get to the catcher
7th: 2 strikes, 5 balls get to the catcher out of 16 pitches
8th: 2 strikes, 3 balls get to the catcher out of 13 pitches
9th: 2 strikes, 2 balls get to the catcher out of 9 pitches
Average batter sees maybe 3, 3.5 pitches/AB. These guys would have run that down to -1 if they could figure out how. Anyone on the staff could have pitched “beautifully” or “masterfully” when you’re facing a bunch of guys bound and determined to make their long day at the ballpark a little shorter. And while I’m at it, I’m so tired of this constant showering of platitudes on pitchers. Scrape out a 4-3 win, ‘scattering’ 10 hits and a couple of walks? Well, that’s a “dominating performance”. I know what domination looks like, it’s Mike Mussina’s start against the M’s this year where he made one of the league’s best offenses look like they belonged in a beer softball league. There are wonderful, jaw-dropping performances in baseball, and what words will our announcing crew have left to describe them?
“Well, Jamie Moyer has no-hit the Boston Red Sox, walking only one batter, and Red, I gotta say, Moyer has been so-so today.”
“Absolutely, Rick. Moyer had great control and kept the Red Sox hitters off-balance all night long. This was one of the most medicore performances I’ve ever seen, and I am so happy to have been here in Boston to see this average, unimpressive perfomances.”
(Guy at home: “Huh, I’ve never heard them call something so-so, or medicore before. Those words must mean “superfantabulous” or something.”)
While I’m ranting, Ron Fairly doing play by play is like having a dentist drill into a healthy tooth. Am I really supposed to believe that there’s no one available who’d be willing to do a little spot play by play to help out the crew and prevent this all-too frequent disaster?
For all of you who’ve been experiencing hand shakes and other withdrawal symptoms because we haven’t posted so much, sorry. Blogger’s been really slow and crappy lately, and we’ve had problems logging in, posting… pretty much everything we’re paying them to do, they haven’t been doing it. So bear with us, it’ll improve or… well, I’m lazy and don’t want to actually set up anything on the ussmariner.com site, so it’ll improve or it won’t. (shrug)
Stand Pat made a trade!
Okay, its not any more exciting than his last trade with Boston, which netted us Jose Offerman. The M’s acquired LHP Matt White for class-A OF Sheldon Fulse (who, ironically, just debuted on the Future Forty this month). Fulse, though only 21, isn’t much of a loss, especially in this organization. He wasn’t likely to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason anyways, and his future with the M’s was clouded by the amount of legitimate OF prospects ahead of him on the chain.
As the saying goes, though, you get what you pay for. The M’s didn’t give up much, and thats pretty much what they get in return. Matt White is a Rule V draftee from the Cleveland Indians, meaning the M’s get to hide him on the roster all season and cannot option him to the minors until next year. He turns 26 in August and isn’t exactly a spring chicken. He missed most of last season with an arm injury, and has managed just 3 appearances with Boston to date, giving up 11 earned runs for a sport 27.00 ERA.
White’s minor league track record doesn’t suggest great potential, and his strikeout rates in particular aren’t much to scream about. It didn’t seem likely that the M’s could actually find a worse pitcher than Giovanni Carrara, but they have achived that illustrious goal.
The interesting decision will come Monday, when the M’s must decide whether to eat the rest of Carrara’s $400,000 salary or option Julio Mateo back to AAA. Realistically, this should be a foregone conclusion. Besides his tendancy for the home run ball, Mateo has pitched reasonably well, and sports a serviceable 4.18 ERA and solid 1.21 WHIP. He’s got just 8 walks and 23 strikeouts in 28 innings, and he’s only 25-years-old. Carrara’s ERA stands at 6.26 with a WHIP of 1.71. He’s walked 12 and struck out 11 in 27 innings. He’s 35 and has no future with the club.
Odds are, though, that Mateo ends up back in Tacoma. Veteran Leadership, and all that jazz.
Minor League Highlights for Thursday, June 5th
Las Vegas 4, Tacoma 3. RHP Ken Cloude made his return from a strained groin to toss 5 solid innings, but RHP Aaron Taylor couldn’t convert the save opportunity and gave up two runs, including the game winner, in the 9th inning. Cloude was as effective as could be expected, giving up two runs, walking one, and striking out two. RHP Aaron Looper was brilliant in his 3 innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out four. LF Adrian Myers was the hitting star, going 2-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base. SS Mickey Lopez also collected two hits and a walk in four trips to the plate.
San Antonio 2, Frisco 1. The Missions continued their string of ridiculously good pitching performances behind LHP Bobby Madritsch’s best start of the year. He worked 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, 1 run, walked 2, and struck out 7. The bullpen, led by former starting pitcher Chris Wright, tossed 3 more shutout innings to close the door. San Antonio has now allowed a grand total of 3 runs in their last 5 games. Offensively, it was once again 3B Justin Leone leading the charge, as he went 2-3, scored a run, drew a walk, and stole a base. He’s now hitting .332/.437/.616 with a 37/38 BB/K in 190 AB. Over half of his 63 hits have gone for extra bases. He’s simply on fire.
Inland Empire 5, Stockton 4. CF Sheldon Fulse ignited an offensive spark, at least for the 66’ers, by going 3-5 and stealing 3 bases. He also scored twice and drove in a run to give the team an offensive boost. 1B John Castellano also had 3 hits and 3B Hunter Brown added his 7th home run of the year. LHP Ryan Ketchner started and pitched 7 innings, giving up just 2 runs, walked one, and struck out three. RHP Mike Steele got the win in relief despite giving up 2 in his 2 innings of work.
Wisconsin 13, Fort Wayne 3. Where to begin? We’ll start with leadoff man and LF Corey Harrington, who ignited the offense with 2 triples, 3 runs scored, and an RBI. 2B Tim Merritt had his best game of the year with a 4-5 performance. He doubled twice, scored twice, and drove in three runs. 1B Jon Nelson, RF T.J. Bohn, C Chris Phillips, and SS Michael Garciaparra all had two hits as well. LHP Bobby Livingston moved to 9-1 on the season with 7 more rock solid innings, giving up just one run and striking out three without a walk. His ERA now stands at 2.14.
I have an apology to make, I think. I thought bringing Boone in on the cheap was a decent enough move, but I thought his contract was ludicrous. I’ve mocked his two-strike stance here and elsewhere, I make fun of his hacktastic ways, I use the unflattering nickname, and yet… who would have done the Mariners better these last two years? Jeff Kent? Alfonso Soriano? Both might offer marginal offensive upgrades at a significant defensive cost. I don’t know where this Boone came from, and I don’t think we had any reason to expect him to continue hitting for power when the M’s signed him to a huge deal. But what else were the Mariners going to do with that money? Pocket it? Give more money to Dan Wilson? Boone’s been huge, and as much as I like to say you have to evaluate deals on information you have at hand, I don’t think there’s any denying that Gillick pulled the arm and the slot machine has kept pouring coins into his lap ever since. Well, that particular slot machine. They’re not all paying off so well.
Why was Melvin having Cameron bunt? Why… argh.