Scouting
Jon Paul Morosi has some good stuff in the P-I this morning. I especially recommend his piece on Grady Fuson, who I’ve said a number of good things about on the blog over the years. Fuson should absolutely be running an organization right now, and I’d be thrilled if it was ours.
The Attrition War, Braves
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Braves.
Diamondbacks to pass on Upton, Gordon?
Both Tracy Ringolsby and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jim Salisbury say that the Diamondbacks are likely to take a college pitcher instead of Justin Upton or Alex Gordon. The reasoning goes that the Snakes intend to keep the recently-signed Stephen Drew at shortstop, making another blue-chip young shortstop redundant.
From Ringolsby: [Registration: westsmith1@comcast.net, x223344]
With [Stephen] Drew under contract, however, and new ownership having a valid concern about the lack of depth in the Diamondbacks’ farm system, particularly with pitching, scouting director Mike Rizzo apparently has been directed to pursue a college pitcher.
This is good and bad news for Mariner fans coveting either Upton or Gordon. It’s obviously good if these guys are right, since both project the M’s to take Upton. The flip side is that the Royals are apparently locked in on Gordon, financial worries be damned. If the Diamondbacks do take Upton — which a New York Times article indicates is still a strong possibility — then the M’s would miss out.
I also have to quote this from Ringolsby, just because he calls Bavasi “Billy.”
Upton figures to wind up going No. 3 to Seattle, where current general manager Billy Bavasi and former general manager-turned-special-assistant Pat Gillick long have expressed desires to take high-reward draft choices.
The speculation ends soon enough.
Game 55, Devil Rays at Mariners
RHP Hideo Nomo v LHP Jamie Moyer. 1:05, FSNW (“Where Northwest fans come first in ads aired on this channel”)
So something else to watch for — the Mariners, in their game notes all season, have been making subtle arguments that Bret Boone’s a future Hall of Famer. They’re providing “of all second basemen, he’s 5th overall in home runs” and so on.
I don’t think he is, clearly, but it’s been interesting to see this. There’s a general belief based on things that’ve happened in the last few years that the Mariners tend to prep the community for players leaving by trying to seed the dandelions of discontent* well in advance of the departure. But Boone’s would seem to pretty clearly headed elsewhere after this year, and the publicity guys are pumping up his historic achievements? It’s odd.
* sorry, been weeding this morning
The Attrition War, Blue Jays
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Blue Jays.
Game 54, Devil Rays at Mariners
LHP Scott Kazmir vs. RHP Joel Pineiro; 7:05pm, FSN and KOMO
Kazmir was once regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, and has pitched well this year for a 21-year old who entered the season with just 33 innings of experience above AA. His strikeout rate is a bit lower than you might expect given his good stuff, but check out how he’s kept the ball in the park — he’s on pace to allow just 12 homers in 188 innings over the course of the season. That’s a darned fine number for any pitcher, let alone a guy just three years out of high school. He’s also left-handed, which certainly doesn’t bode well for the M’s tonight.
Meanwhile, the ticking time bomb known as Joel Pineiro takes his 6.66 ERA to the mound for your hometown nine. Last time out against this same Devil Rays club, he was shelled for ten hits and seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Could be a long night.
The Attrition War, Athletics
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Athletics.
Game 53, Devil Rays at Mariners
LHP Casey Fossum v RHP Aaron Sele.
I feel beat up already.
On Lou’s yearly return: I’ve already complained about the team’s snub of Randy Johnson, but what about Lou Piniella? Doesn’t he deserve anything for his time here? Even as some kind of compensation for being the most frequently badly-typed name during his time (Pinella, Pinnella, etc)?
The Attrition War, Astros
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Astros.
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Schwarz on Best/Worst Draft Picks
There’s a two-edged sword to writing a group blog in tandem with bright people. On the one hand, you’re always learning, and you want to rise to the occasion of others’ good posts with solid efforts of your own. But then you see a bunch of great stuff you don’t want to knock off the front page.
So I’ll save my longer material for next week and offer instead this quick hit. In advance of the draft next week, check out the always reliable Alan Schwarz’ rundown of the best and worst high draft picks. The Mariners make the list in a couple of places, with A-Rod deservedly at No. 1, and with an anecdote about Tito Nanni that you may find amusing.