Game 98, Tigers at M’s
Ryan Franklin takes on the Tigers. Words cannot express my excitement.
Two-pronged trade rumor update
1. Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times thinks that A.J. Burnett would be good for the White Sox, but Eddie Guardado would be Tony-the-Tiger grrrrrrrrrrreat:
As for Guardado, the Mariners say he isn’t available, but it’s widely expected that Seattle will listen to offers that include prized prospects such as McCarthy. Williams worked magic with the M’s last summer, getting Garcia — for youngsters Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed and Mike Morse — well before the deadline. So expect Williams to keep M’s general manager Bill Bavasi on his speed dial.
I would say that this also has little chance of happening if we hadn’t seen Kenny Wiliams’ willingness to trade top prospects to the Mariners last year. McCarthy just turned 22, and he’s the real thing. Check out those strikeouts per nine inning numbers over his three minor league seasons.
If this offer indeed comes to pass, it’s a no-brainer in my eyes. I hope every columnist in Chicago starts pushing the “Garcia trade was magic for us, let’s do that again!” line.
2. The Sporting News’ Ken Rosenthal doesn’t think much of Randy Winn.
If the Yankees weren’t, well, the Yankees, they perhaps could acquire a center-field prospect like the Brewers’ David Krynziel or Marlins’ Eric Reed and tell him to just play defense and now [sic] worry about offense. The pressure of competing for Team Steinbrenner, however, makes it imperative that the Yankees acquire a more proven player. The Mariners’ Randy Winn wouldn’t necessarily be the answer. Here’s what a scout said about him in The Sporting News Ultimate Baseball Scouting Guide, “Winn is not a good center fielder. Gets better jumps in left than in center. Arm is short and better suited for left.” . …
This is common perception among fans, too, and the note about his arm is true. But everyone looks better in left than in center, and I think this is more an indicator of how underrated Winn is than anything.
[Note to Yankees: he’s not so underrated that you should give up Carl Pavano for him.]
Trades and Seamheads
Bob Finnigan, everyone’s favorite beat writer and incorrect rumor monger extraordinaire, has two pieces in the Times this morning. The daily notebook column and Terrible Trip Muddles M’s, nominally a game recap but really more of a Crazy Rumors From Bob’s Secret Sources piece, one of which we’ve grown accustomed to reading. Some of Finnigan’s claims had me shaking my head, so here’s a brief response to a few of the comments.
CLEVELAND  Seamheads  fans of baseball who get very deep into the game, history and statistics  will be pleased to know that the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) will hold its 2006 convention in Seattle.
Did you know Pat Gillick is a member of SABR, but none of the authors of this blog are? Do you think Finnigan would call Gillick a seamhead? Me neither.
A recent report that the Yankees had a scout here watching Winn is not exactly correct. New York had two scouts at Jacobs Field all of last week, watching Grady Sizemore, among others, on the Cleveland club.
This kind of comment bothers the heck out of me. There’s a huge misunderstanding in the role of professional scouts among fans, and this doesn’t help at all. It’s technically correct, as I’m sure that the Yankees did have scouts at Jacobs Field all week, and I’m sure they did watch Grady Sizemore, since he was playing and all, but the connotation that Finnigan is making is that the Yankees scouts were there to evaluate Sizemore as a potential acquisition. The Indians aren’t trading Grady Sizemore. No way, no how.
The New York Post ran a story yesterday headlined, “Just Winn, Baby.” It reported that the Mariners had scouts Dan Evens and Bob Harrison watching the Yankees in Anaheim. Harrison and Evans are based in Southern California and watch a lot of teams play the Angels.
And here, Finnigan actually gets it right on the button. The presence of scouts at a certain ballgame can often mean nothing other than “they were in the area”. Harrison and Evans may have been scouting the Yankees at the request of the front office, but more likely, they marked this series on their schedule weeks ago as one they would cover as part of their regular duties.
Yet, Winn going to the Yankees remains an intriguing possibility. What would Seattle get in return? One guess is pitcher Carl Pavano, who is on the disabled list but someone the Mariners had great interest in as a free agent last winter.
At least he used the word “guess”. Because there’s nothing to this at all. It’s speculation of the worst kind, no more informed than the made-up trade ideas that populate message boards and threads here that involve Ryan Howard. The Yankees currently have a rotation that includes Johnson, Mussina, Pavano, the shell of Kevin Brown, and the remains of Al Leiter. If they dealt Pavano, they’d get to enjoy the Darrell May experiment again.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the M’s and Yankees discuss Pavano in the offseason, as those who were at the feed heard Bavasi speak highly of Pavano and how well they felt he would have fit in at Safeco Field. But the Yankees, in the midst of a pennant race, aren’t trading one of the three major league starting pitchers they have for Randy Winn.
So why did Finnigan “guess”? I guess it makes for better copy than saying that the M’s are interested in Sean Henn, who most fans have never heard of, and posted an 11.86 ERA in three starts with New York.
Note to Bob: The trade deadline is crazy enough without a man who has access to the front office “guessing” in the local papers. If you’re not going to bother using the credibility that “Seattle Times Beatwriter” still carries with most of the fanbase, then give up the post. Lord knows the sportspage over there could use a shakeup, probably moreso than the Mariners.
Beltre, nooooooooo!
April: .258/.284/.361
May: .216/.245/.353
June: .321/.391/.444 (woo-hooooo!)
July, to date: .240/.278/.452 (d’oh!)
Home: .268/.311/.386
Away: .248/.288/.406
Game 97, Mariners at Indians
The game is in a rain delay right now. If it lets up, here’s a game thread. If not, we can discuss precipitation’s effect on our daily lives. Or something.
Why are you at the ballpark?
An informal* survey of fans** attending Mariner home games***
- Related to, or former neighbors of, Willy Bloomquist
- New higher beer prices have created a more family-friendly atmosphere
- Just because
- Broken-hearted metal fans jonesing for dose of Spiezio after Sandfrog CD stolen out of their classic red Z28 IROC Camero
- Japanese Ichiro fans who booked unrefundable vacations before season
- Love the music
- Health department inspectors forced to pay for tickets before they can investigate food poisoning cases
- Masochists enjoying the hard plastic seats
- UW Greek community has been too drunk since 2001 to check standings, keeps coming out for the beer garden
- Guys: chicks dig hardcore fans
- Chicks: Hardcore guy fans demonstrate loyalty and are better long-term mates than bandwagon fans
- Doctor prescribed regular Mariner viewing, in person if possible, for manic problems
- Doctor prescribed regular Mariner viewing, in person if possible, for insomnia problems
- Searching for the essence of Raul Ibanez as part of preparation to carve his image into Mt. Rushmore
- Uncool kids studying Ichiro for tips on cultivating cool image without taking up smoking
- Received urgent email from foreign national eager to move money out of home country and split it with attendee — brought $20,000 in “fees” to help the transaction along
- Parasites from ballpark sushi controlling actions and wanted to visit relatives
- Promised full frontal nudity
- Released bug bomb in house, needed to kill a few hours
- Boone’s abscence makes families feel more secure about bringing their attractive daughters
- Dave Henderson convinced them it’s not about winning or losing, but instead seeing something interesting at the park every day.
- Fans of angst
- Kind of like Quidditch, except the rules make sense
- There to put the team down in humane manner
- Mariners holding beloved relative hostage
- More attracted to losing teams — easier to identify with
- Obeying hidden messages in Bjork songs
- Died, in purgatory
- Members of Dave Hansen Hussars, the fanatical militaristic fan club that follows the pinch-hitter everywhere, and look to his professional hitting as an inspiration in their own lives
- Members of Hussies for Hansen, women (and men) of free sexual moral standards, who follow the pinch-hitter everywhere, holding celebrations of debauchery that cause Bacchus to blush and look away
- They’ve been given the standard sub-standard training and are waiting for their scheduled post-game match on the game grid
- Can’t get enough of that video lecturing you not to touch balls in play
- Decreased attendence means more chances to touch balls in play
- One of these nights it’s going to be Bollywood night
- Strange, irresistable desire to be closer to producer/engineer Kevin Cremin
- Ticket prices are the same, so the product must be just as good
* and by ‘informal’ we mean “no questions were asked of anyone, or answers recorded, and we weren’t even around Safeco Field when we wrote this”
** we’re fans, right?
*** this part totally, totally false
one of those by Jeff Shaw
Game 96, Mariners at Indians
RHP and 10-game winner Gil Meche v LHP Cliff Lee
Bloomquist at second.
Game 95, Mariners at Indians
LHP Moyer v RHP Scott Elarton. 4:05 pt, KSTW, etc.
What, if anything, happened yesterday to Joel Pineiro?
A study in contrasting theories
Pick one or more of the following:
1. Nothing’s wrong, he’s back as good as ever (“I was out there feeling like I did in 2000 and 2003 […] There was the one big inning, but I was pitching more like myself. That felt outstanding.” — Pineiro
2. It was one mistake pitch (“I made one mistake, really. It was to Hillenbrand. I tried to get it up and in and it was just down and in.” — Pineiro)
3. Didn’t throw first-pitch strikes (“Strike one takes care of that.” — Hargrove)
4. He lost but made progress towards a larger goal (“Today, I saw him get upset, which is good to see. And I saw that he kept his composure. Hopefully this will be a good confidence boost.” — Hargrove)
5. Didn’t come through in two-out clutch situations (“Two-out runs are the toughest ones. I don’t know if there’s an art to closing out innings. If there is an art, it’s probably in keeping concentration for the entire inning.” — Hargrove)
Me: Pineiro is no longer an effective major league pitcher, and has not been for some time.
Every game the Mariners lose, there seems to be a 50-50 chance that they’ll float a batch of bizarre explanations for what went wrong. I think we’ve heard everything but “my iPod keeps freezing so I can’t get psyched up before the game”. Feel free to play along at home and try and predict what’ll come up the next day. It’s surprisingly fun.
Unlike seeing Pineiro get shelled.
So anyway, back to this game… I wrote a hugely enthusiastic chapter about the Indians organization a couple years ago (a little too enthusiastic, in retrospect, but I still agree with my main point). Since the crash, they’ve slowly and patiently built the team back up, testing and discarding players as they went, working towards better and better teams. I disagree with some of their moves, but it’s hard to say that they haven’t been moving steadily in the right direction.
The interesting thing to watch for the Mariners is the fan base in Cleveland. Jacbos Field has drawn fewer and fewer fans as the Indians have been torn down, but they did draw 25,000 for a weeknight game against KC yesterday. I have to believe this is something the Mariners ownership looks at (and Dave’s discussed at length): is it possible to better apply their money to making that dip as soft as possible? How soon can two .400 seasons be forgiven? If they compete next year, will the season ticket buyers come back for 2007?
Paging Mr. Cashman
With just a week left to go until the trade deadline — and the M’s out of the race, regardless of what a certain local writer thinks — I hope Bill Bavasi has Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman on speeddial. The Yankees have a few glaring holes right now, and the M’s have the spare parts to fill those holes.
First up, they need a centerfielder. Bernie Williams is old and can’t handle the position on a regular basis (some would say he can’t handle it at all). Randy Winn, anyone? I know, he’s not the world’s greatest out there. But he improved as last season went on, and he’s certainly better than Williams. Here’s the other thing with Williams — not only has his range declined, there’s also a reliability issue. He’s been dropping balls he should be catching, and say what you will about Winn’s defense, but he doesn’t drop balls he should catch. No, he doesn’t have the strongest throwing arm. Know what? Williams hasn’t been able to throw for two years. However you slice it, Winn would be a big upgrade for the Yankees. He’d also add some speed to a lineup that doesn’t have much.
Next up, middle relief. Take a gander at some of the pitchers the Yankees have trotted out in relief this season: Colter Bean, Felix Rodriguez, Buddy Groom, Scott Proctor, Steve Karsay (since released), Paul Quantrill (since dumped on San Diego), Mike Stanton (since relased), Jason Anderson, and Wayne Franklin (formerly released by the Brewers). Yeah, there are some recognizable names on that list, but Rodriguez, Quantrill, and Stanton are light years from the pitchers they once were (and they’ve already gotten rid of the latter two). The Yankees have, essentially, three effective relief pitchers: Mariano Rivera, Tom Gordon, and Tanyon Sturtze. You’ll notice none of those three are left-handed.
Not only do they need a lefty — hello, Eddie Guardado! good to see you, Ron Villone! — they need a guy for the 7th, someone to bridge the gap between the starter and the 8th-9th combo of Gordon and Rivera. Guardado, Villone, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Jeff Nelson for the third time… the M’s have arms to burn, folks, and the Yankees need ’em.
Phone call, fax, certified letter, carrier pigeon… doesn’t matter. Just get in touch with Brian Cashman, Bill.
The Mariners are still in this, or not
Finnigan today, in the Times, has a shocking lead:
With six wins in eight games, featuring the impressive sweep in Anaheim, Mariners officials watched the team leave on this trip with hopes of scrambling back into the wild-card race.
(and later)
“I think it would be fair to wait to the end of this trip to make a judgment,” said Pelekoudas.
Reading this article totally ignorant of the team’s fortunes, you might wonder: are they four, five, even six games out? No folks, they are not. They are eleven games back in the wild card race, behind not one, or two, or three, but eight teams, some far, far better than the Mariners (Minnesota, or New York. Heck, Cleveland).
Over at the PI, though, John Hickey is the voice of reason, starting his article in the same way (M’s good then got whupped), but then brings it to the logical conclusion: they’re going to be sellers.
It’s unclear just how much selling the Mariners will do — Randy Winn? Ron Villone? Jamie Moyer? Eddie Guardado? — but it’s overwhelmingly obvious by now that the Mariners won’t be buying.
Seattle simply doesn’t have the need. The club would need to pass eight teams down the stretch to win the wild card, and that’s not happening. The Mariners are 15 games out of first place in the American League West and 11 games behind wild card-leading Minnesota.
Whoop, I just said that. Then there’s this quote from the tradable but still not likely to be traded Guardado:
“This is what we do,” closer Eddie Guardado said. “We’ll play four games great, then we’ll play six or seven like this. That’s no way to play. You’re not going to get anywhere doing this.”
No, it’s not, is it?
Finnigan’s article today is pretty straight: the M’s haven’t given up on the impossible dream. Quotes are included, and Finnigan doesn’t interject much opinion there. Hickey’s article, by contrast, is more analysis with some reporting, and the analysis runs “realistically, come on… I mean come on.”
I’m not sure if the reluctance to toss the first shovelful of dirt on this season’s coffin is a negotiating ploy, false, desperate hope, or what, but the grave was dug a long time ago, the undertaker prepared the season, the funeral’s been held, heck, we’ve even done our mourning. Let’s move on.