Game 92, Mariners at Blue Jays

Dave · July 16, 2006 at 10:00 am · Filed Under Mariners 

Felix vs Burnett. This could be a lot of fun.

And here’s a fun note; Shin-Soo Choo was optioned back to Tacoma after going 1 for 11 in four games, and Mike Hargrove noted the other day that they were trying to get his bat into the line-up, but it just didn’t work out because his defense in center is just poor. And he’s right, Choo’s defense in center is poor.

Of course, going 1 for 11 happens quite frequently, and is almost never cause for demotion. In fact, here’s a list of the times Carl Everett has gone 1 for 11 (or worse) this season:

4/7 – 4/12, 0-17
5/25 – 5/29, 1-14
6/2 – 6/6, 1-16
6/22 – 7/2, 1-11
7/3 – 7/7, 1-11

In fact, after last night’s 1 for 6, Everett is now 17 for his last 97. Since the beginning of June, he’s hitting .175/.231/.288.

Shin-Soo Choo was deemed unworthy to play for Mike Hargrove’s team because he went 1 for 11 and can’t play center field. Carl Everett, however, is allowed to hit .175 for 6 weeks, not be able to play any position on the diamond, and not even worry about getting moved down in the order, much less lose his roster spot.

I know we mention this a lot, but it’s mind-numbing that a team that is in contention for a playoff spot is willing to live with a DH who hits like a pitcher, while staring at several internal options who, it cannot be argued, are better hitters right now, and have the bonus appeal of adding some value on defense and on the bases. Regardless of what you may think about the reliability of minor league data in predicting major league performance, it’s an incontravertible fact that Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Snelling are better major league hitters, right now, than Carl Everett is.

Thanks to the rest of the AL West, the M’s are in the playoff hunt. And for the last 6 weeks, they’ve been sporting a DH who is hitting like a slumping Rey Ordonez. That’s just remarkable, and is a massive black mark against the people who control the roster and the line-up.

Comments

418 Responses to “Game 92, Mariners at Blue Jays”

  1. pablothegreat on July 16th, 2006 2:03 pm

    So that’s two extra inning losses in a row for the Mariners, and both ended with the Mariners’ best reliever in the bullpen, having never been used . Mike Hargrove needs to get lost.

  2. David J. Corcoran I on July 16th, 2006 2:06 pm

    No, Putz cannot pitch unless we are winning and have a 1-3 run lead, so he can get a save, because getting saves is the number one priority for closers, and Putz is the closer.

  3. terry on July 16th, 2006 2:07 pm

    man this has been a rough weekend….the M’s were so close to a sweep…

  4. dw on July 16th, 2006 2:09 pm

    I continue to be underwhelmed by the Gillick/Bavasi conservatism. I wish they’d make timely moves instead of sitting on their hands for months while Hargrove/Everett/Mateo drag this club down.

    I appreciate Bavasi’s ability to build a minor league system, but he needs to be a GM, too, and damn the KJR blowhards and Bloomquist knobslobberers.

  5. darrylzero on July 16th, 2006 2:14 pm

    Looking over the game logs from April and May, apart from all of the L-Guardado and BS-Guardado notations, which is really an organizational issue not a Hargrove issue, I don’t see a lot of obvious opportunities to win with smarter management.

    Onto June, I know the Colorado series presents some and now this weekend. But I think it might only be in the neighborhood of a 2 game difference (considering there’s no guarantees we would have won with a different, even better, strategy). I’m going to keep looking though.

  6. Christopher on July 16th, 2006 2:16 pm

    #405 You must not be watching the games. There are lots of times when everyone on this board can come up with the right move yet Hargrove defies us. And these aren’t even stats moves. They are by the book moves.

  7. Rizzs? ugh.. on July 16th, 2006 2:20 pm

    405 – look at the Minnesota series at the end of May.

  8. pablothegreat on July 16th, 2006 2:21 pm

    The manager’s job is to put the team in position to win. There have clearly been many situations where Hargrove’s failure to put the team in the proper position to win has cost the Mariners crucial runs. To say that getting rid of Hargrove would lead to a 2 game difference is, I think, a huge understatement.

  9. IdahoInvader on July 16th, 2006 2:22 pm

    This is one of those “if you don’t already know or haven’t figured it out then you’ll probably never get it” sorta things imho.

    Hargrove has been behind the learning curve ALL YEAR. It merely rears its ugly head in a more obvious way late in close games.

  10. pablothegreat on July 16th, 2006 2:28 pm

    Watching Mike Hargrove manage this team is more frustrating than watching those terrible M’s bullpens of the 90’s blow saves.

  11. msb on July 16th, 2006 2:29 pm

    after the game, Drayer says that JJ was up 3-5 times yesterday (depending on who you talk to) and twice today, both times without getting in…

  12. darrylzero on July 16th, 2006 2:30 pm

    Yeah, I’m just trying to quantify as best I can, be able say, probably between 4-6 games, something like that, you know?
    I remember feeling that way in the past, sure, it’s just hard for me to pin down.

    5/30 vs. Texas

    Beltre and Lopez on, no outs, failure to pinch hit for Bloomquist down by 2 in the 7th (against RHP Feldman) and next for Everett against LHP Mahay–that’s right, Texas brought in a lefty specialist to face Everett. We do not score in the inning. I guess Ibanez had already left the game and Bloomquist was playing left, but I’m sure we could have worked something out.

    Final two outs recorded in the 9th by Bloomquist and Everett with Ichiro on second, against RHP (Otsuka).

  13. darrylzero on July 16th, 2006 2:33 pm

    Of course the aggression on the basepaths has been ridiculous as well, but some of the most egregious errors were mental mistakes by the players, I think.

  14. darrylzero on July 16th, 2006 2:41 pm

    Another candidate, 6/23 @ San Diego

    Mateo gives up winning run in the 10th, Putz does not pitch.

    But it’s hard to be sure which of those we would have ended up winning. Boy, though, bringing Guardado back was an even bigger disaster than I realized.

  15. darrylzero on July 16th, 2006 2:44 pm

    And my personal favorite: 7/2 vs. Rockies…

    You know, the time when Hargrove actually brought in Putz in a high-leverage situation in the 8th and then proceeded to follow him with Mateo and Guardado who lost the game, without seeing Sherrill or Soriano? I’m sure they were tired or whatever, but laughable bench management as well.

  16. IdahoInvader on July 16th, 2006 2:52 pm

    That awful Rockies game was the one where Fuentes came in and blew away Ibanez when a simple fly ball would’ve won it. Ibanez never had a clue, as Fuentes is MURDER on lefties. Then Perez was STILL benched in favor Bloomquist…and you know what always happens when Willie is left with RISP…sigh

  17. Karen on July 16th, 2006 3:58 pm

    Oh, yeah, and another thing… (I was away running errands during the last couple of innings of this game, so I missed logging on here)

    So, Putz was up a couple of times today, and 3-5 times yesterday (depending on who you talk to)? I’ll bet the only thing missing was the adrenaline rush. He probably pitched a lot more than the 16-24 in-game pitches the other guys in the BP did today.

  18. mara on July 16th, 2006 9:02 pm

    If anyone’s interested, I watched Doyle’s knee survive a game of tag (and subsequent wrestling match) with a teammate in the outfield at PGE Park today. He was gamboling about like a hyperactive puppy. If body language is anything to go by, he is enjoying playing baseball (or perhaps just life? being healthy?) right now.

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