Roundup
A few quick notes this morning:
1. Eric O’Flaherty’s going to Double-A West Tennessee to get things straighted out. He’ll be replaced by R.A. Dickey on the roster. I would expect that won’t be the only move in the next couple of days, as McLaren won’t want a single lefty in the pen for too long. Arthur Rhodes isn’t ready yet, so Cesar Jimenez could get the temporary call if Bedard or Morse head for the D.L. Morse goes to the DL and Rhodes gets the call. We’ll see if he can find the juvenation machine.
2. In some fun news for me, I’ve joined FanGraphs as a blogger for their main page, and will be writing about random baseball musings over there on a daily basis. My first post over there is up now, and I should have another one up later tonight. If you haven’t already, you should add fangraphs to your daily reading material – the data is invaluable, and now David Appelman is adding written content to make a great site even better.
3. We’re beginning to put together the next USSM/LL event in Seattle, and the current date is the afternoon of Saturday, June 14th. Jeff Sullivan and I will both be flying into town, and Derek should be around as well. Plus, you know us, we’ll bring some other cool people to the party as well. Details will come later, but for now, hold June 14th on your calendar if you can – it should be a fun time.
4. I’ll be doing the KJR gig with Groz this afternoon at 2:20. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to talk about. Never mind.
98: I think what he is saying is should we consider it a good thing that he hasn’t gone to the DL.
I would say… maybe. If he is seriously hurt, I’d rather he just go to the DL and get over it instead of having it linger all season.
98 – sorry, poor phrasing. I’m assuming that since there was no mention of Bedard going to the DL as part of the roster moves that they decided his injury is not serious enough to warrant that.
Man, Mac certainly loves veteran pitchers. I hope that 2008 Rhodes is better than 2008 Rick White. I might be overly optimistic.
I don’t have a huge problem with them calling up Rhodes. The real issue to watch is how he is used. If they use R-R-S as primary setup guy and use Rhodes as a 2nd lefty option, he may have a chance to succeed. If they view him as the experienced veteran with the proper makeup for high leverage situations, they are setting him up for failure.
Oops, meant “2007 Rick White.”
I am horrified at how quickly this team reached for Rhodes… though, sadly, I am not surprised. He hasn’t even shown that he’s in any condition to consistently get MLB-level hitters out.
Gomez …
just pray we can find some sort of magic in these veterans, but yeah im in the same boat
Do you think we can find ’01 magic? ’00 magic?
even ’95 magic?
I think thats our only hope this year …
Pray for Mojo…
So is this team’s desire to give IP to Rhodes over RRS (I am assuming that Mac will use Rhodes as his #1 LOOGY/ LHP relief over RRS) another indication of this teams failure to grasp the concept of replacement level? I get the feeling that Rhodes’ stuff has deteriorated to the point that he probably isn’t the most talented LHP in the organization not currently up with the club, yet he will be getting the nod simply due to veteranicity.
On another tangent regarding replacement level (I know this is kind of off topic, but I think it’s a good question and the answer really intrigues me), Dave had his post a month or two ago about how some teams are finally starting to grasp that concept. My question is, how will this affect the current FA/Veteran structure of baseball? It seems to me, that the older players in the league will be quite alarmed when they are seeing their careers cut 3-5 years shorter than previous due to younger cheaper players providing equal skillsets.
Also, for every overpaid vet that isn’t signed, that means that baseball’s overall payroll will be lower, not to mention that the payroll to players with a replacement level and slightly above will be drastically reduced. So knowing the MLBPA, they probably won’t take to kindly to careers being shortened and more money being taken out of the pocket of older, borderline MLB quality players. Any idea what ramifications this might have to how owner/player/union agreements will be affected?
As far as I know, Rhodes pitched in one game in West Tenn and did not pitch well.
I believe that the M’s would have been better served by bringing up either Jimenez or Feierabend. Niether of my choices are all that great, but I would take them over Rhodes. Feierabend could also function in RRS’s role (assuming RRS becomes the late inning lefty) or a long reliever if Baek needs to make another start.
Dave,
Pleae come down off your ivory tower and repeat after me one thousand times: I will stop leaping to conclusions about people, and I will politely answer their questions.
I didn’t make a conclusion based upon small sample sizes; I merely asked you a question (“in all seriousness”) and provided Clement’s current stats.
Personally, I would rather see Clement and Balentien on the team versus Norton, Morse and Burke.
I am also certain you have the professional expertise to quickly ascertain whether Clement’s current slugging percentage against right hand pitching is against “…high velocity right-handers…”
The first sentence of my last paragraph is poorly worded. Here is a better version:
Also, for every overpaid vet that isn’t signed, that means that baseball’s overall payroll will be lower, not to mention that the payroll/chunk of the pie going to veteran players with a replacement level and slightly above skillset will be drastically reduced.
I still like ‘Refuse to Lose’ – god I loved that slogan
BTW – i know this is a side note, but are all of our announces going senile?
1) Rizzs is out of his mind … he’s the happiest guy ever even when are losing horribly. I really do like Rick, but boy …
2) Sims is rooting for the other team … lol
3) Dave is amazing, and will always have a special place in my heart – i say we keep him even if he thinks we are the 95 Mariners
4) Blowers is so exciting.
Just my thoughts — Dave to the Hall this year! Rush him in!
I still like ‘Refuse to Lose’ – god I loved that slogan
BTW – i know this is a side note, but are all of our announces going senile?
1) Rizzs is out of his mind … he’s the happiest guy ever even when are losing horribly. I really do like Rick, but boy …
2) Sims is rooting for the other team … lol
3) Dave is amazing, and will always have a special place in my heart – i say we keep him even if he thinks we are the 95 Mariners
4) Blowers is so exciting.
Just my thoughts — Dave to the Hall this year! Rush him in!
And, of course, Clement’s current stats are a small sample size, so coming to any sort of conclusion is superfluous…
BTW, although EOF is still the best lefty reliever in the system, I have little problem with this move. Let him work on control of his fastball and get him back up here.
114
I don’t think there’s any question about it.
/Blowers
Yes…so much so, in fact, that he almost makes one pine for the good old days of Ron Fairly. 😮
You know, he’s a big boy and he can take care of himself, but there’s an absurd amount of snark being directed at Dave today and it needs to come to a screeching halt.
scott119 –
Funny you mention that because they did an FSN top 10 moments at Safeco the other night, and had a few quotes from the Red Fairly days and they were quite classic.
Jeff – I was just saying Dave needs to be announcing the rest of his life (even if he becomes senile) – clearly the best. He just needs Red back.
It’s still rising, and with the cool weather back, the yeast isn’t working so well yet…
I guess Mac has his Veteran Reliever Who’s Been Through Wars for 2008, quite possibly soon to become his Veteran Reliever Who Coughs Up Games.
What, were Rick White and John Parrish not available?
While that’s true for us, if the Mariners are truly in “win now” mode, will they have the patience for the same thing? I remember some whispering that if Sexson didn’t hit the ground running they might yoink him quickly. In a season where they know they can’t afford to waste time on people working things out, I wonder just how much is possible here.
Re 119:
He meant Dave Cameron (the Dave here) not Dave Niehaus.
Geez, can we wait for Rhodes to pitch in a game before we say he can’t? For crying out loud, let’s give the guy a chance. If he has come back from his injury he could be a very helpful piece for the bullpen. Is it simply not possible that McLaren has gotten input from Stottlemyre (inarguably one of the most respected pitching coaches in the league)about Rhodes and Stottlemyre has given him a thumbs-up? Do we not think that Stottlemyre has some input on these decisions? Can’t we wait before we cast judgment? Please?
I agree with Bremerton Guy. Stottlemyre, McLaren and the rest of the crew met last night to work this out. There’s way too many decent arms in Tacoma for McLaren & co to bring up a broken piece…
Long time reader, rare poster.
Just an observation, but this goes both ways…I think this site has sooooo much going for it. Its arguably the best blog/informational baseball site around……but i also think Dave, and his attitude scare off a lot of people.
Instead of responding with sarcasm, or rudeness, simply don’t reply……or better yet, reply with something that isn’t going to irritate everyone except the 15-20 regulars who find this attitude fine, and typically treat new posters or those that aren’t in total agreement, the same way.
You might find being a little more social/friendly might bring some new blood/different opinions to the site, and might make a difference the next time you guys are looking for contributions or donations to keep the site running.
oh, BTW…..bang up piece on Corey Patterson.
Capo, I think Dave’s frustration, as he alluded to in one of the comments, is not with new posters or rational disagreement, it’s with commenters who have been active on the blog for a while and still persist in arguing from the same irrational impulses. If someone is new and doesn’t grasp everything about the discussion, as long as they’re here for an honest exchange of views that’s totally fine and they can pick things up as they go along.
Cappo, the rules of operation here are simple.
Dave and Derek spend a lot of time researching their positions and present a lot of data. When someone comes in here and gets pissy with them, trying to refute hard data with “gut instincts,” they have every right to be annoyed. If you’re going to argue information here, it is expected that you back up your beliefs with hard data and analysis.
Someone over at Lookout Landing probably had the best analogy for the USSM: This is the college classroom of the Mariners blogosphere. Things like “I don’t know why” or “My gut tells me so” aren’t going to fly here and are going to be called out every time.
From what I’ve seen here, as long as you’re genuinely honest and not a total jerk, Dave and Derek will be more than happy to help you and answer your questions.
I understand, to a point…..but i don’t think I’m alone, or really in the minority in my thinking.
I, and I’m sure everyone else, appreciates the time and effort that go into USSM……I think no one can question that. However, i also think that people are entitled to an opinion, and to sharing them. I understand this isn’t a forum, or an “open” site, but at the same time the community is never going to be everything it can be with the elitist, or “know it all” attitude that some take. I’m not directing this solely at Dave….but the truth of the matter is, over the last couple of weeks I’ve seen several people who shouldn’t take that tone or attitude, take it with people who disagree or people who go against the “party line”.
My point is, and then I’ll move on to stuff like tonights game, that it all starts with Dave, and to a lesser point Derek. Not only is the attitude annoying and unnecessary most of the time, but it breeds here…..and guys who really shouldn’t be rude, or obnoxious, start in on people….which leads to all these little arguments/blowups.
No one is right 100% of the time, I’ve seen stuff posted here that was inaccurate or way off base, and just like those people that are hoping Arthur Lee is gonna revert to his 2001 form……you just never know….thats why they play the game.
No, we’re not going down this road again.
This site is what it is. If it’s not the place for you, that’s your decision to make, but there are plenty of us that like this site just fine the way it is.
If you post uninformed, poorly thought out opinions here as if they were fact, you’re going to get called out on it, and if you don’t like the tone of the response, we’ll be happy to refund your full subscription price.
If you want someone to gripe at, feel free to email me at jeffnye@ussmariner.com, but this comment thread is not the place for further “waaah Dave was mean to me” discussion.
I wasn’t implying that, and that post exemplifies 100% what I am talking about…point proven, with “hard data”.
Am I a troll, hardly…..at one point i even offered hardware to go toward the USSM server…..and i read the site daily as part of my rounds to get a variety of opinions, not just from Dave, Derek, etc….but to see what the posters think as well.
If this makes me elitist, so be it, but while I agree that everyone is entitled to an opinion, they aren’t entitled to have anyone else care about that opinion, and most peoples opinions are totally worthless on most subjects.
I care about information, not opinions. Information can be found in an opinion, but just an “I think x will happen” comment doesn’t add anything to any kind of discussion, in my opinion.
If that drives off people who just want a place to voice their opinions about everything, without regard to whether those opinions have any validity, then that’s totally fine with me. They have a ton of places to voice their opinion – there are scarcely few places for people who put time and thought into their opinions can have a discussion, and I’d like to keep this as one of those places.
And, I realize this sounds harsh, I just wish people were more aware of the validity of their own opinions. You shouldn’t care at all what I think about plumbing, electrical engineering, interior decorating, or modern dance. I have no information to add on any of those subjects, and I’m not offended in the least if someone regards any opinions I hold about those topics as worthless.
Dave, as I said, it wasn’t directed solely at you, and I respect the time and effort you put into this place…..I’m saying that it starts with you, then we get others thinking its perfectly ok to treat people that way.
I’d rather see all comments need moderation, or comments not allowed at all. As I emailed Jeff……I see quite often posts asking for support for the site, be it donations…or buying a book. I just think USSM would be in a lot better shape, with a lot less heartache all the way around
You’re probably right – I’d imagine if we wrote differently, our readership would grow and we’d attract more people to read and comment regularly.
I’m not sure that’s a good thing, though.
I do appreciate your thoughts on the subject, though – it’s nice to have someone talk about this without calling me an expletive or six.
I don’t understand the heartache from a blunt response to an unsubstantiated claim.
I only call you those when you are right about bad news
A good rule to go by is to treat the comment threads as a classroom discussion. You can’t just walk into the classroom interrupt and start contradicting the professor with your stupid bulls**t.
There are TONS of places on the internet and in the M’s Blogosphere for everyone’s baseless knee jerk stupid s***, and I’m glad this place is free of that.
If you have a reason to disagree, be sure you can back up that assertion.
wow, thats all I can say….good luck with that.
I see no reason to be less of an elitist on the internet than I am in person.
I asked Dave for his opinion, because I value it. Dave misread my response, and replied with sarcasm instead of answering the question. It wasn’t the first time which is why I responded with sarcasm. Dave and I are big boys and can take care of ourselves.
My question was whether Clement should be called up, and I cited his current stats without making a conclusion on them. I never said Clement should replace Johjima, so I don’t think Jeff’s “panic” argument applies.
Is Clement ready to supplant Burke and Norton offensively? Yes. Is Clement ready to supplant them defensively? Unknown, but they aren’t exactly defensive stars at their positions.
In regards to small sample sizes, I am not bitterly clinging to same.