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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.
Comments
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I look forward to the Knuckle!
What if both Bedard and Morse go to the DL? Does Balentien come up with a Jimenez?
I, along with many, believed that EO,while not being as good as GS52, would do just fine. But his struggles and Putz’s injury have really put a crimp in the bullpen. Not that Mac is really that good at managing a bullpen, but this just exacerbates the Mac’s weakness.
Geoff Baker is quickly becoming one of my least favorite sports writers. Today on his blog he obviously couldn’t find anything to write about so he takes the easy out and starts taking shots at USSMariner. Lazy writing.
I don’t think Baker did that. I felt that he was addressing commenters on his own blog.
I agree with 4. Don’t see anything wrong with what Baker did.
re #3
Baker’s article looked good to me. He was going after one of the more vocal trolls who frequents his site.
Geoff is very good at what he does. He is much better than Stone/Hickey/Street, and to be honest I enjoy reading his blog.
For a second there I thought Dave was talking in the third person.
One of the main premises for Baker’s entry is this “I saw it written on one blog that things could not have gone much worse for the M’s the first two weeks of the season.” Quoting Dave’s post from yesterday, “The first two weeks couldn’t have gone much worse for the M’s.”
Geoff is very good at what he does. He is much better than Stone/Hickey/Street, and to be honest I enjoy reading his blog.
I think quite a few people, including the authors, would disagree with you that Baker is better than Stone. Which is not an insult to Baker, who does a fine job in my book.
I have no problem with Geoff’s post. We like Geoff, and he does a good job.
Fangraphs is great but they need to update their site so it has a google reader feed. If they did that I would read it every day, but without that they have no chance.
I can not link to the Future Forty…Am I doing something wrong, is it software related, or are you still working on getting it to work??
People are going to disagree. USS Mariner isn’t going to be correct 100% of the time, neither is Baker. They are going to have different views about different things. That doesn’t make Baker a bad journalist any more than it makes the work here at USS Mariner less relevant. You shouldn’t dismiss either because one disagrees with the other of whom you are a fan.
I think Geoff has to be far more P.C. with his comments on Seattle Times website and therefore will be a source of information not commentary. USSMariner is the best place to get commentary and what’s actually going on - not someone who has an editor who doesn’t want to make anyone tooo angry.
I thought Baker did a bang-up job through the off season and ST, but now his blog has turned into a PR spin machine for the team. Every other post is some BS about how it could be worse. SO WHAT? It could be better too, and frankly, it should be.
There’s good, and there’s good enough. Baker seems happy with letting the Ms be the latter.
I agree with Baker. Too much pessimissm too soon.
My issue with Geoff’s post today was that it seemed like a cheap shot. Calling out some unnamed blog for being too negative as a setup for an easy post seemed lazy to me. I understand that there will be differences of opinion. Geoff and USSMariner disagreed pretty strongly last year about how Jones should be used. That disagreement was both entertaining and educational. Today’s post struck me as having a different tone.
The post didn’t bother Dave so I’m going to let it go. I should probably wait until afternoon to get grumpy about things because being grumpy comes way to naturally when I first wake up.
On top of what I wrote earlier - I couldn’t agree more — these guys (M’s) are in a big big money industry and when things are wrong those ‘wrong’ things must be pointed out somewhere.
You are telling me I should pay for a product I don’t like all the time, and have no place to complain about it?
I’ll read GEEE-OFF when I want to know the starting lineups. I see nothing but bland facts reporting on his website.
USSMariner ’till we win the ‘CHIP this year
Sweet. The plan for assimilation is coming together.
Hey, Dave. Fangraphs has like 5 team blogs. Any plans to expand to that area? As if you’re not stretched thin enough..
I too like to read Baker’s blog, but he does get his jabs at USSM in. Including the one today about the Indians being the prototypical club and them currently being sub .500. I kind of wish he wouldn’t do that, it kind of discredits his blog in my opinion. Also, awhile back he mentioned that he was a big hockey fan and they would boo their team anytime they lost consecutive games. Then in the same breath says he doesn’t understand Seattle fans and why they are so quick to get down on their team.
Back on topic, I like the EO move, he’s been throwing meat lately. Dickey has earned this chance and it will be fun to watch. Any chance Wlad will replace Morse to platoon in right, that is if Morse does indeed go on the DL? Or is it more likely that it will be another pitcher that gets the call and Norton does the platooning?
I don’t see Baker singling anyone out in that entry. Keep in mind there are a lot of Mariner blogs, each with a lot of readers practically lining up at the cliff to jump after this weekend. He makes a lot of good points, mainly that while a lot went wrong, a lot has gone right as well.
The season isn’t necessarily any more lost than it was when this season started. This team still is what it is. This is a limited team with a weak bench and a thinner bullpen than last year. Harping on old facts serves little utility.
As this is a Roundup post, I hope this is an okay topic. I understand if it isn’t, but I’d really like your take on it. John Shields over at Bleeding Blue and Teal has a post in favor of benching Johjima here. His argument is that Johjima isn’t good at calling games, and he lists pitchers’ averages when caught by Johjima and when caught by other catchers. There has been discussion here before about exactly how much any of the Seattle catchers actually get to call the pitches vs. having the pitches called in from the dugout, and how little the catcher really affects the outcome. I know we’re also likely dealing with small sample size when looking at numbers of games caught by backup catchers. Still, do you think John’s theory holds any water?
Norton would make a lousy platoon with Wilk since almost all of Norton’s value as a hitter comes from him hitting from the left side of the plate.
Benching Johjima is ridiculous.
About Dickey, does he throw anything other than the knuckleball now, or is it all knuckle all the time?
More lousy than .161 with .194 slg? I looked at his numbers with Tacoma so far against RH pitchers and they were indeed worse, but that’s only 7 PA. Are we looking at Brad full time then?
Re 25
Supposedly he’s got two different knuckleballs, a slow and hard knuckle. In addition he throws a low-to-mid 80s fastball to keep hitters honest.
Are we looking at Brad full time then?
Wilkerson full-time was already a better-looking option than platooning with Morse.
28 - I agree and we’ve covered Brad’s splits, but given that they’ve gone with the decision to platoon him, what now?
I agree - benching Johjima would be completely ridiculous. Who is this guy running the Bleeding Blue and Teal Blog? Joh is a professional and will be a big part of this ride.
huh? CHIP? CHIPS?
msb–So which one is Ponch? Dave or DMZ?
What gives you the impression that the Mariners are committed to platooning Wilkerson no matter what, even if his ostensible platoon partner isn’t available?
My last post is unclear. I don’t know that they are committed to platooning Brad no matter what. I’m asking if Morse goes on the DL, or even not after last nights performance, if we think it will stay a platoon and if so, who that will likely be. I should have just kept this to myself…
I’m getting less and less inclined to care about what Geoff Baker says, which saddens me because he was actually really good at first.
These days, a lot of what he posts on his blog would be eaten by ponies if he were to post it as a comment here, instead.
There isn’t exactly a cliff to jump off of if you think the M’s are a .500-ish club, and two weeks in, they have a .500-ish record.
The good news, such as it is, is that nobody in the AL West is going to remind anyone of the 1939 Yankees, so this could end up being a year where an 86 win team makes the playoffs, and pure luck could have it that the M’s might be that team.
While I don’t agree that Baker has been taking any shots USSM in his blog postings, I definitely feel like he annoys the crap out of me.
Geoff has always rubbed me the wrong way and his past in Toronto pretty much backs up my feeling that he has and always be anti-USSMariner and pro-”Good Ole boy’s club”: .
Yay first post!
Here’s the link again…
Hey look, I know HTML! No, really!
He definitely isn’t my favorite blogger. I love his videos and pictures, but his thoughts annoy me.
I don’t mind Baker’s stuff because he lays out why he thinks the way he does. On the other hand, his posters are getting more and more insane and there are only a couple whose names I recognize that I read anymore. He doesn’t have the ability to control his posters and I think his attempts to deal with them through his comments lead to his poorest entries. In person, he’s smarter guy than some of his entries would lead me to believe.
I think that every sportswriter at the Seattle Times not named Larry Stone needs to be sent a copy of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style and be forced to read it. Although each writer has his own peculiar peccadilloes, there is nothing that following Strunk and White wouldn’t cure. Lazy style is what I find annoying.
41 I agree about the quality of the blog comments at Baker’s blog. The commentators on the Seattle Times’ sports blogs, across the board, are borderline demented. Try visiting the UW Football blog when things get going. You’ll regret wasting whatever time you spent there reading the comments of any but a handful of posters.
It’s the same bland BS on the Seattle Time’s forums as well … if you go there and have any brains on your head concerning baseball (strategy, etc..) you would go insane.
I COULDN’T AGREE MORE NYE
Sexson leads the team with a 0.51 WPA - good for 9th in the AL. Who’d a thunk it?
Re The Oaf: To paraphrase an old Saran wrap commercial, “a lion won’t swing at what a lion can’t see.”
Slippery:
that is complete comedy
but it is true, Sexsons OBP is drastically higher than expected.
I’m trying to get live radio at KJR online. I just get a message saying they aren’t allowed to broadcast NCAA basketball and it plays porn music. Technical help please?
I think KJR is talking about NASCAR right now. Huh???
Groz is on now.. but they’re talking auto racing?
Actually, Dave is not on the radio. Someone came on to discuss auto racing.
It’s some chick talking about racing now. Where are you Dave?
Expecting to hear Dave and instead get NASCAR? Talk about a letdown.
NASCAR can only be more interesting if everyone was under the influence.
Dickey and Rhodes up…Eric O down…Morse to 15 Day DL…Ms website…
Damn, I was almost done building my shrine to EOF.
Did I miss the KJR thing, or did it get moved?
So Seattle is going with the 4 man bench? Hmmmmmm.
Is there any reason to believe Rhodes is good? Or is he just being called up because of his super veteran powers.
Is this KJR filler music supposed to be playing for this long?
this
Rhodes is being called up because he wears his glove on his right hand.
Mac said they were going with 12 pitchers for now…which probably means the rest of the season…
Can they take back the “designated for assignment” tab on Jimerson now…
58: Our bench was barely a 4 man bench when we had 5 men on it
Burke, Bloomquist, Cairo and Norton. That’s officially the worst bench in baseball.
Sorry - no KJR gig today.
You’d think having a five man bench that was “officially the worst bench in baseball” would be as low as you could go. Hah! That’s the flexible thinking the Mariners are famous for.
So (besides today) has Dave not done the KJR gig for a few weeks or am I not looking hard enough? I like a website that gives me a challenge.
Sorry Rhodes haters, but this was the right move.
Welcome to 2008 in America, where anyone who thinks for themselves is a “hater”.
Twelve pitchers is not surprising when you don’t know when one of those twelve, a starter, will be available to pitch again.
Rhodes called up! ARTHUR LEE IS BACK!
So excited to go to the safe tonight … see you guys there.
Dave, great comment.
I don’t think Dave’s been on KJR since 3/31.
Let me say that I am so, so, so excited to see Arthur Lee back in the pen. I would love to see a resurgance from him, someone who can really be the stopper in the pen.
I think R.A. Dickey has a chance to be a very legit long term reliever/maybe spot starter. A couple of knuckleballs along with a low-mid 80’s fastball, in theory, sounds like it could really keep some hitters off balance.
I was once on the Morse bandwagon, but I’m glad to see him gone. He isn’t ready at a major league level yet.
Face it Dave, EOF has been a flop. That’s not to say that he won’t work it out, but you seem to get bitter when one of your “predictions” is way off. I know you are anti-experience but I will be a lot more comfortable seeing Rhodes coming out of the pen. Alright, everyone commence tearing me apart for disagreeing with your fearless leader.
75– Disagreeing with Dave is one thing. I’ve been known to do that and lived to tell. Your comments in 69 were just childish.
Dave,
In all seriousness, I am wondering how long you would go with Johjima before calling up Clement?
Here are Clement’s current splits:
Right hand pitching:
.348, .464, .739, 1.203
Left hand pitching:
.400, .455, .400, .855
I’ve retyped a response to doedoedoe a few times, but I quite literally don’t know what to say.
Other than go away.
Comfortable with the Rhodes whose only outing since spring training lasted 1/3 of an inning and gave up three runs?
I don’t care whether you agree with me or not. I do care that you think for yourself, have rational thoughts, and have a reason for what you believe. Your feeling of comfortability is totally irrelevant to the discussion. When it comes to making decisions, there are good reason to do certain things and not others, and your feelings/opinions/emotions just don’t matter.
If you want to add some information to the discussion, awesome. Have a reason why you think Arthur Rhodes is going to get people out - great, I’d love to hear it. Have a feeling that it’s going to work? I couldn’t care less.
In all seriousness, I am wondering how long you would go with Johjima before calling up Clement?
You just need to recite “recent performance doesn’t matter nearly as much as I think it does” to yourself about 1,000 times. Every discussion we have revolves around you making bad assumptions based on small samples of recent performance.
W/R/T EOF and Johjima: It’s April 14th!
Rhodes is 38 you’re not calling up 2000 or even 2001 Arthur Lee. You’re calling up a pitcher who’s old and coming off surgery who in ‘06 gave up more fly balls and line drives than ground balls and if you’ve seen our outfield defense that is bad news. It’s not a bad idea right now if he’s ready but it’s not going to fix any bullpen issues over the course of the season.
And I don’t even want to see Clement until September.
Alright, everyone commence tearing me apart for disagreeing with your fearless leader.
How does it feel, being so irrelevant in life that you feel the need to irritate random people just to be noticed?
As an M’s fan,it is hard for me to forgive Arthur Lee for that 3-1 fastball he threw to Bernie Williams that totally changed the momentum of that playoff series during the 116 win season. Wasnt he old then? That was almost 10 years ago for gods sake.
How long should the Red Sox wait until they call up someone to replace David Ortiz? He’s sucking worse than Johjima (hey, for once the M’s DH isn’t the worst in the league!)
Bringing up Clement at this point would be a sign of sheer panic. It’s too early to be in panic mode.
Arthur Rhodes is not the answer to any question the Mariners should be asking. Boy, it sure would be nice to have a dominant lefty reliever right about now…
I’m just a little worried about the likelihood of a 38-year-old guy suddenly pitching like the last time he was good, five years ago or whenever it was. I mean, Goose Gossage is available, but do you want him?
What was the name of that reliever we had last year who was pretty good — Cheryl something? Whatever happened to him?
Alright, everyone commence tearing me apart for disagreeing with your fearless leader.
I’m not sure the USSMariner body has a head, but it certainly has an ass.
Alright, guys, let’s get back on track please, as much as I sympathize with the sentiment.
oh, great, now I am picturing all the guys dressed as Fearless Leader.
I went to ‘SC, I’ve seen Clement play. I think he is a great talent, but HE IS NOT ready for the BIGS yet. I don’t care how much he is tearing up Minor League pitching, Johjima is a proven, reliable catcher. How can you possible jump ship at this point?
Some of you might be thinking right now, how is his situation is different than Sexson?
1) At the catching position you flat out dont need / expect power numbers you would expect out of Sexson.
2) Johjima has sucked for about 11 games, Sexson hasn’t in over 1 year.
Clement is not ready for the bigs yet … and yes, it is a huge panic move.
Not to mention the message it would send to the players. They like Joh and I like Joh
87-All I can think of after that is the line from the movie “Major League” when Jake Taylor shows up.
“He was an all star in Boston”
“Wish we would have had him 2 years ago”
“We did”
“4 years ago then”
Defensively probably not. I’d argue his bat is though. I think Vidro is the one that needs to be watching his back, not Johjima.
Should we consider what was NOT mentioned (Bedard to the DL) in today’s roster moves to be good news?
What are the chances that the M’s open up a spot on the 25-man roster for Morse when he comes off the DL? Seems like he’s pretty much played his way out of a job and probably (since he’s out of options) out of the organization.
oh, great, now I am picturing all the guys dressed as Fearless Leader.
I think Derek’s the fearless leader. Dave’s the power behind the throne.
And Graham’s the guy on the pink pony.
*runs for cover*
Dan W:
They put Bedard on the DL? I thought they did not do that
Johjima deserves a few months to get back on track. This hysteria/scapegoating surrounding him is the NFL equivalent of going bonkers because your team is 0-1. If you wanna blame someone, blame Mike Morse, we can be 100% sure that he sucks.
Please tell me that “pink pony” is an euphemism.
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.