Game 119, Mariners at Angels
The Bus vs. Garland. 7:05
I’ve been in Denver on a sort of working vacation (and sometimes ssh’d into USSM at crazy hours) and I have one thing I’d like to say:
They let you bring beverages into Coors Field. Anyone at Safeco Field who tells you that it’s anything but a naked attempt to inconvenience you and drive up concession sales (or, at best, security theater) is lying. Go M’s!
While I was gone:
– Turbo was thrown overboard
– Morrow left to try and become the starter we see in him
– RRS came up to take a rotation spot
– WFB got injured, possibly out for the season though I haven’t checked the news in a day or so
– Silva went off
– Drayer got fired
The roster stuff is great — I was so happy to see the team making these kind of moves — but as much of a rational, level-headed guy I try to be, I wondered if maybe Dave wasn’t going to ask me if I could perhaps relocate to Colorado starting with the 2008 off-season.
But I’m back! Ready to settle in and enjoy watching the M’s again, instead of the Rockies.
Game 109, Orioles at Mariners
Garrett Olson v Jarrod Washburn.
Baker made a good argument about the Mariner-Yankee trade negotiations in his recent coverage: it’s that the M’s, if all it was going to be was a salary dump, had no incentive to make the deal then. They could just as easily salary dump the Bus through waivers by putting Washburn on waivers and letting anyone who claimed him take the contract (at which point they dust their hands off and congratulate themselves on a job well done). And maybe that’s the Yankees… but maybe it isn’t. Buuttt probably it is.
If I understand my Major League Rule 10 correctly, if there’s only one waiver claim, it goes to that team. If there’s two in the same league, lower record. If everyone claims, it’s the same league, worst record.
And there’s the crazy part: who in the AL holds a worse record than the Yankees and wants to take on that salary? It could well be that the Yankees demanded they give up nothing because they figured that if the M’s waived Washburn because they wanted to rid themselves of the contract, he’d wash up on their beach.
That’s a crazy rule, by the way. There are a bunch of teams in the NL contending with worse records and who could also afford Jarrod.
The downside, though, is that Washburn’s value right now exists as a precarious balance, where the massive cost of his remaining year-and-something looks worth taking on based on superficially good results lately — but there’s enough reluctance that teams wouldn’t give up premium prospects, or the M’s would have moved him. But the M’s need to move him for next year, and he’s just not that good.
What happens if Washburn’s starts give Washburn results, and his value plunges? The team may have to pay part of his deal to move him. But if he continues to pitch well, how much does his value go up? Each start risks the chance to rid the team of his 2009 salary.
Game 102, Mariners at Blue Jays
Batista vs. Parrish.
Sorry for the late game thread; then again, it might not be that fun to talk about.
Have at it, though.
Game 101, Red Sox at Mariners
1:40. Buchholz vs Felix.
Happy Felix Day!
Game 100, Red Sox at Mariners
Matsuzaka versus Dickey.
Game 99, Red Sox at Mariners
7:10. Thank goodness Jarrod Washburn has returned to the rotation!
I’m so glad. Fun facts about Jarrod:
– he finished 4th in AL Cy Young voting only six years ago
– he’s a workhorse, who has started over 30 games every year since 2001 except 2004 and 2005
– his career ERA is under 4.13, far below league average
– he has a career winning percentage over .500 despite playing for the 06-08 Mariner teams
– despite having pitched over 1600 innings, he’s walked only 500 batters and given up just over 200 home runs
– at the same time, he’s struck out nearly a thousand batters — that’s almost the magic 2:1 ratio analysts and scouts look for!
– he averages a balk only once every four years
– because of the below-market contract he signed with the Mariners, he’s under team control for another season! He’s a cost-certain bargain this year and next!
– his baseball-reference page can be sponsored for only $20?
– he’s 97-0 with a 2.12 ERA in games where he’s awarded a win
– he holds opposing lefties to a .245/.302/.399 line
– he’s a seasoned playoff veteran
And he’s left-handed! It’s all true. I hope no astute team trades for him, because he’s the heart and soul of this Mariner staff.
Ichiro, two-time ASG MVP
Do it! Do it!
And I don’t want to be a spoil sport, but seriously: I don’t care about Yankee Stadium. At all. It’s not the House that Ruth built, it got torn down and rebuilt since then, and if it’s all that amazing, why build a new one. Phhhblllttt. Self-involved New Yorkers, always thinking the world is listening raptly to their boring-ass stories of what they stepped in on the sidewalk or sat on in the subway.
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Game 96, Mariners at Royals
Silva v Davies. 11:10 our time
It’d be great to head into the break with a quality win.
Game 94, Mariners at Royals
Felix Day! wooo! The return of Felix Day!
Felix v Hochevar, 5:10 our time
Game 91, Mariners at Athletics
Batista v Blanton. Batista! He’s back, in starter form! 7:05.
Mariner lineup, by OBP
RF-L .360
2B-R .318
LF-L .344
1B-R .315
1B-B .260
3B-R .324
CF-L .340
DH-R .260
C-L .274
SS-R .278
(AL average up to today is .332)