First Cuts, 2K8

Remember the first round of cuts in Major League? Well those red tags went up in 12 players lockers today. In the great words of Jake Taylor, they all just died and went down to the minors. Here's the quick list of those reassigned and a key release from last year's squad.

Horacio Ramirez - Released from the team. I feel for the guy. He went 8-7 although his ERA was horrendous - above 7. Not nearly talented enough to be a starter in this league, but went out last year and worked his tail off as our fifth starter. Although I'm excited about our rotation without him, we shouldn't be all that happy to see him go. Let's give him some credit for going out there every fifth day and working with what he had, and compiling a winning record.

Phillippe Aumont - our first round pick this year was sent to the minors. An immensely talented righty hopes to be a stud in our rotation in the next few years, but definitely not ready for the Bigs yet. He did look very good though in his first spring outings of his career.

Annnd not many surprises among the rest.
Joe Woerman
Yung Chi Chen
Jair Fernandez
Adam Moore
Brant Ust
Bronson Sardinha
Mark Kiger
Bryan LaHair
Brodie Downs
Stephen Kahn
Robert Rohrbaugh

and to hold us over until the seasonal opener..........


MLB 2K8 is HERE!!


So I finally got to sit down and play the only real option we proud 360 owners have for a baseball simulator this year. Curse you Sony for owning the rights to The Show. That game is ballin'. But anyway, 2K8 is actually much better than I was expecting. Besides Bedard not being on the initial roster (thank you XBox Live for free downloads) and pitching and baserunning being insanely difficult, we finally have a game that looks genuinely real. It's the little details and subtle movements that real players make during games that catch your eye. Ichiro's routine is animated perfectly (although does he seem a little chubby to anyone else?) and if you watch Dontrelle Willis, he even has the little shoulder shrug after every pitch. His hat is also perfect.

Looks like somebody sucks with the laser. That's what would happen if I let 2K8 get in the way of my uber laser pwnage.

However I am ashamed to admit that this game has taken a backseat to Halo 3. My spring break demanded it. I have a week straight free of any responsibilities here on campus, and pwning noobs was by far my number one priority. But I guarantee you that once baseball season starts, I will need 2K8 to step up and dominate my life, which I have no doubt will happen.

Time to Get Serious

Now that it is spring break, I can finally get down to business and get back to informing you all about my thoughts on spring training and our beloved Mariners.

In the week that was:

Tue @ Oak - L 9-6
Wed LAA - W 6-5
Thu @ Mil - W 5-2
Fri @ ChC - L 6-4

Just some quick notes worth mentioning about this week. King Felix went 4 decent innings against Milwaukee, giving up a moon shot to Ryan Braun and another homer to Rickie Weeks (wtf). But still he pitched well, which is more than we can say about Silva against Chicago. But to be honest I'm still going to back Silva even though we did grossly overpay for him. I think that a pitcher who lets hitters put it in play in the huge park that is Safeco is going to yield some surprisingly good results. Also, Ichiro is now 0-10. It is just so weird seeing him not hit. He took the Milwaukee game off again to work on his swing in the cages, so he should be fine.

I want you all to know that once I can actually start watching the games instead of just reading about them, this is going to get a lot more interesting. What I plan on doing is to give you all of the little nuances from every game that you won't hear about on Sportscenter or in the recaps. But until then, please keep reading for updates throughout the spring, as I will continue posting about how we are doing.

Spring Updates cont.

Spring Record (3-2)

L 10-11 vs SD

OK, so we are mortal. But even with the loss, a lot of good came out of this game. King Felix looked like his old brilliant self, which is awesome news since I just traded for him in my fantasy league. Also, Wladimir Balentien went yard twice, showing some flashes of power. I really hope he can have a big spring and show something during the regular season in that hole we have in right field.

W 6-2 vs SD
So apparently all we do is play the Padres. BUT we roughed up Jake Peavy pretty good. The bats are really coming around, and if this is any indication of what this year is going to be like, I am PUMPED.

L 6-5 vs ChC
First the good. Wash looked great through 3 innings, not giving up a run. But not much else to praise here. So I have my first concerns of the spring pop up here. Through 5 games, Ichiro doesn't have a hit. Not that that is much of a concern, he will still bat .350. But still, it's very strange to not see him dominating 19 year olds. Also, JEFF SAMARDZIJA got the win in this game. Yeah, the freaking surfer bum wide receiver from Notre Dame. This does not make me happy.

Baseball is Offically Here

This is the happiest time of the entire year.

I think what makes me the happiest of all is the fact that we are now seeing baseball players wearing uniforms out on that beautiful field instead of wearing suits in front of congressional hearings. This is why this is America's past time. Because no matter how bad things get, the love of the game will always conquer all, and it is the one sport that we can honestly say will never die in this country. Long after the NFL, NBA, MLS, and NHL die out (hopefully a long long long time from now), MLB will be the last one standing.

You know what else makes me happy? Fantasy baseball. Last night we had our draft, and let me tell you, there is no better time when a group of your best friends get together for 4 hours to completely trash on each other and make you question your friendships.

I'll go over some quick highlights.

-Troy came late because he was at a ballet. Homo.
-Kyle didn't show up at all, and Dan and Mike called him over 30 times a piece, swearing at him the entire time. Hilarious.
-I got the first pick. A-Rod. Obviously. Suck it.
-Jason brought his 2006 Fantasy Baseball Championship trophy to mock my grand total of zero baseball championships. This year I take it from him. And I still have never lost a football championship. Suck it.
-Mike printed out my entire draft sheet to use. Which I was fine with because it was the original draft and mine was completely different. However, it did suck because he took Felix right before I was about to. Sooo angry. Got Bedard though in the 5th. So it's ok.
-Dan took Khalil Greene. In case you didn't know, Greene went to Clemson. So it instantly makes both Dan and his team a bunch of douchebags.
-18 game winner Kelvim Escobar went undrafted.

All in all it was an awesome night, besides the fact I stayed up until about 5 in the morning getting curb stomped in Halo.

SPRING UPDATE

OK, now for a Mariners update.

The best way I can describe our spring performance so far is like this - "We are the greatest team ever and will never lose again."

And if you think I'm exaggerating.... I am.

But still 2-0 babyyy.

W 10-3 vs SD
JEREMEY REED WENT YARD!!! haha, if you don't know me, I actually really like Jeremy Reed. Not so much for his playing ability (good scrappy player, but can't really hit), but just as a personal favorite player. BUT HE WENT YARD! Enjoy that because it probably won't ever happen again.

W 5-3 @ SF
Hmmm. Bedard looked shaky. 2 IP 3 ER. Not too happy about that. BUT I am happy about the 3 runs in the 9th. Shows we know how to come through in the clutch. Haha, I love making spring training more than it really is.