Mariners of the East Coast

It's a Wonderful Life Once Again

2008-04-01T01:26:00.005-04:00

Seattle Mariners vs Tex W 5-2
Los Angeles Dillweeds of Anaheim @ Min L 2-3

AL WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
Seattle	1	0	1.000	-	1-0	0-0	5	2	Won 1	1-0
Oakland	1	1	.500	.5	1-1	0-0	10	7	Won 1	1-1
Texas	0	1	.000	1	0-0	0-1	2	5	Lost 1	0-1
LA Angels	0	1	.000	1	0-0	0-1	2	3	Lost 1	0-1

Opening day could not have been any more glorious. Our Mariners started the season off on the right foot. Before the game, Ichiro was presented with a-freakin-nother Gold Glove and the Louisville Silver Slugger Award. To anyone reading this - please appreciate what this guy is doing. He is an absolute joy to watch and you are not going to see a more well rounded player for years. Not only one of the most exciting players to watch, but notice the attention to detail in every aspect of his game. It is beautiful. Then the one and only Drew Niehaus threw out the first pitch, dressed to kill I might add.

On to the game. Erik Bedard went 5 giving up only 1 run, but he did manage to throw 106 pitches and walked 4, which was definitely concerning. All throughout spring he's had walk issues, and tonight did not do anything to calm our nerves. But still you cannot argue with one run given up, and the bullpen did a fantastic job as well. And let me tell you, it will never get old seeing JJ come in to shut the door. The Safe just becomes absolutely electric. And hearing that crowd erupt after that last fastball he blew by Hamilton was a perfect ending.

First Cuts, 2K8

2008-03-13T17:45:00.015-04:00

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

2008-03-08T20:28:00.001-05:00

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.

2008-03-03T23:51:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-01T13:37:00.002-05:00

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.

My Oh My!!

2008-02-19T19:14:00.005-05:00

It is a fantastic day in Mariner country.

After only one season of being able to watch Seattle games with the hometown feed (thank you MLB.tv), I already know why everybody loves Dave Niehaus. When I first heard him, I thought he was a little corny, but after watching a couple of games, I absolutely loved listening to him. When he gets excited, you can tell it is 100% pure and honest love of the game that comes with those old fashioned lines.

And now he's headed to Cooperstown. With the Mariners since their birth, he has been in the booth for 31 years and has done so with unheard of reliability - 4817 of 4899 games (thanks to this article for that tidbit). That includes two angioplasties by the way. Now he is the proud winner of the Ford C. Frick Award and headed to the hall.

My, oh my indeed.

(thanks to www.princeton-indiana.com for the sweet pic)

My Personal Fantasy Player Values

2008-02-16T21:49:00.004-05:00

Well, although about 100% of the people who read this are also in my fantasy league, I am posting the very list that I will be using in this year's fantasy drafts. Mainly because I want to hear some reactions. Now remember, these values are given based on not only the production that is expected, but they are determined by how much value they will be to your team based on what position they play. Don't for a second think that I believe that BJ Upton is a top 10 player in the game today.

The ELITES: If you don't have a top 3 pick, PRAY that one of these guys finds a way to drop to you.

Chase Utley 122.667

A-Rod 120

Jose Reyes 118.8

1st Round Material: These are the guys who you can definitely be excited about having on your team.

Hanley Ramirez 115.2

David Wright 114

Jimmy Rollins 114

Miguel Cabrera 114

BJ Upton 112

Alfonso Soriano 111.76

Matt Holiday 111.76

Studs: These are the rest of the top tier players that will round out the 2nd round. If you can get one in the third round, be ecstatic.

Carl Crawford 110.588

Vladimir Guerrero 109.411

Carlos Beltran 109.411

Brandon Phillips 109.33

Ryan Braun 109.2

Aramis Ramirez 109.2

Ichiro Suzuki 108.235

Derek Jeter 108

Albert Pujols 106.67

The Best of the Rest: Here is the last tier of players that can dominate.

Brian Roberts 106.67

Grady Sizemore 105.88

Troy Tulowitzki 105.6

Garrett Atkins 105.6

Manny Ramirez 104.7

Curtis Granderson 103.529

Lance Berkman 103.529

Johan Santana 103.385

Ryan Howard 102.4

David Ortiz 102.4

Prince Fielder 102.4

Alex Rios 102.35

Jake Peavy 102.308

Josh Beckett 102.308

Erik Bedard 102.308

Brandon Webb 102.308

CC Sabathia 102.308

Victor Martinez 102

JJ Putz 102

Jonathan Papelbon 102

Adrian Beltre 102

Robinson Cano 101.33

Felix Hernandez 101.23

Roy Halladay 101.23

Francisco Rodriguez 100.8

Cole Hamels 100.153

Dan Haren 100.153

Magglio Ordonez 100

The Rest: OK, so here is how I rank the rest, and at this point I will be strictly choosing the top available player from the list for the position I need. This is honestly where it gets up in the air. Those first 3 or 4 picks you took from the lists above will be your workhorses, but these are the guys who are going to win you championships

Howie Kendrick 100

Rickie Weeks 100

Joe Nathan 99.6

Carlos Zambrano 99.077

John Lackey 99.077

Ben Sheets 99.077

Gary Sheffield 98.823

Carlos Lee 98.823

Eric Byrnes 98.823

Placido Polanco 98.667

Russell Martin 98.4

Michael Young 98.4

Miguel Tejada 98.4

Carlos Guillen 98.4

Roy Oswalt 98

Dustin Pedroia 97.33

Dan Uggla 97.33

Joe Mauer 97.2

Billy Wagner 97.2

Bobby Jenks 97.2

Justin Verlander 96.923

Brad Penny 96.923

Bobby Abreu 96.47

Rafael Furcal 96

JJ Hardy 96

Takashi Saito 96

Adam Dunn 95.29

Mark Teixeira 94.933

Mariano Rivera 94.8

Brian McCain 94.8

Jorge Posada 94.8

Lance Berkman 93.866

Justin Morneau 93.866

Kenji Johjima 93.6

Ivan Rodriguez 93.6

Ian Kinsler 93.33

Jose Valverde 92.4

Edgar Renteria 92.4

Jhonny Peralta 92.4

Derek Lee 91.733

Travis Hafner 91.733

Javier Vazquez 91.538

Orlando Cabrera 91.2

Stephen Drew 91.2

Victor Martinez 90.667

Kelly Johnson 90.667

Orlando Hudson 90.667

Fausto Carmona 90.461

Trevor Hoffman 90

Chone Figgins 90

Jarrod Saltalamacchia 90

Francisco Liriano 89.308

Scott Kazmir 89.308

Tim Lincecum 89.308

Phil Hughes 89.308

John Smoltz 89.308

Pedro Martinez 89.308

Ryan Zimmerman 88.8

Chipper Jones 88.8

Alex Gordon 88.8

Francisco Cordero 88.8

Daisuke Matsuzaka 88.308

Mike Lowell 87.6

Carlos Guillen 87.466

Torii Hunter 87.059

Vernon Wells 87.059

Kaz Matsui 86.66

Paul Konerko 86.4

Huston Street 86.4

Hideki Matsui 85.88

Jason Bay 85.88

Khalil Green 85.2

Carlos Pena 84.266

Garrett Atkins 84.266

Jason Varitek 84

Ramon Hernandez 84

Jered Weaver 82.923

Jermaine Dye 82.353

Hunter Pence 82.353

Raul Ibanez 82.353

Nick Markakis 81.176

Chris Young 81.176

Andruw Jones 81.176

Brad Hawpe 81.176

Adrian Gonzalez 81.066

Tim Hudson 80.769

Todd Helton 80

Delmon Young 80

Johnny Damon 80

Pat Burrell 80

AJ Burnett 79.69

James Loney 78.933

Nick Swisher 78.933

Alex Gordon 78.933

Josh Fields 78.82

Shane Victorino 78.82

Nick Swisher 78.82

Jeff Francis 78.615

Jeff Francoeur 77.647

Aaron Rowand 77.647

Chien-Ming Wang 77.538

Aaron Harang 77.538

Ken Griffey Jr. 76.47

Jacoby Ellsbury 76.47

Jeremy Bonderman 76.461

Chris Young 75.384

Rich Harden 75.384

John Maine 75.384

Carlos Delgado 74.667

Matt Kemp 74.117

Kelvim Escobar 71.07

Brett Myers 71.07

James Shields 70

Juan Pierre 69.411

Rich Hill 68.923

Dontrelle Willis 68.923

Matt Cain 68.923

Clay Buchholz 67.846

Fantasy Baseball - Building a Championship Team

2008-02-15T13:45:00.003-05:00

Sorry it's been a while, but it was a crazy week at school. Finally catching a breather.

First of all I want to say congratulations to Dan and Jason for winning our league’s championships in its first two years of existence. They had fantastic teams and fantastic seasons. I wanted to get that out of the way because, like any good friends, they will be the first to point out that I do not have the credentials to write an article about how to build a championship caliber team, since I have yet to win one.

But, I feel like I am a very solid fantasy baseball player, and I consistently build teams that take me deep into the playoffs. So here we go, here are my rules to live by for draft day. By the way, I’m sure most of these apply to Rotisserie style leagues also, but I always play head-to-head, and that is where these lessons have come from.

1. Know your league’s scoring system. While most leagues are generally consistent with their scoring, there are plenty of customizable leagues to play in. You are going to be mad as hell once you draft an all-star SP rotation only to realize that pitching categories count for only a third of the scoring system you are in. Take a look at which categories you are going to need to win, and draft accordingly.

2. Put some time into your draft day material. For those of you who don’t know, I am a numbers guy. And the numbers don’t lie. So I put together a “weighted” rankings list. There are many different ways of doing this, but here is my general formula. This may take a little time on your part, but it is not difficult at all to work out.

Now, you are probably used to just making a list for each position with each player listed down the line, and probably a comprehensive ranking list of every player in the league. That is definitely a good thing, but my weighted system will give you a much better draft day list and is very easy to follow.

Rating = (Player Grade) * (D) / (D – 0.5) where D = Position Deepness Rating

a) You are going to give each position a “deepness” rating. To determine this rating, first look at all available players at that position, and count how many “quality” players are available. By “quality”, I mean any player that you wouldn’t even think twice about taking. For each position, take that number and divide it by the number of slots available you have on your team. For example, say that I like 21 quality OF’s. I would then divide that by 3 because I start 3 OF’s to get a deepness rating of 7. Say I like 6 quality 1B. I would divide by 1 to get a deepness rating of 6. From here on out, I will refer to this rating as “D”.

b) Now comes the fun part. For each player, you are going to grade on a scale of 1 to 100, with 1 being horrible (e.g. Jeff Weaver) and A-Rod being a 100. This is where your personal preferences come in. You can take into account whatever you want when grading each player. Even if he’s a stud but you know you’d absolutely never want him on your team and wouldn’t mind taking someone else, feel free to give him a 0 so he falls off your radar. And be sure to take into account rule #1 I gave you – take into consideration your scoring categories. If the only real help a closer is going to be to is just in the Saves category, do NOT rate him nearly as high as position players.

c) Then for each player, you take their grade and multiply it by D for their respective position, then divide that answer by (D – 0.5). We do this last part just to even out the final ratings (no real scientific reason for the exact number, but that is the formula I use that has given me the most useful final Rating). This gives you their final Rating. And now, you can make your position by position list like you had before, but now you can use the same final Rating to make your comprehensive list of all players. Your final results may surprise you, but this will give you the best list that not only supports your league set-up type, but also your personal views on each player and their positions.

Like I said, very simple, but very effective.

Rating = (Player Grade) * (D) / (D – 0.5) where D = Position Deepness Rating

If you need a visual example, here are a few players at the top of most fantasy lists with example scores I gave them.

3B A-Rod 100

SS Jose Reyes 95

SP Johan Santana 90

1B Prince Fielder 90

2B Chase Utley 92

Say I like four quality 3B, three quality SS, twelve quality SP (remember – 2 slots on roster), five quality 1B, and two quality 2B.

Final Ratings

A-Rod = (100)*(4)/(3.5) = 114.2857

Reyes = (96)*(3)/(2.5) = 114

Santana = (90)*(6)/(5.5) = 98.1818

Prince = (90)*(5)/ (4.5) = 100

Chase = (92)*(2)/(1.5) = 122.6667

So if I had the number 1 pick, believe it or not this ranking system has me taking Chase Utley over A-Rod because of how scarce good fantasy second basemen there are. And you can see that even though Johan and Prince were given an equal original score, Prince gets the boost because his Deepness factor was a lower D.

3. Do not fill a bench spot with any pick before round 10. STARTERS FIRST!! This is so idiotic but people still will be filling backup roles before they even have a catcher and a second baseman.

4. Your bench should look like this. Offense – 1 or 2 bench players who can fill multiple positions. Pitching – this is where the majority of your bench should be. Load up your bench with starting pitchers (for most standard head to head leagues). If you have a lot of guys to start every single week, you’ll have a much better chance to take the categories like Wins, K’s, and IP.

I will keep you updated with any more as I think of them. And tomorrow I will be posting my brief Player Rating list that I will actually be using in my own drafts.

Peace I’m outta here!

Random thoughts from around the league

2008-02-07T21:28:00.000-05:00

Just some things on my mind.

I wonder if the Tampa Bay Rays realized that it wasn’t their team name that was the problem, it was the team itself. I actually thought the Devil Ray was tight. The stupid sunbeam is absolutely horrendous.

Curt Schilling’s shoulder could possibly keep him out for the entire season. First, how does one injure their shoulder that badly before spring training even starts? And second, if this was a nagging injury, why was it not addressed until now?

It’s about time the Mets started spending like a team from NYC should. They are going to be scary good now. But still, let’s not forget how hilarious their collapse was last year. Everyone laugh all together now. Laugh now while we can before they win 120 games.

I’m really excited to see Dan Haren leave Oakland. Last year was his breakout year, and he’s going to be great for a long time. Enjoy Arizona, where we will never see you again.

This whole Clemens/McNamee thing is absolutely out of control. I want to believe that Clemens is all roided up, but McNamee sounds like a complete nutjob. How does he expect anyone to believe that he has syringes that he’s kept refrigerated for 8 YEARS, not to mention bloody syringes that somehow avoided Senator Mitchell’s investigation.

I absolutely cannot wait for fantasy baseball.

Annnd that’s basically all I have on my mind right now. That and a quick update on the Bedard deal. He’s in Seattle right now for his physical, so this painstakingly long process may finally be at an end. Can we PLEASE just be finished with this. I’m so excited to have Felix and EriK pitching back to back.

EriK Bedard

2008-02-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

How sweet is it that Mr. Bedard is among the 1% of all Erics out there who spell thier name with a K. It fits so perfectly. These are the little things that I love to look at. So from now on, I refuse to type or write his name any other way besides EriK Bedard.

It's not exactly official yet, but I am writing this now because I just got word that Adam Jones is in Baltimore right now for his physical, and that is all that remains.

This really is an awesome acquisition for us. I love Adam Jones as much as anybody, and I realize his amazing potential. He absolutely will be a star in this league. But let's take a look at our pitching rotation last year compared to this year.

2007
Felix Hernandez
Jarrod Washburn
Miguel Batista
Jeff Weaver (7-13, 6.20 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 146.2 IP, 4.92 K/9)
Horacio Ramirez (8-7, 7.16ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 98 IP, 3.67 K/9)

2008 Projected
Felix Hernandez
EriK Bedard (13-5, 3.16 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 182 IP, 10.93 K/9)
Jarrod Washburn
Miguel Batista
Carlos Silva (13-14, 4.19 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 202 IP, 3.97 K/9)

And as excited as I am about Bedard, please don't underestimate the importance of bringing in a guy like Silva. No, he's not a Santana or Liriano, he won't strike a ton of guys out. But he eats up innings like crazy. And as our 4th or 5th guy, if he can save our pen for the top of the rotation, that is going to help like you wouldn't believe. And getting him into Safeco is only going to improve his numbers. He lets guys put it in play, and with our defense, it is a beautiful fit.

As much as it pains me to see Adam go, it gives us a chance to focus on another young future star that we have in the system. If you don't know who I am talking about, we have the most talented and highest rated shortstop in all of the minor leagues in Carlos Triunfel. I have to admit I have yet to see him actually play, but from what I read he is going to be fun to watch. I cannot wait to see how he pans out, although I love Yuniesky a lot. Watching Yuni and Beltre hold down the left side is absolutely beautiful, although word has it that Triunfel's glove is even better. Triunfel is not a power guy, but I'm sure he can be a better hitter than Betancourt. Yuni has his moments and I love him, but I can't wait to see this kid in the bigs.

Annnnd one quick non-baseball note,

How hilarious was it watching the Patriots blow that perfect season. They went from "Best Team of All Time" to "Maybe one of the top 50 teams of all time because we just lost to Eli Manning. We suck." I wonder how Tom Brady feels. He just got pimp slapped by his nemesis Peyton Manning the year before, and then the very next year has Peyton's punk little brother pimp slap him even worse on the biggest stage of all. Absolutely hilarious.

(I'm not even a Giants fan, I just love seeing my annoying Boston friends cry)

We got him! We got him!

2008-01-31T22:16:00.000-05:00

We did it! We can all exhale now. A deal has been reached that the whole world was waiting for. After weeks of ups and downs in the talks, false assumptions, crazy contract disputes, he's finally here. Please welcome....

Brad Wilkerson.

Yes, THE Brad Wilkerson...

What the hell?

Let's see what our $3 Million for one year just bought us.

1. For his career, 1 Strikeout per every 3.3 AB.
2. A career .250 hitter with rare glimpses of power
3. Mediocre glove at first base

(wait, am I describing a shorter, left handed Richie Sexson?)

OK, I am being a bit rough on him. The reason we brought him in is because he can play RF pretty well. This is good news because it just about proves the Jones-Bedard deal is about to be signed, sealed, delivered.

And Brad has had some nagging injuries the last few years with the Rangers, and he claims he is as healthy as ever. So we will see. I just don't understand how he's worth $3 mill with a ton of bonuses based on plate appearances.

But I do like to give guys a chance. He seems pretty excited about a new start and about being in Seattle. He's been playing on a craptacular Ranger team, so maybe he just needs a good lineup around him for a fresh burst.

Can't argue about getting a lefty (power?) bat to get in there somewhere in that awful sexson-johjima-lopez-betancourt right-handed slew at the end of the lineup that I hated so much last year.

So we will see. Upper management must have seen something they really like about him. But if I was in there, I would have gone hard after either Trot Nixon or Corey Patterson. I love the way both of them play. I know Patterson would be hard to get, but Nixon would have been just as justified in getting a one year deal to prove himself, just as Brad did.

And following up on last night's freak-out, I apologize for getting so emotional. The same site just made me feel a billion times better this morning.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/01/31/forget-the-adam-jones-has-a-bad-hip-rumor/

So things are looking good for this deal to go through. Now let's just hope that the 5 year deal Bedard has on the table from Baltimore isn't absolutely ridiculous and ruins this whole thing for us.

Sunnier days ahead in Seattle? Let's hope.

www.thomasdiamond.com

Degenerative Hip Condition?!?!?!

2008-01-31T00:37:00.001-05:00

http://www.childrenshospital.org
/az/Site556/Images/Hip.jpg

<-- Adam Jones' hip. Can you find what is wrong with it? Trick question! Nothing is wrong yet, but you just wait. Those Baltimore radio stations are sure that it is going to start degenerating like crazy any day now.

It figures. The second I get excited about this deal, my good friend Jason hits me with some knowledge.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/01/30/did-adam-jones-fail-his-physical/

I knew something had to be wrong. Like I said earlier, this should have been a done deal days ago unless something was truly wrong. But I am staying optimistic. This may or may not be true. Like the article says, this was released by some Baltimore radio station. So who knows, maybe it's just some guys trying to shake up the airwaves because their organization doesn't have any good news worth reporting.

OK I lied, I'm not that optimistic. On top of all that, apparently there's a new 5 year deal on the table from the O's for Bedard. Now I am at the point where if this trade does finally go down, it is going to be a huge sigh of relief. Honestly, this trade favors us immensely now. If this condition is real, there's no way that Mr. Angelos would be dumb enough to allow it to go through. Is there? Is there?

Well actually according to the Orioles fans I have been listening to and reading, we might be OK.

Off-season Moves

2008-01-30T11:37:00.000-05:00

Let's start with the story that has been dominating our off-season for the past couple of weeks. The Erik Bedard sweepstakes. I have been absolutely torn over this deal. For those of you who haven't heard, the deal revolves around Baltimore sending us their strikeout king and clearcut ace, and in return we would give up Adam Jones - "the future" as many believe, George Sherill, and a few other young guys. I am going to lay out my pros and cons, not only for you, but also for myself so I can see everything laid out.

Bedard's Pros
-Left Handed
-Strikeout Phenom (10.9 K's per 9 last season)
-Would make great 1-2 punch with Felix - Righty/Lefty (how much fun would it be seeing these guys pitch on back to back nights all season long?)
-Proven to a degree, great numbers (Top 5 in Win Pct, ERA, K's, and Whip) in tough AL East while on a miserable team

Bedard's Cons
-Poor mechanics could lead to injury
-Turns 29 in March (maybe not necessarily a con)

Adam Jones Pros
-Fantastic potential, truly can be a 5 tool star in this league
-Great kid, kind of guy you want in the clubhouse (so I hear)

Adam Jones Cons
-Has yet to prove anything in the bigs (.246 2HR in 65AB)

I am huge on Jones. He will be a very good player in this league. But two things are swaying my decision in favor of completing the deal.

1. I still have nightmares about Jeff Weaver (remember vs KC? 0.1IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 1BB, Current ERA 18.26, yeah that was fun) and Horacio Ramirez at the end of the rotation. Now with Bedard and Silva, I'm actually excited about how our rotation could look top to bottom.
2. The experience factor. I just don't know how Jones is going to turn out. Hitting was not a problem of ours last year (scoring runs perhaps was). The bullpen was fantastic for the most part. Fielding was phenomenal. The only key truly missing was our rotation. And Bedard gives us a proven #2 guy who has shown flashes of flat out dominance.

So I am officially for this deal, although we will all definitely be sad to see Jones go.

Now it looks like it's up to Peter Angelos now, and to be honest, I don't like how these negotiations are panning out. It looked like a done deal on Monday, now he's apparently angry about how word leaked out so quickly. I don't know. It just seems like if there weren't any big problems, this would have already been finished. Even Jones and Sherill were talking about getting their physicals out of the way.

Anyway, we will keep an eye on this and I will continue to hope for the trade to go through. And if I ever start to doubt that position, I just have to remember how much pain and anguish Jeff Weaver brought into my life. God, how often did we see that pose last year.

Introduction

2008-01-29T19:34:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by. Honestly I have no idea how you found this, but since you're here, you can proudly count yourself among the few people (2, maybe) who get to read about my thoughts on our beloved Seattle Mariners!

A little background information. I was born and raised in eastern Pennsylvania, and am now going to school at the University of South Carolina. Not that any of you particularly care, but I want you to keep this in mind and consider just how far away I am from the Emerald City. So how did I grow up loving the Mariners?

Well I lived about an hour or so out of Philadelphia, so the Phillies were the only team I ever got to see when I was young. Guess what, any ideas that you have of the early 90's Phillies are probably dead on.

Veteran's Stadium was an absolute hell-hole.
Philadelphia fans are just as angry/vulgar as they are portrayed.
Lenny Dykstra spewing brown goo out of those chipmunk cheeks, John Kruk eating babies, and Mitch Williams' homicidal tendencies were features even scarier when seen in person.

So I needed a favorite team. Then came the year I got to play organized baseball for the first time. And my first coaches pitch team? Yup, the Forks Township Mariners. But what really did it was the hat, with that great teel brim and the coolest looking compass I had ever seen.

They had me play shortstop, so after practice I remember running home to look at my baseball cards and find out who the shortstop was for the Mariners in the bigs. Omar Vizquel. OK, batting average says he can't hit. At all. But fielding percentage? Jackpot! And that's really how I fell in love with the middle infield positions.

But my true passion for the team emerged a couple years later, when my dad surprised me with tickets to see the Mariners play at Yankee Stadium. We got there a couple hours before first pitch so I could go down and watch batting practice. Mr. Vizquel had moved on (and apparently had a decent career), so I was kind of bummed that we did not have a good shortstop. I looked out and saw the infielders around second base, and what do I see but a big number 3. My number!! Playing shortstop!! And the name on that jersey? Rodriguez. Nobody knew who he was, but as he came running in, I yelled out to Mr. Rodriguez. Now remember, I'm 9 years old. He points me out, waves, runs over, signs my ball before anyone else's, and asked me my name. I can't remember if I said anything. I couldn't move. A major league baseball player not only acknowledged me, but he pointed me out and talked to me.

My guess is that's the feeling you get when you meet Jesus and he hugs you.

Anyway, few more years and a couple hundred Alex Rodriguez cards later, I was absolutely hooked. I read the box score every morning, and even kept a game by game account for 3 years on a newspaper center spread of every team's schedule. This included that amazing 2001 season where we basically never lost. Ever. The most interesting part of that season though was the end of the year. I love looking at that season's schedule (still hanging on my wall) not only because of how many games were highlighted in green (wins), but because I towards the bottom, there are 3 days crossed out and rescheduled - the Sept. 11th attacks. This was the time when the AL wins mark was within reach, and I remember the rest of that season getting me through those horrible weeks that followed.

So for the last 15 years I have loved this team. I could go on reminiscing, but I started this blog so I could convey my thoughts and feelings on the team and the season ahead. Up until last year, I never got to see our team play on TV. First of all, late games don't start until 10:05 over here. Second, the media over here rarely goes into any depth whatsoever about the M's and knows that M's fans in my area are few and far between.

And then a beautiful thing was invented - MLB.tv.

EVERY GAME. ALLLLL SEASON LONG.

I have never been happier.

So from now until the end of the season, I will be sharing my thoughts on every move and every game. I will let you know how I feel about anything and everything about Mariner baseball. Keep in mind that these will be the thoughts from the East Coast, without any extensive coverage on our team. The only extra coverage I will get on our boys will be the 10 second clips that ESPN shows at the end of the episode each morning. So armed with just my MLB.tv account, I will try my best to be the voice for all 5 of us Mariners fans on the East Coast.

GO M's!!!!!!!