Smoak and Mirrors

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners are struggling once again in the Jack Zduriencik regime which shouldn't come as a shock since they have lost 196 games the last two seasons.  The Mariners struggles have become so bad that I stopped writing or caring about this team. With the second half of the season approaching this is a critical time for the Mariners young core. Now I'll talk about Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager and Jesus Montero for a later time. For now I'm going to focus on Texas Rangers former top prospect and current Seattle Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak. Smoak who will be 26 years old in December is having for the third straight year in the major leagues a terrible season. Smoak has actually regressed from last season and his having his worst season of his career so far. With Smoak struggling this really puts the rebuilding into question and more importantly for Jack Z his tenure in Seattle could be ending.

So far Smoak's claim to fame was he was the guy traded to the Mariners from the Rangers for Cliff Lee. Now when the Lee deal broke I was out floating the river so one of my writers broke down the trade at the time with this thoughtful piece . At the time everyone loved the trade and I'll admit so did I since the Mariners were acquiring Smoak who was the 13th rated prospect in the majors. The Mariners just grabbed a top tier prospect from a division rival for a rental player. Instead what ended up happening was Cliff Lee helped the Rangers reach their first every World Series in 2010. Lee in the ALDS series win over the Tampa Bay Rays was 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA having thrown 16 innings with 21 strikeouts. Then in the ALCS win over the New York Yankees Lee won his game three start going eight shutout innings allowing only two hits with 13 strikeouts. Lee would bolt in the off-season but the Rangers were able to pick up two first round draft picks. The Rangers also became a legitimate franchise with that World Series appearance which allowed them to sign all-star third baseman and former Seattle Mariner Adrian Beltre. That trade actually helped the Rangers more than anyone could have imagined at the time while to date has hurt the Mariners.

Justin Smoak was a highly touted prospect for the Rangers. He was the Rangers first round pick(11th overall) in the 2008 draft out of South Carolina. He was the #23 prospect in the minors in 2009 and #13 in 2010. Smoak was seen as the next Mark Teixeira type who was a switch hitter with great defense. In the minor leagues he was rushed through the system as he only had 773 plate appearances which he hit .283/.401/.458 with 24 HR's and 93 RBI's. In triple A though he has only had 477 PA's where he has hit .253/.379/.414 with 13 HR's and 53 RBI's. In the minors he should decent power with a good eye. Still one had to think if he truly was this great prospect why would the Rangers even risk trading him to a division rival for a rental player? At that time that was something that didn't quite pass the smell test. As we are finding out now with Smoak perhaps he wasn't that good to begin with which is why the Rangers rushed him through the system. By rushing him through the system that enhanced his value as he was drafted in 2008 and was on the major league roster in 2010 having played in 70 games for the Rangers. The Rangers in 2011 used that World Series momentum from 2010 and went back to the World Series, while the Seattle Mariners lost 95 games after losing 101 the previous year.

So far in Smoak's major league career in 1,214 PA's he is hitting .220/.302/.370 for a .672 OPS with 39 HR's(HR/27.5 AB's). He has struck out 265 times(21.8%) and walked 127 times(10.4%). He has a negative 0.9 WAR in three seasons and a negative 2.0 WAR defensively(every year has been negative). To say Smoak has been a disaster would be an understatement. Sure those at Mariners Nation may think he is "slumping" but they are also the laughing joke of the Seattle sports scene. Smoak this year is having his worst season to date in 328 PA's he is hitting .203/.265/.332 for an OPS of .597 which is pathetic. He has 11 home runs(HR/27.3 AB's) with 69 strikeouts(20.4%) and 26 walks(7.9%) on the season. He currently has a negative 0.8 WAR which ranks last among all everyday first baseman. He isn't walking at all like he did in the minor leagues and his power is very average. Plus defensively he is bad as every year in the majors he has been a negative WAR defensively. As time is moving forward it is becoming more and more clear Zduriencik isn't a good general manager. It is becoming even more obvious that Smoak isn't the future either. The sooner the Mariners cut their losses on him and ship him while he still has a little bit of value the better.

The Rangers hustled the Mariners like all good teams do to bad teams. They had the Mariners thinking they were giving up a top prospect for a rental which would hurt their franchise and help the Mariners franchise for a decade. Instead just the opposite happened the Rangers used that trade to land Lee which landed them in the World Series. They then used that momentum to go back to the World Series while the Mariners are on pace to go 67-95 which would be the first this franchise has lost 95 plus games three years in a row since their expansion days when they lost 95 plus their first four years of existence from 1977-1980. Zduriencik was supposed to clean up this mess that Bill Bavasi left him instead he has made this mess even worse. Justin Smoak is the poster boy of why this franchise's hope from 2010 to now has disappeared. Smoak was supposed to be that switch hitting power hitting first baseman that was made for Safeco Field. Instead the Rangers are laughing at the Mariners misery as they are going to win their third straight division title. Yes come to find out Justin Smoak was simply a "Smoak and Mirrors" prospect all along.

Seattle Mariners weekly recap: May 28th-June 3rd edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed a 3-3 road trip that extends tonight. The Mariners began the week taking two out of three against the Rangers which includes a six run 9th inning in a 10-3 win followed up by a 21-8 win which saw the Mariners lead 16-0 after three innings. The Mariners then would lose two out of three to the Chicago White Sox but had an exciting 10-8 win over the White Sox in extra innings on Saturday. This week also saw Justin Smoak named as American League player of the week as he had a huge week along with all the other youngsters on the Mariners team. The young guys are starting to play well and it's nice seeing a team with a future for once. This team with these young hitters has been inconsistent but the future appears bright. This week since the Mariners went 3-3 I'll talk about the good(the youngsters), the bad( Ryan and Figgins) and the awesome(where I go over the players Jack Zduriencik has drafted/traded for to see how they are doing). As always hope you enjoy my Mariners weekly recap.

The Good:

The good for this week was the hitting future of Dustin Ackley, Jesus Montero, Kyle Seager and Justin Smoak. Throw in Michael Saunders who is still in his 20's and this week gave all the optimistic Mariners fans hope in the Jack Zduriencik regime. The Mariners offense three times this week scored in double figures. The Mariners offense averaged 8.2 runs per game. In their three wins they averaged 13.7 runs per game. Like I said up top Justin Smoak was named American League player of the week and this week saw a change in the lineup. Dustin Ackley moves back into the #2 spot instead of leadoff while Kyle Seager is now the #3 hitter as Ichiro slides back into leadoff where he homered twice on Saturday. The Mariners bullpen pitched pretty well this week as they saw the debut of youngster Stephen Pryor who began the year in double A. In his first major league appearance he came in to face Paul Konerko and struck him out on five pitches. He was clocked at 100 MPH twice in that at bat and threw Konerko nothing but fastballs. This week was a great week indeed for the future of this franchise.

Good Hitting:

Kyle Seager: 9-24(.375), HR, 6 runs, 5 RBI's, 4 doubles
Jesus Montero: 9-27(.333), HR, 4 runs, 5 RBI's, 2 doubles
Miguel Olivo: 4-14(.286), HR, 3 runs, 4 RBI's
Michael Saunders: 12-27(.444), HR, 5 runs, 3 RBI's, 3 doubles, SB
John Jaso: 4-15(.266), HR, 4 runs, 4 RBI's
Dustin Ackley: 6-20(.300), HR, 6 runs, 4 RBI's, 2 doubles, SB, 5 BB's
Justin Smoak: 8-23(.347), 3 HR's, 7 runs, 8 RBI's, 6 BB's

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 6.2 IP, 4.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 2 K's
Lucas Luetge: 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, K
Charlie Furbush: 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 4 K's
Stephen Pryor: 2.1 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 1-0, 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 4 K's

Lucas Luetge a rule five pick this year is 1-0 in 20 appearances having thrown 13.1 innings. He has a 0.00 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 13 K's. Opponents are hitting .174 off of him.

Charlie Furbush another lefty in the pen who Zduriencik acquired in the Doug Fister trade this year is 2-1 in 19 appearances. He has thrown 19.1 innings. He has a 3.26 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and 22 K's. Opponents are hitting .149 off of him. The Mariners are in good shape as both pitchers are in their mid 20's far as left handed relievers go.

The Bad:

A run saved is worth a run scored is what I keep hearing. Now the bad this week is the veterans of this team continue to not hit. Sure Brendan Ryan has a great glove but he is also hitting .171 which is embarassing for a major league regular playing every day and we are in June right now. This week also saw the starting pitching get lit up which includes Felix Hernandez who might be going on the disabled list. Despite the offense blowing up the team was only able to go 3-3 this weekend losing all three games in close fassion.  With youngsters down in the minors tearing it up you have to wonder when some of these veterans that Eric Wedge loves so much might be getting a plane ticket out of town or in Ryan's case simply becomes a late inning defensive replacement.

Bad Hitting:

Alex Liddi: 2-12(.167), run, RBI, 6 K's
Chone Figgins: 3-15(.200), 2 runs, RBI, SB, 3 K's
Brendan Ryan: 4-24(.167), 5 runs, 4 RBI's, 2 SB's, 5 K's

Bad Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 6 K's, 3 HR's allowed
Kevin Millwood: 0-1, 9 IP, 5.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 9 K's
Blake Beavan: 1-0, 6 IP, 7.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 2 K's
Hector Noesi: 4.1 IP, 12.47 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 5 K's, 3 HR's allowed
Steve Delabar: 0-1, 0.1 IP, 81.00 ERA, 9.00 WHIP, K

Brendan Ryan on the year is hitting .171/.275/.263 in 152 AB's with just one home run. He is one of the best defenders in baseball but at some point you need to hit.

As for Figgins I don't need to quote his stats as we know they suck. Figgins just needs to be released and hopefully will be when Franklin Guiterrez is called up soon.

The Awesome:

The future is looking very bright for the Mariners with Danny Hultzen, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker headlining the list. Currently all three along with Nick Franklin are in double A for the Jackson Generals as the Generals are currently 35-22. Not only that but the Mariners have a few(not many) nice pieces for the Tacoma Rainiers and then most of the young core is already on the big league team. Through the draft and trades Zduriencik is starting to build something which took a while due to Bill Bavasi wasting two top five draft selections where he passed on Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitski, Ricky Romero. Then following draft Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw while trading away Asdrubal Cabera and Adam Jones. Would be nice having those two back plus two of those players I listed. Now the team has a bright future where I'll post their stats to give you an idea.

Awesome Pitching:

Danny Hultzen(2nd pick overall 2011 draft, #21 prospect baseball America 2012, 22 years old): 6-3, 62.1 IP, 1.44 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 67 K's(9.7 K's per 9)- Double A 2012

James Paxton(1st round 2009 draft by Toronto Blue Jays, 2010 fourth round pick by Mariners, #52 prospect baseball America 2012): 3-3, 46.1 IP,  3.88 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 52 K's(10.1 K's per 9)- Double A 2012.

For his minor league career he is 10-8, 159 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 201 K's(11.4 K's per 9)

Taijuan Walker(1st round pick in 2010 draft #43 overall, #20 prospect baseball America 2012, 19 years old): 4-1, 50.1 IP, 2.68 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 53 K's(9.5 K's per 9)- Double A 2012

For his minor league career he is 11-7, 154 IP, 2.75 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 175 K's(10.2 K's per 9)

Stephen Pryor(5th round pick 2010 draft): 1-0, 7 saves, 16.0 IP, 1.12 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 24 K's(13.5 K's per 9, 22 years old)- Double A Jackson

In Tacoma he recorded two saves while pitching 12 innings, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15 K's(11.2 K's per 9).

In Seattle 2.1 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 4 K's(15.45 K's per 9).

In his minor league career 4-3, 24 saves, 113 innings, 2.87 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 155 K's(12.3 K's per 9).

Awesome Hitting:

Nick Franklin(1st round pick in 2009 draft 27th overall, #53 prospect baseball America 2011, #77 in 2012, 21 years old, Short Stop): Hitting .345/.410/.560 in 195 PA's. 4 HR's, 20 runs, 25 RBI's, 7 SB's.

For his minor league career: hitting .295/.362/.475 in 1,239 PA's. Has 35 HR's, 186 runs, 122 RBI's, 51 SB's.

Francisco Martinez( part of Doug Fister trade, 21 years old, 3rd base): Hitting .256/.333/.340 in 243 PA's. Has only one HR, 34 runs, 15 RBI's, 21 SB's.

For his minor league career: hitting .277/.329/.368 in 1,592 PA's. Has 17 Hr's, 218 runs, 161 RBI's, and 75 SB's.

Denny Almonte(2nd round pick in 2007 by Bill Bavasi, outfielder, 23 years old): Hitting .280/.360/.450 in 229 PA's with 8 HR's, 21 runs, 27 RBI's and 11 SB's- Double A

For his career hitting . 251/.297/.439 in 2,229 PA's with 77 HR's, 274 runs, 315 RBI's, 74 SB's

Carlos Triunfel( #62 prospect baseball America in 2008, #89 in 2009, SS/3B, 22 years old): Hitting .251/.310/.403 in 233 PA's. Has 5 HR's, 38 runs, 23 RBI's, 2 SB's.

Minor league career: hitting .276/.319/.373 in 2,206 PA's with 26 HR's, 269 runs, 206 RBI's, 48 SB's.

As you can see the future looks bright and this doesn't include guys who are in the major leagues like Felix Hernandez, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Jesus Montero, Kyle Seager, and Charlie Furbush. Also doesn't include Mike Zunino the catcher the Mariners chose today out of Florida #3 overall.

Al West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 32-22, first place
L.A. Angels: 28-27, 4.5 GB
Oakland A's: 23-31, 9.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 24-32, 9.0 GB

This team will probably still lose another 90 games or come very close to doing that. Still the fact this team has so many youngsters who are already on the big club or dominating the minors has to be a refreshing thing to see. This isn't the 2008 group that lost over 100 games with a 100 million dollar payroll with no hope in the minor leagues besides Triunfel. This team is building this thing up from the ground up and will this result in a playoff appearance ever? Who knows. At least as fans we finally have hope for this team something we haven't had in forever. At least now there is some guys who when called up I'll pay money to actually see. There are some guys when called up to Tacoma I'll make the drive to watch in person. I'm probably getting ahead of myself but things are actually looking up for once for this team something we couldn't say a few years back.

Seattle Mariners weekly recap: May 22nd-28th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners began their week like they ended the previous week by winning two out of three games against first place Texas Rangers. Then it all fell apart as the Los Angeles Angels came to town and swept the Mariners in a four game set. Despite the Mariners receiving six quality starts out of seven this week from their starting staff they went 2-5. The Mariners hitting didn't hit at all this week and were often called out due to striking out. The Mariners also had another late inning bullpen meltdown by closer Brandon League who has been temporarily removed as the closer. This week I'll talk about the good(starting pitching), the bad(the hitting) and the ugly(the Angels domination of the  Mariners through the years).

The Good:

Whenever a team goes 2-5 during the week it can be hard to find some "good" and this week was no different. Only one hitter made my good this week but the Mariners starting five man rotation all made the list. This week in a lot of ways resembled last year where the starting pitching kept the Mariners in the game but the offense let them down. The Mariners did see 37 year old Kevin Millwood continue to turn around his season after starting off 0-4 he has been dominant the last three games. If Millwood continues to pitch like this the Mariners could get some decent value for him at the trade deadline as this team will surely be sellers. The Mariners lone hitter to make the cut was Justin Smoak who is slowly breaking out of his slump which was nice to see. The Mariners did take the Texas Rangers two out of three which is another team they have struggled against as well over the years.

Good Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 6-23(.260), 2 HR's, 2 runs, 7 RBI's, SB

Good Pitching:

Kevin Millwood: 1-0, 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 2 K's
Blake Beavan: 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, K
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 6 K's
Hector Noesi: 0-2, 16 IP, 3.37 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 7 K's
Felix Hernandez: 1-1, 14 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 14 K's

Kevin Millwood in his last three starts is 3-0, 22 innings pitched, 0.41 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 15 K's.

Mariners starting pitching this week: 2-4, 50 IP, 3.24 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 30 K's, 6 quality starts

The Bad:

There was plenty of bad this week especially in the Angels series where the Mariners just couldn't put the bat on the ball. The Mariners scored just nine runs in that four game sweep and 21 overall during this seven game week. Against the Angels the Mariners struck out 40 times in their four game sweep of the Angels including Dan Haren throwing a complete game shutout striking out 14 Mariners to open the series up. The bullpen had their issues once again as Tom Wilhelmsen made a 5-0 game against the Texas Rangers interesting when he allowed a three-run homerun to former Mariner Adrian Beltre. Then on Friday Brandon League gave up three runs as he blew the save. In his last four games League has pitched 3.1 innings, allowed six earned runs and 13 base runners while blowing two saves. League has been removed as the teams closer for now. The Mariners feature a team with young hitters so unfortunately these type of weeks are going to happen. Also doesn't help that Eric Wedge preaches being aggressive at the plate so that is another reason why the Mariners strike out so much. Wedge needs to preach a little bit more patience to his ball club as these strikeouts are starting to become an annoying trend.

Bad Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 3-22(.136), 2 runs, 2 RBI's, SB, 8 K's
Mike Carp: 2-14(.143), run, RBI, SB, 7 K's
Alex Liddi: 4-17(.235), HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI's, 8 K's
Brendan Ryan: 4-19(.210), 6 K's
Kyle Seager: 2-22(.090), 3 runs, SB, 6 BB's, 7 K's
Michael Saunders: 4-20(.200), 4 runs, RBI, 2 SB's, 8 K's
Jesus Montero: 3-20(.150), 2 runs, 2 RBI's, 7 K's
Miguel Olivo: 0-9(.000), run, CS, 3 K's
Ichiro: 6-28(.214), 2 runs, 2 RBI's, SB, 5 K's. Hasn't walked in 18 straight games(May 8th last walk)

Bad Pitching:

Tom Wilhelmsen: 3 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 4 K's, hold
Brandon League: 0-1, blown save, save, 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 2 K's

Mariners team hitting: .226/.288/.360 which all ranks 13th out of 14 teams in the AL. The Mariners are 10th in runs(185), 10th in home runs(41) while being 2nd in strikeouts(389). This offense hasn't improve like most want you to believe this is still a bad ball club in year four under Jack Zduriencik.

The Ugly:

With the Angels sweeping the Mariners this week that put the Mariners in their rightful place of last place in the division a spot they have held six of the last eight seasons. The Angels have dominated the Mariners badly since  2006 and the last time the Mariners won a season series against the Angels was back in 2003 when the Mariners were in the fourth straight year of winning 90 plus games. The series has really turned ugly since 2007 when the Angels along with the Texas Rangers have just taken it to the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners can't expect to compete in this division when two teams are constantly kicking the living crap out of them. In the Angels case they have better ownership, management, and a manager which is why they have dominated the Mariners lately.

Ugly domination:

vs LAA

2007: 6-13, outscored 110-80
2008: 5-14, outscored 98-84
2009: 9-10, outscored 85-71
2010: 4-15, outscored 100-62
2011: 7-12, outscored 70-48
2012: 0-4, outscored 18-9

Totals: 31-68(.313) outscored 481-354(average 4.86-3.58)

This is a six year stretch where the Mariners have defeated the Angels only 31.3% of the time which simply isn't going to get the job done at all. This four game sweep at home was an embarassment as the Mariners resurrected the Angels and their high priced first baseman Albert Pujols.

Al West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 30-18, first place
L.A. Angels: 24-25, 6.5 GB
Oakland A's: 22-27, 8.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 21-29, 10.0 GB

The Mariners are back to sitting in a spot they know all too well which is last place. You saw the hitting numbers this team doesn't hit for average, get on base or slug the ball at all. This team strikes out way too much as a result over being overly aggressive even our young patient hitters like Seager and Ackley are striking out. Wedge is hurting the growth of these youngsters and needs to go. He was a loser in Cleveland and now is turning the Mariners into an embarassment. The pitching has improved but the hitters aren't doing themselves any favors with all these constant strikeouts on balls in the dirt. Until the Mariners learn to look at a few pitches this is going to be another failed "rebuilding" season once again which the Mariners have been doing since 2004.

Seattle Mariners weekly recap: April 9th- April 15th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners entered week two of the season against the two-time defending AL champions Texas Rangers and then returned home to face the Oakland A's. The Mariners this week once again took care of the Oakland A's winning two out of their in their opening homestand that continues into this week. The Mariners like they did last year took a licking in Texas losing three out of four to the Texas Rangers despite some quality starting pitching that went to waste in that series. The Mariners for the week went 3-4 dropping their season record to 6-5 now. Since this was a losing week I'll be going over the good(starting pitching and key bullpen arms), the bad(most of the offense) and the ugly(Miguel Olivo and the domination the Rangers have had on the Mariners).

The Good:

The good this week was the Mariners taking it to a division rival the Oakland A's as they are now 5-2 on the season against the A's. The Mariners also saw their key trade piece Jesus Montero have a big week as he hit his first of many home runs for the Mariners and also had an eight game hitting streak. The Mariners bullpen duo of Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen continues to be lights out for the Mariners in late innings. The starting pitching this week was pretty good as well. The Mariners also had their home opening ceremonies which saw Mike Cameron throw out the first pitch. Cameron also signed a one day contract so he could retire a Seattle Mariner the team he made his lone all-star appearance with. It was a touching moment and the next games afterwards was nice to see. Blake Beavan pitched great this week who was acquired in the Cliff Lee trade. Also on Saturday in the Mariners 4-0 victory over the A's saw Montero drive in three runs as Hector Noesi threw eight shutout innings giving the Mariners early returns on the Michael Pineda trade. The Mariners still struggled against the Rangers but at least early on they are showing they aren't the worst team in the division. The Mariners have beat up on the A's to start this year which was the positive of the week.

Good Hitting:

Jesus Montero: 7-20(.350), HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI's
Alex Liddi: 2-8(.250), RBI
John Jaso: 2-4(.500), run, RBI, triple
Kyle Seager: 6-24(.250), HR, 3 runs, 4 RBI's
Ichiro: 7-28(.250), 2 runs, RBI

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 1-1, 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 7 K's
Kevin Millwood: 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 7 K's
Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 7 IP, 2.57 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 6 K's
Luke Luetge: 1-0, 1.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 3.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 2 saves, 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's

The hitting as you can see struggled with only Montero hitting over .300 which was nice to see. Montero went from a top tier organization in sports and a hitting ballpark to let's face it a bottom tier organization in sports and a pitchers park. There will be some adjustment period for Montero who has displayed already great power as his home run was a line drive to deep centerfield at Safeco Field.

The Bad:

The Mariners once again this week proved they aren't ready to hang with the big boys quite yet. The Mariners lost three of four down in Texas where they have been dominated since 2008. The Mariners hitting reverted back to last season where most of their early season surprises went back to their usual ways of hitting bad. Felix  Hernandez although pitched well in his start his fastball still is topping out at 91 miles per hour which has to concern every Mariners fan whether they want to admit it or not. Another problem is the fact that manager Eric Wedge continues to put Miguel Olivo out there every game despite his terrible defense and offense. The Mariners simply can't afford to punt any spots in the lineup and yet they are with the catcher position plus many other guys who have slumped in the past slumped this past week as well.

Bad Hitting:

Chone Figgins: 4-27(.148), 3 runs, 7 K's
Dustin Ackley: 5-23(.217), 2 runs, RBI, 4 K's
Justin Smoak: 6-26(.231), HR, 3 runs, 3 RBI's, 8 K's
Brendan Ryan: 3-18(.167), HR, 3 runs, 2 RBI's, costly error, 5 K's
Munenori Kawasaki: 1-6(.167), run, RBI
Casper Wells: 1-7(.143), 3 K's
Michael Saunders: 2-17(.117), run, RBI, SB, 7 K's
Miguel Olivo: 2-20(.100), 2 RBI's, 6 K's

Bad Pitching:

Hector Noesi: 1-1, 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 9 K's
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 6.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 6 K's
George Sherrill: 1.1 IP, 20.30 ERA, 3.00 WHIP
Steve Delabar: 1.1 IP, 13.50 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 2 K's

The hitting has been a problem for the last few years. After a nice little start by Saunders and Figgins they have gone back to their old form of sucking. While Olivo has just been awful since June of last year and yet Wedge continues to play him every day.

The Ugly:

The Mariners went 3-4 this week so this week wasn't a total disaster but there was some pause for concern. The Mariners were once again beaten up by the Texas Rangers down in Arlington. Last season the Mariners went 1-9 at Texas while this year they went 1-3. The Mariners also seen the return of George Sherrill to the team and he is looking washed up at this point. Sherrill has been lit up and is now on the 15 day DL. Feel good story Steve Delabar has also been getting lit up like a Christmas Tree as of late as well. Then you have Miguel Olivo who every start he makes seem to find one to two balls hitting the backstop since he can't catch despite his position being called catcher. That alone should have him benched then when you factor in that he can't hit either and Montero happens to play some catcher while left handed Jaso does as well makes no sense to keep playing him. Wedge even played Olivo Sunday afternoon after a Saturday night game. It's like Wedge is putting Olivo out there in spite of us fans much like McLaren did with Vidro in 2007 and 2008. The Olivo saga needs to be addressed as he is offering nothing to the team and hasn't for quite some time now.

Ugly Hitting:

Miguel Olivo: 4-36(.111), run, 3 RBI's, 8 K's. Hitting .111/.135/.139 . Since June 6th of last year heading into Sunday's start courtsey of Jeff Sullivan of lookout landing Olivo has an OBP of .212 and has 96 strikeouts to just five walks in that span. Yet Eric Wedge last year called him the most professional hitter on the team. Despite two better options on the team Wedge continues to go with Olivo despite facing a right handed pitcher in 9 of the 11 games so far this season.

Justin Smoak: 8-43(.186), 2 HR's, 5 runs, 5 RBI's, 12 K's. Hitting .186/.239/.349 dating back to last years struggles most were hoping Smoak would get off to a good start. Smoak entering his third season as a Mariner now is no longer this up and coming prospect it's definately now time for Smoak to start producing or else that trade looks worse and worse every day.

AL West domination:

The Mariners have been dominated by the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since 2008. Below I'll post the raw numbers which aren't pretty.

Vs Texas:

2008: 8-11, outscored 101-94
2009: 8-11, outscored 79-70
2010: 7-12, outscored 101-51
2011: 4-15, outscored 95-53
2012: 1-3, outscored 20-12

Totals: 28-52(.350) outscored 396-280 during that span.

Vs LAA

2008: 5-14, outscored 98-84
2009: 9-10, outscored 85-71
2010: 4-15, outscored 100-62
2011: 7-12, outscored 70-48

Totals: 25-51(.328), outscored 353-265.

Hard to win when two teams in your division have kicked your ass the last four seasons as the Mariners have yet to beat them in a season series or even outscore them which is pathetic.

Al West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 8-2, first place
Seattle Mariners: 6-5, 2.5 GB
Oakland A's: 4-6, 4.0 GB
LAA Angels: 3-6, 4.5 GB

The Mariners still have a winning record which is good. The bad news is they can't play the Oakland A's every game and this week will take on the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Whitesox at home in what should be a nice test for the Mariners. Unlike the A's neither team will be a pushover while unlike the Rangers neither team is a bad matchup for the Mariners like the Rangers were. Wedge needs to pull the Olivo experiment quickly if the Mariners wish to progress at all this year. While the return of Figgins and Saunders appears to have been short lived as both returned back to their normal crappy ways. Hopefully King Felix can get his fastball back before it's too late for him this year. The Mariners have a winning record though so there are still some positives on this extremely young season.

My thoughts on the possibility of signing Prince Fielder

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners are rumored to be the favorites in the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. The signing of Fielder has brought a mixed reactions from our fan base. This is actually one move where I don't have a strong opinion on. I actually agree with both parties when it comes to Prince Fielder. I agree that the Mariners offense desperately needs a bat after the last four years of garbage offense. I also agree that putting a large portion of your money into one player is a recipe for disaster. In this following post I'll be posting from two sides of myself. The fan of me really wants the Mariners to sign Fielder as the Mariners haven't had a power hitter since Richie Sexson. The analytical side of me hates the signing as these signings tend to destroy franchises not named the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. One thing is for sure general manager Jack Zduriencik appears on the hot seat so he knows he must have a big move to vastly improve this club. The Mariners have lost 196 games the last two years and attendance has been dropping each season.

The fan side of me would love to have Prince Fielder. Fielder is a great team leader as he led the Milwaukee Brewers to their first division title since 1982 this past season. With the Brewers Fielder put up power numbers hitting 230 homeruns in six seasons(38.3 HR's per season) while driving in 656 runs(109.3 per season). Fielder during that stretch hit .282/.390/.540 which is incredible. Fielder is a three-time all-star and a two-time silver slugger award including all-star game MVP this past season. Fielder would bring instant offense to a club that has ranked in the bottom in all of baseball in runs scored in the Zduriencik era(2009-present). Fielder would give the Mariners fans some excitement for once as their was no power in that lineup last year. Fielder is a guy who can hit a home run every time he steps up to the plate. Now the table setters like Ichiro and Dustin Ackley will have increase value as Fielder will be able to knock them in . This will also have fans excited about the Mariners who are slowly falling behind the Seattle Sounders in this town.

The analytical side of me says this move is going to blow up in our face. Remember the Texas Rangers back in 2001? The team that finished last place but signed Alex Rodriguez to 10 years/250 million. The Rangers were hoping that Rodriguez would generate excitement to their team so they can then use that money to acquire other pieces. Instead the team Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners won 116 games and the Rangers finished last place. In fact in three seasons with the Rangers they finished last place all three years. The Rangers recently filed for bankrupcy and are still currently paying Rodriguez despite him not playing there since 2003. The Rangers like other small market clubs in the past have realized is that the margain for error is zero. The Rangers have finally recovered from that disaster which damn near set their franchise back decades.

In conclusion, I'm all for signing Fielder if the Mariners are willing to pull a Philadelphia Phillies. Which means  the Mariners join the big boys and stop pocketing the money and increase payroll into the 120 million range if not 150 million range. If the Mariners want to be serious they must expand payroll as they have the third best T.V. deal in all of baseball. Unfortunetly I know the Mariners won't expand payroll so Felix Hernandez and Fielder will cost us 50 million which will be half of our payroll. The Mariners tried this before with Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson which failed in their face. They also recently tied up a bunch of money to Ichiro and that has flopped finishing last place three of the four seasons. This move is a tough move because I want the Mariners to get better while Fielder will provide that. I also want a championship and I know with our ownership with Fielder on this roster the Mariners will never win a title. The fan side of me wants this signing but the logical side of me knows this signing will blow up in our face.

If I ran Major League Baseball.....

By Kshell

The Major League baseball playoffs are currently going on and just like they have in the past are getting killed in the ratings by the NFL. Baseball recently announced that the Houston Astros are moving from the National League Central to the American League west. Now every division has five teams but the problem is the leagues now each have 15 teams. The problem with this is that interleague play will be going all season long. Two teams will start the year off with interleague play while two other teams will end the season with interleague play which will piss off every old school baseball fan. Baseball is also expanding the playoffs to five teams. I think these are good ideas and in this following post I'll explain how I can solve the baseball season.

To solve the interleague problem I would expand the league to 32 teams. The two cities I would hand pick assuming they could get a stadium would be Las Vegas, Nevada and Portland, Oregon. Baseball doesn't have enough western teams as the teams out west constantly rack up the miles in travel. Las Vegas is a great sports city and have supported the 51's for years. The fear with Las Vegas is the gambling aspect. I understand that fear but with cell phones and the internet if you are going to bet on games that is very easy to do so. I also picked Portland even though it is a bad triple A baseball city but I feel has a passionate fan base. The city of Portland has shown great love for their Portland Trail Blazers and now Portland Timbers who are both leagues that is below Major League Baseball. I also added them to create more rivalries going forward. With these two teams I would be like the NFL where I'd have eight divisions of four teams. Like the NFL I would also have each league have six playoff teams with the top two seeds receiving a bye week. The first round would be a best of three, second round best of five then LCS and World Series play would be best of seven. I would also make sure both leagues are on the same page so either both have the DH or neither has the DH.

New Divisions:

AL Northwest:
Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants
Oakland A's
Portland Beavers

NL Pacific Division:
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels
San Diego Padres
Las Vegas Snake Eyes

AL Midwest Divison:
Kansas City Royals
St.Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Chicago Whitesox

NL Mountain Division:
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamond Backs
Texas Rangers
Houston Astros

AL Southern Division:
Tampa Bay Rays
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals

NL Northern Division:
Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins

AL Atlantic Division:
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
New York Mets
Toronto Blue Jays

NL Atlantic Division:
Balitmore Orioles
Cleveland Indians
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates

In conclusion, take a time to digest that and look at all the natural rivalries in the divisions. There wasn't enough southern teams so I had to split up the Orioles and Nationals same with Indians and Reds. Just as a Mariners fan look at our division you would have Seattle-Portland then the Bay Area teams. In the NL west you would have the LA teams with the Padres and Las Vegas all within four hours of each other. I think the attendance would increase as there would be more rivalries plus with having six playoff teams that is 37.5% of the league makes the playoffs so more playoff races will be involved. I know this is probably a long ways from happening but I think baseball should embrace the NFL model. I know a Seattle-Portland game at Safeco Field or down in Portland would be a packed house and the thought of that has me excited. Not to mention going on a road trip to Las Vegas to watch the Mariners play. Hopefully someday this dream of mine can finally become a reality.

Game one LDS recap; game two ALDS recap Texas-Tampa Bay

By Kshell

The baseball playoffs on day two saw a rare moment in baseball playoffs. All four home teams won as there was plenty of offense to go around in these games. You saw Texas-Tampa Bay battle to see if this will be a series or if the Rays will control the series. The Yankees-Tigers resumed play after the game was postponed at 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second inning which proved to have a wild inning. In the Phillies-Cardinals game two great franchises saw Roy Halladay get roughed up early on but then return to form. Then the fourth game saw two teams who aren't in the playoffs very much in the Brewers and Diamondbacks. That game was your typical playoff game where there was no big innings but instead death by papercuts. In this following post I'll give a quick recap of each playoff game.


Robinson Cano drives in six runs as Yankees win 9-3 to take 1-0 series lead:

The game resumed at 1-1 in the second inning as both teams lost their ace pitchers. The Yankees went with Ian Nova while the Tigers went with Doug Fister. The game remained 1-1 until the fifth inning when Robinson Cano drove in former Tiger Curtis Granderson with an RBI double to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

In the six inning that is when Doug Fister would fall apart. Brett Gardner would have a two-run single driving in Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. The Yankees would put the game away when Cano would hit a grand slam off of Al Aburquerque to give the Yankees an 8-1 lead.

The Yankees would win 9-3 as Cano would finish the game three for five with a home run, two doubles and six RBI's. Yankees "reliever" Ian Nova would get the win going 6.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs while striking out five. For the Tigers Doug Fister had a rough outing lasting only 4.2 innings giving up six runs while striking out six. For both teams losing their aces really hurt but the Yankees took advantage to take a 1-0 series lead.

Rangers use five run inning to even series with 8-6 win:

After being embarassed in game one at home the Texas Rangers bounced back in game two. After trailing 3-0 the Rangers exploded in the fourth inning scoring five runs off of James Shields. The Rangers also saw young pitcher Derek Holland step up when his team needed them most.

Leading 1-0, Matt Joyce hit a two-run homerun driving in Casey Kotchman to give the Rays a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. That is when the Rangers offense finally woke up after being outscored 12-0 through the first 12 and a half innings of play in the playoffs.

With the bases loaded former Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre was hit by a pitch to make the game 3-1. Mike Napoli came up with a big two-run base hit which tied up the game up at 3-3. Then Beltre would score on a wild pitch giving the Rangers a 4-3 lead. Mitch  Moreland would ground out which allowed Napoli to score. When the inning was over the Rangers held a 5-3 lead over the Rays.

In the sixth inning Ian Kinsler would add to the Rangers lead with a two-run double giving the Rangers a 7-3 lead over the Rays. In the top of the seventh the Rays would strike back as Eva Longoria would hit a three-run homerun to cut the lead to 7-6.  Mitch Moreland would homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Rangers an 8-6 lead. The Rangers would hang on for the 8-6 win which would tie the series up at 1-1.

The Rangers offense exploded today unlike yesterday getting shutout. The Rangers would pound out 10 hits while scoring eight runs. The Rangers were led by several guys including Ian Kinsler who was two for five with two RBI's, Mike Napoli was two for four with two RBI's and two runs, and Mitch Moreland who was one for three with a homerun and two RBI's. Starting pitcher Derek Holland went five innings allowing one earned run with two strikeouts. The Rays didn't receive a good outing from James Shields who lasted five innings allowing seven runs while striking out six.

Phillies erupt late to win 11-6 behind Howard's key homerun:

The game started off rocky for the Phillies ace Roy Halladay unlike last year. Last year in the NLDS Halladay threw a perfect game against the Reds. This year he began the playoffs by allowing a three-run home run to Lance Berkman in the first inning as the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead.

Trailing 3-1 entering the sixth inning the Phillies erupted off of Kyle Lohse. With two men on Ryan Howard did what he does best which is hit a home run to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Then Raul Ibanez followed that up with a two-run blast to give the Phillies a 6-3 lead.

The Phillies would score three more runs in the seventh innings. Howard would have a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies a 7-3 lead. Shane Victorino had a single scoring Chase Utley to give the Phillies a 8-3 lead. Raul Ibanez followed that with an RBI single to give the Phillies a commanding 9-3 lead.

The Phillies would hang on to win 11-6. Roy Halladay would earn the win going eight innings, allowing just three hits, three runs and eight strikeouts. The Phillies were led by their bats which saw Ryan Howard go one for three with a homerun and four RBI's. Raul Ibanez would go two for four with a homerun and three RBI's. For the Cardinals Lohse went 5.1 innings allowing six runs, five earned while striking out five.

Gallardo shuts down big D-Backs bats to lift Brew Crew to a 4-1 victory:

In a game which many expected to feature a ton of scoring instead was the low scoring game of the day. Led by Yovani Gallardo who pitched eight terrific innings for the Brewers. While the offense did just enough for the Brewers to earn the win.

There was no scoring until the fourth inning when Jerry Hariston had a sacrifice fly scoring Ryan Braun. The Brewers would score again in the sixth when Jonathan Lucroy drove in Yuniesky Betancourt to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead.

The game would be put away in the seventh inning when Prince Fielder hit a big two-run homerun off of Ian Kennedy to give the Brew Crew a 4-0 lead. Gallardo would allow a homerun in the eighth inning but that didn't matter as the Brewers won 4-1.

The Brewers were led by Gallardo who pitched eight innings, four hits, one run and struck out nine guys. While the Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy went 6.2 innings allowing four runs with three strikeouts. The Brewers were led by their stud hitter Fielder who was 2-4 with a homerun and two RBI's.

In conclusion, this was a good day for baseball as the home teams won so the crowd was exciting. I love this time of the year with the baseball playoffs. Expect to see more pitching as the playoffs go on as high scoring games only happen in the LDS while the playoffs go on pitching becomes more dominant.

Game one ALDS recap; Texas-Tampa Bay

By Kshell

Well that time of the year again where the baseball playoffs have begun. Today was a strange day for the first day of the postseason as one game featured a blowout while the other game was postponed after just an inning and a half. This wasn't like last year where you saw a perfect game on the first day. So like I'll be doing for the entire major league baseball playoffs I'll be recapping all the games as best as I can. For today there is only one game which features a rematch between the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers who played in a great five game series last year. The Texas Rangers unlike last year were hosting the game as the Tampa Bay Rays are the wild card team. The Rays who rallied from a 7-0 deficit on Wednesday to make the playoffs making up nine games in the standings on the Boston Red Sox.  Due to that game on Wednesday the Rays were throwing a pitcher who had made only one career start. The Rays also have to fly to Texas facing the Rangers ace C.J.Wilson so many expected the defending American League champions to defeat the Rays in game one. Well just like on Wednesday baseball is a funny game. Hero's can step up when you least expect it which is what happened today for the Rays.

Shoppach homers twice as Moore shuts out Rangers for Rays 9-0 win:

The Rays took it to the Rangers in game one improving to 3-0 all-time in the ballpark of Arlington in the postseason. The Rays behind seven shutout innings from their rookie pitcher Matt Moore won game one to take a 1-0 lead. The Rays were also helped out by slumping catcher Kelly Shoppach who was 3-5, two home runs and five RBI's.  Not bad for a guy who hit below .200 during the regular season.

The Rays started their scoring on C.J. Wilson in the second inning when veteran Johnny Damon hit a two-run homerun to right field to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. After Shoppach reached base, two batters later Matt Joyce drove in Shobbach to give the Rays a 3-0 lead.

Hanging onto a 3-0 lead the Rays made sure Moore's first career playoff start would be as easy as possible. In the third inning Shoppach put the game away when he hit a three-run homerun to deep centerfield scoring Ben Zohbrist and Eva Longoria to give the Rays a commanding 6-0 lead as C.J.Wilson was getting rocked.

In the fifth inning Shoppach took Wilson deep again for a two-run homerun as Damon was on base to give the Rays an 8-0 lead. That would be Wilson's final inning as he lasted five innings, allowing seven hits, eight runs, six earned, striking out six but gave up three homeruns a far cry from his start last year against the Rays.

The Rays would score their final run in the ninth inning on an infield base hit by Damon to give them a 9-0 shutout win in game one. For the Rays they were led by Shoppach who was 3-5 with two homeruns with five RBI's and three runs scored. Damon was 2-5 with a homerun, three RBI's and two runs scored. Moore pitched terrificly going 7 innings allowing no runs while allowing just two hits. He struck out six while walking on two batters. Making his second career start he doesn't seem fazed by the moment. In two starts he has won at Yankees stadium and now on the road in the playoffs so I think safe to say he won't be scared of pressure.

In conclusion, this was a boring first day as one game was a blow out and the other was rained out. Hopefully the baseball playoffs will provide plenty of great moments which I'm sure they will. The Rays taking game one is huge with James Shields and David Price behind Moore. Remember the Rangers won't have Cliff Lee this year who was 2-0 in that five game series win over the Rays last season. The Major League Baseball playoffs is underway and I'm pretty excited to finally care about baseball again. As a Seattle Mariners fan I stopped caring about baseball when in April, actually in July. I love baseball playoffs as every pitch can be the difference between a World Series title or losing in the first round. The Rays who won the American League in 2008 are off to a good start in this years postseason.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 8th-14th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed an impressive 3-3 week as they took the Boston Red Sox two out of three at Safeco Field. The Mariners began the week losing the first two to the Texas Rangers before winning the series finale to avoid the sweep. The Mariners won't confuse you for a team full of world beaters but since the trade deadline the Mariners are 7-5. The Mariners got better for the future with their trades but also brought in some key pieces that are contributing right now to the team. The Mariners are also riding the hot stick of Mike Carp who has been killing the ball since being called back up in the second half of the season. The Mariners starting pitching didn't do great this week or bad but the hitters carried the team. The Mariners also saw two hitters who had been slumping all season long have big weeks. One guy in particular is key to the Mariners future success which was nice to see. So this week we'll talk about the good(return of Franklin Gutierrez), the bad(two young kids who have been rushed) and the awesome(Mike Carp's second half). It has been fun seeing the team playing good baseball lately.

The Good:

The Mariners started the week off losing three of their first four games but battled back to beat the Boston Red Sox back to back games to go 3-3. The highlights of the week was the hot hitting of Mike Carp and Franklin Gutierrez. Those two have been killing the ball for about two weeks now which has really helped this slumping offense. The Mariners are getting good hitting from Ichiro and Dustin Ackley as well so the top of the order has been hitting the ball well. The Mariners closer Brandon League this week was lights out as he saved three games while allowing just one base runner. The newly acquired Casper Wells has been hitting the ball extremely well with two home runs the last two games in the series win over the Red Sox. Little used Jack Wilson is taking advantage of his playing time with four doubles this week. This was indeed a good week for the Mariners hitters who scored five runs in the first inning off of all-star pitcher Josh Beckett.

Good Hitting:

Mike Carp: 9-25(.360), HR, 9 RBI's, 4 runs
Casper Wells: 5-13(.384), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs, SB, .500 OB%
Dustin Ackley: 6-22(.272), 2 RBI's, 3 runs, .407 OB%
Ichiro: 7-26(.269), HR, RBI, 4 runs, SB
Jack Wilson: 7-15(.467), 3 RBI's, 3 runs, 4 doubles
Franklin Gutierrez: 11-23(.478), RBI, 5 runs, 3 SB's

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 3 K's
Michael Pineda: 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 4 K's
Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP, K
Brandon League: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 4 K's, 3 saves

Later on in this post I'll talk more in depth on Gutierrez, Ichiro and Carp. All three are enjoying hitting streaks and are hitting the ball well this month. In the case of Carp he has been killing the ball since being called up.

The Bad:

The Mariners lost two out of three to the Texas Rangers this week. Since 2008 the Mariners record against the Rangers hasn't been very good. The Mariners are now 3-10 this year against the Rangers. The Mariners are just 26-44(.371) against their divisional rivals since 2008 which is flat out terrible. The Mariners also saw two early veteran pieces who were successful who have been in a long slump. The Mariners have two rookies who appear to be overmatched at the major league level but have shown some flashes that eventually they can be quality. The Mariners had two young pitchers get rocked this week although one bounced back against a very good lineup. The Mariners are playing a ton of young guys now so inconsistent results are expected. One thing that has to make manager Eric Wedge happy is the fact his team is competing and not getting blown out like they were during the 17 game losing streak.

Bad Hitting:

Adam Kennedy: 2-12(.167), 3 RBI's, run, K
Miguel Olivo: 3-20(.150), RBI, run, SB, 5 K's
Travyon Robinson: 2-14(.143), 6 K's
Kyle Seager: 3-16(.188), run, 4 K's
Willy Mo Pena: 1-8(.125), 2 K's

Bad Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-1, 6.1 IP, 8.53 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, K
Charlie Furbush: 1-1, 11 IP, 5.72 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 6 K's
Jeff Gray: 0-1, Blown Save, 4.1 IP, 8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 2 K's
Josh Lueke: 0.1 IP, 54.00 ERA, 6.00 WHIP, K

Charlie Furbush is a young pitcher the Mariners are trying to see if he will be part of their future plans in the starting rotation. I'd say this week was a good test for Furbush. Against Texas he was lit up only lasting four innings while allowing six earned runs, eight hits, walked four and struck out zero batter. Then he bounced back against the Red Sox going seven innings, allowing just one earned run, just four hits, two walks while striking out six hitters. It was nce seeing Furbush bounce back the way he did.

The Awesome:

The awesome this week has been the terrific hitting of Mike Carp, Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez. The Mariners just a month ago had so many holes in their lineup. Now with Carp hitting at the DH spot, Gutierrez hitting at the center field spot, Ichiro in the right field spot and Casper Wells in left field the hitting doesn't look as terrible. The won't confuse anyone of the Mariners from 1995-2003 but they are much better than the triple A crap we've had to witness the last two and a half years. I've complained how nobody is taking advantage of their opportunity well I can't say that anymore as Mike Carp is doing just that.

The Mariners have had three hitters who are red hot right now. The slumping Gutierrez right now is riding a seven game hitting streak which had a five game multi game hitting streak as well. In the month of August Gutierrez is hitting .357/.378/.429 in 93 AB's with 4 RBI's and 10 runs scored. He also has seven stolen bases during that stretch.

The other hitter is Ichiro who is riding a 10 game hitting streak right now. For the month Ichiro is hitting .288/.302/.365 in 52 AB's with a home run, two RBI's and eight runs scored. He also has two stolen bases during that stretch. Nice to see Ichiro showing signs that he still has it.

Lastly, Mike Carp is just killing the ball right now. Carp is enjoying the longest active hitting streak which is at 14 games. In the second half of the season Carp is hitting .366/.398/.581 in 93 AB's. He has hit four home runs, drove in 24 runs while scoring 13 runs. For the month of August he is hitting .380/.415/.580 in 50 AB's with two home runs, 15 RBI's and 8 runs scored.

It has been nice seeing some guys hit the ball. Carp if he continues to hit this way has earned the right to enter spring training next year as the starter. He will be beyond having to compete if he can keep up this hot hitting. It has been great seeing a player step up and take advantage of his playing time which Carp has done so far. He has been red hot just like he was all year long in Tacoma. He is finally getting consistent at bats and doing the most with it.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 69-52, First Place
L.A. Angels: 65-56, 4.0 GB
Oakland A's: 53-67, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 52-67, 16.0 GB

In conclusion, the trades made by Jack Zduriencik has made life easier on Eric Wedge. Now some of the problems earlier in the year was on Wedge as he chose to play Carlos Peguero over Mike Carp which Carp is proving was a huge mistake. It is nice seeing the Mariners offense finally score some runs and resemble a major league offense for once. This month the Mariners are averaging 4.3 runs per game which is a huge upgrade over their average prior to this month which was 3.3 runs per game. That one run in baseball is huge especially when talking per game average. The Mariners for the second straight week have played pretty good baseball against the same schedule that burried them. Thanks to the red hot hitting of Mike Carp and Franklin Gutierrez the Mariners fans have enjoyed some fine baseball this month. It was great seeing the Mariners take two out of three against all those bandwagon Red Sox fans. Hopefully the Mariners can finish out the season strong and avoid finishing last place for the sixth time in eight years.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: July 14th-24th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners are currently going through their worst stretch in franchise history. The Mariners went into the all-star break on a five game losing streak which appeared to eliminate them from the race. Now the Mariners in the second half have lost all 10 games to the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. The Mariners have lost a franchise record 15 straight games which is shocking considering as of July 6th this team was just 2.5 games back of first place. Now the Mariners trail the Oakland A's as they sit in last place in their division. The losing streak started off with the Mariners not hitting which has been a problem all year long and has been a problem in the entire Jack Zduriencik regime. What has surprised most fans is that this week especially on the road trip to Toronto and Boston the Mariners offense woke up while the pitching staff has been lit up. For the first time all year I'll have several pitchers make the "bad" list. Like I do whenever the team has a losing week I'll be going over the good(not much), the bad(over half the roster) and the ugly(the mastermind behind this team).

The Good:

When a team is going through a 15 game losing streak I'm sure you are thinking good?!1 Well a few hitters have stepped up this past week and so have some pitchers. This week saw the return of Mike Carp from Tacoma and now that he is getting regular at bats he took advantage this week. If Carp can show life that would be nice since the offense is still broken. The Mariners also saw short stop Brendan Ryan hit his first home run of the season and then he followed that up with a grand slam. This week also saw rookie pitcher Blake Beavan who was acquired in the Cliff Lee deal pitch pretty well in his two starts despite picking up the loss. Beavan this year has pitched a quality start in all four of his starts which is a good way to start your career. The Mariners finally had some hitting this road trip but the pitching has been terrible. The Mariners offense this road trip has averaged 4.8 runs per game which is pretty good for this offense.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 12-42(.286), HR, 6 RBI's, run
Brendan Ryan: 14-40(.350), 2 HR's, 6 RBI's, 7 runs, 2 SB's
Mike Carp: 8-22(.363), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-2, 13.1 IP, 4.05 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 7 K's
Jeff Gray: 6.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 5 K's, Blown Save
David Pauley: 0-1, 5.1 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 4 K's
Chris Ray: 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 2.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's

The team hasn't performed very well as you can see by the limited work that closer Brandon League has received. It was nice seeing the youngsters like Dustin Ackley, Mike Carp and Blake Beavan perform well during this losing streak that was the lone bright spot.

The Bad:

The Mariners have set a franchise record with their 15th straight loss when they were swept by the Boston Red Sox sunday losing 12-8. The Mariners go on the road to the New York Yankees then return home to face the Tampa Bay Rays so this losing streak could very well stretch to 20 games. The Mariners pitching in particular their bullpen overachieved in the first half and law of averages have caught up to them. The Mariners still have several hitters who are slumping as the offense scored just two runs in their four game sweep at home to the Texas Rangers to begin the second half. Watching this losing streak I think we all feel crazy that just two weeks ago there was actual playoff talk surrounding this team. Now the Mariners are headed towards another top five pick in the major league baseball draft. First year manager Eric Wedge you can tell is fed up with this team as he blasted his veterans in a loss against the Toronto Blue Jays. He even shaved his famous mustache in an attempt to avoid the losing streak. The team is hitting slightly better now but that was all negated due to the pitching being so terrible.

Bad Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 6-34(.176), run, 7 K's
Adam Kennedy: 6-32(.187), HR, RBI, 3 runs, 6 K's
Miguel Olivo: 8-36(.222), 2 HR's, 6 RBI's, 3 runs, 2 SB's, 10 K's
Carlos Peguero: 0-2(.000), 2 K's
Franklin Gutierrez: 7-32(.218), 3 RBI's, 4 runs, 4 SB's, 7 K's
Chone Figgins: 2-13(.153), 2 runs, SB, 5 K's
Greg Halman: 2-19(.105), HR, 3 RBI's, run, 8 K's

Bad Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 0-2, 14 IP, 6.43 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, 8 K's
Jason Vargas: 0-2, 9 IP, 10.00 ERA, 2.67 WHIP, 3 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 10.2 IP, 10.13 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 10 K's
Doug Fister: 0-1, 13.2 IP, 5.27 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 5 K's
Aaron Laffey: 5.1 IP, 10.13 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 3 K's, hold
Jamey Wright: 0-1, 4.2 IP, 11.57 ERA, 2.36 WHIP, 3 K's

The numbers don't lie right there. The starting pitching which has carried this team all season long has fallen apart in the second half. The Mariners saw two key bullpen guys just fall apart which isn't helping things at all. The hitting has been terrible since 2008 which makes you question how things are being run upstairs. The main player that is a red flag is Justin Smoak who has been slumping pretty bad ever since his hot April. He was a key acquisition in the Cliff Lee trade and if he doesn't pan out that will set the franchise back some years.

The Ugly:

The Mariners right now are looking like a flawed roster that is heading for another disasterous season. The Mariners are on pace to lose 93 games this season which would be their third season in the last four years of losing over 90 games. The Mariners are going for history this season as the worst American League offense in the DH era which is a record you don't want. The Mariners despite a decent sized payroll have put out a minor league batting lineup the past two seasons. Now I've already debated with Insider Steve on whether or not Jack Zduriencik should be retained. I'm not going to open that up instead I'll post some ugly stats.

Jack Zduriencik era

- Has a 189-236(.444%) record in Seattle. That is an average of 71-91 record.
- Has an offense that is scoring 3.28 runs per game in 2011 which ranks last in baseball, scored 3.16 runs per game in 2010 that ranked last in baseball and 3.9 runs per game in 2009 that ranked 28th in baseball.
- In his years his offenses have averaged 3.49 runs per game.
- His teams have hit only 325 HR's in 425 games so they aren't producing the power.
- In 2011 the Mariners are hitting .226/.290/.334 which ranks last place, last place and 29th. In 2010 the Mariners hitting was .236/.298/.339 which ranks last place in all three categories. In 2009 the Mariners hitting was .258/.314/.402 which ranked 21st, 29th and 23rd. The offense has regressed each season under Zduriencik.

Now the pitching has been pretty good but Jason Vargas and recently Blake Beavan only starting pitchers that Zdurienik has his hand on. While the crappy hitting only Ichiro this year and last year Jose Lopez plus our crappy catchers were the only non Zduriencik hitters. The hitting has been historically awful and this losing streak might have sealed Zdurienik's fate. I think firing Zduriencik doesn't solve the Mariners problems but hard to imagine a GM keeping his job with such ugly numbers.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 58-44, first place
L.A. Angels: 55-47, 3.0 GB
Oakland A's: 44-57, 13.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 43-58, 14.5 GB

The Seattle Mariners as a franchise has been in a decade long drought. The Mariners feel like that snail who takes one slow step forward then falls back quickly two steps. The Mariners since 2003 have had five full-time managers and seven managers overall. The Mariners have had three different GM's in that time and it appears we'll have our fourth next spring. The new "savior" that the fans will drool over every move he makes. This feels like a process that never ends. The names come and go while the same crappy results continue on. This franchise despite having an ace pitcher in his prime and a first ballot hall of fame hitter will lose over 90 games for the third time in four seasons. They will have lost over 90 games five times since 2004. This year we all figured it was going to be a rebuilding year and possibly the team overachieving in the first half may have cost Zduriencik. The fans had accepted 90 plus losses heading into the season but expectations changed during the season. One thing that hasn't changed is the historically awful offense that Zduriencik has assembled. For as much crap as people give Wedge for his lineups you can only do so much with seven turds. The Mariners offense is just one giant turd at the end of the day and this losing streak just magnifies it.

Is it time to finally forgive A-Rod?

By Kshell

The fans were hurt when he left us for a big payday. They couldn't believe how we lost another superstar in this town. After losing in the ALCS fans wondered out loud if he was on the team could we have finally reached a World Series? They couldn't believe how he betrayed the team and held the team hostage. The player I'm talking about of course is Ken Griffey Jr who demanded a trade after the 1999 season despite having one more year left on his contract. Not only did Griffey Jr demand a trade he demanded a trade to only one team which was the Cincinnati Reds. That meant the Reds were in no position to give the Mariners anything close to fair compensation. When the dust had settled Griffey Jr. was traded to the Mariners to be closer to his family(even though he lived in Florida) and the Mariners were robbed. They received Brett Tomko, Mike Cameron and two minor leaguers who never played in the major leagues for them. The Mariners lost that year in the ALCS to the New York Yankees in six games a team Griffey Jr historically has dominated. Yet when Griffey Jr came back to Safeco Field he was given a standing ovation. While Alex Rodriguez despite leaving the team 11 years ago still continues to be loudly booed for doing something everyone would have done in his shoes. So I beg the question when is it time to finally forgive A-Rod and move on?

While with the Seattle Mariners Rodriguez was a four time all-star, batting champion and pulled off the 40/40(40+home runs, 40+ stolen bases) season. While in 1996 Rodriguez finished second in the MVP race where had either Seattle writer voted him first or second he would have won the MVP and again in 2000 he took third in the MVP race. Rodriguez was a key player on two playoff teams including one team that went to the ALCS where he had a good series. The memories he gave the Mariners fans shouldn't go away and I'm happy to say I saw one of the games greatest players of all-time in person on my team. For the Mariners in seven seasons but in reality only five seasons he hit .309/.374/.561 and hit 189 home runs, drove in 595 runs, scored 627 runs and stole 133 bases. In the playoffs he also performed for the Mariners in a playoff loss to the Orioles he hit .313/.313/.563 with a home run back in 1997. Then in 2000 when he was the man against the White Sox he hit .308/.308/.308 with two RBI's in the three game sweep. Then in a loss to the Yankees in the ALCS he hit .409/.480/.773 with two home runs, five RBI's and four runs scored. So Rodriguez was big time for the Mariners as well. I can understand why at first fans were upset with him for leaving as I was too.

I still remember when Rodriguez left the Mariners for division rival Texas Rangers. I was a freshman in high school at the time and it made me so mad that for the third straight year the Mariners lost a future hall of famer. When the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets both pulled out of the Rodriguez sweepstakes I thought for sure he was going to stay in Seattle. Then out of left field the Texas Rangers gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. I was only 15 years old and was a Mariners fan so I couldn't understand the decision at the time. The Mariners offered him three years at 60 million and two option years making it a total of five years for 100 million. Rodriguez would have been a fool to turn down 10 years/252 million dollars making him the highest paid player in sports history. Rodriguez is a guy who grew up poor without a dad, a guy who finished second in the MVP race in 1996 making $442,334.00 so he needed to be paid what he was worth. I can understand the initial anger towards Rodriguez who left the Mariners an ALCS team for a last place Rangers club in our own division. What Rodriguez did was very professional in my opinion unlike the two previous guys who departed the Mariners.

I'll bring up a quick scenario for you guys to judge who truly is the "bad" guy. Player A demanded a trade to only one team and one team only despite still having a year left on his contract. By demanding a trade to only one team that team was forced to receive some crappy pieces. Player B complained his entire last season and underachieved for various reasons. He was even involved in an altercation with a teammate that season. Player C busted his ass to get the Mariners to within two games of the World Series and finished third in the MVP race. Player C didn't let his free agency be a distraction at all and the Mariners received two first round draft picks for him. Now after reading that clearly player C did the Mariners the least amount of wrong even though he is the only one of those three who receives boo's. Player A is Ken Griffey Jr and player B is Randy Johnson for those who couldn't figure it out. Now I'm not saying Rodriguez means more to the franchise than those two because well he doesn't. I'm also not saying you should boo those two either because that is just dumb. I think it's time we finally let it go on Rodriguez who played his heart out for this team. His last game ever as a Mariner in Yankee Stadium in game six of the ALCS he went four for five with a home run. After that game he sat in his locker crying knowing that could have been the last time he ever played for the Mariners. He gave the Mariners everything he could and I wish instead of booing him the fans would cheer him as a sign of thanks.

When Rodriguez makes it to the baseball Hall of Fame he'll go in as a New York Yankee. Whenever they show his highlights though they'll show some of his moments with the Mariners which for a franchise who had nothing going for themselves prior to 1991 is a great thing. When you walk in the Mariners current Hall of Fame you'll see Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Dave Niehaus and Alvin Davis. Those guys are solid but unless you are from Seattle it shows how bad our franchise is. Eventually you'll see Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson and Ichiro in there which will make our Hall of Fame seem legit. Well if the fans forgave Rodriguez having possibly the all-time Home Run king in our own Hall of Fame would look pretty cool. As long as the fans keep booing him though I doubt the Mariners would risk the PR nightmare of having Rodriguez featured. He will be remembered as a Yankee but he is a hired gun to them. He grew up as a Mariner as the #1 pick coming out of high school, to the kid who scored the tying run in 1995 when David Cone walked Doug Strange, to the man who became the most feared Shortstop hitter in baseball history from 1996-2000. I think time heals all wounds and it's time to stop booing Rodriguez like he personally did something wrong to us.

In conclusion, the Rodriguez who played in Seattle before he became a hollywood type figure in New York was a guy I could respect. He was a guy who worked hard every game, unlike Griffey Jr. on routine groundballs he would always run them out. He didn't care about stats either in game three of the 2000 ALDS against the White Sox he had a sacrifice bunt to move the runner along. His dad walked out on him as a kid and when he became famous his dad wanted to be a part of his life. Rodriguez wanted no part of the man who made life hell on his mom. In fact to this day Rodriguez says he only has one "dad" and his name is Lou Piniella. Rodriguez speaks highly of Piniella, Niehaus and owes his entire career to Edgar Martinez. The Mariners aren't even rivals with the Yankees and Rodriguez has never burned the Mariners in a big playoff game either. He currently has 622 career home runs at 35 years old. There is a very good chance he'll break Barry Bonds career home run record which is 762 home runs. It would be nice if the Mariners can celebrate that moment with Rodriguez. So fans he has been gone for 11 years now. Time to move on and remember the good times he gave the Mariners. I'm just happy and lucky to have watched a player who is as great as he is play for my favorite team. So fans stop booing A-Rod and surprise the nation while cheering him.