Mariners trade League to Dodgers; Delabar to Blue Jays for prospects

By Kshell

That time of year again where the fire sale for the Seattle Mariners begins under Jack Zduriencik. This time Zduriencik traded away former all-star closer Brandon League to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two prospects and traded feel good story reliever Steve Delabar to the Toronto Blue Jays for an outfielder. League was dealt for an outfielder and a reliever as the Mariners continue to try to build their farm system. League had spent two and a half seasons with the Mariners after Zdurienick traded for him from the Toronto Blue Jays for high draft pick Brandon Morrow. League was a setup man in 2010, then became the closer in 2011 where he made the all-star team only to lose his closing job during this season which then made him very expendable. For Delabar he has a great arm and was featured on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Delabar's problem this season has been the long ball and the Mariners have two young relievers ready to come up so this was two solid trades by Zduriencik.

League's best two moments in Seattle were when he made the all-star team in 2011 and this year against the team he is now on the Los Angeles Dodgers. League combined with five other pitchers on throwing a no-hitter against the Dodgers. For League he came into a second and third one out situation in the eighth inning were one base hit would have lost the game. League got out of the jam. In 2011 when League made the all-star team he recorded 37 saves while throwing 61.1 innings. He posted a 2.79 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP and struck out 45 hitters(6.6 K's per 9). This year he has struggled as he had just nine saves while blowing six and has just six holds. He has a 3.63 ERA while throwing 44.2 innings with a 1.50 WHIP and striking out only 27 batters(5.4 K's per 9). For his Mariners career he went 10-17 in 181 games having thrown 185 innings. He recorded 52 saves and 19 holds with a 3.26 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 128 strikeouts(6.2 K's per 9). It was time for League to move on and I would have liked to have seen the Mariners trade him a year ago so his value was high. Such is the case with this franchise they always love to trade players a year too late.

The Mariners also traded away reliever Steve Delabar to the Toronto Blue Jays. He was featured on Real Sports on HBO because he was a former teacher who made it the big leagues with the Mariners in 2011. In 2011 Delabar appeared in six games having thrown seven innings. Delabar was 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and seven strikeouts(9.0 K's per 9). This year big things were expected of him instead due to the long ball he struggled. This season Delabar while in Seattle has appeared in 34 games. He is 2-1 with three holds having thrown 36.2 innings. He is sporting a 4.17 ERA despite a 0.92 WHIP having struck out 46 hitters(11.3 K's per 9). His problem is he has allowed nine home runs(2.2 per 9 innings) which is a lot for any pitcher especially a reliever. He also pitched in nine games down in Tacoma where he went 0-1 with one save having thrown 12 innings. He posted a 3.75 ERA, 1.92 WHIP and struck out 12 batters(9.0 K's per 9). Delabar despite most media in this city making fun of him actually has good stuff and if you look past his ERA you can see his WHIP and K's per 9 is really good. In fact I'm a little bummed out about losing Delabar while I'm actually glad League and his low K's and high WHIP has been traded.

What the Mariners got in these trades were from the Blue Jays outfielder Eric Thames who will be joining the team immediately. While from the Dodgers they acquired outfielder Leon Landry and reliever Logan Bawcom who will both spend time in the Mariners minors. Thames this year for the Blue Jays in 160 PA's hit .243/.288/.365 with only three home runs. In triple A Las Vegas Thames is hitting .330/.407/.528 in 231 PA's with six home runs. Last year was a breakout year for Thames the Blue Jays thought. In triple A Las Vegas he hit .352/.423/.610 in 241 PA's with seven home runs. Then in the major leagues he hit .262/.313/.456 in 394 PA's with 12 home runs. Thames will be a nice lefty outfield bat for the Mariners which they'll need and I would rather him play over Peguero in the outfield. Now Thames in two major league seasons has been terrible on defense posting a negative 1.7 WAR last year defensively and a negative 0.6 WAR this year defensively. The Mariners do need some hitters and in the minor leagues and in small sample size in the major leagues the 25 year old Thames has proven he can hit which should be a nice addition for the ball club right now.

As for who the Mariners got in the Brandon League trade from the Dodgers that is more interesting. First Leon Landry who was a third round pick by the Dodgers in 2010 take out of LSU Tigers. Landry this year in high A ball is hitting .328/.358/.559 in 376 PA's. Landry has eight home runs, 51 RBI's, 63 runs scored. He also brings speed to the table as he has hit 15 triples and stolen 20 bases in only 80 games. Landry will turn 23 this late September. Like Thames, Landry also is a left handed hitter who hopefully can keep developing as he is a career .297/.344/.457 hitter in 1,202 PA's with 16 home runs and 30 triples alone with 61 stolen bases in only 262 career games. The other piece the Mariners acquired is Logan Bawcom who was a 17th round pick in the 2010 draft from the University of Texas-Arlington Mavericks(you might recognize them as the Huskies defeated them in the NIT). Bawcom this season starting off in high A ball like Landry. In high A ball Bawcom was 1-1 with seven saves in 14 innings pitched. In those 14 innings he posted a 0.64 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and struck out 24 batters(15.4 K's per 9). He was them promoted to double A where so far he is 3-3 with 13 saves in 34.2 innings ptiched. In those 34.2 innings he has posted a 2.60 ERA, 1.32 WHP and struck out 36 batters(9.3 K's per 9). He'll be 24 years old this November and has always had a great strikeout rate throughout the minor leagues.

The Mariners are once again building through the farm and are hoping that these pieces will continue to prosper for them. Not all the prospects will pan out but take a look at last years Doug Fister trade where the Mariners acquired Casper Wells(hitting .249/.317/.407 in 209 PA's with six home runs) and Charlie Furbush(4-2, 34 games, 37.1 innings, 2.17 ERA, 0.80 WHP, 47 K's, 11.3 K's per 9) you are hoping for a similar result. I don't know about the Delabar deal but with Stephen Pryor and Carter Capps on their way up I doubt the Mariners will miss him. Just like the Mariners aren't going to miss Doug Fister in a few years if now. The League trade has potential to be a good steal for the Mariners as he was good last year but terrible this year. If not for the "proven closer" label I doubt the Dodgers give the Mariners some nice pieces for him. Like I said I think Delabar is better than League and I'm not upset at all about losing League. I'm curious how these three guys do in Seattle and we'll get a chance to see Thames quite a bit this year as he'll be on the big league roster. As for the other two hopefully someday I'll be getting a chance to see them as well. The Mariners aren't done by any chance as they could still be selling as today is the trade deadline.

On this date in history: June 2nd

By Kshell

On this date in sports history some signficant events happened that I remember very vividly. The one event that happened was 16 years ago was when the Seattle Supersonics defeated the Utah Jazz in game seven of the Western Conference Finals 90-86 which was their first Finals appearance since 1979. I was in 4th grade and since the Sonics were going to play the Chicago Bulls I knew we had no chance so my dad and myself celebrated like we had one a title. That same school year the Mariners began the season with their magical 1995 run which saw the Mariners defeat the New York Yankees in five games. Edgar Martinez had the double heard around the northwest as Ken Griffey Jr scored the game winning run to defeat the Yankees. Sports was looking well for the northwest teams back then and on June 2nd the Sonics going to the Finals was one of the happiest sports days of my life.

Fast forward to 2010 and I was in Las Vegas, Nevada on a 10 day vacation. I was playing a lot of poker which you can see as I'm playing in a World Series sponsored sit and go(took 3rd place had chip lead got rivered back to back hands). Whenever I'm in Las Vegas with my friends I'm about having a good time and staying out late. Las Vegas is a great social city and this trip was no different than every other trip I've had down there. For whatever the reason whenever I'm in Las Vegas a major event happens in my life. The year before while I was in Las Vegas pop icon Michael Jackson had died and being in Vegas when that happened was a very surreal moment for me. Now in 2010 I didn't expect another big moment to happen. Instead I had two moments happen on the same day which was pretty crazy.

I woke up on June 2nd in the afternoon to a ton of text messages from my friends telling me that Seattle Mariners legendary outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. had suddenly retired without warning. Now there was rumors leading up to this as Griffey was struggling in 2010 hitting .184/.250/.204 on the year with zero home runs in 98 at bats as the team was experiencing a horrible season. There was no final goodbye to Griffey which was the sad part instead he retired. Griffey had retired with 630 home runs and a batting line of .284/.370/.538 in 9,801 at bats. Griffey scored 1,662 runs and drove in 1,836 runs in his future hall of fame career. Griffey had won an MVP in 1997 and finished in the top five in the MVP race in 1993(5th), 1994(2nd), 1996(4th), and 1998(4th). He was a 13-time all-star and had won 10 gold gloves. The Griffey retirement hit home to everyone in my age group who grew up with Griffey and was very sad to see the way he went out. Normally when a player of his calibar retires that is the big news of the day. Instead Griffey was overshadowed that day by a pitcher with a 26-30 record and a 4.69 ERA for his career.

Later that day I was watching the t.v. when sportscenter switched to the Detriot Tigers-Cleveland Indians game as Armando Galarraga was working on a perfect game. The Detroit Tigers had a 3-0 lead going into the 9th inning as Galarraga was three outs away from perfection. After recording the first two outs he was one out away facing shortstop Jason Donald. Donald hit a grounder inbetween second and first where Miguel Cabrera decided to snag the ball and toss it to Galarraga for the final out. As you can see Galarraga made the out but umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe. I screamed in shock waking up my friend who I was staying with who is a night shift poker dealer on the strip in Vegas. When he saw the replay he couldn't believe it either as Galarraga was robbed of the perfect game. He would record the next batter but that opportunity to be perfect was lost forever. That story was the story that everyone was talking about on national t.v. and later on that night on the strip in Vegas at the poker tables all anyone could talk about.

For whatever reason when I go to Las Vegas major events happen. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett die on the same day, Griffey retires same day as the perfect game was robbed by an umpire then last year when I found out I was going to be an uncle for the first time. This date in particular was special as the Sonics had clinched a trip to the NBA Finals back in 1996 and then the biggest Seattle sports legend we had ever seen retired on that same day 14 years later. June 2nd will always be a special date in Seattle sports history due to the Sonics and Griffey. I was just glad I can recall these moments so well and glad I can share those memories with you guys.

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.

Being pessimistic no way to live life

By Kshell

This past weekend I went to Las Vegas for a friends bachelor party. On the first night I had a rough night gambling lost some money that I can't afford to lose. I was complaining non stop in my hotel room when my friend made a great point which was "you are in Las Vegas with your best friends and living life right now enjoy it". The point of the story is if you look at everything negatively even when you are having a good time you aren't having a good time. Throughout life as a society we tend to worry about the future so much instead of living the moment. My college years for an example I was too busy worrying about money problems since I was broke. What I wish I had done was take in that experience that I'll never have again. I normally write about sports and this also relates to sports as a fan base the die hard fans never enjoy the moment. During college season is the worst half the year you spend talking about your team and the other half is worrying about who is replacing star senior X.

Watching a college sports season is the worst far as talking with other fans. Instead of worrying about the season at hand people are too busy talking about if their recruiting class is good or not, if they are losing a ton of talent or not as well. I've often asked my dad what his favorite college football season ever was and he said 1991. I've asked my dad the most stressful season as a fan and he said it was 1991 and 1992. That is the problem fans and I'm talking the die hards who live and breathe their team don't enjoy the ride. That is the good thing and bad thing about sports is there is always next year. If your team wins a title you celebrate then the next day you worry about replacing all the seniors. If your team is terrible you are hopeful for the recruits you bring in. Then the pessimistic fans will immediately write your college team off if they lose any seniors of value. I'd like to say I'm neither pessimistic or optimistic but I lean towards pessimistic. Years of being a Seattle sports fan leaves one jaded much like a guy who has never had a good relationship can be jaded towards women(hint: me).

I often equate everything to sports teams and women as to me they go hand in hand. I'm a Seattle sports fan my whole life and I'm also 25 and a half years old who has never had a successful relationship. So it's pretty easy to see why I'm so bitter towards the world. In both sports and women(or guys if your a women reading this) they are both similar in that all it takes is one. Look at the Boston area who seems to be winning one title after another in each sport. Prior to 2001 only the Boston Celtics did anything for that city and they hadn't won a title since 1986. Then the New England Patriots caught a break with the tuck rule and won three super bowls, the Red Sox had the most amazing comeback ever coming back from 3-0 to the New York Yankees in 2004, a former Celtic gave away Kevin Garnett to the Celtics and now Tim Thomas caught fire for the Boston Bruins. That's all it takes is one break and the ball could be going well in your favor. Now we all can't date Mila Kunis(she's like the Yankees of women basically she's awesome) but we sure can land an all around attractive girl which is the Seattle sports teams. There is no reason why our city is incapable of winning some titles. Even if Seattle doesn't win some titles it's how you react to losing just like in real life reacting to bad news.

When your sports team loses a crushing game it sucks but it's not the end of the world. We all survived the Sonics collapse in the 1994 playoffs, the Huskies scandal of 1992, Ryan Leaf busting in the NFL, the Mariners choking in the 2001 playoffs and the Seahawks losing the Super Bowl. We all survived 2008 which was the worst sports year ever. The point is we will survive all sorts of news. While in Vegas it appears there is a rule a big event must happened while I'm there. Well while I'm there I found out I was going to be an uncle. My youngest sister is having the baby so I was quite shocked at the time. She will survive and we will survive as a family through this time. Just like with sports if your star player is done for the year or let's say a player leaves free agency in his prime as an organization there is no time to cry but to move on. Well not equating having a kid to a loss but there is steps that need to be taken to move on. When the day becomes closer it will be like the Super Bowl times 10 where I'll be nervous and excited and I doubt I care about any sporting events during that time.

In conclusion, going your life being pessimistic isn't very fun at all. I've lived my life like I do as a sports fan which is being extremely pessimistic and that isn't fun at all. Now I'm not telling people to turn into Doogs but the constant pessimistic views could be decreased. I know this feels like a weird post coming from me and during a ball game I can be extremely critical of my teams. I also realized that isn't the way to be a fan and sometimes being a little bit more supportive is the answer. I think being wrong while showing good intentions is the better way to go through life than being right if your brutally honest. Just remember life is short and with your sports teams they can be taken away at any time therefore enjoy every last minute of them. You never know when your life will be turned upside down or when your team will just pack up and leave. So being pessimistic probably not the best way to go through life.

Please commissioner Larry Scott move the Pac-10 tournament from L.A please?

By Kshell

Well folks the calender reads March so it's that time of year. That time of year where every conference has a conference tournament to showcase their conference to the nation. While every other conference is racing with Jimmy Johnson behind the wheel the Pac-10 will have the old 60 year old driving behind the wheel. As is often the case the Pac-10 finds themselves as the old man who yells "Get off my porch!". The Pac-10 has everything backwards which isn't the current commissioner Larry Scott's fault but he sure can help things. The Pac-10 has a terrible t.v. contract for football and basketball. The Pac-10 also has without a doubt the worst conference tournament going. A conference tournament that has the worst attendance in the nation can easily be fixed. In this following blog post I'll explain why moving the conference tournament from the nicest arena in the conference and second biggest city in the nation will improve the tournament. I'll suggest the logical venues such as a basic rotation since every Pac-10 soon to be Pac-12 team has an arena that could host such a tournament. I will also think outside the box and suggest a city that doesn't even have a Pac-10 soon to be Pac-12 team.

First I'll explain why Los Angeles is such a bad city to host such a big tournament. First of all Staples Center is way too big. Unless the Los Angeles Lakers are playing behind Kobe Bryant this place has often looked very empty. Just ask the Los Angeles Clippers before Blake Griffin arrived. I'd rather the conference tournament be in a stadium that is slighty too small than too big. Los Angeles also isn't the greatest sports city in the world. There is a reason why the NFL hasn't been there in over 15 seasons. Los Angeles is well known for arriving late and leaving early. It didn't take much effort the Washington Huskies fans to take over Los Angeles when the Huskies swept the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins. Both crowds were split half and half showing Los Angeles has bigger and better things to do. Unless the UCLA Bruins or USC Trojans are playing in the game nobody else cares. The other games will often be empty as you'll see tomorrow when the Apple Cup round three takes place at 8:40 p.m. It's not too late for Scott to make a bold move and move from Los Angeles. Now I've determined that Scott should move from Los Angeles you are wondering where should they go?

I think the Pac-10 soon to be Pac-12 could go two different directions. I'll offer up the most fair solution which is a basic rotation. You could rotate between Phoenix(satisfies the Arizona schools), Oakland/San Jose(Bay Area), Portland(Oregon's), Seattle(Washington), Denver(Colorado), Los Angeles(LA schools) and even Spokane(Washington State). All these places have hosted NCAA tournament games with great success. In the past NCAA tournament games were lame atmosphere's but with the pod system there is more life to them. Last year the Huskies took over San Jose just like the year before at Portland. Spokane has done a tremendous job over the years hosting the tournament. All these places can host an NCAA tournament and some even the elite eight so surely they can host a conference tournament. Plus by rotating it keeps the tournament fresh and I think more of a fan turn out would happen. If your team is struggling say like the Huskies are this year why go? I'll just wait next year to go to Los Angeles. While if it's rotating and let's say the tournament is in Phoenix when spring training is going on some fans might go anyways. With a rotation every fan base will have the opportunity to see their home team at least once in a decade. Unlike other conferences the Pac-10 soon to be Pac-12 has arena's for every group of teams that have had NBA games/hosted NCAA tournament games. The downfall is how can you make noise to the folks on the east coast when it is stuck up in Spokane? Well I have my personal favorite solution that I think fits the fair category, fan excitement category, and making noise back east.

I suggest moving the tournament to Las Vegas, Nevada. Yes that is correct I just suggest Sin City, the gambling capitol of the world, a city that doesn't even have a team in our soon to be 12 team conference. I also have a vision and I know Vegas would work and be the best thing for this conference. Anyone who has been to Vegas is nodding their head in agreement with me right now. If this tournament was in Vegas you wouldn't be reading this instead you would be in Vegas having a great time. The West Coast Conference tournament just finished and it was a huge success. The crowd was into it and there was plenty of fans there. Who wants to watch a championship game where there is more empty seats than people? I sure as hell don't! In Vegas which is the tourist capitol of the world fans would flock in full force to check out the tournament. Vegas offers plenty of things to do throughout the day as well. Not suggesting Los Angeles is some boring city at all but in Los Angeles the bars close at 2 a.m. Not in Las Vegas you can drink all night long. There is tons of casino's and hotels everywhere for people to stay at. Las Vegas also is a cheaper flight than Los Angeles. Las Vegas is still only four hours away from Los Angeles and six hours from Phoenix. Las Vegas would provide fans for something to do when there is no games going on. Las Vegas has so many tourists as well that you'll have more fans who want to go watch the event. Now some people have some concerns which I'll address.

The pictures to the right are of the proposed new sports complexes that could be built in Las Vegas. They would feature a minor league baseball stadium, an NFL sized football stadium(think Super Bowl) and an NBA arena(Hello Kings after they fail in Anaheim in five years). With a state of the art arena you won't feel the pain as much when leaving Staples Center. Another concern I've heard is what about the distractions of Las Vegas? Yes because Los Angeles is such a clean city with zero crime ever. Just look at Elise Woodward and Kim Grinolds facebook status about some guy with a gun in his hotel currently. If players want to get in trouble they can get in trouble in any city. The players are under curfew anyways so nobody would be going out and like I said if they want to sneak out they would anyways. The people who are complaining about Las Vegas "dirty" side are anti-gambling which is totally fine. Just remember those Ned Flanders types probably wouldn't be going to Los Angeles either. Even if Las Vegas never breaks ground on that arena it is at least something worth trying once right? Las Vegas doesn't have a team but has several big time money makers in town. Word would spread to New York quickly about the Pac-10 soon to be 12 tournament(especially if on ESPN or own network). If Las Vegas bombs(which I don't think it will) then at worst you failed one year. Larry Scott needs to try something because the current format is broken.

All in all, I'll stick to my belief that Las Vegas is the best option. I think you'll get more fans to travel to the event. Everyone is looking for an excuse to go to Las Vegas regardless of the time of year. There is a reason why the Las Vegas bowl which typically features a 6th place Pac-10 team always sells out. There is a reason why the NBA summer league is always packed as well because Las Vegas for all that it has is dying for sports. Las Vegas needs sports extremely bad and if the tournament goes to Las Vegas it would be a huge success. Don't waste any time commissioner Scott you can muscle the west coast conference out but I don't know about the Mountain West conference(UNLV is Mountain West). Get in there and try to steal another market. Plant your flag in another conference territory. The Pac-16 isn't dead yet and I predict by 2016 there will be more expansion. This is the perfect way to announce to the nation you are ready to expand. This is the perfect way to announce hey look at us we are the "cool" conference. Las Vegas is a city full of glitz and glamor. The Pac-10 soon to be Pac-12 knows what to do just move the conference tournament to Las Vegas. For once guys think outside the box instead of always being the last conference to adapt to the new way. While the Big East and the ACC is using twitter the Pac-10 is still using myspace. The time is now Pac-10 soon to be Pac-12 to make a stand! Move the conference tournament to Las Vegas mark my words it will be a huge success.