Jimerson DFA'd; Nortan Called Up

This has been tossed around a bit today, but it's all true. Time to round up all of this crap.

• USSMariner first came out saying that Greg Nortan had been called up.
• Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider came out after saying that Nortan was with the team, and Jimerson was on the way out. He also mentioned that Jimerson might pass through waivers, allowing the M's to send him to Tacoma.
• Bob Condotta, filling in for Geoff Baker, comfirming that Nortan has come up, and Jimerson was DFA'd, meaning the M's have 10 days to make a decision on him. He says that he's not sure if he'll accept a demotion to AAA. I can't think of any teams that need a fourth or fifth outfielder. He could catch on somewhere I guess.
• Now, the Mariners 'Official' Site comes out and confirm, confirms all of this, so Nortan is on the bench, and Jimerson is on his couch.

Series Preview: 4/11-13/08

The LA Angels of Anaheim come in to town in an epic showdown. Maybe if it were September or October.

Probable Starters:
4/11 - Felix Hernandez vs. Jered Weaver
4/12 - Carlos Silva vs. Jon Garland
4/13 - Erik Bedard vs. Joe Saunders

Keys to the Series

Good Starts from the Starters
The M's have had some solid success from their rotation and that needs to keep up. Their bullpen has been a question mark ever since JJ went down. The less they need to use it, especially this early, the better.

Go After Injury Replacements
The Halos are without their top two pitchers, so the Mariners have to take advantage. Saunders will be the only real injury replacement, but I think that you get the point. Garland hasn't faired too well so far with the Angels. Jered Weaver has the tools, but hasn't quite proven it yet. If the Mariners can jump on these guys and get in to the bullpen early, then they will have to deal with Scott Shields and Francisco Rodrigeuz in the eighth and ninth.

Time to Drink a Diet Pepsi
Atleast Brad Wilkerson needs to. His .125 BA in 24 AB's isn't very good. He only has two RBI's and has struck out seven times in eight games. He's also walked seven times though. The Mariners don't expect a .345 BA and 40 HR from Wilkerson, but he needs to wake up and prove he's worth it, or he'll be on the road out.

These Games do Count
Hey, it may be April, but losing a couple games here to the Angels could come back to haunt them come September and the playoff pinch comes in to play.

The Mariners need to go out and put forth a good effort. A little luck probably helps too.

Series Review: M's @ Rays; 4/8-10/08

I've got some catching up to do. First let's look at the Mariners vs. the Rays.

April 8
April 9
April 10

Get Over It
You tell me. Two wins and a blowout? It looks like they got over it, other than yesterday's game, but they will have to get over that too. They looked like they were a team that needed to win, and they did. Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

DON'T Take a Breather
The M's came out and put up a solid effort in the first two. Although I don't know what happened in the third game though.

At the end of the day, which is one of the sayings that I cannot stand, the Mariners won two out of the three games. Good-decent effort from everyone. I can't complain.

Around the League: April 9, 2008

I haven't been keeping up with these lately, but I'm back on track. Although posting may become scattered over the next while.

• The Mets are believed to be close to signing free agent pitcher Claudio Vargas to a minor league deal. He would likely make a few starts at AAA before he gets called up.
• The Oakland A's designated Dan Johnson for assignment to make room for pitcher Greg Smith who started the A's game against the Blue Jays today. There's a rumor out there that Johnson is close to being acquired by the San Francisco Giants, where he will get many oppurtunities with all of the Giants holes.
• D'Backs 2B Orlando Hudson wants $15M a season, or Chase Utley money. Will he get it? I doubt it, but he could pickup upwards of $10M in free agency.
• Some scores to pass along. CLE 5 LAA 9; LAD 3 ARI 4; CHC 6 PIT 4; DET 7 BOS 2; OAK 6 TOR 3; FLA 10 WSH 4; PHI 2 NYM 8; BAL @ TEX PPD; CIN 12 MIL 4; STL 6 HOU 4; NYY 4 KC 0; MIN 12 CWS 5; ATL 6 COL 12; SD 0 SF 1.

Brandon Morrow Rehab Watch; April 9/08

I took a look at Brandon Morrow a few days ago, so it's time for an update.

G: 4 IP: 4.2 W-L: 0-0 S: 0 ERA: 0.00 H: 3 K: 7 BB: 4 WHIP: 1.50

Not too much had changed as of today. He's thrown a couple more innings which is good. I like the seven strikeouts, but am not a huge fan of the walk per inning rate he has going. Don't worry because that will get down. That may be one of the targets that the Mariners have for Morrow before he gets called up. The ERA of 0.00 is good, and his WHIP is alright also. Still, too early, but once he gets to 15-20 IP, then will a decision be made? Or not made?

Injured Hurler Watch

As I may or may not have mentioned in the past, I've said that I was going to expand and go down to the minors and dig up a few things. Today, or more specifically right now, we are going to look at what the Mariners' pitchers coming off of injuries have down with the Tacoma Rainiers (AAA).

Jon Huber
G: 2 IP: 2.1 ERA: 0.00 W-L: 0-0 S: 1 K: 2 BB: 1
Huber is still a little while away from a call-up, but with the Mariners current relief situation, he may be closer than you think. So far, Huber has pitched good, although 2.1 IP isn't the best measuring stick.

Author Rhodes
Status: DL
Rhodes is still out with an arm injury, and will take atleast a couple weeks after his return before the Mariners give him a serious look.

Denny Stark
Status: DL
Stark was brought in a while ago, and probably won't be getting many looks from the big club any time soon.

That's how it's going to look folks. As I do a few of these, they will likely improve, so stay tuned.

April 9; Two In a Row

The M's made it two in a row with their 7-1 win over the Rays. Some solid starting pitching combining with a strong offensive output, and more importantly a mistake free bullpen.

Boxscore.

Game Notes

Jarrod Washburn pitched seven innings, his only blemish being an RBI double to Justin Ruggiano in the third inning. Washburn gave up six hits and walked one, while fanning a pair of Rays. Ryan Rowland-Smith came in and pitched a one hit eighth, striking out one as well. Sean Green had the same line as RRS in his ninth inning appearence.

The offense came out and took the Rays' pitching deep twice. Beltre with a solo shot, and Burke with a three run bomb. Ichiro hit his first two bagger of the season. He finished 1-5 on the day. Beltre went 2-5 with the homerun mentioned. Jamie Burke had a solid day at the plate going 2-3 while driving in three and scoring two. He also drew a walk. Richie Sexson's line really takes away from what was a solid offensive showing throughout the lineup. The Big Strikeout went 0-4, and scored a couple runs on a walk. He struck out three times. Another three K's for Sexson. If he had a hit or two, or atleast a couple RBI's, I'd look past that atrocious stat. Jose Lopez stole his second base of the season.

Miguel Batista will take the mound in the final game of this three game set tomorrow against Edwin Jackson.

Mariners Finally Win

Wow. Finally the Mariners pulled their heads out, and W-O-N.


Boxscore.


Game Notes


What a difference one game makes. I'm still somewhat skeptical though. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only just over a week in to the season.


Erik Bedard came out, well pitching. Six innings of work, 3 earned runs, 5 runs allowed. Five hits, four BB's. Roy Corcoran came in and pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless work, allowing only one hit and walked one. He also had a pair of strikeouts. His ERA is still 0.00. Ryan Rowland-Smith cam in and finished off the 1.2 innings to get his first save of the season. He had a couple of strikeouts.


Ichiro went 3-5 and scored a pair of runs. Jose Lopez also went 3-5 and scored once, and drove in one. Richie Sexson went 2-4 and brought in three, and DIDN'T STRIKEOUT. Yuni went 2-4 and scored twice. Adrian Beltre went 1-5, and left 7 men on base.

Atleast the boys came out and gave it a good effort. A much needed win, and momentum boost going in to tomorrow's game.

Series Preview: M's @ Rays; 4/8-10/08

Time for a bounce back after a terrible series. Interesting stat: The Orioles are 6-1 and the Marienrs are 2-5 (before today).

Projected Starters:
4/08 - Erik Bedard vs. Matt Garza
4/09 - Jarrod Washburn vs. Andy Sonnanstine
4/10 - Miguel Batista vs. Edwin Jackson

Keys to the Series

Get Over It
The M's have to keep a short memory, and start over again. Maybe we could give them all concussions to forget their most recent memories.

DON'T Take a Breather
The Mariners can't go in to Tampa and think 'let's take it easy because this team sucks'. The Rays have a talented team, that is very energetic. The M's need to go out and put out, not a 'good' effort, but a 'worked-your-butt-off' effort.

Other then that, there's not much else. Better pitching management would be ideal, but let's not live in a fantasy world.

Series Review: M's @ Orioles; 4/4-7/08

Absolutely puke worthy. I almost puked in my Mariners hat and sent it to Bill Bavasi, actually, he hasn't done anything wrong. Mac can take care of it. When I previewed this, I wasn't anticipating such, awfulness.

April 4
April 5
April 6
April 7

Watch Out for the Fearsome Lineup
My sarcasm turned out to hurt someone after all, well 25 I guess. Probably 30 once you add in the coaching staff and whatever else. I can't say that the starters didn't do their jobs. The bullpen was crap.

Put Runs Up Early
Again, the poor bullpen and end result overrules the fact that the Mariners did alright in this category.

Plate Discipline
See above. Richie Sexson struck out a couple less times and walked as well. Moving in the right direction in less ways then more.

Take a Breather
I didn't mean completely give up. I meant relax a little now that Opening Day is done with and the fact that you were playing in Baltimore. Man, maybe a wasn't clear enough in my title.

04.07.08 Mariners 4 Baltinomore 5

Boxscore.

Ichiro and Ibanez hit homeruns. Silva pitched all right. Lookout Landing sums the rest up. Absolutely embarresing. Four game sweep. Disgusting.

Mariners Talking With Felix, Again

Larry Stone comes in to tell us that the Mariners have once again approached Felix Hernendez about a contract extension. That's just about all that I can say really. No numbers have really been thrown around, but it would cover his arbitration years, and maybe beyond. So, with that remark, it would be a 4-7 year deal probably. No Johan Santana money yet, but atleast upwards of $5M a year. I'd look up some comparables, but I really don't feel like it right now.

The Closing Situation

All of us should know by now that JJ Putz will be out for a while, and the Mariners will be going with a closer by comitee. The fact that the Mariners used Miguel Batista to close out a game gives the Mariners more options in the ninth, but then what? Break out your scalpals because it's time to dissect!

Options

The Mariners can't pull out the old 'we don't have enough depth' theory, because they do have the depth nesseccary to get them through their tough time. Mark Lowe, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Sean Green, Tim Corocan, Brandon Morrow too I guess, and now Miguel Batista either have the ability, or probably could close out a game. Depth is not the issue here, it's more of a can they do it thing.


Miguel Batista
Batista brings the most closing experience to the bullpen, but hasn't closed since 2005 when he was with the Blue Jays. He saved 35 games that year, but who would take the rotation spot? That shouldn't be a problem. Maybe even going with a four man rotation might work. Batista has already saved one game this year, but still made his last scheduled start. Or, rather he lost his last start. Batista may get another oppurtunity, who knows right now.

Mark Lowe
After today's debacle, no, probably not. I know that one bad game can't really determine what the person is capable of, but one bad game can definitely scare off people, and that's what he's done to me. He may or may not get another oppurtunity.

Ryan Rowland-Smith
RRS has 16 saves in his professional career (from A-AAA), and seems to be a good choice, because he already was in a set-up role with the club. It's only been a few days, and fewer oppurtunities. Look for RRS to get an oppurtunity, if one actually comes up, after three losses to the Orioles.

Brandon Morrow
Although Morrow seems a little ways away, he is making some progress, but still seems like Putz may be back before him. If Morrow does jump through the minors, he could get a few oppurtunities to close.

I know that there are more options, but these are some of the more obvious options. Another idea is just letting the starters go nine, or not bothering going to anyone for the closer, and just leaving whoever was pitching in the eigtht finish the job. Fatigue and performance are variables of course, but I think that you get the point.

06.05.08 Mariners 2 Orioles 3

Ughhhhhhhhhhhh. An abosultely terrible ninth inning cost the Mariners an elite performance by King Felix.

Boxscore.

Game Notes

• King Felix pitched a gem, eight scoreless inningsgiving up only five hits while walking two. He struck out six. His ERA is still at 0.00. A No-decision for Felix today.
• Eric O'Flaherty got his second hold of the season, if that stat means anything, but in 0.2 IP he gave up the two runs needed for the O's to tie the game.
• Mark Lowe got his first save oppurtunity and blew it, giving up the winning run in 0.0 IP. Lowe also took the loss.
• Bad Wilkerson went 0-3, walked once, and struck out two times. He was caught steeling once.
• Raul Ibanez picked up his first HR of the season. Raul went 3-4.
• Richie Sexson went 1-2 and hit a double, and an RBI. We walked twce, AND DIDN'T STRIKE OUT.

This series was a wash.

Brandon Morrow Rehab Watch

Brandon Morrow has started the season at AA, with what was being called 'a dead arm'. Time to see how his rehab has been going.

April 3
1 IP, 2 K

April 4
0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB

Morrow has yet to reach AAA, so he probably won't be see Major League action for a little while yet. I don't think that 1.2 innings are enough to prove that he's ready, but they're taking it slow with him. He may see action in today's doubleheader after last night's game was postponed due to rain.