Two in a Row

Now that I've finally gotten my Spring Training pictures somewhat up, the Mariners won their second game in a row. For the first time in a long while, it looks like the Mariners finally woke up a bit.

Erik Bedard gave it a solid seven innings. He's starting to find some form. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a homerun, the only run of the game.

Mariners Shopping Batista, Washburn?

Jayson Stark says that the Mariners are expected to be interested in atleast 'window shopping' Miguel Batista and Jarrod Washburn. Both have had not the greatest starts to the season and are under contract untill 2009. But there is no chance that they would trade Erik Bedard. Not unless 'they fire the general manager'.

Scott Hatteberg Getting Interest

It looks like Mr. Hatteberg is starting to pick up some interest around the league. The Mariners appear to be actively pursuing the first basemen. Miguel Cairo has been playing some first base of late. Sexson is starting to ride the pine more and probably should be doing so.

Back to Reality and the Mariners Inability to Win Much

Life and the Mariners not winning have kept me away from this blog for a while now, and after their win last night, I feel inspired! Okay, not really, by the win, but probably more so by Ichiro's Griffey-like catch the other night.

Last night's victory snapped a losing streak of a number not worth thinking about. Jose Lopez has to be the Mariners most underrated player so far this season, although he has struggled at times, in terms of clutch performance. A crucial base hit to end the game ninth and give JJ the win was his accomplishment for last night. Manny Ramirez and his long (can you call it hair?) dreadlocks hit number 499. The M's are up 1-0 on the Red Sox right now, so no number 500 for Manny, yet.

I'm going to wait a little while longer to make a mid season report card for the Mariners, but as of right now, I don't see many getting too many votes for the trip to the Big Apple for the last All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.

In other news, Cha Seung Baek is now out of the Mariners organization after, well, what did he do here again? He was shipped off to San Diego for right hander Jared Wells. Not sure of any relation to David Wells.

Maybe Bavasi's job is still pretty secure. According to president Chuck Armstrong, Bavasi will not be let go of any time soon. It's not like he's done anything to get fired, but how much has he done right?

Going, Going, Gone

As I mentioned, I'm going away to Seattle this weekend, I will be catching an M's/Pads game during the weekend, and won't be back untill Monday, so probably no posting.

Off day for the Mariners today, and I would've liked to have a little bit more up, but time is a bit of a factor in this. I'm populating the 'Mariners Blogs' list, so if your blog isn't up there yet, don't worry it will be there soon.

Peace.

Problems

Sorry, but right now I'm experiencing problems with my computer and this Blogger stuff, so posting may be down for tonight and maybe tomorrow. I will be going away this weekend, so I'll try and get something up tomorrow for the weekend.

Money Not an Issue

It looks like Ken Griffey Jr.'s contract won't be an issue for the Mariners.

That should come with some relief. Maybe it won't take as many prospects to get Jr., because the M's probably won't ask for money in a potential deal. ProspectInsider looks at Adam Moore in this week's Farm Report (in the PI), and how he could become a better player than Jeff Clement.

Back to the Griffey stuff now. He has about $8M left for this season and a $16M option with a $4M buyout. This season's money probably won't matter that much, but it was thought that the option would become an issue. Ken Rosenthal dissmissed that. As of know, we can pretty much only do some educated speculating. Something that I was doing, but without the educated part.

Late Inning Dissapointment

Unfortunately, the Mariners couldn't complete their ninth inning heroics. It was a better effort, and they did score 12 runs, but it was the starting pitching that killed them.

I'm not going to harp on Erik Bedard, but he was awful. Six runs in two innings isn't the kind of quality that we need from Erik "The Interview" Bedard.

Overall, the team looked somewhat alive out there. Obviously there didn't quite make Jabu happy enough to get a win. At least Cha Seung Baek kept them in it with three scoreless innings of relief. I can't quite say the same for Mark Lowe though...

Ichiro pulled a nice 1-6, and so did Jose Vidro I think. It might have been Pepe out there, but I wasn't sure. Joh had a nice day, 3-4 with four RBI's and his first home run of the season. Wlad also hit a home run, number four of the season. Rauuuuuuuul Ibanez continued his underratedness (I did just make that word up) with a 2-5 performance, including a homerun, number seven, three RBI's and two runs. Seven homers and 28 RBI's. He may not be up there with the top of the pack, but he isn't that far behind them. Jeff Clement also had a couple hits.

Brandon Morrow did blow it, but he did strike out the other four batters that he faced, so does that even out the loss. Maybe yes, maybe no, but at the end of the day, the M's didn't come out with a win. It would really be nice to see this team have a late summer rally. Let's try and take the good out of this one, if possible.

News and Notes

A little bit of randomness before I wrap up the Mariners probable loss to the Rangers.

Mac held another team meeting today. If it hadn't helped the M's break out of their slump a while ago, why would it help them now? Whatever, if it works, you don't ask why or how, you just go with it.

Jarrod Washburn has started to work on a splitter because 'he never had an out pitch'. Personally, I've always liked the splitter. It comes in as a fastball than completely sinks. It's effective when you've got something good. JJ Putz has a nice splitter. I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head who throws a really nice splitter.

The Mariners had sent Duane Shaffer, Bavasi's 'special' assistant to New York to watch Ken Griffey Jr. play at Shea Stadium this weekend. I briefly and SPECULATIVELY looked at the possibility of a reunion with Jr., that I don't really want brought back up again... John Hickey looks at the Mariners need for a left-handed power bat for the middle of the lineup, and the fact that the M's have drawn some their worst crowds lately, and how Jr. would take care of both. I'd like to see Jr. back here, but not at the price of Jeff Clement.

The Mariners have tied it up in the ninth. Once again, I should probably be negative more often. There has been a little bit of mouth battling going on tonight. Nothing has resulted from it as of yet. I'd like to see another brawl.. Give the M's one more excuse not to play Jose/Pepe Vidro. Just don't let Felix try and get in the middle of it this time.

Series Preview: SEA @ TEX 5/12-14/08

Sorry but I'm not up for much blogging tonight, so this will have to do for a series preview.

Not Sure of What to Say

The Mariners won today, 6-3 over the White Sox, and I'm not that sure what to say about it.

The offense showed up, the pitching was good, and the bullpen was very good. I don't know what else to say right now.

Ok, Ok

Alright. Time to clear this up.

I was mentioned in MLBTR, blah, blah, blah. Ok we got that. What I don't get is all the crap being thrown at me for what I said. Here's what the post was about. I was briefly, not in depth, going over what the Mariners would have to give up to land Ken Griffey Jr. Pure speculation on my part. I went with what I knew. I knew that the Reds needed some help at catching, so I threw Jeff Clement's name out there. I'm not an idiot, and if you think that Jr. will only cost you Miguel Cairo and Rob Johnson, I'm sorry. The reality is that in this market, if you want something you have to give up something for it in return that is valuable to the other side. Clement would be valuable to the Reds. Am I endorsing trading Jeff Clement, no. I said that Clement for Jr. straight up would make sense. nothing more. And it would in more ways than one. That's where this Rene Rivera crap comes in. How was I comparing Clement to Rivera when I said that I didn't want to see Clement end up like Rivera: a wasted prospect.

Naturally when you are talking trade the high end prospects come in to play. Carlos Truinfel and Phillipe Amounte. I put there names out there because that could be something of the asking price. Can anybody see in to the future and predict exactly what the Reds want? No. Do the Reds even know what they want for him? Probably not. Have they even decided that they where going to trade him? We don't know that yet. I threw out names that I thought could make sense in a Jr. trade. I used the knowledge that I had, and didn't look up anything. In hindsight I probably should've done more research, but I wasn't expecting to get mentioned in MLBTR, and was unaware of all the crap I was going to get because of it.

There are more people out there who would like Griff back in Seattle, including the Mariners. It just so happens that all the haters show up and voice their displeasure with trading for Griffey. Did anyone complain when the M's trading Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Kam Mickolio, Chris Tillman and Tony Butler for Erik Bedard? Not really. It's amazing how Mariners fans would rather trade a boatload and a half of highly talented prospects for a pitcher that has had one amazing year, and other than that a mediorce career, but can't come to terms with giving up a, that's one, top prospect for a player that has probably meant more to the franchise than anyone else.

I can't believe all of the negative feedback that I've recieved on this. I expected their to be some against acquireing Griffey, and that's what I had expected, but come on. How would you like it if you said a couple words and everyone shot you down because of them. Especially WHEN I WAS FLIPPIN SPECULATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you figure that I think Cork Gaines is a 'god'? Unbelievable what the people of today can come up with. What's next, because I don't care to hear it, unless it has something positive in it.

Close, Kinda, but no Cigar

Another dissapointing loss for the Mariners. 4-2 was a better effort than what we've seen, and the bullpen didn't even allow a run. What went wrong this time...

Carlos Silva is now 3-2 after a great start to the season, and a not so nice last few starts. He let in all four ChiSock runs on eight hits and two walks. That isn't a terrible performce, but when you get two runs of support, it looks awful. The bullpen was almost perfect in two innings. Sean Green and JJ Putz each gave up one hit in an inning pitched each. Green had one strikeout. I doubt that they were playing Thunderstruck last night. I haven't heard that in a while, but when you've gone something like 1-9, your closer doesn't get too many chances.

Wlad Balentien was sort of a bright spot. He hit a homerun, showing his excellent power, and had one outfield assist, showing that his defensive abilities are inproving. He struck out once and left four men on base, and finished 1-4. Nice to see the power and fielding, but you can't be that productive when you leave four on. Jeff Clement's line looked alright. He caught last night, and went 1-3 with a walk, but struck out twice. His .154 AVG so far this season isn't that nice, but he's still learning. Ichiro's still getting closer to that .300 mark. He went 1-4 with a stolen base and scored the Mariners other one. Adrian Beltre stole his fifth of the season as well.

What can I say? It wasn't great, but atleast it was only a two run gap this time. There has to be a better effort put out there, or this ship wil continue to go down.

Felix Fined Too

I just finished on Richie Sexson's suspension, and when I went over to the Seattle PI's website, I noticed that King Felix was also hit with a fine.

Back to the Caffeinated Confines post:

1. If you’re a key pitcher, especially the staff ace, and you are not the one actually throwing the pitch, do not get involved in the fight. Felix Hernandez–stay in the dugout.

No info on the fines for you as of yet, and those amounts may never be known. What exactly was Felix thinking out there? He's been having a great year, why do something stupid like that?

Poll Results: What's Your Opinion of the Kenji Johjima Extension?

Our latest poll brought in the highest total of votes ever for Mariners Central, 31. Here's how they went down.

What's Your Opinion of the Kenji Johjima Extension?

Great. Lock up a great catcher for a reasonable price. 4-12%
Terrible. Clement is ready and he shouldn't be blocked. 18-58%
Status Quo. 9-29%

Seems like not many of you liked the signing, or thought whatever. Personally, I was on the statas quo wagon. Right now I'm not going to complain, but we'll see a few months or years from now.

If you have any ideas for polls that you would like to see, hit me up at marinerscentral"at"gmail.com.

Sexson Hitting the Pine, But Not Till Later

Richie Sexson was slapped with a six day suspension and fined an undisclosed amount for his actions in last night's bench clearing brawl. Sorry I didn't have this up earlier, it was started but not completed but I thought that I'd get in up.

Sexson is appealing the suspension and is playing in tonight's game. Why do athletes have to appeal their suspensions? And it's only really in baseball. In hockey, your suspended and that's that. I'm not a huge NBA or NFL guy, but I think that you can appeal in that. The fine won't matter. It's like me seeing a nickle on the ground; I'll probably pick it up, but I don't need it. I probably shouldn't pick it up. The six day suspension won't make a huge difference, although he is in a contract year. The suspension could end up as a bit of the problem considering the potential 30 AB's or so that he'd miss, but it shouldn't matter too much.

Caffeinated Confines has a few rules for us to abide by for brawls. USS Mariner looks at Bryan LaHair, a left handed first baseman, and how he could be a replacement for Richie Sexson. I see him as a fit. I'd look at a replacement if it was more in the 10-15 day range for an absence, but for 6, I think that I'll have to pass this time.

Series Preview: CWS @ SEA, 5/9-11/08

Wanted to give you a heads up about the Mariners next series before the first game starts. Not much commentary from me this time though. I'll save that for my post game remarks.

May 9
CWS: Jose Contreras, RHP, 2-3, 4.08 ERA
SEA: Carlos Silva, RHP, 3-1, 4.20 ERA

Scouting Report

May 10
CWS: Javier Vazquez, RHP, 3-3, 3.30 ERA
SEA: Jarrod Washburn, LHP, 2-4, 4.81 ERA

Scouting Report

May 11
CWS: Gavin Floyd, RHP, 3-1, 2.50 ERA
SEA: Miguel Batista, RHP, 2-4, 5.66 ERA

Scouting Report