The Resurgent Seattle Mariners

Arguably this season biggest disappointment has to be the Seattle Mariners. Coming off a 101-loss season (61-101) in 2008, the Mariners went 85-77 in 2009 and entered the 2010 season with high expectations. The free-agent moves made by Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik only added to the high expectations. But as things are in the game of Baseball, often expectations are often unfulfilled. As of today, table setter Chone Figgins is batting .232 with only 32 runs scored and 22 stolen bases, cleanup hitter Milton Bradley is batting .207 with 7 Hrs, 27 RBI and 23 runs scored. These numbers are hardly what the Mariners expected for their investment. Not only that, I doubt anyone in Baseball (including myself) thought that the Seattle Mariners would have a record of 33-44 and be 14 games behind the first place Texas Rangers. But thanks to the team's strength, things are finally looking up for the Mariners.

Thanks to the one-two punch of Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez, the Mariners are currently 10-5 in the last 15 games. In those 15 games, Lee and Hernandez are a combined 6-1 with 6 complete games (Lee is 3-0 in those games and Hernandez is 2-1). In a combined 62.2 innings, Lee and Hernandez have given up a total of 37 hits (6Hrs), 11 runs (10 Earned), 4 Walks and 44K's for an ERA of 1.45 and a WHIP of 0.59. This is what Seattle imagined as their pitching being like when they traded for Cliff Lee in the off-season.

The bats are slowly starting to wake up as well. In those last 15 games the Mariners have scored 52 runs including 7 runs in each of the last two wins against the Yankees. This was the first time this season that the Mariners have scored 7 runs in consecutive games.

Am I saying that here comes the big comeback in the A.L. West? Who knows. Remember in 2002 when the Oakland A's won 20-straight games, causing them to overtake the 1st place Mariners and win the division by 4-games with a 103-59 record? I'm not saying that this year's Seattle Mariners will win 20-straight games, catch the Rangers and win the division. What I am saying is that anything is possible, especially with two studs on the mound pitching in the manner that they are. An interesting question is, can the Mariners right the ship before the trading deadline? Cliff Lee is drawing a tremendous amount of interest throughout Baseball. Guess time will tell.

FH

Baseball Tidbits 5/9/2010

So far in this young season a few things of mention have happened. So here are a few impressions from yours truly

Milton Bradley
Bradley has shown that most of baseball was accurate about his effect on the Mariners. Now the reason that they are in last can not be attributed to Bradley. Cliff Lee missed the first month of the season to an abdominal injury and the offense has been abysmal. As I said in an earlier post, Bradley would be a distraction to the team. Which he has by not being in the lineup.

I'm not the kind of person to kick someone when he's down. I give Bradley credit for being able to ask for help in trying to solve his stress related issues. To be honest, I have no clue as to what these stress issues are and what causes them, but I wish him well in trying to resolve them and returning to help his team.

The Mariners on the other hand might be regretting trading Carlos Silva (who is having a decent season with the Cubs) to get Bradley. To their credit, the Mariners are sticking with Bradley with their support. Hopefully things can work out for both sides.

Dallas Braden
After saying this past week that he wanted to go mano-a-mano bare knuckles with A-Rod, he goes out and becomes the 19th player to throw a perfect game. Congratulations to him. Maybe more players should get pissed off at A-Rod. Its done wonders for Braden's career. LOL.

All kidding aside, if Braden still has a beef with A-Rod don't say you want to knuckle up, especially if A-Rod hasn't continued talking trash back through the media. All that does is makes Braden look foolish and thuggish. As I'm going to allude in the next section, do as pitchers throughout the decades have done when they had a beef with a particular player and/or team. A-Rod or any other Yankees batter for that matter might not like the form of retaliation it but it would be something they'd expect.

Back to the perfect game. Not to take anything away from Braden's performance and achievement; a little humility goes a long way. I had the opportunity to watch the last inning on MLB.com (Thanks Pete, LOL) and in the post game, the announcers ask Braden if there's anything that he wants to say about the game and Braden answers "There's nothing to say, its perfect". Now its not what he said but how he said it. With this tone of arrogance and hubris that seems to be seen more and more within young athletes across the major sports. Sure he was the 19th pitcher to do it but damn, be humble about it.

Maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety and not very understanding these younger players, who they are and what motivates them. I'll address how one person is trying to instill good old fashioned sportsmanship with his son's little league team next week.

Josh Beckett and the decline of the Bosox
Leading in perfectly into this commentary, what is wrong with Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. Beckett is currently 1-1 with a 7.46 ERA and after his 10-3 loss to the Yankees on Friday, it seems that his control is lost.

Having plunked a number of Yankees (especially Jeter with the bases loaded) fans and some Yankees players alike felt as if he was doing it purposely. I think that's ridiculous. Why would a pitcher of Beckett's caliber give up earned runs in that manner (In total he have up 9 earned runs). The Yankees took issue with it, and CC Sabathia hit one of the Red Sox hitters the next day (as would be expected within baseball's etiquette for retaliation as Braden should do if he pitches for the A's from July 5-7 against the Yankees) and the situation was squashed.

I think there might be something wrong with Beckett. Maybe he's hiding an injury. If that's the case, say something, take care of it and stop hurting your team. And talking about the team, I know I picked the Red Sox to struggle and end up in 3rd place but they are struggling due to lack of pitching and irratic offense. As of Saturday, the Red Sox were leading the Major Leagues in hits (289) and ranking second in total bases (485) and extra-base hits (114). This shows they are hitting the ball but it is either at the wrong time, when the game is already lost or when the bases are empty. Regardless of when the hits come, the Red Sox are off to their worst start since 1997.

What can solve their ills? Consistent production throughout the lineup and rotation. Granted, they've lost a few pivotal players such as Jacoby Ellsbury to injury but players like David Ortiz, Victor Martinez and Daisuke Matzusaka need to step up before they fall too far behind the Yankees and the Rays.

Any questions and/or comments? Let me hear them. Later.
FH

Various Baseball Tidbits

So in my travels in Cyberspace, I've come across a few interesting baseball news tidbits that I'd like to share. So here goes.

1. Austin Jackson will be starting for the Detroit Tigers
Jim Leyland announced that rookie Austin Jackson will be starting in CF for the Tigers in the season opener against AL Cy Young award winner Zack Grienke and the Kansas City Royals. Having gotten Jackson in the deal that sent former Tigers CF Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees, Jackson gets the chance to show his 5-tools with the Tigers. Hope the young man does well in the Motor City.

- To see the article on Austin Jackson from the Detroit Free Press website, click here

2. The Giants sign Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt to extensions
In news that will make my friend Justin happy, the Giants opened the bank and signed Matt Cain to a three-year, $27.25 million contract, Brian Wilson to a two-year, $15 million extension and Brian Affeldt who was due to earn $4 million in 2010 in the final year of his contract, he will get $4.5 million this year and next with a $5 million club option for 2012 and a $500,000 buyout. This impressive to see from a franchise who has been criticized (especially by me) for not being very active in the big name free agent market. Though I still say they need a big bat in the lineup to protect Pablo Sandoval, locking up their young pitching (Lincecum signed a two-year $23-million dollar deal in the offseason) is a sound move. Maybe the Giants aren't really that trigger shy after the signing busts of Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

- To read the article from the San Francisco Chronicle, click here

3. Milton Bradley gone from Chicago but not forgotten
So as MLB's version of Kanye West (Milton Bradley) is announced to be the Seattle Mariners cleanup hitter this season, the Cubs (and their fans who yell Milton Bradley sucks in Spring Training games against the Mariners even when he's not playing) are still trying to shake the stigma of the brief Milton Bradley era along the Northside of the Windy City.

- To read the article on Bradley's becoming the cleanup hitter for Seattle from the Silicon Valley Mercury News webpage, click here
- To read the Chicago Sun-Times article on the continued effect Bradley has on the Cubbies, click here
- To read the USA Today article where Bradley refers to himself as MLB's Kanye West, click here

4. The All-Time Dodgers Pitching Rotation
Johnathan Stillwell describes in his Bleacher Report for the Los Angeles Times what his all time Dodgers pitching rotation would be. He separates the pitching by the Brooklyn era (Early), the Los Angeles era (Modern) and then both combined. The results are truly amazing. Especially since the Dodgers only won one title in their time in Brooklyn.

- To read the article and see the results of the All-Time Dodgers rotation, click here

5. The Phillies window for becoming a dynasty is closing
Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post writes that he believes that the Phillies chance to become a baseball dynasty is closing. As he states in his article:

The core is no longer so young, the future is no longer boundless and the window that keeps The End at bay is closing fast.

He makes an interesting point especially when stating that the contracts of star players are almost finished. Jayson Werth's contract ends after this season. Rollins, Howard, Lidge, Hamels and left fielder Raúl Ibáñez all come up after 2011. So do the Phils go the route of the Yankees and spend some cash, or do they trade those guys for draft picks before their deals end. Only time will tell.

- To read the Sheinin article from the Washington Post website, click here

FH