So who would be a good candidate to replace Mike Hargrove? Dr. Detecto says Davey Johnson. I've always liked DJ - both as a player and a manager. Why not?
Edit: And just who is John Rheinecker? And how did he throw a CG 4 hit shutout against the M's? On second thought, never mind. I don't want to know.
Another edit: Good stuff from the P.I. blog today by John Hickey who suggests that it's time to shuffle the lineup. Indeed.
After watching the Twins complete the sweep yesterday afternoon, I think it's pretty clear that decision time has been reached. The FO is going to have to do something to salvage this season - losing 90+ again is not an option (or at least not an option if they want to continue to rake in the cash). The team is playing bad baseball - the manager is inept - and the GM has not done anything visible to improve the situation. There should be some drastic changes made prior to the start of the next homestand. The future of the organization depends on it. I'm just saying.
After a couple of losses, too many runners stranded and a triple play, I've seen the light concerning the 2006 Seattle Mariners. They are another 90+ loss club headed no where. The only good news in all of this may be that the 2007 Seattle Mariners will start the season with a new GM and new Manager.
I'm not the only one. See Dave's scathing indictment of Manager Hargrove over at USS M.
L, followed by a W, followed by an L. Thank goodness the Mariners are members of the AL West (the division that doesn't really care). The good news is that despite their inconsistent play, the Mariners are still right in the middle of the pennant race. There have certainly been some signs lately that the offense is starting to come alive. The pitching has, for the most part, been quite good. Defense is almost always a given with this team. Aside from the very odd composition of the bench (and even odder still, how those bench players are used - or not), things are not bad. On to the Twin Cities!
The Mariners are fun to watch again. There, I said it. And with the next several games against clubs that are playing terrible baseball, they have a chance to get right back into the division race. Go M's!!
Dr. Detecto provides another awesome post concerning Ichiro! today. I agree completely with Doc's point concerning Ichiro! and Seattle fans - can't understand why people want to bash the best player on the team and a certain HOF inductee when he is eligible.
Edit: And I was bashing him on April 19th - but he was hitting .177 for goodness sake!!
Nice series sweep completed yesterday afternoon. Go J.J.!
Here's some optimism courtesy of John McGrath of the TNT. And Dr. Detecto provides some analysis By The Numbers.
Edit: And this story from the P.I. today concerning Joel Pineiro getting in Felix's face may be the most encouraging news of all.
Nice win last night. Although there were lots of bright spots, Johjima's ability to hold on to Ichiro's throw has to be the brightest of all. An excellent play that kept the momentum going in the hometown nine's favor. Over at Lookout Landing, Jeff opines that this play could be a pivotal time of the season. I agree - time will tell if it actually does signal a new trend for the ball club.
Count me among frustrated Mariner fans who are tired of seeing the team lose. While we are all looking for something to change, it's also important to have a plan when implementing change. Change just for the sake of change is not necessarily a good thing. One must ask whether the organization has a plan - the events of the past few years makes one wonder. In any event, if Sexson and Beltre continue to be non-impact players, what do you do? In my view, these 2 guys are who are really killing this ball club right now. There are certainly other problem areas, but they pale in comparison to the big guns (heh). I don't have a solution. Let's hope the FO does.
And now for something completely different. Rather than comment on the shitty ballgame that the Mariners played in Oakland last night, here's a link to an article in today's P.I. concerning the 26th anniversary of Mt. St. Helen's eruption. As a side note, if you live in the Northwest and have not visited Mt. St. Helen's, it's definitely worth the trip and you should check it out. The Johnston Ridge Observatory is awesome - well worth the time and trouble it takes to get there.
The Mariners got rolled in Oakland last night. It wasn't pretty. Felix didn't make his pitches, the normally sure-handed Adrian Beltre committed a costly error and the hitters (well, most of the hitters) didn't bother showing up at all.
Consider these sad lines - Beltre 0-3 1K, Sexson 0-3 1K GIDP, Everett 1-4 CS. If it hadn't been for Lopez and Ibanez, the night would have been a total disaster.
I'm still optimistic, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. The club needs to do something soon - before it's too late (again).
Edit: Check out Dave's post over at USS Mariner for a detailed discussion of Felix's performance last night. So I stand corrected - it wasn't that Felix was not making pitches - it's that Felix had a bad gameplan.
After Sunday's victory in Anaheim, I think that things are definitely looking up for this club. The pitching has been good. Defense was never really a question. The hitting is getting better - although I'm still concerned about Sexson and Beltre. Snelling may be close to a return to the bigs - and that would definitely increase my optimism.
I'm not the only one. See what the good Dr. Detecto has to say on the subject.
Edit: King Felix!
By the way, Jeff Angus wrote an interesting piece concerning Hargrove's recent team meeting that is worth a read.
Nice game last night to even up the series in Anaheim. Especially nice to see Richie Sexson get the game winner. Even better to see Jeremy Reed emerge from his exile to the bench with a couple of dingers. Perhaps the lad has finally decided to bring his A game. If that is the case, then we may have something to be hopeful about after all.
It's been a while since we've compared players, so take a look at this:
BA OBP SLG
Player A .186 .264 .381
Player B .225 .306 .287
Player C .229 .333 .415
Player D .292 .366 .454
So it probably comes as no surprise that Player A represents Richie Sexson, Player B represents Adrian Beltre and Player C represents Carl Everett. Thought I would throw Player D in just to compare and contrast (it's Randy Winn). I guess the place I am going with this is that this team is relying on three guys to sustain the offense and they are not getting the job done. What to do? Nothing to be done other than hope that at least 2 out of 3 of these guys wake up and start performing up to expectations. Otherwise, another 90+ loss season is staring us in the face.
With the victory last night, the Mariners have another series win within their grasp. The King turned in a good performance last night - although I find myself in agreement with the good folks over at Lookout Landing, wishing that Felix would use his curve and change more often - especially in fastball counts.
I'm still pretty concerned about the offense though. As has been pointed out elsewhere, Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre hitting singles is not what it's all about. These guys were signed to mash - and they aren't. Where would the team be without Jose Lopez?
Edit: He's back!
How much more trouble would the Mariners be in if they had gone with Fernando Vina over Jose Lopez? Lopez has pretty much carried the team offensively this season - would Vina have done anything close? Unlikely.
Props to Joel Pineiro after being selected as the AL player of the week.
Jarrod Washburn took the high road yesterday. When asked about the lack of run support, he said "My job is to go out there and give us a chance to win, and not worry about what our offense is doing. We have a lot of offensive talent that's going to come around. They have a long history of being successful. It's not something that's going to last all season." While it's nice for him to phrase it like that, perhaps what is really needed is for somebody to come right out and say just how much the hitters suck. I think Carl Everett was trying to get there yesterday - perhaps a few more bad games and he will. I don't know about you, but things are looking pretty bleak.
Happy Birthday to me!
Edit: Here's some pithy commentary from John McGrath over at the TNT.
After his performance at Safeco Field last night, I have to think that Joel Pineiro is for real. After a CG victory in Minnesota, he comes back on his next start and shuts down the premiere offense in the AL.
There were some other nice things about last night's game, but J.J. coming in to work an uneventful top of the 9th for the save was the nicest by far.
I suppose a game like this was bound to happen sooner or later. With the exception of Eddie Guardado, the bullpen had been pretty good up until last night. I find it particularly ironic that Eddie mananged to come in and work a clean 9th last night.
I don't think I've talked much about YuBet lately. In last night's game, he showed, with both the glove and bat, why he is such a special player.
So what are the M's to do with Beltre, Sexson and Ichiro!? I'm afraid that the answer may be to watch all 3 of them suck for the remainder of the season.
Tough loss yesterday, especially since King Felix looked very ignoble - again.
Interesting quote from John Hickey's piece in the Times today:
"Hernandez hasn't produced the power in his pitches generated by his legs, in part because he had to stop running for a couple of weeks in the spring because of the shin splints. That's something that may only come with time.
And time is something Hernandez has plenty of.
That's not something everyone in the organization can say."
Recent spambot intrusions into the comments section have forced me to turn on comment moderation and allow only registered users to comment. Sorry for the inconvenience, but spambots really piss me off.
Edit: Apparently comment moderation doesn't work with the template that I am using. So I guess we will try the "only registered users" option and see if that keeps the bots out. *sigh*
So you definitely tip your hat to Santana and the Twins yesterday evening. But the Mariners should have won the game in Chicago tonight. They battled back and had the game in the bag until Eddie Guardado came in and did it again. So enough is enough. J.J. is perfectly capable of closing. Move Eddie to the setup role. Damn.
Edit: Dr. Detecto says Eject Eddie!
Edit: He's out!
Quoting from today's TNT:
"With three men capable of playing center field – Jeremy Reed, Lawton and Willie Bloomquist, Reed’s job as a regular could be in jeopardy if his bat doesn’t come around quickly. Reed is batting .188 and, according to Hargrove, the position is now a day-to-day decision."
An amazing offensive outburst by the Mariners tonight. 19 hits. Please let this be the start of something good.
Another series win! As Jeff mentions over at Lookout Landing today, the team is creating a lot of cognitive dissonance for me this season (probably for you too). They are playing good ball at times - and even when they win it mostly comes as a surprise.
A certain ex-catcher was really badmouthing Ramon Hernandez on the TV broadcast yesterday. The words "lazy" and "lackadaisical" were used - which actually surprised me. You almost never hear a former player talk about a current player in those terms. Of course, in this case, Mr. Valle was absolutely correct - as evidenced by the poor effort displayed by Hernandez when faced with Richie Sexson heading for a collision.
A new month begins today. Hopefully some of the players who have been less than satisfactory will find a way to get their jobs done.
Is Eddie done? If I'm Bill Bavasi, the choice is clear. J.J. closes - Eddie moves to LH setup.
