06/24/14 Of Cabbages And Kings

The Mariners have, so far, given it's fans a roller-coaster of an experience. It's late June and they haven't yet been eliminated from playoff contention so...yay! Progress!

So I've sorted through the team's minor league affiliates and put together a hot sheet of M's prospects who have done good things in the batter's box so far this year. Here it is!

AAA Tacoma:

• Ji-Man Choi .348/.438/.457  12BB/9K My pet theory is that his PED suspension happened due to a screw up with the medication for his back. Either way hopefully this issue never returns.
• Chris Taylor .328/.396/.535  22BB/43K
• Nick Franklin .293/.395/.489  33BB/41K (why is he not hitting in the bigs?)
• Ty Kelly  .267/.398/.446 52BB/51K (!)
• Jesus Montero .270/.345/.455  26BB/51K Likely not the hitter we thought he was. : (

Of Note: What the hell is going on with Chantz Mack? He's a 23 year old drafted in 2013 who's bounced ALL OVER the M's affiliates without having really spent any significant time in one spot. Also; his name is Chantz.

Take a Chantz on me! No one has ever made this joke before!

AA Jackson:

• Jabari Blash - Graduated to AAA, trying to learn to hold his own.
• Patrick Kivlehan .314/.396/.500 20BB/33K

Of Note: Jack Marder and Dan Paolini ain't yet slugging enough to make the hot list.

A+ High Desert:

• Patrick Brady - Too old for the level (26), graduated to AA where he's working to establish himself.
• D.J. Peterson  .326/.381/.615 (!)  23BB/65K Even for High Desert that's intense slugging. Just promoted to AA.
• Jabari Henry  .289/.393/.583 32BB/49K
• Jordy Lara  .318/.386/.523  27BB/65K  Almost didn't make the cut.

Of Note: Steve Baron sucks. That holdout will always stick in my craw as long as he's not producing at the plate.

A- Clinton:

• Burt Reynolds .326/.426/.739  6BB/15K
• Austin Wilson .302/.390/.530  24BB/53K

Of Note: Tyler O'Neill showing promise for being the youngest hitter on the team at 19 years old. 

03/31/2014 - Opening Day

The LAAOA hosted the M's on their respective opening days for this, the 2014 baseball season. Felix Hernandez took the opening day start, his seventh in his Mariner career. It would have been the eighth but, remember when Bill Bavasi forced Eric Bedard ahead of Felix in, what was it, 2008 in order to justify his trade? Mariners!

Anyway, Felix was good, Trout hit an otherworldly HR, and then Felix got mad. If you didn't know, a mad F
elix is the best pitcher in the Show. He rained hot fire onto Anaheim as if he were Alduin in the opening scene of Skyrim. Mike Trout said after the game, "Once we scored three runs on him he flicked a switch and went into nasty mode." Felix's final line?

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K

It was the top of the seventh that really stood out to me, though. Felix knew that he was done, that he wasn't going back out for the bottom of the inning. The team was down 3-2. It was all too familiar a song: Felix pitched well but the Mariner's offense couldn't get him a win. Felix cares about wins. He crouched at the end of the dugout while the Mariner offense went to work, watching, willing his team to score some runs and put him in line, if not for a win, at least a no-decision. Zunino triples (!) home Ackley. 3-3. Felix roars. Abe Almonte legs out a double, scoring Zunino. 4-3. Felix transforms into a Naga, a part-snake-part-human, nictitates his eye-membranes, sheds his skin, and in a flash of eye-searing brightness, emerges as a new man.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

That moment. That moment right there was symbolic. No longer was this a Mariners team of the past. No longer was this team mired in the mediocrity of failure. This was a new team and everyone in the dugout and, dare I say, every Mariner fan watching on TV felt it. This, this ::shakes your collar:: THIS is what a turn-around felt like.

It is too soon to see if the team can sustain this kind of momentum but if the team were to turn it all around, that is what it would look like. Do not miss this.

Not content to sit on their laurels, indicative of this team's attitude as a new, never-quit team, they came up in the ninth and batted around, scoring 6 more. Smoak with a 3-run no-doubt shot that it looks like surprised even him pulled to right field and then the piling on with a heck of a lot of walks brought home by an Ackley triple.

Errata:

• I hope Logan Morrison is good because I find it difficult to root for him.
• Zunino looked overmatched at the plate. Hope his time in the bigs helps.
• The bullpen could be better than it is right now by re-aligning people within the organization. : (
• I love Dustin Ackley's beard. Don't be a hater.
• Miller looked better defensively than he had in years past. That is sooo awesome.

45-day OUCH clause...AmIRite?

The Mariners have the bottle held vertically and are chugging the dregs of Spring Training 2014. No Nick Franklin trade, a late Nick Franklin appearance in RF, Abe Almonte being shoehorned into the leadoff role, and Brad Miller and Dustin Ackley going absolutely bonkers at the plate. Fun times!

And then there's the pitching.

Felix...he's great. All hail.

Iwakuma...hurt finger ligament. He's just starting his spring training now and won't be ready for, like, a month.

Paxton...see my previous posts about him. Going to throw down. Just watch.

Erasmo...Now's his time to step into his own spotlight. He's gotten his feet and cute little cankles wet and he's held his own. He deserves his spot on this staff.

Walker...After a shoulder brusitis scare he's back to throwing minor-league games. He's also about a month or so away. (Crosses fingers)

That's not a bad starting 5. That's actually pretty good.

However, with two of the five hurt that leaves the the M's scratching for depth. The team knew that this might be coming, though, and thoughtfully planned for a veteran or two to hold down the fort until the better pitchers get...um...better.

Scott Baker was making a comeback bid and, while he wasn't necessarily good, he was serviceab..huh? They assigned him to AAA and, in the process, he asked for his release? Oh. Okay.

Well that's fine because Baker was being beat out anyway by Randy Wolf, ye olde junkballer. He pitched about as admirably as he could have and earned a spot on the team. What a relief becau...huh? They tried to renegotiate and in the process offended Randy Wolf to the point where he asked for his release? Oh. Hm.

Okay...

So that leaves us two spots for some combination of:
Roenis Elias, Brandon Maurer, Blake Beavan, Hector NoeICan'tEvenFinishTypingHisName

Roenis: Got as high as AA last year. My understanding is that he might be good but needs to refine his offspeed pitches and lock in his arm angle. Sounds like the minors would be the most ideal place for him as a professional at this point.

Brandon: My opinion is that he's destined for the bullpen. His mechanics get all loosey-goosey after the second and third times through the lineup.

Blake: Good stuff but can't seem to pitch worth a darn. Beavan gives me a sad face.

Hector: Good stuff but can't pitch worth a darn. There's a subtle distinction between him and Blake. Did you catch it?

NONE of those four should be anywhere close to your starting rotation depth.

Sooo...way to go Mariners. You had the superior options in the palm of your hand and you done f*cked it up in a way that only you could have. Even if it were they right financial and baseball decisions (which I would argue against), now that the 45-day Wolf thing has appeared on Deadspin it seems that it might have been worth it to have not made the decsions they did in order to avoid yet another public relations disaster.

2014 Mariners: We Have No Idea What We're Doing

: (

Paxton Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

You heard it here third. James Paxton is going to detonate the league this year and establish himself as the M's solid #2 from here on out. Might as well start discussion on buying out his free agent years now because he's only going to get more expensive on a rediculous scale from here on out.

What makes me believe this? Wehehelll I'm glad you asked.

• Paxton's a power pitcher.

This has multiple benefits. Firstly, power pitchers tend to dominate by striking out a lot of guys. If you're new here, this is a good thing. Secondly, power pitchers tend to have a relatively reduced injury risk. I'd link to the studies on this but I'm feeling lazy right now. Google it.

• Paxton's a lefty.

His fastball plays up because of this. He already throws it hard and the fact that he's a lefty increases his fastball's efficacy from a level of 'simply overwhelming' to the old Raphael Soriano 'Lovcraftian Nightmare' designation.

• Paxton's 25

He's forged his path through the perilous pitching prospect jungle of potential injury further reducing his injury risk (again relatively speaking).

• His Minor League track record is sparkling...and his Major League performance to date has backed it up.

His scouting report, his projections, and his track record are all in sync. All three check the Top Of Rotation indicators. He wasn't apart of 'The Big Three' for no reason.

The above combined with the idea that Iwakuma may have been pitching a little over his head last year and presents a higher injury risk communicates, to me, that Paxton will have solidified himself as this team's #2 before this August.

Book it. Take out a prop bet in Vegas (don't really, I am not liable if you do). Write it in Sharpie.


--So, what would that mean, exactly?--

Well, in terms of this year, quite a bit. A quantifiable bit. It answers precisely 12.5% of our questions.

In order for the year to break the Mariner's way and for them to have a shot at a pennant, eight  question marks have to fall on Seattle's side of the fence.

1. Will Ackley realize his hitting potential?
2. Will Smoak realize his hitting potential?
3. Will Morrison realize his hitting potential?
4. Will Hart's knees hold up?
5. Will Zunino hit bendy pitches?
6. Will Saunders realize his hitting potential?
7. Will Miller establish himself as an everyday player?
8. Will the rotation (behind Felix and Mr. Bear) hold up?
9. Will the bullpen's talent be wasted by improper managerial usage?

That's a lot of questions. But what Paxton's emergence will mean is that question 8, the question of whether the rotation behind Felix and Kuma will hold up, is answered. It means that, instead of fretting about three rotation slots, we're only fretting about two. Those two slots would be filled by some combination of Erasmo/Walker/Baker/Wolf/Maurer/Beavan. Young and veteran talent tossed into a competative couldron? I like my chances.

It's not a statement of "CHAMPIONSHIP" but it checks off one of the questions.

8 to go. Go M's.

Dereliction Of Duty

Did I forget to make a post after the Seahawks won the freakin' Super Bowl? I did! Jeeehosaphat!

Sorry, that introductary paragraph was misleading. The Seahawks didn't actually win the Super Bowl. They utterly dominated what was smugly referred to as the best offense in the history of the game. 43-8. The defense DISMANTLED and GROUND TO DUST each individual component of that offensive machine and looked like they belonged in a higher league doing it. It was a HUMILIATION, pure and simple.

I normally wouldn't revel so obnoxiously but the lead-up to the game had the Bronco-backers so...infuriatingly smug that the schadenfruede is a delicious gelato. <--simile

That is all. #FelixHernandez #FaceOfMLB

(psst...that's not how it works)

QUIET YOU!