Mariner Off-Season Moves Looking Nothing Short of Brilliant to me (who cares?)

I was amazed at the huge improvement that we saw last year over the prior season’s team in almost every way.  They did the little things, they played defense, they made opposing pitchers work harder.  The clubhouse was light-hearted but purposeful at the same time.  The two men brought in to overhaul the debacle created by B-B-B-B…I feel like the Fonz trying to say ‘I’m sorry.’…Bavasi not only did that, but managed to change the culture, expectations, style of play, accountability of this team while winning and producing mostly headlines about their baseball play.

This offseason has been a dream for me.  We get a real, speedy, disciplined guy to hit behind Ichiro and play a solid third, bring in a LF that has had recent problems but may really blossom in a different place and environment.  Then there are the players like Garko, Kotchman, Eric Byrnes – all capable of 20-30 homers and a couple of which still have some speed.  THEN we look at the pickup of Cliff Lee and Brandon League to an already good pitching staff, the return of Franklin Guttierrez, a healthy Jack Wilson, as well as Griffey, strong reserves like Langerhans, Hannahan, Tuiasosopo. 

It’s hard enough for me to wrap my head around all of the positive moves, made within a philosophy including solid defense, fundamentals, etc., but to add in the new five year deal for Felix Hernandez and I am verklempt.

And geez, Bedard and Washburn are still floating around out there, and either one of them would be a great fifth starter, and if healthy much better than that.  How does a rotation of Felix, Lee, Snell, Rowland-Smith and Fister sound?  Much better than last season, right?  If the M’s were able to get either Bedard or Waashburn, or both at decent prices, then at least for part of the year we’d see Felix, Lee, Washburn, Bedard  and Rowland-Smith.  That would be one hell of a group of starters wouldn’t it? 

Even without any more signings, I think that the M’s pitching coach, defense, bullpen coach and manager will be able to do what they have done thus far with pitchers:  improve them.  From the ranks of  Snell, French, Fister, Vargas and Olson, I imagine that the M’s could coax solid, innings-eating starters for the fourth and fifth spots.  The bullpen has been improved too, and now we can expect to see League, Lowe Aardsma for the seventh, eighth and ninth, with Kelley, White and perhaps Vargas or Olson.  

It would be great to have a really solid and established right-handed hitter, and I know that we’ll have to see how this all works out at the end of the season, but Jack Z is my hero right now, and Don Wakamatsu is a close second.

I feel like the M’s will be in the West race all season, and if I think back to the final game of the 2008 team’s season – which I attended, masochist that I am – there is no way you could have convinced me that within 2 seasons after 101 losses, the team would be contending for the West. 

I do love baseball, and all the more so when I get to watch it played well, managed well, and winning. 

Technorati Tags: Mariners baseball,Mariners player moves,Wakamatsu,Jack Zduriencik

Halladay, Lee deal could be done Wednesday; A's involved in trade - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball

Is it too much to hope for?  It sounds very much like the deal will be final today or tomorrow.  I am imagining the Mariners tough bullpen, matched with a rotation of Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Brandon Morrow and possibly Luke French, Ian Smith, Silva, Vargas, Olson, or my favorite, Doug Fister.  I’d love to see a rotation like this:

1. Hernandez – needs no explanation

2. Cliff Lee – needs no explanation

3. Rowland-Smith – pitched very well upon his return from injury.

4. Brandon Morrow – hopefully with more time throwing his new pitches, he’ll improve on an average year last season.

5.  Doug Fister – I love Doug Fister’s stuff.  His height gives batters a totally different angle and release point than they see normally, and the guy seems to be a very composed player. 

That leaves lots of questions with Luke French and Ian Snell – both of whom may yet improve significantly under the M’s pitching and bullpen coaching -Carlos Silva, Jason Vargas, Chris Jakubauskas (who seems to pitch best in long relief, which is a great fit for this team at this time), Garrett Olson.  That’s pretty good depth, and if Fister isn’t quite ready any of these guys can step in and eat some innings. 

With a bullpen that was very strong last season, having a staff of starters that eat more innings, it will allow the manager to use the pen so heavily.  A great  strength:

Closer – David Aardsma'

Set-up – Mark Lowe

Middle Relief – White, Kelly, Corcoran

Long Relief – Jakubauskas

And if Jack Z can come up with another hitter or two, the team could very realistically contend for the division title.

Ichiro - RF

Figgins  3B

Lopez'  2B

Chavez LF

Gutierrez  CF

Jack Wilson  SS

Platoon DH

First Base

Rob Johnson C

The team sets up with very good pitching, excellent defense and range, and is improved on offense, though I think everyone hopes for another bat or two that can drive in Ichiro and Figgins consistently.  Some have suggested Ichiro in the three hole, but I have a bias against primarily singles hitters hitting third.  It might work, but I’d still rather see a powerful, speedy pair with great on-base percentages at the top of the order getting on base to set the table for the hitters in the middle of the order.  I’d love to see Bay here, even though the home field wouldn’t set up well for him.  He’d be excellent on the road, and can still hit doubles and the occasional homer at the Safe.  So, I’d pull the trigger if we can get Bay.  Nick Johnson would be a great guy at first, and if Branyan’s back is better (a big if) I wouldn’t mind seeing him back.    I suppose that it is possible Bill Hall might have a resurrection season this coming year, or that Tuiasosopo or Michael Saunders might hit their big league stride, but I would really love to see the addition of the kind of player that gets the guy ahead of him some pitches to hit, and can drive in runs with decent power.  Bay would be outstanding.  Even Troy Glaus would be intriguing despite offseason surgery. 

One thing seems certain, at least to me.  Jack Z is not done adding parts to a team he has built in an amazingly rapid and brilliant way.  Not wishing to overdo it with expectations, I do feel that this is now a team capable of 90-92 wins.  Add some power and consistency in the middle of the order and then Mariners could be a contender for a World Series appearance.  I’m not predicting that, but it feels like it is a greater possibility than for some time.

Halladay, Lee deal could be done Wednesday; A's involved in trade - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball

Technorati Tags: Seattle Mariners,Mariners,Cliff Lee,MLB,baseball,sports,Mariners Player Trades

Are M's interested in trade for Overbay?/ $200 million for King Felix?

The Seattle PI Mariners Blog is carrying a report from the baseball meetings this week in Chicago.  Several sources have indicated that the Mariners are talking about a trade to bring Overbay to Seattle to play first base.  The timing of the rumors and reports are interesting as the Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan, who had a breakout year this season before a herniated disc shut him down, turned down a one year contract offer by the Mariners, saying he’d like to get a two year deal.  The Mariners may be wary of a 34 year old first baseman with a herniated disc – probably with good reason – and Overbay has similar numbers to Branyan (though he had roughly half the homers in an almost equal number of at-bats).  Are the M’s letting slip a bit about the negotiations with Toronto to let Branyan know they have options?  I think they want him back – they’d not have made a one-year offer otherwise – but perhaps due to his back they want to minimize the downside if it is serious and lingering.  That’s smart.  Personally, I’d love to see Branyan back and healthy all year.  He got his first chance to play every day with the Mariners, and before the back injury he responded very well to the chance to hit against both left and right handed pitching. 

Are M's interested in trade for Overbay?

I was listening to the morning show on KJR Sportsradio 950 this morning and Mitch Levy mentioned a report from the meetings in Chicago that the Yankees could conceivably offer Felix Hernandez a contract worth as much as $200 million, guaranteed.  The discussion was over whether the Mariners were going to try and sign him to an extension, despite two years remaining on his current contract.  Could the M’s get him for $125 now, by allowing him to start making the bigger bucks sooner?  Who knows?  One thing is certain: If King Felix continues to pitch anywhere near what he did this year over the next two seasons, he’ll be a brilliant, dominant number one starter with more than six seasons of major league experience, and possibly another 12-14 years to pitch in the major leagues.  But $200 million guaranteed?  Holy Cow!

Technorati Tags: Felix Hernandez,Seattle Mariners,baseball,free agents,Mariners trades,Mariners players,Russell Branyan