Mariners Mania

What to Expect in 2009

Ty — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:16:08 +0000

User post by Crooklyn Banks

What to expect in 2009:
Rotation
# Félix Hernández
CHONE 2009 Projection
12-9, 3.67 ERA, 164 K, 64 BB, 1.30 WHIP

Expectations: Felix, who turns 23 this year, should continue to be the ace of today as well as tomorrow for the Seattle Mariners.
Questions: Besides the somewhat minor health risk, the question on everyone’s mind is the fastball. Will he use it, will the pitching coach get him to improve his command on it?
Best Case: Felix becomes the pitching king we all thought he would be by now, and gets command of that fastball.
Worst case: He’s get hurt, and takes a step back from becoming that great pitcher he will be.

Erk Bedard
CHONE 2009 Projection
8-6, 3.46 ERA, 128 K, 48 BB, 1.26 WHIP

It’s year two of Erk Bedard, and this just might be the last. Erik is said to be healthy, and is expected to start in the beginning of 2009.
Questions: As always, is the health issue. How long will be healthy and how long will it take him?
Best Case: He’s healthy for the full year, or at least most of it and we get a 1-2 punch in the season.
Worst Case: He’s hurt bad all year and the pitcher who replaces him blows.

Jarrod Washburn
CHONE 2009 Projection
8-9, 4.50 ERA, 84 K, 51 BB, 1.41 WHIP

Expectations: Let’s face it. Washburn is gone, expect him to do the stats we know and love, and see him get dealt by the deadline.
Questions: How will Washburn take it? Will he pitch to get traded like a pro, or pull a Randy Johnson?
Best Case: He pitches all year, and goes to a NL team where we never see him again.
Worst Case: Now pitching for the 2010 Mariners, Jarrod Washburn!!

Carlos Silva
CHONE 2009 Projection
8-10, 4.77 ERA, 73 K, 35 BB, 1.41 WHIP

Expectations: Silva… great. Year two out of way too much. With the new defense, he should get better, but let’s not hold our breath.
Questions: How will he pitching with the new outfield setup?
Best Case: He pulls a turn for the better, and does decent.
Worst Case: He does worst then 2008

Brandon Morrow
CHONE 2009 Projection (They have him as a reliever)
4-3, 3.55, 77 K, 37 BB, 1.36 WHIP

Expectations: His first major league start was awesome, he was awesome in the bullpen. So expect something around awesome all year.
Questions: Will he start? How well will he start? If he sucks, will he be forever doomed to the bullpen!
Best Case: We have two awesome young pitchers in the rotation and a 1-2-3 punch in 2010
Worst Case: And now the closer, Brandon Morrow (Which isn’t all that bad)

Ryan Rowland-Smith
CHONE 2009 Projection (They have him as a reliever)
4-3, 3.94 ERA, 55 K, 27 BB, 1.36 WHIP

Expectations: A cheap number 5 guy with an awesome blog. Plus he’s from the land down under. An Aussie, awesome! He should start in the bullpen, and then come back to the rotation. Don’t expect him to be Morrow. He’s decent, but nothing but a cheap option for a number 5 guy.
Questions: How will he take going back to the pen?
Best Case: He does good in the pen and OK in the rotation
Worst Case: He doesn’t the bullpen role to well and becomes a bad pitcher.

Have A Little Faith: Jeff Clement is The Seattle Mariners’ Future

Ty — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 06:47:09 +0000

User Article

By Ben Brown (slugoben)

In 2007, Tacoma Rainiers catcher Jeff Clement was one of baseball’s top prospects, especially when ranked with other minor league catchers.

When Kenji Johjima showed Seattle that his 2008 season was going to flirt with a .200 average, Clement got the call to play for the Seattle Mariners.

Many people thought Clement was a lost cause after the season but I think he is a found gem. Batting .298 after the All-Star Game in his rookie season, Clement showed us his amazing potential.

Clement has been thought to be a power hitter during his minor league career but I would put being able to hit for average in his resume. Although Clement does have raw power, when he hits them out of the park he hits them deep and always to left field.

The Mariners have the most catching depth in the league with three highly touted catchers—Adam Moore, Rob Johnson, and Jeff Clement—and two veterans, Jamie Burke and Kenji Johjima.

Clement is just one of the Mariners’ future stars, others including Philipe Aumont, Michael Pineda, Juan Ramirez, Greg Halman, Carlos Triunfel, Bryan Lahair, Adam Moore, Rob Johnson, Mike Wilson, and Brandon Morrow.

Roster Construction: Starting Pitchers

Ty — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:11:47 +0000

Zduriencik signed on to be GM knowing that the Mariners would not be an easy team to fix. We don’t have a lot of trade value, and not a lot of ML ready prospects. But we do still have a good core to build around. Here’s a look at the M’s starting staff as of day 2 of the Winter Meetings.

Starting Pitching

#1: Felix Hernandez, RHP
#2: Erik Bedard, LHP*
#3: Brandon Morrow, RHP
#4: Jarrod Washburn, LHP
#5: Ryan Rowland-Smith, LHP/Miguel Batista, RHP/Carlos Silva RHP

This is a pretty strong rotation, if some things go well for us. Felix is good, Felix is an ace, Felix is the King. Don’t worry about Felix. Bedard is a different story. No one really knows when he’s going to be back, or how well he’s going to pitch when he returns. But reports are that the surgery went very well, and he’s been cleared to throw. I’d guess that he will be back fairly early in the season. Though we tend to hate Bedard around here for a plethera of reasons, he’s a good pitcher when healthy. Best case scenario is that he pitches well enough for us to get half of the value we gave up for him back at the deadline.

One giant bright spot for the Mariners in 2008 was the play of Brandon Morrow, who has turned out to be a phenom. The Mariners wisely made him into a starter, and he thrived there like he had in the bullpen all season. Morrow could turn out to be a legitimate number three starter next year, and I’m optimistic. Between Felix, Bedard, and Morrow, we have a strong top 3. One of the best in the AL.

Washburn is in the last year of his contract, and the hope in the organization is that we can deal him before the season starts. But if we don’t, we’ll have a typical Jarrod Washburn year: a ton of fly balls, some pretty good preformances, some really really bad games, and a bunch of innings eaten. He’s overpayed, he’s a jerk, but he’s not that bad of a pitcher. He’s a legit number 4.

It gets interesting at the very end of the roto. The Mariners have two big contracts in Miguel Batista and Carlos Silva, but they suck, to be frank. Rowand-Smith, like Morrow, has been converted from the bullpen to the rotation. RRS could hopefully give the M’s a good 160-170 innings, and could be a slight upgrade over Silva.

I don’t know what the Mariners do with Silva and Batista. It will be interesting in Spring Training to see the competition for that last spot in the rotation. Neither of them will be traded, but Washburn might if we can find a sucker. And hopefully Bedard accumulates enough value to be traded at the deadline. Hopefully the M’s don’t just place Silva in the roto because he has a big contract. That would be a typical Mariner move, but the Mariners are different this year.

If Bedard is healthy, Morrow pitches to his potential, and Washburn and RRS eat some innings for us, this could be one of the top 5 rotations in the Majors. Only time will tell, but at least there’s one part of this Mariner team we can be confident in.

Mariners Mania Forum is back! and better than ever.

Ty — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:11:06 +0000

After a couple months of break from the MM forum, it has returned, with many improvements. If you were posting there, or haven’t registered yet, feel free to drop back over there. It should be a very active community in a week or two again. It’s looking good. So for everyone looking for a place of intelligent conversation about your Seattle Mariners or baseball in general, drop over to Mariners Mania Forums.

http://marinersmania.com/forums

If you have not registered yet, follow the following link:

http://marinersmania.com/forums/register.php

It takes literally 30 seconds. Easy. Peace guys.

Been a while… But we’re back

Ty — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:58:04 +0000

It has been over a year since I last had an entry here. Part of that was due to my extremely busy schedule, the crazy amount of spammers on this blog, and depression of the entire Mariners fanbase from the 2008 season.

However, with the signing of a new GM and an almost entirely new staff for the Mariners, I’m optimistic once again. You should be too.

The Mariners signed Russell Branyan and Chris Shelton this week for close to nothing. It doesn’t seem like much to the plain eye, but when you consider that the Bavasi administration threw Richie Sexson a 4 year, $44 million contract (and, well, you know how that turned out) just four years ago, it’s a huge upgrade. Small signings like this is what will make the Seattle Mariners a good team.

Last year we became the biggest laughing stock in all of sports. We were the first team to lose 100 games after having a payroll of $100 million, and most fans were rooting to lose games to get a high draft pick. It got bad.

Obama’s slogan in his race for presidency (whoo) was that this needed to be a time for change. This could mean a lot of things, but it’s a good thing to say when your bussiness (or country) is a mess. Well, what could be more of a mess than the Seattle Mariners 2008. Lucky for us, Zduriencik has the same slogan.

It IS time for change for the Mariners. And right now, we’re getting it.

Really, the only problem I see with the signing of our new GM and our new manager is that I couldn’t pronounce their names if my life depended on it. When that’s the biggest problem I can think of, you have a damn optimistic blogger this year.

Anyway, the point is, the Mariners Mania blog is back. And hopefully the Mariners are too.

As always, go Mariners. Knock ‘em dead, Z.

1st Half Awards

Ty — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:43:16 +0000

If you predicted before the season that at the break, the Seattle Mariners would be 49-36, and only a game back in the loss column of the AL West leading Angels, you were probably called crazy. I know I would have called you insane. However, the Mariners have succeeded in proving everyone wrong, and have taken baseball by storm. There have been some key components aiding the Mariners in the first half of the season, most notably our two all-stars, but there has been a lot more to Seattle’s crazy first half than just two players.

Team MVP’s: Ichiro Suzuki and JJ Putz

This one’s easy. Without either one of these players, the Mariners likely wouldn’t be where they are today. Both JJ and Ichiro were All-Stars this year (Ichiro won the ASG MVP), and rightfully so.

Ichiro enters the second half hitting .359/.410/.459 with 23 stolen bases. All of this added to his stellar defense in Center Field equals a dang good player. Ichiro already has 77 Runs Created, and we haven’t even entered the second half yet.

JJ Putz, so far, is perfect in save opportunities, going 24/24. JJ also has an incredible 0.88 ERA with 44 strikeouts. JJ is a huge piece to a Seattle bullpen that the team relies on so much. Not only is JJ the best reliever on the Mariners, but he’s been the best in the entire league.

Biggest Surprise: Mike Hargrove’s Resignation

In the middle of an 8 game winning streak, news breaks that Mike Hargrove will be walking away from the game of baseball, effective immediately. This shocked the whole world of baseball, especially his own team. To this day, it’s unknown exactly what went on to make him quit so suddenly, but John McLaren has so far done a nice job as the new skipper.

Biggest Offensive Suckfest: Richie Sexson

Richie has struggled to keep over the Mendoza line this year. The Mariner slugger is not typically a first half hitter, but this has been his worst start in his career. Despite leading the team in homeruns with 15, his .205 batting average has weighed the Mariners (who have the 3rd highest team batting average in the MLB) down. Richie, and the Mariners, hope that the 6′8″ First Baseman can turn it around in the second half, being that he’s vital to our success.

Biggest Pitching Suckfest: Do I have to pick one!?!?

Seattle’s starting rotation has been bad. There’s nothing more to it than that. Jeff Weaver got off to a terrible start, Horacio Ramirez had a lot of trouble, and Hernandez, Batista, Feierabend, Washburn, and Baek have all been inconsistent, to say the least.

Felix has underperformed after coming back from his injury, but has had a couple of stellar outings, including his 1-hitter complete game shutout in Boston. Lucky for us, USSMariner found a serious flaw in Felix: Pitch selection. Apparently, Felix received the report that USSMariner wrote, and changed his pitch selection up a little bit. The next day, he threw 8 innings of 2 hit, shutout ball in a victory over the A’s. This may very well be the turn around point for Felix’s season.

Multiple pitchers have been shuffled in and out of the rotation due to injury (real or made up), or just plain terrible pitching, including Horacio Ramirez, Jeff Weaver, Felix Hernandez, Ryan Feierabend, and Cha Seung Baek. The only 2 Mariner starters to stay in the rotation all year have been Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista.

Speaking of Washburn and Batista, we have to give credit where credit is due. Washburn has been very solid for a team that desperately needs at least one good starter, posting a 3.72 ERA. Batista has also been alright, despite leading the team in homeruns given up. Batista and Washburn are 1 and 2 on the team in innings pitcher, with just over 100.

The Mariners need an ace if we’re going to win and make it into October. We’re hoping Felix has figured things out. Until then, though, the Mariners roto is shaky at best. It would be hard to name one WORST pitcher so far, but Jeff Weaver (though he has turned it around since coming back), Ryan Feierabend, and HoRam would rank up there.

Biggest Strength: Bullpen

This bullpen is quite possibly the best in the AL. Putz has obviously been lights out, Sherrill has had an all-star worthy year, Morrow has been pretty good, and the guys we called fillers to start the season have actually been solid. Despite losing Rafael Soriano in the off season, this bullpen has really powered our team to victory, and has been the biggest strength of the ball club thus far.

Team’s Best Off Season Acquisition: Jose Guillen

The Mariners really didn’t do a lot last off season to make themselves a better club, but Jose Guillen has really been good for the team. He’s one away from the lead on the team in RBI (52, trailing Ibanez) and has all around been a good hitter for us, adding 11 homeruns to the mix too. If you believe in clutch, Guillen has been exactly that. His most notable game this season was probably Hargrove’s last game, where he had a game winning Homerun to win the game.

Though Guillen has been known in his career as a clubhouse cancer, he’s been fine all year for us. He got along well with Hargrove, and seems to really like this team. Bavasi made a really good move in bringing Guillen in.

Predicted Second Half Breakouts: Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Felix Hernandez

Beltre and Sexson are historically second half hitters, and we’re going to need their bats for the stretch run. Felix, despite inconsistency, has had a pretty decent first half too, but I expect him to do much better now that he knows how to mix his pitches.

Props to: The Catchers

Catching has been a strong point for the Mariners in the first half, with Kenji Johjima hitting like an All Star, and Jaime Burke following him as best as he could. Johjima is following in last year’s footsteps, and he’s a solid, predictable player. You can count on him to do well all year.

Burke has been a great surprise. You couldn’t ask for more from a backup catcher. Jaime is sooo much better than Rene Rivera…. Looking back now, it’s hard to believe that we had Wiki Gonzalez, Rene Rivera, Miguel Olivo, and other catchers fighting for the starting job just a couple years ago.

The M’s are a better team than they have been for years, and it’s certainly been fun watching them up to this point. I can’t help but feel that we’re only going to get better, especially with Sexson and Beltre heating up, and Adam Jones reportedly being called up. The Mariners can make a real run at this. Let’s hope they bring playoff baseball back to Seattle for the first time since 2001.

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You be the GM!

Ty — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 07:00:50 +0000

Alright guys, I know a lot of you are huge critics of Bill Bavasi, and rightfully so. I am too. But we know that he’s going to make SOME moves before the trade deadline…. But what should he do? You tell us. I’ve opened up a thread at the forums for strictly this subject. It should be fun to talk about. Check it out:

http://marinersmania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1907

Win one, lose the next

Ty — Tue, 22 May 2007 05:01:54 +0000

I found an interesting trend this year in the M’s. It seemed that every time the offense scored a whole ton of runs one game, the next day they totally broke off and weren’t able to score much at all. I thought I’d look into this, and it turned out to be true. In the 8 games we’ve won in which we’ve scored 7 runs or more, 7 of the games played the next day were lost.

Why?

You tell me. I can’t figure it out, but it’s pretty sickening.

Turning a Corner: Wladimir Balentien

Chris — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:54:35 +0000

You may know, you may not; Wlad Balentien is CRUSHING the ball in Tacoma right now.

.380/.430/.648.

Balentien has turned a corner ladies and gentlemen. Striking out less and walking more.

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The King

Chris — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 03:18:22 +0000

I thought about titling this post “Felix Hernandez.” But then I decided to simplify things and just write his middle name.

The King just took east coast bias, grabbed it by the head, twisted it, stomped on it, crushed it and stuck it straight up Peter Gammons’ ass. I would quickly post Felix’ line for you to read but, well, there’s really nothing to type. CG, SO, 1 H. I’ll leave it at that.

So, what’s the difference between the Felix of last year and the newer version besides for 20 pounds? A lot.

1. A much better pitch sequence.

2. A much more consistent fastball.

3. A very good curveball turned into an amazing curveball. For whatever reason, it disappeared much of last year.

4. Experience.

To be honest, if you asked me at the beginning of last year I would have said, “Yeah, Felix will post a 3.40 ERA and dominate.” Well, I was wrong. This year, however, I’m going to be right. And I’ll say it now:

The King: 2007 Cy Young.

After seeing the new Felix here is my 2007 prediction: 22-6 (just for the MVP voters, not like W-L actually matters), 2.25 ERA, 210 innings, 235 K, 75 BB