Baseball's back!

Is there a better day than Opening Day? I don't think so. Especially when you're in grad school and don't have class until 4:40 PM and can watch real and fantasy baseball all day. I think when I do get a job again I'm taking Opening Day off every year.

I won't write a recap of Game 1. Go to Lookout Landing for that. Most important thing to take from Jeff's writeup:

Jim Joyce's strike zone wasn't helping matters, either. But this is the take-home message: on an off-day during which he struggled with his command, Erik Bedard allowed one run on five innings. He got a bunch of swinging strikes, kept the ball on the ground, and wasn't letting the hitters get good swings. This was an off-day. If for whatever reason you're still kind of skeptical about what Erik Bedard's going to bring to the team, get over it and hop on the wagon.

Bedard will be fine. The offense? That's going to be painful to watch at times this year. But, I did like that they drew seven walks and that Jose Lopez had the big hit. If the M's want to contend for anything, Lopez is one of the guys that needs to step up.

Felix tonight which makes me happy. What does not make me happy is that it doesn't start until 10 PM on the East Coast and I have to get up early tomorrow.

1-0! First place!

Bedard

It's been a long time folks. A long time. I wanted to wait until this trade was official, and it finally looks like it is. Erik Bedard is a Mariner. And I think that's cool. But, I don't think I like this trade. I know
Lookout Landing doesn't, and I know USS Mariner doesn't. And I know they know more about baseball than I do. But, I don't need an expert understanding of the game to see why this trade wasn't a good idea. Erik Bedard is awesome. He's filthy. Nasty. Sick. Pitches well. But not worth your best prospect, best left-handed reliever, and three other prospects. And even if he is worth all of that, he's not worth it to the M's. This trade has been hashed and rehashed, prehashed, then hashed again so I don't want to go on and on about it. But, here are my reasons, in brief, why I'm not a fan of this trade:

1. The Mariners aren't an Erik Bedard away from competing with Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, or Anaheim. This isn't like the Sox trading Hanley Ramirez to get Josh Beckett. The lineup is terrible, the outfield defense is going to be bad, and now the bullpen takes a hit. Plus, the rest of the rotation is mediocre at best.

2. The timing makes no sense. Why trade Jones now? One thing Bavasi has done pretty well is build up the farm system. Jones is ready, Clement and Balentin are close, and Morrow is at least contributing in the bullpen. So why send away all this young talent when it's on the verge of makin an impact? I didn't like Stand Pat Gillick's non-moves in the summers 2001-2003, but I think this is the other end of the spectrum.

Ok, that's really it. It's not that I don't like Erik Bedard. I think he's the best player Bavasi has signed or traded for. I think Bedard and Felix at the top of the rotation is going to be amazing. If the M's find a way to make it to the playoffs, Bedard and Felix with Putz waiting in the bullpen? Incredible, no doubt. But, I just don't think they're going to make it that far. Unless, of course, they decide to move Morrow, Clement and Balentin to get a big bat or two. I hope I'm wrong and Bedard and Felix are co-MVPs of the World Series this year, but we'll see.

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate the trade. I mean Bavasi's done worse. A lot worse. And I'm really excited that we have Erik Bedard on our side. But, I'm not sold on this as being a good idea.

Thoughts loyal three readers?

At the break....

Up until I was 17, my best and favorite subject in school was math. I owned math. It was never hard, it was fun, and it all made sense. But then came my senior year in high school. That's when I met AP Calculus. I had done well in math every year and assumed it would continue. In fact, I figured my major in college would have something to do with math. And for the first month or so of that class, things remained the same. I remember understanding limits really well and I'm pretty sure I got an A on the first test. But then things abruptly changed. We had to write a paper in math. The rest of the semester when something like C on that paper, and nothing above a D on anything else. My final grade for that semester was a D. For the first time in my life I had to drop a class because it was too hard for me. Sure, senioritis had something to do with it, but I was really just in over my head.

I'm hoping the second half of the 2007 baseball season isn't to the Seattle Mariners what AP Calculus was to me. They've had a great first half, and every time I think they've come back to reality, they've proved me wrong. Two and a half out in the West, and a game and half back in the Wild Card. I think they can stay in it, but I also thought I could handle AP Calculus.

Let's check in on what I said at the beginning of the season:

3 REASONS FOR HOPE

1. The King-Well, he's been amazing, injured, and inconsistent. But, thanks to the power of blogging, he has looked much better lately. The M's are going to need him to be an ace in the second half.

2.Infield Defense-
Did I really say that?

3.A pretty solid lineup
The M's third in the AL in batting average, sixth in OBP, eighth in runs scored, eigthe in SLG, tenth in HR, LAST in walks, and LAST in strikeouts. Hmmm. Looking at that, the M's offense hasn't been all that impressive.


3 REASONS YOU'LL BE COUNTING THE DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL SEASON

1. The gruesome foursome. Eh, not bad I guess. Weaver was atrocious but has turned in around. Batista has his moments. But they still need another pitcher if they are going to stay in this.

2. Mike Hargrove and Bill Bavasi. Mike Hargrove quit. That was weird. Bill Bavasi-well Jose Vidro as "DH" hasn't really worked. The pitchers have been okay. But, I'll judge Bavasi based on what he does at the deadline.

3. Jose. I'm fine with Guillen and Lopez, but Vidro has to go.


So, now what? I don't think the Mariners are good enough as they are right now to keep up with Boston, Anaheim, Detroit, and Cleveland. So, some changes need to happen. I'd like to hear what the loyal 4 readers have to say about that.

Check out Dave Cameron's suggestions. They mkae some sense and can all be done without bringing anyone in from the outside.

Aw.....

Crap.

From the M's official site:

Ryan Feierabend couldn't get comfortable against the Royals

Feierabend (L, 1-3) 1.1 IP, 8 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 2 HR

Ya think?

Let the Buerhle rumblings begin...

Okay, maybe not technically begin. I'm sure it's been brought up before. But, Dave at USSMariner has brought up the Mark Buehrle trade talk. And I'm pretty sure I agree with him. Buerhle had a rough year in 2006, and I was thinking he may be on the decline, but, as Dave points out, he's bounced back this year. Maybe he's playing for contract and will regress again next year, but whatever-the M's probably won't re-sign him anyway.

By the way, does re-sign need to have a hyphen? I think so, because otherwise it becomes resign. Mike Hargrove resigned from his position as Mariners manager. Will the Mariners re-sign Ichiro? AAAAAAAANYWAY....

The most important point that Dave makes is this:

The Mariners wouldn’t be trading a package of prospects for three months of Mark Buehrle. The Mariners would be trading a package of prospects for three months of Mark Buehrle and another package of prospects.

If you're worried about giving up prospects for half a season from one guy, the draft pick compensation from those lost prospects should make you feel a little better. And the fact is, you never know what you're going to get out of prospects. I was pretty excited about the Freddy Garcia trade when it went down, but it's turned out to be a complete flop. The M's won't trade Adam Jones, so I say go for it.

Plus, I just made a trade to get Buerhle on my fantasy team, so making him a Mariner would give me double reason to root for the guy.

Thoughts on Buerhle from the 4 loyal Magic readers?

Alright, Alright

I'll post already. The M's keep winning, telling me I need to write about them. The blog has been pretty slow as I was moving from here to here I realize the only people still reading this blog are the administrators, my parents, and hopefully snave, but there's too much to talk about.

When a team has three crapbag seasons in a row, and comes into the season with Jeff Weaver and Horacio Ramirez as anchors of the rotation, it's hard to be optimistic. And then when a team is winning games but Jeff Weaver has a quadruple digit ERA, Felix Hernandez is hurt/struggling it's more of a "okay, when are they going to lose 6 games in a row?"

But, when they bounce back from that, win a couple series, sweep the new evil empire (sorry Dad), and keep going strong even when the opposing pitcher is eleventy billion times better than ours, it starts feeling like we have a good baseball team on our hands.

I made it pretty clear that I wasn't overly optimistic about this team coming into the year. And, even though the M's kept winning, I was still skeptical. Weaver was awful, Felix couldn't pitch anymore, the bullpen was being worn thin, Sexson and Ibanez were doing nothing, etc. But, the recent winning ways have shown me some things that have me pretty excited about the rest of this season:

1. JJ Putz is the best closer in baseball. By far.

2. There are no holes on offense. Ichiro is the only superstar, but every one else in the lineup can contribute. And that includes the bench players. That's the kind of team that stays in the hunt through September.

3. Jeff Weaver and Miguel Batista can pitch. Sort of. They are the kind of pitchers you hope to get 6 solid innings out of, keep you in the game, and let the offense and bullpen win it for you. They've shown that lately, and I hope it keeps up.

4. Mike Hargrove can make a good decision or two. He's managed the bullpen very well this year. He uses Putz in high-leverage situations instead of saving him only for save situations. I'm still not a big fan of his, but this is an optimistic post.


Sure, there are concerns. Felix is pitching like a 21-year old, Putz's arm may fall off, and the rotation still needs help. But I'll stick with being excited for now. I'm hoping they can win today against Toronto, then take or split the series with KC and Oakland, then get rested up for the big series against Detroit after the break.

Let's go M's!!!!!

5 in a row!

I too am excited about the promise this team is showing. It was this time, however last year that Mike and I were sitting in a bar in kirkland watching the mariners crush the Diamondbacks. I am taking this streak with a skepticle grain of salt. The bullpen ahs been incredible and teh offensive attack is really vastly superior than what I ahd expected. The main question I still have revolves around our rotation. Felix needs more time to get abck to wehre he was at the start of the year. Washburn appears to be in a rut. Baek should ahve been in the rotation at the start of the year, and his alst start was disappointing but cleavland is a very strong offensive club. I still hate that they insist on trotting weaver out there, admit you F-d up and jsut chaulk it up to a 8 million dollar mistake. Call up fearbin and let him roll in the 5 spot he gave you a chance to win.



There is a lot of time left but Raul is coming on like a house of fire and with his bat to an already hot offense i think this year could be a really exciting one up to the end. They need to decide what route they wish to take with Ichiro. I personally think you sign him, he is the best elad off hitter in the game bar none. However if they want to sign him do it now do not wait for him to hit open waters where you will be compeating agains tthe likes of the yankees and red soxs for his services. That is a mony game i do not want.



Tonight its Miguel. The bullpen really is in dire ened of a strong outing by one of our starters here. And by strong I am talking 7 or 8 innings. They are overworked and if the trend continues there will be no arms left for the push in late summer. The offense needs to come right out of theg ates and puta 4 spot up to give miguel some room and then just go to work.





Go M's 9 games over 500 for the first time in years!